Beginner’s guide to pickleball scoring

Quickly Learn The Basics!

Hello to the future pickleball champion! Ever thought: “Did I just ace that point?” Let’s demystify pickleball scoring, especially in the electrifying doubles. Here’s the scoop:

Snapshot: Pickleball Scoring Basics

  • The standard finish line is at 11 points.
  • The privilege to score? That’s reserved for the server.
  • Announcing your score before you serve isn’t a choice, it’s tradition.
  • For singles, the score has 2 parts. Doubles? That’s a trilogy of numbers.
  • After a point? Time for a court-side shuffle!

Unlocking Victory: What’s the Winning Number?

The magic number is 11. However, the adrenaline-pumping road to 11 is where the real action lies. Your ticket to score? That’s your opponent’s fault. They can be:

  • Forced: Like being caught off-guard by a power serve.
  • Unforced: Like a forbidden step into the no-volley zone.

Beware, seasoned player! Tournament rules often rewrite the game, sometimes making it a race to 15 or 21, or even a trilogy of 11-point rounds. Dive deeper with this beginner guide to pickleball scoring.

Pickleball Scoring Guide

  • Points to Win: Pickleball is played to 11 points, and you must win by 2 points.
  • Player Position: The player on the right service court will always serve first for a team.
  • Scoring Points: You can only win points when it is your team’s serve.

See also The 7 rules of pickleball that everyone forgets

Pickleball Doubles Scoring & Rules

  • You can only score a point when your team is serving. If you are on the receiving side, you can’t score a point.
  • The first serve is served by the player on the right side of the court, or what is called the “even court”. The server serves underhand, diagonally to the opposite court.
  • If the serving side wins the point, the server moves to the left court, the “odd court”, and serves diagonally again.
  • To start a game, the first team to serve will start as the #2 serve, meaning it will be a team sideout if they lose the rally. This only happens on the first serve of a game.
  • The server continues to serve from right to left each time that they score a point.
  • Players on the serving side are the only players who alternate right to left, and you only alternate when you score a point. The receiving side does not alternate sides.
  • When the first server loses the rally, the serve passes to the second server on the team. Players stay on the side they were when the point ended and the server serves from that side.
  • When server two loses the serve, it is the other team’s turn to serve and try to win some points. The player on the right serves first. This same pattern continues throughout the game.
  • The server number (1 or 2) applies for that service turn only. Whoever is on the right side when the team gets the serve back is the first server for that service turn only. The next time that the team gets the serve back, it might be the other player that is on the right and is therefore the first server for that service turn only. Players often mistakenly assume that the player keeps the same server number throughout the game.
  • For the very first serve of the game, only one person from that team serves. The first score that is called in pickleball is 0-0-2. The “2” means that the second server starts the game, and when the serving team loses a point, the serve goes to the other team. This minimizes the advantage of being the first team to serve in a game.

Pickleball Scoring Summary

Doubles

  • The player on the right side of the court always serves first
  • Both players on the serving team switch positions after every point
  • Players on the receiving team do not switch positions
  • The score is called as a sequence of three numbers (see below): the serving team’s score, the receiving team’s score, and the serve position. A couple of examples are: 5 – 2 – 1 or 5 – 2 – 2

Singles

  • A player serves from the right side of the court if their score is even (0, 2, 4, and so on)
  • A player serves from the left side of the court if their score is odd (1, 3, 5, and so on)
  • The receiving player always lines up diagonally from the serving player
  • The score is called as a sequence of two numbers (see below): the serving team’s score and the receiving team’s score. An example is: 5 – 2
  • See more at playing singles pickleball

FREE download of the rules of pickleball

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Best Video on Pickleball Scoring

YouTube video

How to Call the Score in Pickleball (Doubles)

The score is always called by the person serving, saying three numbers.

pickleball scoring doubles

How to Call the Score in Pickleball (Singles)

Playing singles pickleball? Then the score is still called by the person serving, but now there is only two number.

  • First number: serving team score
  • Second number: receiving team score
pickleball scoring singles

Conclusion – Your Takeaways

  • Yes, in the beginning, it can be confusing. You’ll get into a groove in a game or two, really!
  • You can only win points when you are serving.
  • When the server’s score is even, you serve from the right side. When the server’s score is odd, you serve from the left side.
  • If you are serving, you call your score first: server score, receiver score.

  • see the complete pickleball FAQ to answer more questions

Pickleball Scoring Guide – Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

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