You win! Or do you?

Staying on top of your pickleball score as a beginner can be difficult, especially when you’re tracking the score in doubles pickleball. What are the basic scoring rules you need to know?

• Pickleball games are typically played to 11 points
• You can score only when serving
• You have to verbally call your score just before you serve
• Singles pickleball scores have 2 numbers, and doubles scores have 3 numbers
• Each time you score a point, you should move to your other service court

What Score Do You Need to Win in Pickleball?

Following traditional pickleball rules, the first player or team to get to 11 points within a 2-point margin (having at least 2 points more than the other side) is the winner. Only the serving side can earn a point, which is caused by the other side faulting.

A fault is any error, forced or unforced, on the part of a pickleball player. An example of a forced error is missing the ball on a return serve because your opponent hit it hard and you didn’t see it coming.

An unforced error is bad foot placement or volleying in the non-volley zone.

Decoding the 2 and 3 Numbers of Pickleball Scores

What Are the 2 Numbers in a Pickleball Score?

You’ll see the score denoted by either two or three numbers, with two numbers being the common scoring system for singles pickleball. What do the numbers mean?

The first number represents the server’s score, while the second number shows the receiver’s score. Both numbers can go to 11, but since games must be won by 2 or more points, the numbers can be higher than 11.

For example, let’s say the score is 7-10. This means the server has a score of 7 and the receiver has a score of 10.

What Are the 3 Numbers in a Pickleball Score?

In doubles pickleball, scoring gets more complex, since it’s made of 3 numbers instead of 2. Well, maybe the better way to phrase this is that doubles scoring seems more complex at first, but after a few games of doubles, it becomes second nature. So what do the numbers mean?

In doubles pickleball, the first number is the serving team’s score, the middle number is the receiving team’s score, and the last number is the server number. These first 2 digits operate the same as singles pickleball, going to 11 points or higher, while the 3rd number is never higher than 2.

Do You Have to Call a Pickleball Score Aloud?

Another beginner’s mistake is assuming that the pickleball court will have a scoreboard advertising the current score in big, glowing digits. While that would be nice, and maybe is an option in some serious tournament settings, you can’t rely on a digital scoreboard, let alone some flimsy plastic numbers to keep score on a net post.

Instead, you should call the score aloud when you serve. On a non-tournament level, this isn’t a requirement, but more or less accepted etiquette for playing as calling the score before serving is part of USA Pickleball's official rules (4.A.1.)

Which Side of the Court Do You Move to After a Point Is Scored?

In pickleball, you don’t stand on the same side of the court for the entire game. You’ll move from one side of the court to another, and this isn’t random by any means.

Let’s say your game of doubles pickleball begins with your team serving, and you’re standing on the right side. If you score a point, you move to the odd court, which is the left side. If you score from there, you switch sides again.

This can keep repeating if you’re scoring points when serving.

You should switch sides only if you score a point, as positions on the court in doubles can still denote whether the score is even or odd. Only the serving side switches court sides. The players on the receiving side stay in their positions.