Run a pickleball match

Pickleball scoring is quick, and so is the dashboard: a +1 for each side, a serve button, and ScoreCastr closes each game when it reaches your target score. This guide is a tour of the pickleball dashboard. The game rules and the doubles score call are covered in Pickleball scoring and the doubles server call.

Create a pickleball match

Pick Pickleball on the Select Sport screen, then Singles Match or Doubles Match. Enter the players' names and seeds, then the Match Settings:

• Best of Sets: 1 Set, 3 Sets or 5 Sets. For pickleball this is the number of games in the match, so 3 means best of three games.
• Points to Win: 11 Points, 15 Points or 21 Points.
• Win By: Win by 1 or Win by 2.

These can't be changed from the dashboard, so set them to your event's format before you create the match. See Create your first match for the rest.

The scoring card

Open the match with Control Dashboard. The Scoring tab has one card, titled Pickleball, with the ScoreCastr button (the Data Hub, a Pro feature) and the keyboard shortcuts icon in its corner.

Each side has a column:

• -1 and +1: take away or add a point.
• Serve buttons: in singles, one Serving button per side. In doubles, one button per player, named for them, like "Smith Serve".
• Score and Games: the points in this game and the games won.

When a side reaches the target score with the right lead, the game is over: the score goes back to 0-0, that side's games go up by one, and the game's score is saved. When a side wins the games it needs, the card title shows (Match Complete) and the buttons lock.

The serve

ScoreCastr shows the serve, but you move it. The app doesn't switch the serve after a side out, and it doesn't stop you from giving a point to the receiving side. That keeps you in control whatever format your event plays, but it means the serve button needs a click every time the serve changes.

In doubles, the two buttons on each side also set the server number, 1 or 2. The scorebug shows one dot for server 1 and two dots for server 2. On Apex and Primetime this also drives the score call, like 4-2-1. Details are in Pickleball scoring.

Fixing the score

Use -1 to take back a point within a game. Pickleball has no direct score buttons and no games buttons, and -1 can't reopen a finished game. If a game was closed by mistake, the only way back is Reset Match on the Game Actions tab, which starts the whole match over. Take a breath before the game-winning click.

Graphics for pickleball

On the Overlays tab, Customization (Starter) has the Score Bug, Scoreboard, Title Card, Lower Third 1, Lower Third 2, Keys to Match, Talent, Talent Bar, Scrolling Ticker and Watermark.

The Score Bug tab sets a Title and Subtitle, overrides the names shown (with Player 3 Name and Player 4 Name for doubles partners), and adds a Logo. The scorebug shows each finished game's score, the current points and the serve. At the end it shows MATCH COMPLETE and the winner.

Apex and Primetime extras

On the Apex and Primetime templates:

• AUTO POINT TAB: a button at the bottom of the scoring card, on by default. It shows GAME POINT or MATCH POINT beside the serving side when its next point would win. Click to switch it to AUTO POINT TAB: OFF.
• The doubles score call: the serving side's score, the receiving side's score and the server number, like 4-2-1.
• Records on the title card: Player 1 Record and Player 2 Record on the Title Card tab.
• The winner gets a trophy and the other side dims.

Stream Deck codes

There's no ready-made pickleball profile yet. The universal codes cover it; build buttons with the Text action:

See Set up a Stream Deck for Listening Mode and building buttons.

Checklist

• Singles or Doubles, Best of, Points to Win and Win By set before creating the match
• First server marked
• Serve button clicked at every side out
• Auto point tab on or off as you like, on Apex or Primetime
• Stream Deck buttons tested with Listening Mode on