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Table Tennis Score Counter

Short answer

A table tennis score counter keeps an 11-point game, won by 2 clear points, with the serve changing every two points and every point from 10–all. This one also names the server and receiver in doubles, calls the change of ends and the receiving swap at 5 in the last game, and runs the expedite system.

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Game 1Best of 5: games to 11, win by 2

Call: Love all

 

Expedite system00:00

Not in operation. Due after 10 minutes’ play in a game, unless 18 points are scored

Games finished in this match
GameSide ASide BWon by
No game finished yet

Tap the side that won the point. A or ← scores side A, L or → scores side B, R counts a good return under expedite, Ctrl+Z undoes. In doubles, player 1 of each pair starts; before the first point of a game, Swap server changes who serves first, and in game 1 Swap receiver changes who receives first. The clock is optional: start it at love all and pause it for towelling, the change of ends and a ball out of the playing area.

This scores a match; it does not umpire one. It cannot see a fault, a let, an illegal service or a ball that touched the edge, so it records whichever side you tap. Its clock is not the timekeeper’s, and calling time for the expedite system is the umpire’s job. It follows the ITTF Laws for singles and doubles and leaves out para table tennis, team-match orders, handicap play and the old 21-point game. In a sanctioned match the umpire’s score sheet is the record.

Adding up to 11 is easy. What a two-number scoreboard cannot tell you is whose serve it is in doubles, who receives it, that the receivers swap at 5 in the last game, or what happens when a game passes ten minutes. This counter follows the ITTF Laws so the table does not have to argue.

Table tennis, also called ping-pong, is scored by point: every rally scores, whoever served. A game is won by the first player or pair to 11 points, unless both reach 10, when a lead of 2 is needed (ITTF Law 2.11). A match is the best of an odd number of games, usually five or seven (Law 2.12).

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Key facts

Online table tennis score counter at a glance
DetailAnswer
PriceFree, no sign-up, no ads
GameTo 11, win by 2 from 10–all (Law 2.11)
MatchBest of 3, 5 or 7 games
Service2 serves each, then 1 each from 10–all; the server named on every point
DoublesServer and receiver named, the order reversed each game, the receiving swap at 5
Last possible gameChange of ends called when the first side reaches 5
Expedite systemOptional 10-minute clock, both 2.15.3 cases, a 13-return counter, on to the end of the match
BreaksTowelling every 6 points, one time-out per side per match
UndoEvery point, every return and every setting
Where data goesNowhere. Local storage in this browser only
Official recordNo. It scores; it does not umpire

How to keep score in table tennis with the counter

Set the match up after the toss, then it is one tap per point, to whoever won it.

  1. Set the match up

    Best of 3, 5 or 7, singles or doubles, and the side that won the toss and chose to serve, or was left to serve.

  2. Name the players

    In doubles, type all four. Before the first point, Swap server and Swap receiver set who starts for each pair, as the Laws let them choose.

  3. Tap the side that won each point

    Every rally scores. A and L on a keyboard do the same. The board shows who serves next, how many serves are left, and in doubles who receives.

  4. Watch the flag line

    It calls game point and match point, 10–all, towelling every 6 points, the change of ends between games and at 5 in the last possible game, and the receiving swap in doubles.

  5. Use the clock if a game drags

    Start it at love all and pause it for breaks. At 10:00 with fewer than 18 points it says the expedite system is due; tap where the ball was, then count good returns.

  6. Undo a mis-tap at once

    Undo unwinds the last point completely, including the server, a game it ended and a receiving swap it caused.

Where a table tennis score counter gets used

Any table without an umpire, which is nearly every game of table tennis played.

  • Club and league nights

    Doubles rubbers where the question of who serves to whom comes up every two points, and the swap at 5 in the fifth game catches someone out.

  • Office and home tables

    A phone propped on the windowsill so the score and the serve are settled by the board, not by memory.

  • School and PE lessons

    Teaching the service order by showing it, and the 10–all rule as it happens.

  • Tournaments without umpires

    Players scoring their own matches, with the time-out and the change of ends tracked.

  • Defensive matches

    Two choppers in a long game, where the expedite system is a real possibility and nobody remembers the rules for it.

  • Coaching

    Scoring practice games from the side with undo, and the server named for drills that start from service.

