How do I organize a padel tournament?

Work backwards from the court time you can get. Everything else, the number of entries, the format and the match length, has to fit inside it. Here is a checklist that works for a club night or a weekend with friends.

1. Book the courts first. Count the hours you have and the courts available, then add 30 minutes of slack.
2. Decide who it is for. Men, women, mixed or open, and a level range. Mixed levels point towards a rotating-partner format.
3. Choose the format. Use the table in the next section.
4. Set a cap and a waitlist. The cap comes from your court maths, not from how many people ask.
5. Pick the scoring. A full best of three sets takes far too long for a one-day event with many pairs. See the rules section.
6. Write a one-page rules sheet. Scoring, ball policy, the late rule and what happens in rain.
7. Open entries with a deadline. Say who enters, how pairs are formed, what the fee is and how it is paid. Collect the fee yourself, outside any app, and say so.
8. Close entries and confirm. Message everyone two days before and ask for a yes. Fill dropouts from the waitlist.
9. Draw the groups or the schedule. Publish it before the day, with start times for the first round.
10. Brief everyone before the first serve. Read the rules sheet out loud, in two minutes.
11. Run the day. Keep a result sheet or a live bracket, and call the next matches early.
12. Publish results. Post the final table, thank the club and note the date of the next one.

If this is your first event in any sport, the first tournament guide walks the same ground without the padel details.

Use a Mexicano or Americano when people arrive as individuals or the levels are mixed. Use groups plus a knockout when pairs are fixed and you want a proper final. Use a single-elimination bracket only when time is very short, because half the field goes home after one match.

An Americano uses a fixed rotation of partners that you can print in advance. A Mexicano builds each round from the standings, so strong players end up together and games stay close. MATCHi, a booking platform, recommends a Mexicano for open tournaments. Both are explained in full in the Americano guide and the Mexicano guide. In Spain you will usually hear the Americano night called an "americana", and the format is the same.

For the maths behind groups, byes and brackets, read tournament formats. You can also make a schedule for free with the Americano generator or the Mexicano generator.

Count court slots, not just matches. A slot is one court for one match, and each round has to finish before the next one starts, so the clock time is the number of slots in a row times the slot length. In a group stage, spread the matches over the courts (matches ÷ courts, rounded up). Then add one round at a time for the knockout: each round takes as many slots as its matches divided by the courts, rounded up. FenixPlay, an organizer app, advises planning about 30 minutes of court time per match for groups plus a knockout. That means a short format, such as one set, four-game sets or a timed match, rather than best of three.

The table uses 30 minutes per slot for pair events and 16 minutes a round for rotating nights, the top of the Americano guide's 10 to 16 minute range, as a planning assumption. Each figure is the minimum, with no gaps between rounds, so add 15 to 30 minutes of slack for late starts.

The same 16 pairs in groups plus a knockout take 8 h on two courts and 4 h 30 on four. That is why court count, not player count, decides the format. If you only have two courts and one morning, cut the entry list or shorten the matches.

A full best-of-three match runs far past 30 minutes, which is why a one-day pairs event needs short scoring.

Choose the scoring, the ball policy and the late rule, and put them in writing. Nobody will remember a rule that was only said aloud. Use the padel rules guide and the padel scoring guide for the basics. These are the decisions that matter for an event.

Game scoring. The FIP rules of padel list three ways to score a game: advantage, the star point and the golden point (a single deciding point at deuce, with the receivers choosing the side). Pick one and name it on the sheet.

Match length. FIP's standard match is best of three sets, but its rules also list alternatives: a four-game mini set, and a tie-break or a 10-point super tie-break instead of a third set. The LTA, the British federation, uses FAST4 for abbreviated events: first to 4 games wins, a tiebreak at 3-3, a match tie-break if it goes to one set each, and no-ad scoring. For a one-day event with many matches, one of these is the practical choice.

Balls. FIP expects the organizer to announce the ball brand and type, whether a match uses 2 or 3 balls, and the ball-change policy, before the event.

Times. FIP allows 20 seconds between points, 90 seconds when changing sides, 120 seconds between sets and a 3-minute courtesy rally. It awards a walkover to a pair that is not on court ready to play 10 minutes after the official start time, unless the umpire sees force majeure. For a friendly, you can loosen this. Whatever you choose, write it down.

