Pickleball · Rules and guides
Pickleball scoring guides and score caller
Pickleball games go to 11 points and must be won by 2, usually as the best of three games. Under traditional side-out scoring only the serving side can score; under rally scoring, every rally puts a point on the board.
Most scoring mix-ups in pickleball come from the score call rather than the points. In doubles you call three numbers before every serve: the serving team's score, the receiving team's score and the server number, 1 or 2. Every side-out doubles game opens at 0-0-2. Singles uses two numbers, and so does rally scoring, the provisional alternative USA Pickleball allows alongside side-out scoring.
New to it? Start with how to keep score in pickleball. It walks through a doubles game rally by rally and shows how side outs and rally scoring change the numbers. The pages below go deeper on single rules, such as the 0-0-2 start, rally versus side-out scoring and serving in singles, and the free score caller works out the call and the server number for you.
If you would rather not count at all, the pickleball score tracker app keeps the score on iPhone and Apple Watch with one tap per rally, in rally scoring or side-out singles. Side-out doubles is only partly supported: the app passes the serve after any rally the serving team loses, so each team gets one server per turn instead of two, and its score will not match the official count. For side-out doubles, use the score caller.
Scoring guides
Free tools
Rules explained
Comparisons
Last reviewed September 25, 2026
Keep score with one tap.
Sport Score Tracker keeps pickleball score on iPhone and Apple Watch, so you can play instead of counting. Offline, no ads, no account.