How does scoring work in pickleball?

Only the serving team can score a point. You call three numbers before each serve in doubles. Your score, their score, and whether you are server 1 or server 2. Games are played to 11 and won by 2.

Why does pickleball start at 0-0-2?

To stop the team that serves first from running away with the game. Normally each team gets two servers per turn, so the starting team is limited to one. Calling the server number 2 signals that the serve goes to the other team as soon as this rally is lost.

What do the three numbers in pickleball mean?

The first is the serving team's score, the second is the receiving team's score, and the third is whether you are the first or second server for your side. Singles uses only two numbers because there is no second server.

Can the receiving team score points in pickleball?

Not in traditional side-out scoring, which is what recreational play uses. Winning a rally as the receiving team earns you the serve instead of a point. Rally scoring, used in some leagues, does award a point on every rally.

Do you have to win by 2 in pickleball?

Yes. Games go to 11 but must be won by a margin of 2, so a game can continue past 11 indefinitely. Some tournaments play to 15 or 21, also win by 2.

Which side do you serve from in pickleball?

When your team's score is even you serve from the right side, and when it is odd you serve from the left. Zero is even, which is why the very first serve of the game comes from the right.

How Does Pickleball Scoring Work? (And Why It Starts at 0-0-2)

By José Cabrera · September 9, 2026 · 7 min read

In doubles you call three numbers. Your team's score, the other team's score, and whether you are the first or second server. Only the serving team can score. Games go to 11 and you must win by 2. The first serve of the game is called 0-0-2 because the starting team gets only one server instead of two.

The rules of this sport are simple except for one thing, and the one thing is the scoring. Specifically, it is the moment somebody says "zero, zero, two" at the start of a game and everyone new looks at each other.

Here is the whole system, including the part nobody bothers to explain.

What do the three numbers mean?

In doubles you say three numbers before every serve, always in this order.

Your team's score.
The other team's score.
Whether you are the first or second server for your side, so 1 or 2.

So "6-3-1" means the serving team has 6, the receiving team has 3, and the first of that team's two servers is about to serve.

The order never changes based on who is winning. If you are serving and you are behind 2 to 9, you say "2-9" and not the other way around. This is the single most common mistake and it is entirely a nerves thing.

Singles is simpler because there is no partner, so there is no third number. You just say two.

Why can only the serving team score?

Because that is how traditional pickleball works, and it is called side-out scoring.

If you win a rally while you are receiving, you do not get a point. You get the serve. Then you have to win the next rally to actually score. This is why games can feel like they take a long time to move, and it is why holding the serve matters so much.

There is an alternative called rally scoring, where a point is awarded on every rally regardless of who served. It makes games shorter and more predictable in length, which is why some leagues and televised formats use it. Recreational open play in most places still uses side-out scoring, so that is the one worth learning first. If someone at your court says "we're playing rally," they are telling you the rules just changed.

Why does the game start at 0-0-2?

This is the part that makes no sense until you hear the reason, and then it makes complete sense.

Normally, when your team gets the serve, both players get a turn to serve. The first server serves until the team loses a rally, then the second server serves until they lose one too, and only then does the serve pass to the other team. That is a side-out.

Now think about the very first serve of the game. If the starting team got both servers, they could score repeatedly before the other team ever touched the ball. That is a real advantage handed to whoever won the coin flip.

So the rule is that the first service turn of the game gets one server only. The way you announce that is by calling yourself server number 2, even though nobody has served yet. Saying "0-0-2" is shorthand for: nobody has scored, and as soon as we lose this rally the serve goes straight over.

It is not a typo and it is not a quirk. It is a fairness patch, announced in the least intuitive way possible.

Which side do you serve from?

Look at your own team's score.

Even score, serve from the right. Zero counts as even, which is why the first serve of any game is from the right side.
Odd score, serve from the left.

That is the entire rule, and it doubles as a self-check. If you are about to serve and the number you just said is even but you are standing on the left, something has gone wrong, and it is usually that you and your partner forgot to switch after scoring.

That switching is worth stating plainly, because it catches people out: you only swap sides with your partner when you score a point while serving. You do not swap when you win the serve back, and you never swap while receiving. Receivers stay where they are for the whole game.

How is singles scoring different?

