Pickleball Scoring: A Simple and Straightforward Guide

Scoring in pickleball can feel a little confusing at first, especially if you're coming from tennis or ping pong. But once you get the hang of it, it's smooth sailing. Whether you’re playing doubles or singles, here’s a clear guide to how points, serves, and rotations work.

The Basics

How to Win

Pickleball games are typically played to 11 points. However, you’ll need to win by at least 2 points to clinch the game. So if the score is 10–10, play continues until one team leads by two.

Who Serves First?

The player positioned on the right-hand side of the court (also called the "even" side) always starts the serve for their team.

When Do You Score?

Only the serving team can earn points. If the serving team wins a rally, they score and continue serving. If the receiving team wins the rally, they don’t score, but they regain the serve.

Doubles Pickleball Scoring: Step by Step

Starting the Game

The game begins with only one player on the starting team serving. This is a unique rule for the opening rally only. The first score call will be 0-0-2, where the "2" indicates that it’s the second server’s turn (yes, even though it’s the first server of the game). After this first round, both players on each team will serve in each rotation.

Serving Rotation

• The serve always starts from the right side of the court.
• After each point scored, the server switches sides (right to left, or even to odd).
• The partner does not switch sides unless a point is scored.
• The serve must be hit underhand and land diagonally across the net into the opponent’s service zone.

Losing the Serve

• When the first server on a team loses a rally, the serve passes to their partner.
• If the second server also loses the rally, the serve passes to the other team.
• The receiving team stays in the same positions until they win back the serve.

Tracking the Score

Before every serve, the server calls out three numbers:

1. Their team’s score
2. The opponents’ score
3. The server number (either 1 or 2)

So if you hear 6–4–1, it means your team has 6 points, the other team has 4, and it’s your team’s first server for the turn.

---

Singles Pickleball Scoring

Singles scoring is simpler but follows similar principles.

How Points Work

Just like doubles, only the server can score. The receiver’s job is to win the rally and take over the serve.

Serving Position

Your position depends on your current score:

• If your score is even, serve from the right side of the court.
• If your score is odd, serve from the left.

Calling the Score

The score is called in two numbers: your score first, followed by your opponent’s. For example, "5–3" means you have 5 points and your opponent has 3.

Winning the Game

Games go to 11 points, and you must win by 2. No additional servers to worry about—just you and your opponent, side to side.

Wrapping It Up

Once you understand the serve order and scoring pattern, pickleball becomes a lot easier to follow—and even more fun to play. Doubles takes a little coordination and communication, while singles keeps it quick and personal.

The key takeaway? Only the serving side can score, the serve must be underhand and diagonal, and teamwork (or strategy, in singles) makes all the difference.