The Official Rules for Line Calls in Pickleball

How many times does this happen when we play pickleball? We hit what we think is a winning shot and our opponent calls the ball out. It can happen when we lob over our competition's head and it looks in from our side of the net. And then there is that situation where we hit the ball down the line and we are sure the ball is in, but our opponent calls it out. Honestly, I think we experience “bad” line calls because most players don't actually know the rule for determining if the ball is in or out.

So let's go to the source of truth and no it is not Wikipedia. It is the USA Pickleball web site which has a page explaining the rule. Now let's get one thing straight first. Calling the ball in or out is a judgment call and there is no way of getting around that unless you purchase a line calling device from In Out Tennis.  Then it would be up to the software to make the right call. But back to us humans first. According to USA Pickleball, we should be paying close attention to only the part of the ball that is touching the ground. If the part of the ball touching the court is out then the ball is not in even though we may see the rest of the ball covering the line. Note: the ball is covering the line from our view point, but it is actually not touching the ground.

With the explanation above, it's no wonder we have difficulty making the correct call when it comes to lines. So USA Pickleball has a further explanation. If you see a gap between the ball and the line then it is out. If you don't see a gap between the ball and the line and cannot determine if it is out, then the ball is in.

After all of this, it's no wonder we question line calls. Between the rules explanation above and us not having perhaps the best view depending on where we are on the court, line calls can be messy. Now if you are in a tournament and playing in a medal match of a USA sanctioned tournament, you should have a referee.  In talking with Don Stanley, the head referee for the Professional Pickleball Association, you can appeal to the referee if you think your opponent made a poor line call. If the referee is 100% sure the ball was in or out, they can overrule the call. Again, it's a judgment call but at least someone impartial is making the decision.