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Tournament rules
Win a point on every play
Hit the ball back and forth until someone misses or breaks a rule. The other team gets one point—even if they didn’t serve.
- First to 11, ahead by 2. At 10–10, keep playing until a team leads by two points. The organizer may announce a different target before the game.
- Say the score before serving. Your team’s score first, then the other team’s. For example: “4–2.”
Who serves next?
The team that just won the point serves next. A serve is the shot that starts each play.
- Before the game: each team chooses a starting server. The first serve is from the right half of the court, looking toward the net.
- Your team serves and wins: the same person serves again. Swap left and right positions with your partner first.
- Your team wins the serve back: serve from the right half. If your new score is even (0, 2, 4…), your starting server serves. If it’s odd (1, 3, 5…), their partner serves.
Watch the quick refresher
The video explains standard pickleball. For this tournament, use the scoring and serving steps above instead.
The basics on court
- Two players per team. Each team stays on its own side of the net.
- Serve across the court. Stand behind the back line. Hit into the box diagonally opposite you, beyond the area next to the net. Use an underhand upward swing, hitting below your waist with the paddle head below your wrist. Or drop the ball without throwing it and hit after it bounces. You get one try. If the ball brushes the net but lands in the correct box, keep playing.
- Let the first two shots bounce. Let the serve bounce before hitting it back. The serving team must let that return bounce too. After those two shots, you can hit before or after one bounce.
- Watch the area next to the net. This is called the “kitchen,” including its lines. To hit a ball before it bounces, stay outside it—even your next step after the hit must stay outside. You can enter to hit a ball that has bounced.
- Lines count as in. A ball touching a court boundary line is in. Exception: a serve must land beyond the kitchen line, without touching it.
- A mistake gives the other team a point. This includes hitting out or into the net, letting the ball bounce twice, breaking the bounce or kitchen rules, or touching the net while the ball is in play.
Traditional scoring you may hear in the video
In traditional doubles, only the serving team scores. Usually both partners get a turn to serve before the other team takes over. The first team to serve in a game gets just one turn. The server calls three numbers: their team’s score, the other team’s score, and whether they’re their team’s first or second server. At the start of a game, that call is 0–0–2.
At the Arm Pickle Open, use the scoring steps above and call just the two scores.