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Writer's pictureDan Friedman

How Traditional Pickleball Scoring Works

Are you curious as to how traditional pickleball scoring works? Traditional pickleball scoring follows a non-rally scoring system, which means points can only be scored by the serving team. The game is typically played to 11 points (win by 2), and matches are traditionally the best-of-three or best-of-five games. Here's how the scoring works in pickleball:

How Traditional Pickleball Scoring Works

Serve and Initial Points:

  • The serving team (which has an advantage) always starts the game on their second server (this is the only time during the game where a team will only get one serve), the server begins serving from the right-hand side of the court. The game starts at “0-0-2.”

  • When the serving team scores a point, the serving team’s players switch sides of the court with their partner and the current server continues serving. If they win another point, they switch back again and continue doing so until they lose a point. Server 2 will begin serving after the first point is lost. Once the serving team’s second point is lost, the other team begins serving with their first server, always on the right-hand-side of the court.

  • The serving team can only score points when they are serving. If the receiving team wins the rally, they do not score a point but either move the serve over to the second server or gain the serve if the serving team is on their second serve.

Winning the Game:

  • The game is played to 11 points (win by 2). If the score reaches 10-10, the game continues until one team has a two-point advantage.

Match Format:

  • Matches can be played as best-of-three or best-of-five games. The winner of the match is the team that wins the majority of the games.

Deciding Game in Match:

  • In a best-of-three match, if each team wins one game, a third game is played to determine the overall winner of the match.

Side Switching:

  • Players switch sides of the court after each game. This helps ensure that players experience similar conditions on both sides of the court, including any effects from sun or wind.

Official Scoring Callouts:

  • During play, the serving team’s score is always called first, followed by the receiving team’s score. The third number called is which serving team’s number is service. For example, if the serving team has 3 points and the receiving team has 2 points, and it is the first server serving, the score is called as "3-2-1."

  • In this example, if no additional points were scored during the serving team’s turn to serve and the possession of the serve went back to the opposing team, they would then flip the score and call out the score as “2-3-1” because they are still losing, but it is now their turn to begin serving and score points.


Understanding the scoring system is essential for players to keep track of the progress of a game or match. Rally scoring adds an element of strategy to the game, as points can be won by both the serving and receiving teams, making every rally important in the overall outcome of the match.



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