The most difficult part of playing Pickleball is… keeping score! We understand it’s easy to forget who served or what the score is (especially after a long rally) and want to ensure all have a clear understanding of HOW to keep score.
Accurate scorekeeping is part of advancing to a higher skill level. There is a wonderful video on our website (https://villagespickleball.vgcc.club/) under The Game > How to Keep Score, which demonstrates scorekeeping very clearly. Questions? Ask a Group Play Leader or email pickleballvgcc@gmail.com.
Games are won when one side scores 11 points; they must win by two points. After deciding which team serves first, the player on the right (Player 1, side A) serves diagonally to Player 1, side B. To minimize the advantage of being the first team to serve in the game, only one player serves the first turn. The score is called in the order of server’s score, receiver’s score, then server number one or two. When starting a game, the score is always Zero-Zero-Two. The two indicates the second server and when the serve is lost it moves to the receiving team.
After the initial serve, each player on a team serves until they fail to score. When they get the serve back, the other player may be on the right and is server one for that turn. For example, if the serving team has 3 and the receiving team has 6, when player one serves, the score is 3-6-1. If no point is scored, service moves to player 2, the score is now 3-6-2. The second player who serves on a team will always be “two”. If they fail to score, it moves to the other team, and the score would be 6-3-1.
Fun fact: When a team’s score is even, the player who served first in the game will be on the right side of the pickleball court and on the left side of the court when the score is odd.