Pickleball Games
For both skinny singles and cutthroat doubles, dotted arrow line indicates direction of the serve, and shaded section indicates areas where the ball needs to land after service.
If you do not have four players to play pickleball, these games are really useful. Both are lots of fun and are great for improving focus and consistency. Furthermore, both games benefit from the same key strategies that will make a player successful at doubles.
Skinny Singles: two-player pickleball
How to play
When server and receiver have even points (i.e. 2-2, 6-4, 0-4)
Both service and rest of the rally are played diagnoly on the right sides of the court.
When server has even points and receiver has odd points (i.e. 6-3, 2-5)
Service diagnoly from the right side and rest of the rally is played on right side of the court (from the server's perspective).
When server and receiver have odd points (i.e. 3-3, 5-3, 1-5)
Both service and rest of the rally are played diagnoly on the left sides of the court.
When server has odd points and receiver has even points (i.e. 3-2, 1-4)
Service diagnoly from the left side and rest of the rally is played on left side of the court (from the server's perspective).
Cutthroat Doubles: three-player pickleball
How to play
- Server is alone on one side of the court
- Each player is responsible for keeping track of their own points
- When server loses point, every player moves one position to the right.
When server has even points
Service diagnoly from the right side and receiving team can only place ball on server's right side of the court.
When server has odd points
Service diagnoly from the left side and receiving team can only place ball on server's left side of the court.