🏓 Basics · Reference

Pickleball Terms: The Complete Glossary

DinkUp Team · July 2026

Pickleball has the strangest vocabulary in sports — half of it sounds invented by someone's uncle at a barbecue, because roughly speaking it was. Here's the complete decoder.

The essentials

• Kitchen: the non-volley zone — the 7-foot area flanking the net where you can't hit the ball out of the air. Full rules in our rules guide.
• Dink: a soft shot from the kitchen line that lands in the opponents' kitchen. See the dinking guide.
• Third shot drop: the soft third shot of the rally that lands in the kitchen, letting the serving team advance to the net.
• Two-bounce rule: serve must bounce, return must bounce; then volleys are allowed.
• Side out: serve passes to the other team.
• Rally: the exchange from serve until the point ends.

The fun ones

• Erne: a volley hit from beside the kitchen (or leaping past it) — legal, spectacular, named after Erne Perry.
• ATP (Around The Post): a ball driven around — not over — the net post. Fully legal, wildly satisfying.
• Falafel: a shot hit with no power; a dead paddle. Nobody knows why it's food.
• Flapjack: a shot that must bounce before being hit.
• Bert: an Erne executed in front of your partner's side. Advanced chaos.
• Nasty Nelson: serving into the non-receiving opponent at the net. Legal points, questionable friendships.
• Pickled: losing 11–0. Avoid.
• Kitchen violation / foot fault: touching the NVZ (or its line) during a volley — including momentum after.

Player-speak

• Stacking: both partners lining up on one side pre-serve to keep preferred sides — see doubles strategy.
• Poach: crossing into your partner's territory to take a ball. Discuss beforehand.
• Banger: a player who drives everything hard. The soft game is their kryptonite.
• Open play: walk-up rotation format — stack your paddle, rotate in with strangers, make friends.

Vocabulary complete. Now use it — find a game near you on DinkUp.