It’s 2025, so why are you still struggling to remember the score of your pickleball game?
How many more times do you really want to have to yell across the court at your opponent—”Is it 8-6?”
If you own an Apple Watch, you’re in luck.
A new FREE Apple Watch app, Side Out, was released in March 2023.
It can easily track the score of your
In this blog post, we’ll show you exactly how to use it.
From downloading the app to setup, scorekeeping, and everything in between, here’s how you can use your handy Apple Watch during your next
Download the Side Out pickleball Apple Watch app
The first step is to download the Side Out Apple Watch app. Either click this link or go to the app store and type in “side out”.
Please note that this is only an Apple Watch app, which means it will not work on your iPhone or iPad.
This makes sense. Who wants to have to carry their phone with them while they play just to keep score?
If you don’t know how to download apps onto your Apple Watch, watch this video.
How to Score Keep for Pickleball With an Apple Watch
If you prefer to learn by video, I’ve filmed a step-by-step video tutorial on how to use the Side Out Apple Watch app to keep your
If you’d rather see screenshots and get step-by-step written instructions, keep reading below to learn how to use your Apple Watch for
Step 1: Open the Side Out pickleball app on your Apple Watch.
It’s not hard to find – it looks exactly like a
Step 2: Manage players by adding their names
One of my favorite parts of the Side Out app is that it lets you create player profiles of you and all your friends!
This is totally optional, but it makes it much easier to keep score when you can see each player’s name on your screen.
Each Side Out
- A number assigned to the player
- The player’s name
- The player’s score (3.0-5.0)
- Gender (optional)
Step 3: Click ‘Begin a New Match’
Once you click ‘begin a new match’, the app will ask you a few basic questions:
- Format (doubles or singles, with the default set to doubles)
- Number of games (1, 3, 5)
- Winning score (1-21, with the default set to 11 points)
After this, it will ask you who is playing.
If you’ve created player profiles, you can select the teammates for each team. You will automatically be assigned to the blue team, so select your teammate first. Then, you can select who is playing on the red team.
If you haven’t created player profiles, each player will simply be assigned a number instead of a name.
Let’s play!
Step 4: Select the first server
First swipe the arrows left or right to determine which player is in the serving position (the right side).
Then, swipe the white box up or down to determine which team is serving first.
A green line will appear next to the player who is currently serving.
Step 5: Swipe your apple watch to keep score during the pickleball game
As you play your
If the red team wins a point, you’ll swipe up toward the color red. If the blue team wins the point, you’ll swipe down toward the color blue.
This is all you have to do. The watch will automatically take care of the rest!
You’ll notice that the server automatically switches sides in the app between each point. Or, if a team gets ‘side out’, the app will reflect that, and the green bar indicating who is serving will switch over to the other team.
The app will also automatically keep score up until 11 points (or until a team wins by two).
Step 6: Win the pickleball match!
Once one team reaches 11 points (or wins by two, or any other format you’ve selected), the match is over. The watch will let you know which team won!
Step 7: Review your past matches
Another great feature of the Side Out app is the ability to review all your past matches with friends! From the main menu, select “review matches”.
Here, you’ll find all your past matches, the score, and the date you played them.
FAQ
How do you keep track of the score in
To keep track of the score in pickleball, most people rely on player memory. To help with this, players will announce the score out loud before each serve. They will also state which server they are (either 1 or 2).
For example, if I am the second server and my team is losing 7-4, I would announce “4-7-2” before my serve.
Because it is easy to get mixed up when trying to track the score in pickleball, I do recommend using an Apple Watch app or other scorekeeping device to help keep score!
How does scoring work in
Keeping track of the score in pickleball is relatively straightforward.
Each game is played up to 11 points, although some tournaments may go to 15. Points are only gained by the team that serves the ball and they must win by two clear points (for example, 12-10).
A point is given when the serving team wins a rally or if their opponents commit a fault (such as hitting the ball into the net). Both players on the serving team get a chance to serve before ‘siding out’ and giving service to the other team.
If both teams reach 10 points, then a tiebreaker game of two points will be played.
For more details on scoring in pickleball, read our pickleball overview, which includes an interesting history of the game!
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