*Helping to Keep the Score Straight

Many times when there is confusion about the score, the score is off by one. If you know whether the score should be odd or even, that would help you to know the correct score. There is a way to always know whether a team’s score should be odd or even.

At the start of each game, make a mental note of the player that served first for each side. If the rotation is done correctly, a team’s score will always be even when that player is on the right and odd when that player is on the left. As you call the score, use the player position as a double check on whether you have the correct score. If every player would use this technique, it would put an end to those long discussions about whether a team’s score should be 3 or 4.

As an aid to help everyone to keep the score straight, and in accordance with Amended Rule 4.A.1, the entire score must be called before every serve, including the server number. It helps to call the score and wait a few seconds to serve (but less than 10 seconds) to give everyone a chance to make a correction. It is very distracting to call the score while you are in your serving motion, especially if the score is wrong.

Submitted by: Mel Kohlberg February 5, 2021