Every format, one page
Five ways to run a padel night. They differ in exactly one thing: who you end up on court with, and how that is decided. Everything else — scoring, timing, the leaderboard — follows from that. The five rotating formats below each show their real rotation, round by round; Flex at the end is a switch you turn on top of one of them.
- Every player keeps one colour all night — follow yours across the rounds
- The net splits the two pairs: near pair against far pair
- ▲ Moved up a court
- ▼ Moved down a court
- Every rotation plays itself — pick a round to take over
Americano
Everyone plays with everyone over fixed rounds
How it works
- The whole schedule is drawn before the first ball. With 8 players that is 7 rounds — you partner every other player exactly once, and face each of them exactly twice.
- Every court plays to a fixed point total. A cap of 24 means the round ends the moment the two scores add up to 24 — 13–11, 16–8, 12–12, whichever pair it happens to be.
- Points are individual. Both partners take the team’s score, so a good round with a weak partner still pays.
Scoring
One point per rally. No deuce, no sets. The round is over the moment the two scores add up to the cap.
Who wins
The organizer picks the ranking rule before the start. By point difference ranks in the same order as total points, because every match runs to the same cap. By matches won counts wins first, and points only separate players who are level on wins. Draws, head-to-head and rating settle anything still tied.
Round by round
Round 1. The whole schedule is already drawn — nothing here depends on the result.
1 of 7, no repeats.
Organizer’s note
Run it when the point of the night is that everyone plays with everyone. The catch: the number of rounds grows with the roster. 8 players is 7 rounds. 12 players on 3 courts is 11 rounds — well over two hours. If the booking is fixed, either cap the roster or drop the point cap to 16.
Can we enter as a pair?
Yes — Americano (Pairs) and Americano (Mixed Pairs). You register with your partner, keep them all night, and your pair plays every other pair once to the point cap. Mixed pairs must be one man and one woman. In a pair tournament you cannot join alone: you enter through a partner invite, or put yourself in the “looking for a partner” list.
Questions people actually ask
+Do I need a partner?
No. You register alone — the app hands you a different partner every round.
+Can a round end in a draw?
Yes, on an even cap: 12–12 on a cap of 24. Both pairs take the same points.
+We are 9, not 8.
Run Americano Flex — same format, one player rests each round.
Mexicano
Each round drawn from the scores — leaders meet leaders
How it works
- Round 1 is seeded by rating: the top four go to court 1, the next four to court 2.
- After every round the leaderboard is re-sorted and the courts are cut again from the top. Court 1 is always the four players currently leading.
- Inside a court the default pairing is 1st + 3rd against 2nd + 4th. The organizer can switch to 1+4 v 2+3 (fully balanced) or 1+2 v 3+4 (top against bottom).
Scoring
Same as Americano — one point per rally, round ends at the cap.
Who wins
Same rule as Americano — the organizer picks point difference (here the same order as total points) or matches won. There is no fixed number of rounds: the organizer stops when the time is up.
Round by round
Round 1 is seeded by rating. Court 1 is the four highest-rated players; inside the court it is 1st + 3rd against 2nd + 4th.
Organizer’s note
Because the round count is not fixed, the night ends when you say it ends — and it fits any roster that fills whole courts, from 4 players up in multiples of four. It is the format to pick when levels are far apart: by round 3 or 4 the strong players are on court 1 with each other and everyone else has their own game. The cost is repetition — the same four keep meeting. That is what spicy is for.
Can we enter as a pair?
No — Mexicano is individual only. Every round is redrawn from the standings, so a fixed partner would break the format. If you want to play with your partner all night, use Americano (Pairs) or King (Pairs).
Questions people actually ask
+Will I get the same partners and opponents twice in one night?
Very likely, yes. Courts are cut from the standings, and after a few rounds the standings stop moving much — so the same four players keep landing on the same court, in a handful of combinations. That is the direct consequence of a format that sorts by level: the better it sorts, the more it repeats. If you want everyone to meet everyone, that is Americano, not Mexicano. If you want the sorting but not the repetition, turn on spicy.
+What is spicy mode?
A switch the organizer sets before the start. Every Nth round — you choose N between 2 and 5 — the draw ignores the standings and shuffles the whole field at random instead, then goes back to sorting by score. It breaks up the top-court lock-in on a long night and gives everyone a round with someone new.
+Why did I drop a court after winning?
You did not drop for losing — courts are cut from the total standings, not from the last result. Someone below you simply scored more over the night.
