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.