How to run a pickleball night

The night in short

1. Make the courts. Four players to a court, two partners against two. Everyone beyond four a court sits out in turn.
2. Play one game on every court. That is a round. Play to the number your group agreed on, usually 11.
3. Write down the two scores. One for each pair of partners. The higher score wins. Two equal scores aren’t a result: play one more point.
4. Work out the difference. The winning score minus the losing score. The winners get it, and the losers get the same number below zero.
5. Move. When every court has finished, draw new partners, keep partners and draw who plays whom, or move the winners up a court.
6. Keep your own record. Add your wins, losses, points scored and points allowed after every game. A round sat out is no game.
7. Rank the night. By win rate, so a player who sat out a round isn’t left behind. Ties go to the difference a game, then points scored a game.

Courts of four

A pickleball night for a group is doubles: four players on a court, two partners against two. A night needs at least four players, and one court for every four. If your venue numbers its courts, use those numbers, so everyone knows where Court 5 is. On a ladder night, the court listed first is the top court.

This guide assumes you know how to play. It is about what happens after: what to write down, and how a night adds up. You never need to write down who served, the rally, faults or line calls, because the court already knows them and both teams are watching.

A game, and the two scores

Most groups play each game to 11, some to 15 or 21, and many play win by 2. Agree on the number before the first game and tell every court. After the game, the court records one thing: the final score of each pair of partners, read straight off the court. Each score can be 0 to 40, and the higher score wins.

There is no tie. If time runs out with the scores level, play one more point, then record the score. The score can end under the number you play to when time runs out, like 8 to 6, and that is fine: it counts as it stands.

Both partners share a game. Each gets the win or the loss, and the same points.

The difference

The difference is how far ahead a game was won: the winning score minus the losing score. The winners get that number and the losers get the same number below zero. Add up a player’s games and you have the night’s difference. Across the whole room it adds up to zero, which is a good check that nobody mis-copied a score.

Each player also keeps points scored and points allowed. The difference is the first minus the second.

A pickle

Players say a team is pickled when they lose without scoring a point. Pickleball Circle counts a pickle when the other team scored nothing and the winners scored at least 11. A game that ends 9 to 0 when time runs out is a win, and not a pickle. Each player on the winning team has given a pickle, and each on the losing team has been pickled. Groups like to keep count, and some give a prize for it.

Games, worked out

Ranking the night

Rank players by win rate: their wins divided by the games they played, highest first. A round sat out is a game not played, so a plain count of wins would punish whoever sat out. When everyone has played the same number of games, it gives the same order as the wins.

Omar and Lucia are both unbeaten, so the difference a game decides: Omar is ahead, 3.5 to 3.3, with one game fewer. Nate is ahead of Mei the same way. The tie-breaks, in order:

1. Win rate.
2. Difference a game.
3. Points scored a game.
4. The game those two played against each other that night, if they were opponents in one. A game as partners says nothing about who is ahead.
5. The organizer picks. Playing one more game is a good way to settle it.

One more rule keeps it fair: a player has to have played at least half the games the busiest player has played to get a place. Anyone else is listed apart, without one, so a one-game visitor can’t win. Over a season, rank by total wins, and show each player’s win rate beside their name. Free pickleball score cards for a night are on the printables page.

Three ways to move

Nobody moves until every court has finished its round. Then your group does one of three things.

New partners each round

Everyone is drawn again, so nobody partners the same person again until everyone present has partnered everyone, when that can be helped, and opponents are spread the same way. With 8 players on 2 courts, that takes 7 rounds, and with 12 players, 11. Most nights are shorter than that, so nobody has to partner the same person twice. This is the usual round robin.

Same partners all night

Partners are set before the first round and stay together. Each round, draw which partners play which, so that every pair meets every other pair before any repeats. If there are more pairs than courts hold, the extra pairs sit out in turn. Someone with no partner waits, and is the first to fill a gap.

Winners move up

• Courts are ranked, with Court 1 the top court.
• The winners move up one court. Court 1’s winners stay.
• The losers move down one court. The bottom court’s losers stay.
• Partners split up: the four who meet on a court are paired so that nobody partners the person they just partnered.

With more players than four a court, the extras wait in a line. The bottom court’s losers go to the end of the line and the first in line come on. With a single court, the winners stay and split, the losers go to the line and the next two come on. Someone who arrives late joins the end of the line. A night like this is ranked by the court each player finishes on, with Court 1 first, then in the usual order within a court.

Mixed doubles, or a stronger player with a newer one

Whichever way you move, a group can also keep two lists, A and B, and make every pair of partners one from each. It covers mixed doubles and pairing a stronger player with a newer one with the same rule, and you decide who is on which list. If the lists are uneven, the larger one’s extras sit out in turn.

Sitting out

When the numbers don’t come out in fours, the extras sit out a round, in turn, and nobody sits out twice before everyone has when that can be helped. The person running the night isn’t exempt. A round sat out is no game: no win, no loss, no points. That is why the night is ranked by win rate.

A game nobody finishes

If someone goes home, or the game can’t be finished, it is not counted: no win, no loss and no points, and the court sits out the rest of the round. A game with no result has no winner, and guessing at one would be refereeing. On a ladder night, say which pair was ahead, so the courts above and below can move. Nothing is recorded for it.

Keeping the night on time

A round takes about 12 to 15 minutes, with the walk to the next court, so seven rounds is about two hours. Most groups choose a round length and one person calls time. A single countdown for the whole room keeps every court starting together. When time is called, the courts record the score as it stands.

House rules

Every group plays a little differently. Agree on these before the first game, and tell every court:

• What a game is played to: 11, 15, 21, or your own number.
• Win by 2, or the first to the number wins.
• How a round ends: when every game is over, or when time is called.
• How partners move: new each round, the same all night, or winners moving up.
• Who serves first and anything else the court settles for itself. These are the court’s own, and a score card never settles them.

Questions people ask

What is a pickle in pickleball?

A pickle is a game where one team scored nothing, like 11 to 0. Pickleball Circle counts a pickle when the other team scored nothing and the winners scored at least 11, so a game that ends 9 to 0 when time runs out is a win but not a pickle.

How do you rank a pickleball round robin when some players sat out?

Rank by win rate, not total wins, because a round sat out is a game not played. A player needs to have played at least half the games the busiest player played to be ranked.

How many rounds does it take for everyone to partner everyone?

When the number of players divides by four and nobody sits out, it takes one round fewer than the number of players: 7 rounds for 8 players, 11 for 12 and 15 for 16. Most nights are shorter, so nobody has to partner the same person twice.

What happens to the extra players when the numbers don’t divide by four?

Everyone beyond four a court sits out a round, in turn, and nobody sits out twice before everyone has when that can be helped. A round sat out is no game: no win, no loss and no points.

How long is a round?

About 12 to 15 minutes, including the walk to the next court, so seven rounds is about two hours.