Pickleball Scoring: The Ultimate Guide

Pickleball, the sport that’s sweeping the globe with its fast-paced action and easy accessibility, has you hooked. You’ve got your paddle in hand, and you’re ready to step onto the court, but there’s one hurdle in your way— you still don’t quite understand the world of pickleball scoring.

In this guide, we’ll break down and simplify all the rules of pickleball scoring, so you can serve, dink, and volley your way to victory with confidence!

Understanding Scoring In Pickleball

One of the biggest differences between pickleball scoring and other racket sports is that points can only be scored by the serving team. If the serving team wins a rally, they are awarded a point and continue serving as long as the receiving team fails to return the ball properly.

If the receiving team wins the rally (in singles) or wins rallies against both servers (in doubles), they take control of the serve and can score points with successful serves.

Regarding the game itself, most pickleball matches are played to 11. The first team to reach 11 points with a lead of at least 2 points wins the match. If the score reaches 10-10, a two-point advantage is required for a team to win. This means the match could end with a score of 12-10, 15-13, and so on.

The simplified scoring in pickleball allows matches to move quickly compared to other racket sports like tennis.

Scoring In Singles vs. Doubles

Now that we have the basics of Pickleball scoring covered, let’s look at how these rules differ depending on whether your playing singles or doubles matches.

Pickleball Singles Scoring

– In singles, the score is made up of two numbers, such as 0-0. The first number represents the server’s score, and the second number represents the receivers.

– The first serve for each side starts on the right side. If the server wins the rally, the server switches to the other side of the court, so the receiver must line up either on the right or left side according to the server.

– The server will continue to serve as long as he/she keeps on winning the point. Only when the server loses the point either by losing a rally or committing a fault, then will the opposing party become the serving party.

– When the server’s score is an even number, the serve is always done from the right side; whereas, for odd scores, it is done from the left side.

Pickleball Doubles Scoring

– In doubles, the score is made up of three numbers, such as 0-0-2, with the first number representing the server’s score, the second number representing the receiver’s score, and the third number representing the server, #1 or #2.

– Each team in doubles receives two serves, one for each player, except for the team that serves to start the game. The team that serves to start the game only receives one serve, which means every doubles match will start with a score of 0-0-2. (0 points for the serving team, 0 points for the receiving team, and 2 because only one player can serve for the first serving team).

– At the start of the game, the player on the right side (even court) serves to the diagonally opposite court. If a point is scored, the server moves to the left side and serves to the diagonally opposite court. Players on the serving side continue to move from right to left or left to right each time a point is scored, while the receiving side never alternates sides.

– Only when the second server on the team loses his/her serve, then does the serve go to the other team, which is known as side out. That pattern continues throughout the game, with the serving team always starting their serve with the player on the right.

– If a team’s score is even, the player who initially served in that game must be on the right (even) side of the court and on the left (odd) side when the score is odd. If this is not the case, then either the players are on the wrong side of the court or the score is inaccurate.

Calling Score

Calling score is a crucial aspect of maintaining fairness and sportsmanship on the pickleball courts. The serving team is generally responsible for calling the score, with the player serving being the one to announce the score at the beginning of each new point.

As mentioned above, in doubles, the server will be calling the score which consists of three numbers (serving party, receiving party, and server #), while in singles, the server will be calling the score which consists of just two numbers (serving party, receiving party).

Don’t Stress Out About It!

Overall, pickleball scoring may seem a little complex at first, but with a little practice and understanding of the rules, it’s easy to keep track of the score accurately. Even if you make a scoring error, remember that it’s all part of the learning process and there’s no need to stress out about it. That said, if you do want to learn more about how to play pickleball and the key rules of the game, we’d highly suggest checking our step-by-step beginners’ guide here!

Embrace the opportunity to improve and enjoy the game!