It’s 9-9 in the third game and you’re playing singles for the first time. You win the point, walk to the baseline, and freeze. Which side do you serve from? In doubles your partner’s positioning told you everything. Alone, the court feels like a different game.
It is a different game. Pickleball singles shares the same foundations as doubles: kitchen rules, the two-bounce rule, fault conditions. But the differences in serving position, scoring, and rotation change how every rally plays out. Here’s what actually changes when you step on court alone.
What stays the same, and what doesn’t
The court is identical. Kitchen rules are identical. The two-bounce rule, the non-volley zone, the fault conditions: all the same. What changes is everything tied to the fact that there is no partner: no second server, no stacking, no positioning calls between points.
That means one player defending the full court alone. If you already know how doubles rules differ significantly from the baseline game, singles will feel like a cleaner version of the same logic. One player, one side, full court to cover.
Where do you serve from in singles?
This is the question that stops most players on their first singles point. The answer is straightforward once you learn it once.
Your score determines your serving side. Even scores (0, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10) mean you serve from the right. Odd scores (1, 3, 5, 7, 9) mean you serve from the left. That’s it. Your score, your side. At the very start of the game (0-0), you always serve from the right side.
This is different from doubles, where the server number and team positioning determine the serving side. In singles, you are the only server. There is no “server 1” or “server 2.” You serve until you fault, and then the serve passes to your opponent. No second chances.
Serving mistakes matter more in singles because there is no partner to keep the serve alive. Miss your serve and possession immediately flips to your opponent.
How does scoring in singles work?
Same as doubles in structure, different in one significant way: you only score points when you are serving, and there is no side-out partner to absorb a loss. Lose the rally on your serve and the serve goes to your opponent. Win the rally on their serve and you get the serve back, but you do not get a point.
Scoring in singles runs to 11, win by 2, with the same rally-loses-serve structure as doubles. (Some tournaments use games to 15 or 21, still win by 2.)
The score is also called differently: two numbers instead of three. In doubles you call the server number last. In singles there is no server number, so the score is simply your score followed by your opponent’s. “6-4” means you have 6, they have 4, and you’re serving from the right side.
Why singles plays so differently
The rule differences are small. The game experience is not.
In doubles, two players split the court. One covers the line, one covers the middle, and the kitchen line is a position you move into together. In singles, all of that is yours alone. Every angle your opponent opens is a gap you have to close, with no partner holding the other side while you recover.
That changes how you play from the first point. Pace matters less. Placement matters more. The player who consistently creates open space will usually beat the player who simply hits harder.
Committing to the kitchen line also means giving up lob coverage when you’re alone. In doubles, both players hold that position as a unit. In singles, the geometry makes the decision for you.
Most players who try singles for the first time do not expect how physical it is. The court is the same size. The game is not.
What happens if you serve from the wrong side?
This is a common mistake when switching from doubles. In singles, positional errors are usually corrected as soon as they are noticed. If the wrong player served from the wrong side, players simply adjust to the correct positions moving forward. Completed points generally stand rather than being replayed.
This is why your score is your anchor. Always check it before you serve.
What if you are playing with rally scoring?
One additional wrinkle appears in some recreational leagues and club formats: rally scoring. Under rally scoring, the even/odd serving side rule still applies in singles: players serve from the right when their score is even and from the left when their score is odd. Because points are awarded on every rally, side changes happen more frequently, but the positional logic itself does not change.
Singles changes the strategy, but the core rulebook remains the same. Our complete pickleball rules resource explores the rules that apply across every format of the game.