3 of the Biggest Pickleball Rule Changes for 2023

Pickleball is evolving, including the rules. USA Pickleball releases a new rulebook every year, but you shouldn’t have to take hours out of your game to read it. So we reviewed it for you. Here are the three biggest pickleball rules changes for 2023.

Sayonara, spin serve!

Like your mixed doubles partner you used to date, pickleball and the spin serve have a complex relationship. Players used to be able to spin the ball before hitting it. The results were serves that swerved and people that swore. The pickleball world has finally said “hasta la vista” to the spin serve. 

Important note: While you can’t create spin before you hit the ball, you can still create spin as you hit the ball. Just be sure to follow all serving rules, like hitting the ball below your waist and with an upward motion. 

Your clothes can’t match the ball

Pickleball is the only sport that encourages playful fashion choices. Unless you consider how weird it is that baseball coaches wear the same uniforms as their players. USA Pickleball put new limits on our wardrobes by prohibiting clothes that match the color of the ball. Time to donate all of your neon yellow tees. 

You can stop play when the server calls the wrong score

Do you have a friend that suffers from score amnesia? They always manage to get their score correct but yours wrong. If you can’t think of anyone, then you are that friend. 

You can now stop the point when the server calls the wrong score. 

In the past, you had to wait until the end of the point to question the score. But we’ve all heard the wrong score and then spent the entire point thinking about it. This new rule solves that problem and saves your focus by giving you permission to not return the serve and question the score on the spot.