How to Keep Score in Pickleball

Pickleball is a fast-moving game that requires quick reaction times and lightning-fast hand movements. Keeping track of your score can be tough and challenging, to say the least. At first glance, keeping score in pickleball may look like adding up two numbers, but there's actually more to it than meets the eye.

Just like with tennis, handling scoring and serving rotations in pickleball can be somewhat confusing at first. But that doesn't mean the game is difficult to play. In fact, pickleball is a fun and popular game that anyone can play. It's easy to learn and even easier to start playing. But there are some simple rules that you need to follow in order to keep score during a pickleball game.

To make things much easier, we've created this short guide on how to keep score in pickleball so you can start playing today. It'll take some getting used to, but you'll get the hang of it in no time! Ready? Let's dive in!

How to Keep Score in Pickleball

So you're looking to play pickleball with your friends, family, or coworkers. That's great! Keeping score in pickleball isn't rocket science; there is a method to it, so you have nothing to worry about.

When playing singles, only two numbers are called out—the server's score first and then the receiver's score. But when playing doubles, three (3) numbers act as the basis of scoring in pickleball. The three numbers are a series of numbers such as 2-4-1, 1-2-1, etc. The first digit represents the serving team's score, and the second digit represents the receiving team's score. The third number signifies the server's number, which can be one or two, representing which of the two players on a team is serving.

The score is called out every time the serving team is about to serve because sometimes a pickleball game can go on and on, and one may find it hard to keep track of the score. But by calling out scores, it's difficult to lose track of the score.

Who Serves First in Pickleball?

The serving team is decided by a quick flip of a coin or whatever rule you choose at your chosen pickleball court—anything that gives each team a 50/50 chance. If you win the toss, you get to choose whether you want to serve first or which side you want to start on.

The person on the right side of the serving team will serve first—it's a hard-fast rule. If you're the first server, the score will always be even when you're on the right side of the court. And when you're on the left side of the court, the score will always be odd.

How Many Serves Do You Get in Pickleball?

In a doubles pickleball game, a team has the chance to serve twice, except at the start of the game (first server exception). On the first serve, the serving player (on the right) keeps serving until they lose a point. If the serving team loses a point, the second team will serve. From this point, the serving player on the team will keep serving until the team loses a point. And when they do, the second player on the serving team will serve and keep doing so until their team loses a point. When this happens, the opposing team gets to serve, and the cycle continues.

To put it another way, if the serving team loses a point at the start of the game (their first loss), the opposing team gets to serve, and each player on the team gets to serve before the players on the opposing team make their serve. And from there, if the serving team wins a point on their serve, the player with the winning serve keeps serving until they lose a point (while changing their position on the field, right to left or left to right each time, because the scores will increase by one and alternate between even and odd). However, in a singles pickleball game, each player gets to serve once. The serving player will keep serving until they lose the rally or fault, after which a side out will occur, and the other player gets to serve.

Let's illustrate how the three numbers work: Say your team has a score of 2-4-1. It simply means that your team is the serving team, and your score is two, while the opposing team has four points. As the serving team, you serve and get the game going.

If your team scores a point, the score becomes 3-4-1, and you switch positions with your partner. You continue to switch positions from right to left and left to right. Nonetheless, the person on the right side will always serve the ball, except if you hit the ball into the net or your team faults, then the second player on the left side of the court serves the ball, and the score becomes 3-4-2. If your team makes another mistake, it's side out, and you don't switch positions. Instead, the player on the right side of the opposing game gets to serve and calls out the score as 4-3-1.

How to Keep Score at the Beginning of a Pickleball Game

At the beginning of a match, the serving rules are a bit different because the team serving has just one serve. This means that at the start of the game, the person on the right hand of the serving team will serve the ball diagonally across the court, and the score will be 0-0-2 or 0-0-start. The third number is two at the beginning of the match, which means the serving team has only one chance to serve.

As the game progresses, if the serving team wins a point, the players on the team will switch positions, and the score becomes 1-0-2 or 1-0-start. The serving team continues to serve from the right side of the court if they are on a winning streak! However, if they fault by serving the ball into the net, a side-out is declared, and it's the opposing team's turn to serve with the score set to 0-1-1.

If the opposing team hits the pickleball into the net, the next player on the left side of the court gets to serve, and the score is now 0-1-2. If they score a point because the other team could not catch the ball, it becomes 1-1-2. The opposing team gets to serve again. But if they miss another point, guess what the score will be now? 1-1-1! Hey, don't get confused. It simply means both teams have one point each, and the serving team is on their first serve.

You can continue the game by working out possible scenarios in your mind; this is a very effective way to practice scoring.

How to Score a Point in Pickleball

To score a point in pickleball, your team must be the serving team. This is consistent with both singles and doubles pickleball. The serving team on the pickleball court can only score a point when they win the rally.

The winning point is usually 11 points (win by 2), although 15 points (win by 2) or 22 points (win by 2) are used in some pickleball games during tournaments. There are no exceptions to the "win by 2" rule; this means that the winning team's scores must be two points higher than the other team's.

For singles pickleball games, when the server loses their serve, the opposing player gets to serve while the server moves to a side that matches their score. For example, if the server had 2 points, the move would be to the right side, which is the even side. But if the server has an odd point like 3, the movement will be to the left side of the court.

Conclusion

Pickleball is a great way to socialize and get into competitive gameplay. But who wants to compete without keeping score? When you know how to keep score in pickleball, the game becomes more interesting! Read now, play later, and play better. Nothing beats practice!