When a league is set up, the organiser chooses one of two types. A Swiss league pairs you against opponents with a similar record each week — the fixtures adapt to results as the season unfolds. A Standard league follows a classic fixed round-robin rotation: everyone plays everyone in turn, regardless of results, before any matchup repeats. Everything else — scoring, standings, absences, and this app — works the same in both.

Your final position is decided by three things in order: (1) Win rate — your wins divided by games played, shown as a percentage. This is the primary ranking. It means a team that wins 8 out of 10 games ranks above one that wins 9 out of 15, so no one is penalised for playing fewer games due to the bye system. (2) Buchholz tiebreak — the sum of all your opponents' wins. If two teams have the same win rate, the one who faced tougher competition ranks higher. It rewards quality over quantity: beating strong teams counts for more than running up scores against weaker ones. It's the standard tiebreak used in chess and Swiss-format sports worldwide. (3) Points differential — total points scored minus total points conceded, as a final separator. This three-layer system means the team that genuinely performed best across the whole season, against the toughest competition, finishes on top — regardless of how many games the bye system happened to give them.

With an even number of active players or teams, yes — everyone plays exactly the same number of games. With an odd number, the bye system means one or two players or teams may get one fewer game that week. The schedule balances this across weeks so no one consistently misses out. You can check the game count indicator on each week to see the spread.

Sometimes a game runs out of time. Rather than losing it, the organiser flags it — either ⏳ To be played (never started) or ⏸ Paused at 7–5 (stopped mid-game, and it'll resume from that exact score). It stays on its fixture with an amber badge, and appears in a "still to be played" list at the top of the Fixtures tab — visible to everyone — until it's finished and scored. It's completed at a later date (often slotted into another league night), then the final score goes in as normal and it drops off the list. Until then it counts as not yet played: no effect on either team's standings.

In singles, absent players receive no points and no games for that week. There are no stand-ins or substitutes in singles — your league record is yours alone. In doubles, if one of the two players in a partnership can't make it, we strongly encourage finding a replacement player for that week. Keeping the team active keeps the league competitive and fair for everyone. If both players in a doubles partnership are unavailable, or no replacement can be found, the team is marked absent for that week. Absence counts are shown in the standings so everyone can see the full picture.

Yes — if a regular player or team member can't make it for a particular week, a substitute can step in for that session only. The substitute plays in their place and their games count fully towards the team's record for that week. The sub is recorded by the league organiser and their name appears as a notice at the top of the Fixtures tab so all players can see who is standing in. This keeps the league running smoothly and means no team is short-handed on the night. The regular player's spot in the league is unaffected — they simply return the following week. You can see a full record of all subs in the Attendance section of each week's fixtures.

If a player has to withdraw from the league permanently due to injury, the organiser can carry out a permanent player swap — replacing them with a new player from a specific fixture week onwards. The replacement steps into the same position in the standings, inheriting the full record built up to that point (wins, losses, points, and previous opponents). This keeps the league fair: the slot stays competitive rather than leaving a gap, and the replacement is seeded correctly by the Swiss system from their very first game. If the replacement hasn't played yet, the swap can be undone. The original player's history is always preserved in the records.

Yes. To be eligible for a final ranking position, a team must have played at least 80% of the average number of games played across all active teams. This protects the integrity of the league — a team that plays brilliantly for two weeks then disappears shouldn't be able to claim the title on a perfect-but-tiny record. In practice, with 8 fixture weeks, this means attending at least 6 of the 8 sessions. Teams that fall below the threshold still appear in the standings so everyone can see their record, but they are marked as Ineligible and cannot finish in a ranked position. Two genuine absences are fine; beyond that, eligibility is at risk.

Players and teams are ranked by: (1) Win rate — wins ÷ games played, as a percentage. Using win rate rather than raw wins means everyone is on a level playing field regardless of how many games the bye system gave them that week. (2) Buchholz tiebreak — the sum of all your opponents' wins, which rewards playing against stronger competition. (3) Points differential — total points scored minus total points conceded. This three-layer system ensures the player or team who performed best across the whole season finishes on top.

Buchholz is the standard Swiss-system tiebreaker used in chess and other sports worldwide. It adds up the total wins of every opponent you've faced. If two players or teams have the same win rate, the one who faced tougher opponents ranks higher. It works perfectly alongside win rate as the primary ranking — if two teams are level on win percentage, the one who earned those wins against stronger competition deserves to finish above the one who had an easier ride. You're rewarded for being tested by strong competition rather than building your record against weaker opponents.

Every player or team starts with a rating of 3.5 on a scale of 2.0 to 5.0. After each week's results are saved, ratings update automatically. Beating a higher-rated opponent earns you more than beating a lower-rated one — and winning by a larger margin earns slightly more than a close win. Over the season your rating converges on a true reflection of your level. You can see your current rating in the standings table and in your profile, along with a history chart showing how it has moved week by week.

DUPR (Dynamic Universal Pickleball Rating) is a global rating system for pickleball players. Adding DUPR IDs to player profiles is optional but lets you cross-reference league performance with official ratings. Find yours at mydupr.com. Note: not all leagues are DUPR-rated. Whether a league contributes to your DUPR rating will be confirmed during sign-up. By default, our leagues are not DUPR-rated at present.

If you or your team know you won't be able to attend, please let the organiser know as early as possible — ideally before fixtures are generated for that week. Letting us know in advance means pairings can be planned properly and other players and teams aren't left waiting or short of a game. We completely understand that things come up, and there's no penalty for missing a week — we just ask for a heads-up so everyone's session runs smoothly.

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