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Pickleball gear: what the FFT says and what to pack in your bag

Published on October 21, 2026 Reviewed October 22, 2026 About 6 min

The Bagage de Court editorial team.

Illustration for the article "Pickleball gear: what the FFT says and what to pack in your bag"
Pickleball gear: what the FFT says and what to pack in your bag. FFT rules and the basic gear to carry. In this guide: the fundamentals, plus articles to help you get started and choose well.

Knowing what gear to bring starts with knowing the rules of the game and the basic equipment. This section draws on the texts of the Fédération française de tennis. Head into "Rules and playing equipment": landmarks, key terms, and articles are waiting for you.

The guiding ideas

Keep this logic in mind: a live ball that touches a court line is good. A ball that lands entirely outside the court on the ground is a fault.

Here is the guiding idea: the USA Pickleball rulebook allows two types of serve, the volley serve and the "drop serve," where the ball is hit after it has bounced. The drop serve has no limit on the number or location of bounces. Take a moment to make sure you understand it.

A core rule to remember is the double-bounce rule: after the serve, the ball must bounce once on each side before volleys are allowed.

The principle comes down to this: in doubles, the score is called with three numbers, the serving team's score, the receiving team's score, and then the server number (one or two). The entire score must be called before the serve.

At the heart of the matter, in doubles, both partners serve before the serve passes to the opponents, except for the very first serve.

The article library

Here are the reads offered in this section.

Your starting point

Take the actions in order, as they complement each other.

  1. To distribute the load in a bag well, keep its center of gravity close to your body: heavy items against your back, light items on the outside, and avoid heavy loads on your lower back or at the top.
  2. If you are unsure about a line call, a ball that cannot be called "out" is considered good.

What should guide your choice

Ask yourself these questions, one after the other, before you decide.

  • The hitting surface of a regulation paddle must show no delamination, no holes, no cracks, no rough texture, and no dents that break the skin of the paddle (USA Pickleball rulebook).
  • A well-designed bag has two wide, padded, adjustable shoulder straps, tightened to keep the bag close to the body, and a waist belt can help distribute the weight.
  • On the serve, at least one foot must stay on the ground behind the baseline, and neither foot may touch the court on the baseline or inside it.
  • The USA Pickleball rulebook requires a ball made of a durable material, molded with a smooth, untextured surface and a single uniform color, apart from identification markings.

Background information

A measured benchmark: the pickleball net is 6.70 m wide, with a height of 86 cm at the center and 91 cm at the posts.

On the data side, note this: according to the USA Pickleball rulebook, the sum of the paddle's length and width, edges and end cap included, must not exceed 24 inches (60.96 cm), and its length cannot exceed 17 inches (43.18 cm).

A figure to keep handy: according to the FFT, a pickleball paddle weighs about 240 grams and measures about 40 cm tall by 20 cm wide; it is made of composite or fiberglass.

Pitfalls to know about

Keep an eye on these stumbling blocks before you get started.

  • A serve that touches the net and then lands in the opponent's non-volley zone or outside the service zone is a fault.
  • If a non-compliant paddle is detected before the match begins, the player may change it without penalty; once the match has started, the team forfeits that match; after the score sheet has been handed in, the result stands.
  • These are faults — touching the net, the posts, or the opponent's court with the player, clothing, or paddle while the ball is in play, or stopping a ball in play before it is dead.
  • Signs of an overly heavy bag cited by the American Academy of Pediatrics: leaning forward to compensate, struggling to walk, straps digging into the shoulders.
  • After touching the non-volley zone, a player may volley only after putting both feet back on the ground entirely outside the zone. Jumping from the zone to volley and then landing outside is a fault.

Also worth exploring

The following list brings together the useful notions.

  • According to the FFT, the recommended surfaces for a pickleball court are resin and porous concrete.
  • In tournaments, a player may be asked to change outfits if theirs is inappropriate, notably if the clothing is a color close to that of the tournament ball.
  • A pickleball match is generally played as one set of 11 points, or one set of 15 points with a 2-point margin, according to the FFT.
  • The serve is made underhand, diagonally toward the opponent's service zone, from behind the baseline.
  • The pickleball is a hard plastic ball, slightly larger than a tennis ball, with holes (26 to 40 according to the FFT); indoor and outdoor models differ in the number and size of the holes.

On the gear side, to try out a few pickleballs, you can go through Rally.

Related articles

References

Baggage dimensions and conditions vary by airline and change over time: always check your carrier's rules before departure.

European law on free cabin baggage is under discussion and does not apply yet: the information on this site is dated.