Doubles service order, and the receiving swap at 5 that free scoreboards ignore

Every free table tennis scoreboard at the top of a search for one, checked on 2026-10-03, gets the singles service right: two serves each, then one each from 10–all. Digital Tally Counter, ScoreCount.com and imageonline.io’s scoreboard all do it. None of the three has a doubles mode, which means none of them can answer the question doubles players actually argue about: whose serve is it, and who receives? Nor do any of them handle the change of ends at 5 in the last game, the expedite system, time-outs or towelling breaks. Those are the parts of the Laws this counter exists to keep.

What the free table tennis scoreboards track, and what this counter adds
RuleFree scoreboards checkedThis counter
Games to 11, win by 2YesYes (Law 2.11)
Serve changes every 2 points, every point from 10–allYesYes (Law 2.13.3)
Doubles: who serves to whomNo doubles modeServer and receiver named on every point
Doubles: the order reversing each gameNoYes (Law 2.13.4)
Change of ends at 5 in the last possible gameNoCalled when it falls (Law 2.13.7)
Doubles: receiving order changes at 5NoApplied automatically (Law 2.13.6)
Expedite system and the 13-return countNoYes (Law 2.15)
One time-out per side per matchNoYes (Regulation 3.4.4.2)
Towelling every 6 pointsNoCalled (Regulation 3.4.4.1.2)

Doubles is a cycle of four players

Law 2.13.5 says that in doubles, at each change of service, the previous receiver becomes the server and the partner of the previous server becomes the receiver. Follow that round and the four players form a fixed loop. If A1 serves to B1 first, the loop is A1 to B1, B1 to A2, A2 to B2, B2 to A1, two points each, and then round again. Each player serves to the same opponent all game and receives from the other one. The ITTF’s Handbook for Match Officials puts it as a striking order: between pairs A and B and X and Y there are only two possible orders, A-X-B-Y and A-Y-B-X.

Game 2 turns the loop round

In each game the pair serving first chooses which of them serves. The receiving pair chooses its first receiver only in game 1. From game 2 the receiver is fixed by Law 2.13.4: it is the player who served to the chosen server in the game before. That reverses the loop, which is why players who were receiving from one opponent all of game 1 find themselves receiving from the other in game 2.

Who serves to whom in a best-of-3 doubles match, A1 and A2 against B1 and B2
PointsGame 1: A1 serves first, B1 receivesGame 2: B2 chosen to serve firstGame 3: A1 chosen to serve first
1st and 2ndA1 to B1B2 to A2A1 to B1
3rd and 4thB1 to A2A2 to B1B1 to A2
5th and 6thA2 to B2B1 to A1A2 to B2
7th and 8thB2 to A1A1 to B2B2 to A1
Why that receiverB’s choiceA2 served to B2 in game 1B1 served to A1 in game 2

At 5 in the last game, only the receiving pair switches

In the last possible game of a match, which is game 3 of a best of 3, game 5 of a best of 5 and game 7 of a best of 7, the players change ends when the first side reaches 5 points (Law 2.13.7). In doubles there is a second change at the same moment, and it is the one that gets misdescribed. Law 2.13.6 says that the pair due to receive next shall change their order of receiving. The serving pair changes nothing. Some rules summaries say both pairs switch; the Law names only the receivers.

Take game 3 in the table above, and suppose it reaches 5–3 to A. The next serve is A1’s, to B1. Because B is the pair due to receive, B1 and B2 trade places in the order, and A1 serves to B2 instead. From there the loop runs the other way: A1 to B2, B2 to A2, A2 to B1, B1 to A1. The counter makes that change itself the moment the fifth point is scored, and names the new receiver on the board. If the score had been 5–2, mid-way through a player’s two serves, the switch would still happen at once: the server keeps the second serve, and it goes to the other receiver.

When the order goes wrong anyway

Under Law 2.14, if a player serves or receives out of turn, play stops as soon as the error is discovered and resumes with the right server and receiver at the score that has been reached. Every point already played stands. The same goes for forgetting to change ends. Because the counter derives the order from the score rather than from memory, the board always shows who should be serving at the current score, which is exactly the reference Law 2.14 asks the umpire to restore.

The expedite system: 10 minutes, 18 points and 13 returns

The expedite system exists to stop very long games between two defensive players, and it is the rule casual scorers know least about. Law 2.15 of the ITTF Statutes 2026 sets it out in six short clauses, and the counter follows each one.