Court. A padel court is 20 m by 10 m, with a net 0.88 m high at the centre.

Add three lines of your own: how ties in a group are broken (head to head first is simple), who keeps score and what players do when they disagree about a call. Flobit's group table ranks by wins, then set difference, then sets won, with no head-to-head step, so apply any other tie-break yourself.

Be on site early, start on time and keep a visible schedule. A tournament runs late for small reasons, so every task below saves five minutes.

1. Arrive 45 minutes early. Check the courts, the balls, a pen, a printed schedule and a pack of spare balls.
2. Check people in. Tick each pair or player off. Give the places of anyone missing at the cut-off time to the waitlist.
3. Start with a short briefing. Scoring, the late rule, where results go and how to reach you. Two minutes.
4. Start on the dot. Every court begins at the same time, with a 3-minute courtesy rally rather than a long warm-up.
5. Call the next match early. Name the pairs for the next round while the current one is still on court, so they can warm their legs.
6. Record every result right away. Do not wait until the end of the day. A wrong score found at 6 pm is a bigger argument than one found at 12.
7. Watch the clock, not the score. If one court is falling behind, shorten the next matches on that court by agreement.
8. Keep food and water within reach. A long day with no water ends in cramps and cancellations.
9. Finish with the final, then the table. Announce winners straight away and share the final table the same day.

If you have helpers, give each a job: one on the schedule, one on results and one on the courts. If you want to play yourself, ask a friend to run the event, because one person cannot organize and play well at once.

Decide the answer before it happens and put it on the rules sheet. The same four problems come back at every event.

No-shows. Confirm two days ahead and keep a waitlist, so a drop-out becomes a substitute rather than a gap. On the day, apply the late rule. FIP gives a walkover after 10 minutes, and a friendly can choose its own limit. A pair that is missing in round one should not stop the court, so be ready to move the schedule up.

Odd numbers. With an odd number of pairs, someone gets a bye in each round of a round robin, and a knockout bracket needs byes in the first round, given to the top groups. With an odd number of players in a Mexicano, someone sits out each round. Rotate the sit-outs, and rank by average points per match played if the numbers of matches differ. Flobit's Mexicano ranks on total points, then fewer rounds played, so apply the average yourself if you prefer it.

A player leaves or is injured. In a pairs event, the pair forfeits unless the organizer allows a replacement. Say which in advance. In a rotating night, the others carry on and the leaver's score stays as it is.

Rain, wind or heat. Many padel courts are outdoors. Pick a rain date or an indoor fallback. FIP's rule for a suspended match: a break of up to 5 minutes needs no warm-up, 5 to 20 minutes gets a 1-minute warm-up, and over 20 minutes gets 3 minutes, and play resumes at the same score. In a heatwave, start early and add water breaks between sets.

Disputes. Most come from unclear scoring or a missed line call. Have one person whose word is final, and write down the decision.

See also how to stop no-shows, which covers the reminder and waitlist habits in more detail.

Yes, for most of the formats above. Flobit does not book courts, take payments for courts, entry fees or prizes, or run an Americano, so book the courts yourself and collect entry fees outside the app.

In a community you create a padel tournament and choose a format: single elimination, double elimination, a league (round robin once or twice), groups plus a knockout, or a Mexicano. Players enter with your approval, and extras go to a waitlist. You can set a cap from 2 to 512 entries, the category (men, women, mixed or open) and an age range, invite pairs, add guests without an account and show an entry fee for information only. You can appoint up to 20 referees. Brackets and standings update live, trophies go out automatically, and you get a roster message formatted for WhatsApp or Telegram plus share cards and a calendar entry.

Flobit is free to use, with no ads. Flobit Plus is an optional subscription for advanced stats and a Plus badge. It gives no advantage in tournaments. Flobit works on iPhone, Apple Watch and the web, and Android is coming soon.

A community can have up to 5 active tournaments at a time. Read the full tournaments feature page for the entry options, or download Flobit.

How many courts do I need for a padel tournament?

What is the best format for a padel tournament with mixed levels?

How long should a padel match be in a tournament?

What is the golden point and should I use it?

What do I do if a pair doesn't turn up?

What do I do if it rains during a padel tournament?

Can I collect entry fees through Flobit?

Does Flobit run an Americano?