+Is it harder than Americano?
It gets harder as it goes. By round 4 you are only playing people at your level.
Escalera
3 games per court, then top 2 up / bottom 2 down
How it works
- On every court the four players play all three partner combinations — three short games, so no one’s round hangs on a single draw.
- Points from the three games are added up on that court. The top two climb one court, the bottom two drop one court.
- Court 1 winners have nowhere to climb, so they stay. The bottom court’s losers stay too. Everyone else moves.
Scoring
Short games, by points, by a timer, or as a real padel set. The organizer picks one mode for the whole tournament.
Who wins
Whoever finishes the last round on court 1 with the best score on that court, in that round. Points from earlier rounds are not added up for the result — they only move you between courts along the way.
Round by round
3 games
3 games
Round 1. Seeded by rating. The four on each court play all three partner splits before anyone moves.
This is the difference from Americano and Mexicano: the court is closed. The same four players stay on it for all 3 partner combinations — only then are the points counted and players promoted or relegated.
Organizer’s note
Unlike Americano and Mexicano, this one can be played with normal padel scoring — 15 / 30 / 40, either on a timer or as sets. Each court plays all three of its games before anyone moves, which makes it the fairest of the formats: nobody is promoted or relegated on the strength of a single draw. Usually a better fit for experienced players.
Can we enter as a pair?
No — Escalera is individual only. The three games inside a court exist precisely to break up the pairs, so a fixed partner has nowhere to fit. The pair equivalent is King (Pairs).
Questions people actually ask
+Why don’t my total points decide it?
Because the final table is not built from your total at all. It reads two things, in this order: which court you were on in the last round, and how many points you scored on that court in that last round. Everything you scored earlier only decided where you ended up — it does not carry into the result. So a player who dominated court 3 all evening finishes below everyone who ended on court 1, whatever the totals say. The practical consequence: the last round is the one that counts, and the round before it is the one that gets you there.
+How many rounds will we actually get through?
Three, and that is what the app now suggests. A round is three games on the court plus the changeover, so budget roughly half an hour each — a tight club night sometimes only gets through two.
+Can I run it on one court?
No — a ladder needs somewhere to climb. Use King of the Court for a single court.
King of Court
Like Escalera, but only 1 up / 1 down
How it works
- Same court, same partner splits as Escalera, and the same choice of how many to play — three is the full rotation, and the organizer can shorten it to two or one. Only the movement changes: one player up, one player down.
- Courts stay far more stable, so the top court turns into a real king’s court — you have to beat the same people repeatedly to hold it.
- It also runs on a single court with exactly four players: the three partner combinations cycle round after round and points simply add up.
Scoring
By points, by a timer, or as a padel set — the organizer’s choice.
Who wins
Same as Escalera: the court you were on in the last round comes first, your score on that court in that round second. Earlier rounds only got you there. The single-court version is the exception — with one court there is nothing to climb, so it is simply the most points across the whole night.
Round by round
3 games
3 games
Round 1. Identical start to Escalera — seeded by rating, three games per court.
This is the difference from Americano and Mexicano: the court is closed. The same four players stay on it for all 3 partner combinations — only then are the points counted and players promoted or relegated.
Organizer’s note
It runs with as few as four players on one court — the format to keep in your pocket when half the group cancels. Otherwise it is Escalera with less movement: fewer changes per round, so the courts settle. Best for an experienced group whose levels are close, where a top court is worth defending.
Can we enter as a pair?
Yes — King (Pairs) and King (Mixed Pairs). It plays differently: two pairs per court, one match per round instead of three, and the winning pair climbs a court while the losing pair drops. It needs an even number of pairs, at least four, and the organizer has to resolve a draw before the next round can be drawn.
Questions people actually ask
+Escalera or King?
Escalera churns — half the court changes every round. King rewards holding your ground. Short night: Escalera. Long night: King.
+Only four of us turned up.
That is the one format that still works: single-court King, three partner combinations, as many rounds as you like.
+Do I climb if I win?
Not necessarily. Only the single best scorer on the court climbs.
Beat the Box
2 stages of 3 games per court — ideal for 1–1:15h
How it works
- Stage 1 splits the field into boxes of four by a snake draft — with 12 players court 1 gets seeds 1, 6, 7, 12, court 2 gets 2, 5, 8, 11, court 3 gets 3, 4, 9, 10. Every box is roughly equal strength, so the first stage is a fair measurement, not a seeding lottery.
- Each box plays all three partner splits — the same three games as Escalera.
