How to Keep Track of the Score in a Tennis Match
Knowing that 40 beats 30 is the easy part. Actually remembering the score four games into a tight set, while you are out of breath and someone is arguing the last call, is where it falls apart. Here is how to keep track of the score without losing the plot, from the old habits to the easy way.
By Two brothers in Melbourne, co-founder of RallyHub.
Knowing that 40 beats 30 is the easy part. The hard part is remembering the score four games into a tight set, when you are out of breath, you have just saved two break points, and the bloke at the other end reckons it is 30-15 when you are sure it is 30-30. The argument that follows is one of the most common things that goes wrong on a social court.
Losing track of the score is not a sign you do not know the rules. It happens to everyone, because tennis asks you to hold two layers of score in your head, points and games, while also running around and hitting a ball. Here is how to actually keep track without losing the plot, from the old reliable habits to the easy way.
If the scoring system itself is what trips you up, the love-fifteen-thirty-forty-deuce part, start with our guide to tennis scoring explained first. This post assumes you know how scoring works and just keep losing your place in it.
Why the score gets lost in the first place
It is almost always one of three things:
- You forget the game score, not the points. Most people can hold the current point fine. It is "are we at 3-2 or 3-3 in games" that evaporates, especially after a long deuce game.
- Nobody called it out loud. If the score is never said, there is nothing to anchor it. Two players quietly assuming get to different numbers.
- A long, scrappy game. Six deuces and three lets and everyone has lost count of who actually won the last two points.
The old reliable habit: call it before every serve
The single best thing you can do costs nothing: the server calls the score out loud before every point. Your score first, then your opponent's, every single serve.
This is not just etiquette, it is the anchor that stops disputes before they start. If you call "thirty fifteen" and your opponent thought it was fifteen thirty, you sort it out now, calmly, before the point, instead of after a twenty-shot rally that one of you thinks does not count. Make it a habit and most score arguments simply never happen.
Anchor the game score to something physical
The points reset every game so they are easy to hold. The game score is the one that drifts. Tie it to something you cannot lose:
- Balls in your pocket. The classic. The server keeps two balls and a glance tells you roughly where you are. Some players use which pocket the spare ball is in to track odd or even games.
- Say the game score at the change of ends. Every odd game you swap ends. Use that walk to say "four three, my serve" out loud. It is a natural, regular checkpoint.
- A scorecard or a flip card on the net. Clubs and pennant matches often have a card that flips the game score over on the net post. Casual players can use a notes app or a cheap wrist scoreband that clicks over.
Agree the rules before you start
A surprising number of "what is the score" arguments are really "what are we playing" arguments. Before the first serve, agree:
- Sets or a timed hit? Are you playing a full set, first to four games, a Fast4, or just hitting until someone has to leave?
- Deuce or sudden death? Plenty of social games play a single deciding point at deuce to keep things moving. Decide it up front.
- Tiebreak at 6-6 or play on? Know how the set ends before you get there.
The easy way: let the scoreboard do it
All of the above works, and for a hundred years it was the only option. These days you can just have the score kept for you, accurately, with the whole history of the match behind it.
On RallyHub you tap the point in on a live scoreboard as you play, and it tracks points, games, sets, tiebreaks, and change of ends for you. There is no "wait, what was it" because the board always knows. If tapping between points is fiddly mid-rally, you can also call the score out loud and it updates: tap voice score and say "fifteen love", "game", "new set", and it follows along, which turns out to fit tennis perfectly because calling the score out loud is the habit you should have anyway.
The bonus is that once the score is being kept properly, you get the rest for free: the running score shows on the live card, your friends can follow along on Courtside, and the final result drops straight into your match history and win rate. Start a hit or record a match from the Play hub.
The short version
Call the score before every serve, anchor the game score to your pocket or the change of ends, and agree the format before you start. Do those three and you will rarely lose track again. And when you would rather just play and let something else hold the numbers, tap it in or call it out and let the scoreboard remember for you.