How to run a King of the Court Tournament on PicklePlay

Welcome to the world of King of the Court Pickleball Tournaments, the ultimate showdown on the courts. Paddle in hand, players will battle it out in a series of intense matches, each trying to earn the coveted title of King of the Court.

Continue reading to learn how to run a King of the Court Pickleball Tournament on PicklePlay. From getting started to crowning a champion, we will walk you through step by step.

Adding your King of the Court Event to the PicklePlay app

• If you have an existing club/group, you can add a new event there in the schedule tab.
• If you don’t want to run it for a specific group that already exists, you can add it as a public event from the “Events” tab on the bottom of the app.
• Add name, location, date and all details for your event.
• The concept is that Players will play on a court. Winners move up and losers move down. Players will start scrambled on courts and work their way up or down. After each round, players will split partners to keep players moving and not playing with same players each time.
• OR, Players need to have a partner lined up before the event and at least one player from each team needs to sign up/ RSVP and click “Attend” event on the PicklePlay app.
• Post the event. Make sure it is labeled public if outside of a club/group.

• Share the link or have players search event on events tab by name to RSVP.
• ALL PLAYERS RSVP on PicklePlay to play. If someone has an older device and cannot, you can make an exception.
• No one needs the paid version. A common question is what do you get for the PicklePlay Pro Version. As of this article, you are not required to have the Pro version to create a tournament but having the Pro membership does help support our development and data charges. It also unlocks instructional content, allows users to sort players by skill when searching, add events going to to their phone calendar, and will remove pop-up ads.

Play Format:

King of the Court is typically best played with 4 players on a court and all somewhat similar skill level.

• Option # 1
  • Scramble players on courts randomly either by drawing numbers or just calling out numbers. This is played in double format doesn’t matter who partnered with first game because will move positions after each match.
  • Play starts and everyone plays games to 11. Win by 2 for a normal game, but you can have a 15/20 min cut off to keep play moving.
  • Winning team will move up a court and losing team will move down a court. BOTH teams will split partners after moving so players will play with new teammates after each match.
  • This will go on for 2 hours or until director decides to be done.
  • The winning team/combo of players at the end of the event is crowned “King or Queen” of the Court and will get to take winning title and any prize offered.
  • You can have more players than fit on courts, but make sure to have extras fit between courts towards the bottom courts and have to rotate to that spot, wait a match, then move onto the next court up or down. Easiest is to have 4 players on court and no one sits other than for water breaks in between matches.
  • 4 courts = 16 players / 6 courts = 24 players / 8 courts = 32 players / 10 courts = 40 players / 12 courts = 48 players...etc.
• Option # 2
  • Players have set teams from the start and one person from each team registers/signs up on PicklePlay event (great if both do, but at least one needs to). They move up or down the courts based on wins or losses, but they do not have to split up who they play with. They stick together the entire time!

Tips:

• Either option chosen, most people put numbers in a hat to get starting positions so it is random!
• Take a group photo before or at the end to share your event on social media.
• Make sure to get a picture of your winners to share!

Its that easy to set up and run a King of the Court Tournament on the PicklePlay app. King of the Court tournaments are a great social, yet competitive way to organize play in a group. It is perfect for family, friends, holidays, or even just regular group play.

We recently partnered with Wild Monkeys Pickleball for a fun King of the Jungle (King of the Court) event. Winners received new Wild Monkeys paddles and backpacks courtesy of Wild Monkeys. Don't forget, you can save 20% OFF your entire order with our exclusive PicklePlay discount! Use code WMPLAY20. Shop now: https://wildmonkeyspb.com.

New to PicklePlay? Download the PicklePlay app today on IOS or Android or visit pickleplay.com to find courts, upcoming events, additional blog topics, connect with other players and more!