League Rules

Gameplay Format

The gameplay format for the East Bay Team Pickleball League is based on a gameplay format originally created by Major League Pickleball, and then adopted with some variations by The Dink Minor League, and others. These two organizations--both relatively new--have continued to tweak their rules each season, searching for the right mix of rules that will keep pickleball the fastest growing sport in the world. Links to the websites of these and other team-based pickleball organizations can be found in the resources section of this website.

The proposed gameplay format for the East Bay Team Pickleball League borrows from the still-evolving rules of both these organizations, but includes some rules unique to this league. As with these other organizations, it should be expected that our local rules will undergo change with experience and growth.

And like Major League Pickleball and The Dink Minor League, our rules of competition will be governed by the most current rules of USA Pickleball and UPA standards, except for those outlined in this website.

The Match

Matches are composed of four games, with the first two games being women's doubles and men's doubles. The final two games are mixed doubles. If teams are tied after the four games, a tiebreaker game is played to decide the winner of the match.

The four game match with a tie-breaker if needed is a basic format element our local league shares with Major League Pickleball and The Dink Minor League. However, in those leagues the tiebreaker is played as a Singles game, and in the East Bay Team Pickleball League, the tiebreaker will be a fifth Doubles game.

In a tiebreaker game, a rotational system is used where the doubles partners for each team take turns playing four points:women's doubles partners, men's doubles partners, and two mixed doubles partners. The order in which the partners play can vary across matches, but the order for any particular match must be decided before the match and shared with the opposing team before the match starts. This is one of the more strategic wrinkles in the gameplay format.

Scoring

There are two basic scoring systems used across all pickleball gameplay formats: traditional/side-out scoring, where only the serving team can score points, and rally scoring, where a point can be scored by either the serving or receiving team on every rally.

In our league, traditional/side-out scoring will be used for the four required games in each match, and rally scoring will be used for the tiebreaker. The side-out games will be played to 11 points, win by 2. The tiebreaker rally games will be played to 21 points, win by 1 but the winning point must be scored by the serving team.