Pickleball singles rules are the same as doubles rules, with three big differences: one player covers the whole court, there is only one serve per side out, and the score is called as two numbers instead of three. You serve from the right side when your score is even (including zero) and from the left when it's odd, and the two-bounce rule and kitchen rules work exactly as they do in doubles.

Below: where to stand, how scoring works, what happens on a wrong-side serve, the official half-court version called mini-singles (skinny singles), and how to win with nobody covering the middle.

Singles vs doubles pickleball: what changes

The court, the net, the ball, the kitchen and the two-bounce rule don't change. What changes is how serving and scoring are organized, because there's one of you instead of two. If you need a refresher on the basics first, our complete pickleball rules guide covers faults, the kitchen and line calls.

	Singles	Doubles
Players per side	1	2
Court	Full standard court	Full standard court
Serves before a side out	One server; you serve until you lose a rally	Both partners serve (except the first rotation of each game)
Where the server stands	Decided by the server's score: even = right, odd = left	Decided by the team's score and who started on the right
Score call	Two numbers: server's score, receiver's score	Three numbers: serving team, receiving team, server number
Start-of-game call	"Zero, zero"	"Zero, zero, two"
Two-bounce rule	Applies	Applies
Non-volley zone (kitchen)	Applies	Applies
Ground to cover	The whole court, alone	Half the court, with help

The last row is the one you feel: fewer dinks, more running.

Pickleball singles serving rules

In the current USA Pickleball Official Rulebook, singles positions live in Rule 5.A, and they come down to one idea: the server's score decides where both players stand.

Server's score is zero or even: serve from the right serving area to the opponent's right service court (Rule 5.A.1).
Server's score is odd: serve from the left serving area to the opponent's left service court (Rule 5.A.1).
Keep serving after every point you win, switching between right and left each time, until you lose a rally (Rule 5.A.2).
Lose a rally while serving and it's a side out (Rule 5.A.3). Your opponent serves next, and their score now decides the positions.

The receiver lines up diagonally across from the server, because the serve must land in the service court diagonally opposite the server's correct position and clear the kitchen (Rule 7.E). Everything else about the serve itself is identical to doubles.

Your opponent's score is irrelevant to where you serve from.

What if you serve from the wrong side?

This is where older guides go stale. Under the current rulebook, serving from the wrong side or having the wrong receiver is no longer automatically a fault against the server. Instead, Rule 5.C sets it up like this:

Before the serve, you can ask your opponent whether everyone is in the correct position, and they have to answer (Rule 5.C).
During the rally, any player may stop play to point out a position error. If the claim is right, the rally is replayed (Rule 5.C.1.a). If the claim is wrong, it's a fault against the player who stopped the rally (Rule 5.C.1.b).
After the rally, if nobody stopped it, the result stands (Rule 5.C.2). You just line up correctly for the next serve.

In refereed tournament play, the referee can stop a rally to correct a position error, and the rally is replayed (Rule 20.C). Score mistakes are handled separately under Rule 6.F: an incorrect score call stopped before the return of serve is replayed, and one discovered after the rally stands and gets corrected before the next serve.

Pickleball singles scoring

Standard singles uses side-out scoring: you only score a point when you're serving and win the rally (Rule 4.A). Games are typically played to 11, win by 2.

The score call is two numbers, server's score first, then receiver's score (Rule 6.B.1). There's no third number because there's no second server. A game starts at "zero, zero" and the first server serves from the right.

Here's a short sequence to make it concrete:

Situation	Score call	Server stands
Start of game, Alex serves	"0-0"	Right
Alex wins the rally	"1-0"	Left
Alex wins again	"2-0"	Right
Alex loses the rally: side out to Sam	"0-2"	Right (Sam's score is 0)
Sam wins the rally	"1-2"	Left
Sam loses the rally: side out to Alex	"2-1"	Right (Alex's score is 2)

After every side out, the new server's own score sets the side. That's where casual games most often go wrong, and why calling the score out loud matters.

Rally scoring in singles

USA Pickleball has provisionally approved rally scoring for singles as an option in sanctioned tournaments, and the current rulebook lists it as a provisional rule (Rule 14.A). In rally scoring, whoever wins the rally scores, serving or not, and the score is still called as two numbers (Rule 14.A.3). Side-out scoring remains the default. Our pickleball scoring guide walks through how rally scoring works and why some players prefer it.

If you're keeping score on your wrist, Pickleball Plus Games tracks singles or doubles, side-out or rally scoring, on your phone and Apple Watch, so nobody has to argue about whether it was 3-2 or 2-3. When your opponent confirms the result, the game moves your rating on a 2.00 to 8.00 scale. The Games page shows how it works.

Mini singles pickleball (skinny singles) rules

Mini-singles is the official name for what most players call skinny singles. It's in Section 14 of the rulebook (Rule 14.B), which describes it as a half-court variation of standard singles. All standard singles rules apply except for a few changes to the court and positions.

