The most important changes to the USAPA Pickleball Rules for 2025. Here is a summary of the most important changes:

USA Pickleball's new rules for 2025 will go into effect on January 1, 2025.

The volley and the push (Rules 9.B.1., 9.B.2. and 9.H.)

This modification redefines the concept of volley, going from including "the movement of the blow, the follow-through and the momentum of the action" to:

“The act of volleying begins when the ball is hit in the air before bouncing (volley) and ends when the player's motion resulting from the follow-through action (momentum) stops.”

This means that the volley no longer includes the swing motion before hitting the ball.

In addition, the issue of pushing is clarified. Although it is still valid to volley a ball while your partner is in the kitchen, the 2025 rules add:

"As long as the partners, including anything they are wearing or carrying, do not touch each other during the act of volleying."

Line calls by spectators (Rule 6.C.4.)

This change reminds players not to ask viewers for opinions on line calls and also prohibits accepting any comments or input from viewers.

According to USA Pickleball:

"The change avoids both soliciting and accepting input from viewers. (We all know that unsolicited opinions on lines don't help.)"

Declaration of Fouls (Rules 13.D.1.c. and 7.O.)

In 2025, there will be two changes related to the declaration of faults:

Now, both players on a team must agree to a foot fault for the point to be replayed. Previously, only one player needed to acknowledge it.

This change ensures that this principle applies to all fouls on which teammates may disagree.

Fouls by your partner (Rule 13.D.1.a.)

The current rule states that you must declare a foul if you notice that you have committed one. With the 2025 change, you will also have to declare a foul if you observe that your teammate has committed one.

“The fault must be declared before the next throw-in occurs.”

Changes in service (Rule 4.A.5.)

Currently, the serve must be performed by releasing the ball with only one hand. The new rule will also allow the ball to be released with the paddle.

If you choose to release the ball with the paddle when performing a drop serve, you must allow the ball to roll down the face of the paddle solely by gravity, without applying force.

Despite this change, it is still illegal to impart spin on the ball.

Signs of “not being ready” (Rule 4.C.2.)

Now, the receiving team will be able to use a “verbal indicator” (such as “wait” or “stop”) to indicate that they are not ready, even after the server has called the result.

Previously, this was not allowed. Non-verbal “not ready” signals (such as hand gestures) are still not considered valid by the server.

Autographed rackets (Rule 2.E.5.c.)

Until now, autographed paddles could not be used at official USA Pickleball events. With the change in 2025, autographs will be allowed as long as they do not alter the surface of the paddle.

Marks made with a pen for personal identification (name, signature, telephone number or email) will remain valid.

Server's Positioning (Rule 3.A.38.)

The definition of who serves has always been confusing. Before, the rule was:

"The player who starts a rally. Depending on the team's score, the serving player may not be the correct server."

The new version states:

"The player who starts a rally by serving the ball. The correct server in doubles is the player whose correct position is determined by his score and starting position in the game (see Rule 4.B.6.b)."

While it's still a bit confusing, it basically means that the server is the one who starts a rally.

And that's all for the new regulations that will be applied by 2025. These are the most important regulations, but we recommend reading them all to be up to date.