- Then the whole field is reranked and sliced from the top: best four to court 1, next four to court 2, and so on. A player can jump from the bottom court to the top in one move.
- Stage 2 is another three games per box. That is the whole tournament — it fits an hour to an hour and a quarter.
Scoring
Short games by points, by a timer, or as sets. Time mode is the usual choice — it makes the two stages land on the clock.
Who wins
The box you finish in sets your band: court 1 takes places 1–4, court 2 takes 5–8, and so on. Inside a box, the final-stage score decides. A court-1 player always finishes above a court-2 player.
Round by round
3 games
3 games
3 games
Stage 1 — the snake draft. Seeds 1, 6, 7, 12 in box 1; 2, 5, 8, 11 in box 2; 3, 4, 9, 10 in box 3. Every box is worth the same on paper.
This is the difference from Americano and Mexicano: the court is closed. The same four players stay on it for all 3 partner combinations — only then are the points counted and players promoted or relegated.
Organizer’s note
The main difference from everything else: the first stage is not seeded by rating — the snake draft makes every box equal on paper, so stage 1 is a measurement rather than a confirmation. Two stages, qualifying and final, and that is the whole tournament. Built for a night where time is short.
Can we enter as a pair?
No — Beat the Box is individual only. The reseed between the two stages moves single players between boxes, which a fixed pair cannot survive.
Questions people actually ask
+Why not just seed by rating in stage 1?
Because then stage 1 tells you nothing you did not already know. The snake draft makes every box a fair test.
+I scored the most points overall but finished third.
Points are not the ranking — the box you ended in is. Points only order the four players inside it.
+How long does it take?
About 1:00–1:15 with 12 players on 3 courts. It is the format to pick when the courts are booked for exactly an hour.
Flex
A switch that makes Americano or Round Robin work with any number of players
How it works
- Turn Flex on when the roster is not a multiple of four. Each round runs as many full courts as the numbers allow, and the remainder sits on a bench that moves one place down the list every round — so everyone sits out the same number of times.
- With 5, 9, 13, 17 or 21 players the schedule is provably perfect: every pair partners exactly once, no repeats at all. Those counts carry a “fair play” badge in the app.
- With the other counts a perfect schedule is mathematically impossible, so the app minimises repeated partners instead.
Scoring
Americano Flex plays to a point cap; Round Robin Flex plays a set of six games.
Who wins
Most points, same as the base format. At the end the organizer can equalize — players who played fewer matches are credited a synthetic draw, so a short bench does not cost you the win.
Organizer’s note
Flex is a switch, not a format of its own — it sits on top of Americano or Round Robin. Reach for it the moment the roster stops being a multiple of four, rather than turning someone away.
Can we enter as a pair?
No — Flex and pair mode are mutually exclusive. Flex exists to absorb an odd roster; a fixed pair is exactly what makes the roster even.
Questions people actually ask
+Nine of us turned up. Do we drop someone?
No. Nine is one of the perfect counts — the nine-player schedule is better than a forced eight plus a spectator.
+Does the bench cost me the tournament?
It can, on an uneven count. That is what “equalize results” at the end is for, and it is reversible.
All six side by side
| Format | Players | Who you play with | Scoring | Rounds | Who wins | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Americano | 4–24, in fours | A different partner every round | Points cap | N−1, fixed | Most points | A mixed-level group that wants to meet everyone |
| Mexicano | 4–24, in fours | Whoever is next to you on the table | Points cap | Open-ended | Most points | A group that wants the night to get harder |
| Escalera | 8+, 2+ courts | Three splits, then move a court | Points / time / sets | 3+ recommended | Highest court, then score | A club night where everyone should keep moving |
| King of Court | 4, or 8+ | Three splits, one player moves | Points / time / sets | Open-ended | Highest court, then score | A group that wants a court worth defending |
| Beat the Box | 8–24, in fours | Fair boxes, then reseeded boxes | Points / time / sets | 2 stages | Final box, then score | A hard one-hour court booking |
| Flex | Any count | Base format + a rotating bench | Points or sets | N rounds | Most points, optionally equalized | 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11 players |
Which one should I run?
Fixed schedule, no decisions to make, and you meet everyone. It is the format to learn on.
The field re-sorts after every round, so by the end you are only playing people at your level.
Two stages, three games each, done. The only format built around a clock.
A ladder gives the night a shape — a top court to chase, and somewhere to fall back to.
Nine players make a better tournament than eight plus a spectator.