The pickleball kitchen is where games are won or lost… the team who can control the kitchen will win most of the time.

Before we get into the 3 easy tips to dominate the pickleball kitchen, I am going to quickly answer some frequently asked questions…

Pickleball Kitchen FAQs

What is the kitchen in pickleball?

The kitchen is the 7×20 area on both sides of the net… it is usually a different color than the rest of the court. 

The kitchen has some tricky rules that we will briefly cover below… if you need more details on the rules you can check out our post What (the heck) is pickleball? Everything you need to know

Can you hit a ball in the kitchen?

This is a common misconception… a lot of people think you can’t go into the kitchen or hit a ball in the kitchen. FALSE

Here’s what you can’t do in the kitchen:

1. You CAN NOT hit the ball out of the air while standing in the kitchen or any part of your body is touching the kitchen
2. It is a fault (other team gets the point) if the ball hits you while standing in the kitchen or any part of your body is touching the kitchen

So when can you hit a ball in the kitchen? Once the ball bounces. 

Can a pickleball return land in the kitchen?

Yes… a pickleball return can land anywhere on the court, including the kitchen.

The serve however, can not land in the kitchen or on the kitchen line.

What happens if your momentum carries you into the kitchen?

If the ball bounces, your momentum can take you into the kitchen. You must then reestablish yourself outside of the kitchen.

If you are hitting the ball out of the ari (a volley), then your momentum can not take you into the kitchen. This would be called a fault and the other team wins the point.

3 easy tips to dominate the pickleball kitchen

Aim for their backhand (or weaker side)

Before I get into these tips let me preface by saying this is for competitive play. If you are playing with your friend that has never played before, please don’t target their backhand every shot…

Now, if you are playing competitively in a tournament or league, identify your opponents weaker shots.

This might take a few points to recognize if you’ve never played them before.

It is a pretty simple concept but takes intentional shot making to put into play.

Practice working on being intentional with every shot. Why did you hit that shot? 

If our opponent can only attack us with their forehand, what if we hit zero shots to their forehand?

I remember when I started being intentional with my shots, the game seemed to slow down… it turned from checkers into chess. I could anticipate what my opponent would do because I knew where I was placing my shot. 

Know when to attack

This is a follow up from tip #1. When you are intentionally placing the ball on your opponent’s weaker side, you need to be ready to attack the next shot.

There is a high likelihood they will pop the ball up or give you an easy shot to attack. Be ready for this.

On another note, knowing when to attack comes down to seeing how the game is playing out. 

It always depends…

If your opponent can’t dink but has really fast hands, no need to attack them… just dink your way to victory.

If your opponent never misses dinks but has slow hands, attack them more often.

This is by far the most important part about knowing when to attack. There isn’t a right or wrong time… it depends on who you’re playing and knowing your and your opponents strengths/weaknesses.

Learn to reach into the pickleball kitchen

Learning to reach in will be your best asset in becoming a better attacker.

This would be much easier to demonstrate but I’ll do my best with words.

Now remember, we can not step into or fall into the kitchen when hitting the ball out of the air (volley).

But this does not mean we should be afraid to reach into the kitchen.

If we squat a bit, bend at the waist and reach into the kitchen, we can take a lot of space away from our opponents… 

Here’s how you can test this out.

Option 1:

• Stand 6-12 inches off the kitchen line
• Stand straight up and reach your paddle out
• Notice how much space is between your paddle and the net
• This is all free space for your opponent to hit an easy shot

Option 2:

• Stand 1-2 inches off the kitchen line
• Squat down a bit, bend at your waist and reach your paddle out
• Notice how much less space is between your paddle and the net
• This will force your opponent to hit a small area or you will be able to attack the ball out of the air

Why is reaching in and attacking the ball out of the air important?

• Puts more stress on your opponent to hit a perfect shot… which usually leads to hitting the ball into the net or popping it up
• By attacking out of the air, you give your opponent less time to react vs. stepping back and letting the ball bounce.

So here’s a little pattern you can practice:

1. Intentionally hit the ball to your opponent’s backhand (or weaker side)
2. Stand 1-2 inches off the kitchen line, squat down a bit, bend at your waist and be ready to reach your paddle out
3. If you opponent returns the ball high (around net height or higher), attack the ball out of the air
4. Don’t fall into the kitchen haha***

***At the beginning it will take practice reaching in while maintaining balance.

Hope these 3 tips help you dominate the pickleball kitchen during your next competitive match… 

Let me know how it works or if you have any questions in the comments below.