The nickname for the 2.13 m zone right at the net. You may not take the ball out of the air there — and your follow-through must not carry you in either.
\"Kitchen\" is only the nickname — officially it is the non-volley zone, running 2.13 metres deep on each side of the net. The rule is simple and still gets broken daily: inside that zone you may not volley, though balls that have bounced are fair game. The classic beginner error is not the step in, it is the follow-through — you volley just outside it, your swing carries you over the line, fault. That is precisely why you play soft rather than hard at the kitchen line. At the same time this zone is where pickleball is decided: the team that arrives there under control and stays has the better angles and the pressure. One detail that gets missed: the line itself counts as part of the zone — a serve landing on the kitchen line is out.