Table tennis · Rules and guides
Table tennis (ping pong) scoring rules and guides
Table tennis (ping pong) games go to 11 points with a 2-point lead, with 2 serves each. These plain-English guides explain the rest, from the first serve to a deuce at 10-10, plus a helper that tells you whose serve it is.
New to the game, or settling an argument across the table? Start with how to keep score in table tennis. It covers points, games, matches, who serves and when to change ends, with a deuce game scored rally by rally.
Three questions come up at almost every table. Whose serve is it? The whose serve helper works it out from the score, in singles or doubles. Is ping pong played to 11 or 21? 11 or 21 points explains the switch the ITTF made in September 2001 and the old 21-point rules. And does a serve that clips the net count? The let rule says when a rally is replayed and when it is a point.
Current rules are checked against the ITTF Laws of Table Tennis; the pre-2001 21-point rules come from Wikipedia. The table tennis score tracker app keeps the score with one tap per rally, in singles or doubles, with games to 11 or 21. Its serving marker shows the side that won the last rally rather than the ITTF serve order, so use the helper when you need to know who serves.
Scoring guides
Free tools
Rules explained
Last reviewed September 25, 2026
Keep score with one tap.
Sport Score Tracker keeps table tennis score on iPhone and Apple Watch, so you can play instead of counting. Offline, no ads, no account.