Section 6  Line Call Rules

6.A Served balls that clear the non-volley line and land on any service court line are good.

6.B Balls in play (except on serve, see 6.A) that land on any court line are good.

6.C A ball contacting the floor, outside of the baseline or sideline, even though the edge of the ball overlaps the line, is considered out of bounds.

6.D Code of Ethics for Line-Calling. Pickleball is played according to specific rules. It also requires a code of ethics for line-calling responsibilities, when performed by players.

The line-calling responsibilities of players are different than those when assigned to referees or lines people. The officials make impartial judgment calls with all players' interests in mind. The player, when assigned line-calling duties, operates under the principle that all questionable calls must be resolved in favor of the opponent.

The basic elements are:

6.D.1 Players will call the lines on their side of the court (excluding the non-volley line, if being called by a referee).

6.D.2 The opponent gets the benefit of the doubt on line calls made by you.

6.D.3 Spectators should not be consulted on any line calls. Spectators may be prejudiced, unqualified or not in position to see the call, and therefore cannot participate.

6.D.4 All participants should strive for accuracy in making line calls.

6.D.5 No player should question an opponent's call unless asked (except that any player may appeal a call to the referee in an officiated match). A player should ask the opponent's opinion if the opponent was in a better position to see the call. An opponent's opinion, if requested, should be accepted. The opinion of a player looking down the line is more likely to be accurate than one looking across the line.

6.D.6 Don't call a ball “out” when you are looking across the line unless you can clearly see the space between the line and the ball as it hits. The player's depth of field judgment, based on the laws of parallax, prevent accurate judgment in these cases.

6.D.7 All “let” or “out” calls must be made “instantly”; otherwise the ball is presumed good and still in play. “Instantly” is defined as calling “let” or “out” prior to the ball being hit by the opponent or before it has gone out of play.

6.D.8 Any ball that cannot be called “out” is presumed to be “in.” The player cannot claim a “let” (replay) because the ball was not seen. The opponent's opinion can be requested, and if the opponent says the ball was “in,” or the opponent could not see it, the ball must be declared “in.”

6.D.9 Players should not request a “let” (replay) because they were not sure the ball was “out” or “in.” in this case, benefit of the doubt goes to the opponent.

6.D.10 In doubles play, if one player calls the ball “out” and the partner calls it “in,” then doubt exists and the ball must be declared “in” (except that any player may appeal a call to the referee in an officiated match).

6.D.11 Line calls should be promptly signaled by hand or voice, regardless of how obvious they may seem.