The expedite system, clause by clause (ITTF Law 2.15 and the Handbook for Match Officials)
QuestionThe rule
When does it start?After 10 minutes’ play in a game, or at any earlier time if both players or pairs ask for it (2.15.1)
When can it not start?If at least 18 points have been scored in that game, counting both sides together (2.15.2). At 9–9 or 12–6 the game plays on normally
Who serves next?If the ball was in play when time was reached, the rally is stopped and the same player serves again. If it was not, the player who received the previous rally serves (2.15.3)
How does the service change?Every point, in the usual order (2.13.3, 2.15.4)
How is a point won?As normal, except that if the receiver makes 13 good returns in a rally, the receiver scores the point (2.15.4). The server has 13 strokes, including the service, to win it
Who counts?A stroke counter calls the receiver’s returns aloud from one to thirteen, including the return of service
How long does it last?Until the end of the match, not just the game (2.15.6). Each later game starts in the normal match order, with one serve each
Does the 10-minute clock run all game?No. It stops for significant breaks (towelling, the change of ends in the last game, a ball retrieved from outside the playing area) and restarts with the next rally

Two misreadings worth avoiding

The 13 belongs to the receiver. It is easy to read “13 returns” as the server winning after 13 shots, and at least one ranking explainer phrases it that way, but the Law is the opposite: the server must win the point before the receiver has made 13 good returns, or the receiver scores it. The other misreading is the 18. It is the total of both scores in the current game, not 18 points to one player, and it is checked only when time is reached: a game already at 10–8 when the clock passes 10 minutes is finished without the expedite system.

A worked example

A singles game with A serving first reaches 7–4 after 11 points. Serving in pairs of points, A served points 1–2, 5–6 and 9–10, and B served points 3–4, 7–8 and 11, so B is due to serve the 12th point as the second of its two. Then the timekeeper calls time.

Who serves after time is called at 7–4, by where the ball was
When time is calledNext serverThenClause
Between ralliesA, who received the 11th pointB, A, B… one serve each2.15.3
During the 12th rallyB again: the rally is a letA, B, A… one serve each2.15.3

The two buttons on the counter are those two rows. Press the one that matches, and the board shows the right server. From then on the Good return key counts the receiver’s returns, and a 13th awards the point to the receiver without any further tap.

Why the clock is a button and not automatic

The 10 minutes is playing time, so a clock that simply ran from the first point would call time too early in any game with a towel break or a stray ball. The counter’s clock is started and paused by you, as a timekeeper’s would be, and it pauses itself at the end of each game and when a time-out is taken. When it reaches 10:00 with fewer than 18 points scored, it says the expedite system is due. It does not start it, because only you know whether the ball was in play.

Change of ends, towelling, time-outs and the breaks in a match

Under Regulation 3.4.4 of the ITTF Statutes, play in an individual match is continuous apart from a short list of breaks. A scoreboard that does not know about them leaves the players to remember, and the change of ends at 5 in the last game is the one most often forgotten in club matches.

Breaks and changes of ends in a table tennis match
BreakWhenHow longRule
PracticeImmediately before the matchUp to 2 minutes3.4.3.1
Between gamesAfter every game; the players also change endsUp to 1 minute3.4.4.1.1, 2.13.7
TowellingAfter every 6 points from the start of each game, and at the change of ends in the last possible gameBrief3.4.4.1.2
Change of ends in the last gameWhen the first side reaches 5 pointsBrief2.13.7
Time-outOnce per player or pair per match, between rallies, asked for with a “T” signUp to 1 minute3.4.4.2
Injury from an accidentAllowed by the referee; not for cramp or exhaustionNo more than 10 minutes3.4.4.4, 3.4.4.5

Towelling is on the score, not on request

Players may towel only after every 6 points from the start of each game, so at totals of 6, 12, 18 and so on, whoever won them. At 4–2 a towel break is allowed; at 4–1 it is not. The counter flags each of those moments, plus the change of ends in the last possible game, which also counts.

One time-out for the whole match

The time-out is per match, not per game. Each player or pair gets one, of up to a minute, and play resumes earlier if the side that called it is ready. If both sides call one at the same moment, play resumes when both are ready or after a minute, and neither side may take another. The counter keeps a Time-out key for each side, records the score at which it was used, and switches the key off after that, so nobody has to remember whether it has gone.

