Rally Scoring

Recreational pickleball

There are a few ways to implement rally scoring. This review will describe the format for rally scoring in recreational events.

Rally Scoring Important Points

• Each rally is worth a point
• There is no server 1 and server 2 in doubles - each side is only going to get 1 serve, but throughout the game each person will have the chance to serve
• Right side of court is even side and left side of court is the odd side
• The serving team score determines the side of the court of which the serve will be played (odd score to left side or even score to right side)
• If the serving team scores then the same server will change to the other side of court and serve.  This is the only condition under which a team will switch sides.
• The receiving team can score if they win the rally
• Games are typically played to 15 or 21, & are usually “win by 2 points”
• Points after the 14th or 20th point may only be scored on the serve, meaning a receiving team cannot win the game. A receiving team reaching this threshold is frozen until they regain the serve.