Pickleball Rules and Scoring: How to Play and Keep Score
Pickleball is usually played with side-out scoring: only the serving side can score, games commonly go to 11, and you must win by 2. In doubles, the score call normally has three numbers: serving team score, receiving team score, and server number. A game commonly starts at 0-0-2 because the first serving team begins with only one server before the first side out.
The short version of pickleball rules
Pickleball is played over a net on a 20-by-44-foot court with a paddle and a perforated plastic ball. You can play singles or doubles, but doubles is the most common beginner format. The serve starts the rally, the return must bounce, and the serving team’s next shot must also bounce before either side can volley.
What you need before the first serve
Before starting, agree on singles or doubles, decide who serves first, confirm the game target, and make sure both teams understand the score call. Recreational games are commonly played to 11, win by 2. Tournament or local formats may use other targets, so treat those as format rules rather than universal rules.
How serving works
Where to stand and where the serve must land
The serve is made diagonally to the opposite service court. The server stands behind the baseline, and the ball must land beyond the non-volley zone in the correct diagonal service court. The serve may land on most service-court boundary lines, but not on the non-volley-zone line.
The most common service faults
The most common beginner service faults are serving into the net, serving to the wrong court, landing the serve in the kitchen or on the kitchen line, stepping on or over the baseline too early, and using an illegal serve motion.
How scoring works in doubles
What the three-number score call means
Doubles uses a three-number score call: the serving team’s score, the receiving team’s score, and the server number. For example, 4-2-1 means the serving team has 4, the receiving team has 2, and the serving side is on server one.
Why games often start at 0-0-2
At the start of a doubles game, the first serving team starts with only one server. That player is treated as server two for the opening service turn, so the opening score call is commonly 0-0-2. If the first serving team loses the rally, the serve goes to the other team.
A simple doubles scoring example
| Score call | What it means | What happens if serving side wins | What happens if serving side loses |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-0-2 | Start of the game; serving team 0, receiving team 0, second server | Serving team scores 1 and the same server switches sides | Side out; the other team serves |
| 1-0-2 | Same opening server has scored once | Score becomes 2-0-2 and server switches sides again | Side out; the other team serves |
| 0-1-1 | Other team now serves; it has 0, opponents have 1, first server | Score becomes 1-1-1 and server switches sides | Serve moves to that team’s second server |
| 0-1-2 | Same team is now on second server | Score becomes 1-1-2 and server switches sides | Side out; serve returns to opponents |
How scoring works in singles
Singles scoring is simpler because there is no partner and no server number. The score call has two numbers: the server’s score first, then the receiver’s score. If you are serving at 6-4, you call 6-4 before the serve.
The two-bounce rule
The two-bounce rule means the serve must bounce before the receiving side returns it, and that return must bounce before the serving side hits its next shot. Only after those two bounces can either side volley the ball out of the air.
The kitchen and volley rules
The kitchen is the non-volley zone, extending 7 feet from the net on both sides. The main rule is simple: you cannot volley while standing in the kitchen or while your volley momentum carries you into it.
Line calls, faults, and side outs
Most boundary lines are in. The major serve exception is the non-volley-zone line: a serve that hits that line is a fault because the serve must clear the non-volley zone.
Common beginner mistakes
The most common beginner mistakes are calling the score in the wrong order, forgetting the third number in doubles, serving before the score is called, standing on the wrong side after a point, volleying too early before the two-bounce rule is satisfied, and stepping into the kitchen after a volley.
How to play your first game without confusion
Start slowly. Call the score before every serve. In doubles, say three numbers. In singles, say two. If you are unsure who serves, ask which team last scored on serve and whether the current serving side is on server one or server two.
In doubles, 0-0-2 means the serving team has 0, the receiving team has 0, and the serving side is on its second server. A doubles game commonly starts this way because the first serving team begins with only one server before the first side out.
Under standard side-out scoring, yes. Only the serving side scores a point. If the receiving side wins the rally, it earns a side out or the next server, depending on the doubles sequence.
No. Pickleball does not use the tennis first-serve and second-serve structure. In standard play, a server gets one legal serve attempt.
Yes. The serve must land in the correct diagonal service court beyond the non-volley zone. A serve that lands in the kitchen or on the kitchen line is a fault.
Yes. The kitchen is not a forbidden area. The restriction is on volleying from the non-volley zone, including when volley momentum carries you into it.
Singles scoring uses two numbers: the server's score and the receiver's score. There is no third server-number call because there is only one player on each side.
Start with the legal serve, side-out scoring, the two-bounce rule, the kitchen rule, basic line calls, and how to call the score before serving.