Why ends change at 5

A deciding game played entirely at one end would hand one side the better light, the quieter background or the warmer air for the whole of the most important game. Changing at 5 points splits it. Because the switch is tied to the first side reaching 5, it can fall at 5–0 or at 5–4, and it happens only once, even if the other side catches up.

Online counter vs a clicker, an app, paper and a spreadsheet

Every counting method trades something away. This is what each one actually costs you.

Online table tennis score counter compared with the alternatives
FeatureThis online counterHandheld clickerCounter phone appPen and paperSpreadsheet
CostFree$5–$15Free with ads, or paidCost of paperSubscription
Anything to installNoBuy the deviceApp store downloadNoYes, or a web login
Several counts at onceUnlimitedOne per deviceUsually limitedYes, messyYes
Fix a miscountUndo and redoStart overSometimesCross it outEdit the cell
Counts by more than oneAny step sizeOne at a timeSometimesManual mathsYes
Below zeroYesNoRarelyYesYes
Keeps the count if you close itSaves automaticallyUntil you reset the dialYesIf you keep the paperYes
Works with no signalYes, after first loadYesYesYesOften not
Keyboard and shortcutsFullNoneNoneNonePartial
Sends your data anywhereNeverNeverOften, for accounts and adsNeverYes, to the cloud

Other counter types

The same counter, set up and explained for a specific job. Your counters are shared across all of them.

Frequently asked questions

How does table tennis scoring work?

Every rally scores a point for whoever wins it, whether they served or not. A game goes to the first player or pair to reach 11 points, but if both reach 10 the game continues until one leads by 2, so 12–10 or 15–13. A match is the best of any odd number of games under Law 2.12, most often five or seven.

How often do players switch serves in table tennis?

Every two points. After each 2 points have been scored the receiver becomes the server, whoever won them, under ITTF Law 2.13.3. Once both players reach 10 points, the serve changes after every point until the game ends. The same applies from the moment the expedite system starts, and then it stays one serve each for the rest of the match.

What happens at 10-10 in table tennis?

The game is no longer won at 11. From 10–all a player needs a lead of 2 points, so 11–10 plays on and 12–10 wins. The service also changes after every point instead of every two, in the same order as before. There is no cap: the game continues until someone is two points ahead, however long that takes.

Why are games played to 11 instead of 21?

The International Table Tennis Federation changed from 21-point games to 11-point games, and from five serves each to two, with effect from September 2001, less than a year after the 38 mm ball was replaced by the 40 mm ball in October 2000. A club game to 21, with five serves each, is the pre-2001 game. This counter scores the current 11-point Laws.

How do players determine who serves first in table tennis?

By lot, which in practice usually means a coin toss, under ITTF Law 2.13.1. The winner chooses to serve, to receive, or to start at a particular end, and the other player takes the remaining choice. In each following game, whoever served first in the previous game receives first, and the players also change ends between games.

How does serving work in doubles table tennis?

The serve goes diagonally, from the server’s right half court to the receiver’s. At each change of service the previous receiver becomes the server and the partner of the previous server becomes the receiver, so the four players form a loop: A1 to B1, B1 to A2, A2 to B2, B2 to A1. In each new game the loop reverses.

Do you switch sides in table tennis?

Yes. Players change ends after every game, and in the last possible game of a match, such as game 5 of a best of 5, they also change ends when the first player or pair reaches 5 points. In doubles, at that same moment, the pair due to receive next changes its order of receiving. The serving pair does not change.

What is the expedite rule in table tennis?

A rule against endless defensive games. If a game is unfinished after 10 minutes’ play and fewer than 18 points have been scored, or both sides ask, the expedite system starts. Each player then serves one point in turn, and if the receiver makes 13 good returns in a rally, the receiver wins the point. It stays in force for the rest of the match.

How many time-outs are allowed in table tennis?

One per player or pair per match, not per game, lasting up to one minute, under ITTF Regulation 3.4.4.2. It can be called only between rallies, with a T sign, and play resumes as soon as the side that asked is ready. In a team event the captain may call it. The counter keeps a key per side and switches it off once used.

Is this an official table tennis score sheet?

No. It is a scorer for club, school, office and self-umpired games. It follows the ITTF Laws for scoring, service order, ends and the expedite system, but it cannot see a fault, a let or an illegal serve, and its clock is not an official timekeeper’s. Everything stays in this browser, and nothing is sent anywhere.

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