The official version (Rule 14.B)

Standard court, half in play. Mini-singles is played on a regular pickleball court, but during each rally only the right or left side of each player's end is in play (Rule 14.B.1.a).
Each player's own score picks their half. The server's and the receiver's correct positions are determined by their individual scores (Rule 14.B.2). That's different from regular singles, where only the server's score matters. Using the standard convention, zero or even puts you on the right half and odd puts you on the left.
The centerline becomes a sideline. The in-play half is bounded by the baseline, that half's sideline and the centerline; the other half is out (Rule 14.B.1.b).
The centerline runs through the kitchen. An extra line must extend the centerline through each non-volley zone, and it doesn't need to be the same color as the other lines (Rule 14.B.1.c). Painter's tape or chalk does the job on a rec court.
Every shot, not just the serve, has to land in the opponent's in-play half (Rule 14.B.3).

Because each player's half depends on their own score, the serve isn't always cross-court. If you have 2 and your opponent has 3, you serve from your right half into their left half, straight ahead. When both scores are even or both odd, it goes diagonally.

The rulebook doesn't print a separate width for the mini-singles court, so if you need the exact layout for a tournament, check the current rulebook rather than a diagram you found on a forum.

The recreational cross-court version

Plenty of groups play a simpler house version, and that's fine, as long as everyone knows it's a recreational variant, not the official rule:

Both players use the diagonal halves, so every ball goes cross-court, like a doubles dink rally stretched out to the baseline.
Players either stay on one diagonal all game or switch diagonals at a set score.
Many groups don't bother extending the centerline through the kitchen and just call the middle by eye.

Cross-court skinny singles is great doubles practice because it drills the same cross-court dinks and drops you hit at the kitchen line. If you've got an odd number of players, our guide to playing pickleball with 3, 5, 6 or 7 players shows where singles and skinny singles fit into the rotation.

Pickleball singles strategy

Serve deep, every time. A deep serve pins your opponent behind the baseline and buys you time. Depth beats power: a hard serve that lands mid-court just gives them a short ball to attack.

Return deep and follow it in. The receiver has the advantage in singles because the server has to wait for the third bounce. Hit a deep return, ideally to the backhand corner, and move forward behind it. Get to the kitchen line before the third shot arrives and you're in control.

Play through the middle when you're defending. A ball down the middle cuts off your opponent's angles. Sideline-to-sideline shots are for when you're in charge, not when you're scrambling.

Choose between the drop and the pass. When your opponent is at the net and you're back, you have two good options: a drop into the kitchen that makes them hit up, or a passing shot down the line. Mix them. Only dropping makes you predictable; only driving makes you error-prone.

Use the whole court. Nobody is covering the other half. Wide angles and lobs over a player crowding the net work better in singles than in doubles.

Respect the fitness gap. Singles is far more running than doubles. Warm up properly and pace yourself across a match.

For the doubles side of things, including stacking and the soft game at the kitchen line, see the pickleball strategy guide.

How to play singles pickleball: getting started

Singles is easiest to get on quiet courts or at off-peak hours; the court finder shows courts near you with reviews from other players. Before the first serve, agree on the format (full-court, official mini-singles or cross-court skinny singles) and the scoring (side-out to 11 is standard; rally scoring is shorter if there's a waitlist). Then call the score on every serve, your score first. In tournaments, players change ends at 6 in a single game to 11 (Rule 21.B.1); in rec play, switching sides between games is a fair way to share the sun and wind.

Keep score and track your rating with Pickleball Plus

Pickleball Plus keeps score of singles and doubles games on your phone or Apple Watch, with side-out or rally scoring, and every game your opponent confirms moves your rating on the 2.00 to 8.00 scale. It also helps you find courts near you for your next match. Download Pickleball Plus and keep score on your next singles game.

FAQ

What are the basic pickleball singles rules?

Singles uses the same court, kitchen and two-bounce rule as doubles. The difference is that there's one server per side out, you serve from the right when your score is even and from the left when it's odd, and the score is called as two numbers.

How does pickleball singles scoring work?

In standard side-out scoring, only the server can score a point. The score is called as two numbers, server's score then receiver's score, and games are typically played to 11, win by 2. Rally scoring for singles is a provisional option in which every rally wins a point.

What are the skinny singles pickleball rules?

Officially, skinny singles is called mini-singles (Rule 14.B in the USA Pickleball rulebook). Each player uses only half of their end of the court, chosen by their own score, the centerline is extended through the kitchen, and every shot must land in the opponent's in-play half. Many groups play a recreational version where every shot goes cross-court.

What is mini singles in pickleball?

Mini-singles is USA Pickleball's official half-court variation of singles. It's played on a standard court with the centerline acting as a sideline, so each player covers only half their end.

Do you serve from the right or left in pickleball singles?

It depends on the server's score. Zero or an even score means you serve from the right; an odd score means you serve from the left. The receiver's score doesn't affect where you serve from in standard singles.

What happens if you serve from the wrong side in singles?

Under the current rulebook, it's not an automatic fault. If a player stops the rally and correctly points out the position error, the rally is replayed; if nobody notices until the rally is over, the result stands and you line up correctly for the next serve.