Singles drops the third number and changes what decides your position, which makes it simpler once you stop expecting it to work the same way.

You call two numbers: your score and theirs. There is no server number because there is no partner to hand the serve to. Lose a rally while serving and the serve goes straight to the other player.

Position still comes from a score being even or odd, but now it is your own score, and it applies to the receiver too. Serve from the right when your score is even, from the left when it is odd. The receiver simply stands diagonally opposite, which they work out from the same number.

The practical effect is that singles moves much faster between servers, and the score gets called far less often, so it is easier to lose track of. Most players who are used to doubles find the first singles game slightly disorienting for exactly this reason, and then fine.

How long is a game?

Games go to 11 points, win by 2. If it is 10-10, somebody has to get to 12. If it is 15-15, somebody has to get to 17. There is no cap in normal play.

Tournaments sometimes play to 15 or 21, still win by 2. If you turn up to an organized event, that is worth asking before the first serve rather than during it.

What happens if you call the score wrong?

Very little, most of the time. Somebody corrects you and you serve.

If a rally has already been played on a genuinely wrong score, the usual recreational fix is to replay the point. In sanctioned play the rules are stricter about when the score can be corrected, but at open play nobody is going to make an issue of it, and anyone who does is telling you something about themselves rather than about the rules. We have an entire collection for those people, and some of them are lovely.

The one habit worth building is calling the score before you serve and loud enough that the far side hears it. Serving while you are still saying the numbers is how points get replayed, and it is a small thing that regular players notice. It sits alongside the other unwritten rules that matter more than people expect.

What if you are new and this feels like a lot?

It is a lot for about two sessions, then it is automatic.

Nobody at open play expects a new player to track the score perfectly. What they do expect is that you say something out loud before serving instead of just hitting the ball, and that you accept a correction without a debate. Both of those are free.

If you are still working out how the whole session runs, the beginner's guide to open play covers the parts that are not in any rulebook. And if the score is fine but the faults are the confusing part, the rest of the rules are here in plain English, including the seven-foot zone that causes more arguments than the scoring ever will.

The short version

Your score, their score, server 1 or 2. Only the serving team scores. Even score serves from the right, odd from the left. Games to 11, win by 2. And the game starts at 0-0-2 because the first team to serve only gets one server, which is the fairest possible way to begin a game and the most confusing possible way to say so.

How to call the score out loud

01Say your team's score firstAlways the serving team's score first, no matter who is winning. If you are serving and losing 3 to 8, you still say 3 first.
02Say the other team's score secondThe receiving team's score comes next. This is the number people most often say in the wrong order when they are nervous.
03Say 1 or 2 for which server you are1 if your side has not lost a rally yet this turn, 2 if your partner already served and lost. Singles has no third number.
04Check you are standing in the right placeIf your team's score is even, the first server serves from the right side. If it is odd, from the left. Zero counts as even.
05Say it before you serve, not while you serveCall it loud enough for the far side to hear, wait half a beat, then serve. Serving before anyone has heard the score is the most common way to have a point replayed.

Common questions

How does scoring work in pickleball?: Only the serving team can score a point. You call three numbers before each serve in doubles. Your score, their score, and whether you are server 1 or server 2. Games are played to 11 and won by 2.
Why does pickleball start at 0-0-2?: To stop the team that serves first from running away with the game. Normally each team gets two servers per turn, so the starting team is limited to one. Calling the server number 2 signals that the serve goes to the other team as soon as this rally is lost.
What do the three numbers in pickleball mean?: The first is the serving team's score, the second is the receiving team's score, and the third is whether you are the first or second server for your side. Singles uses only two numbers because there is no second server.
Can the receiving team score points in pickleball?: Not in traditional side-out scoring, which is what recreational play uses. Winning a rally as the receiving team earns you the serve instead of a point. Rally scoring, used in some leagues, does award a point on every rally.
Do you have to win by 2 in pickleball?: Yes. Games go to 11 but must be won by a margin of 2, so a game can continue past 11 indefinitely. Some tournaments play to 15 or 21, also win by 2.
Which side do you serve from in pickleball?: When your team's score is even you serve from the right side, and when it is odd you serve from the left. Zero is even, which is why the very first serve of the game comes from the right.

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