Looking to set up a pickleball round robin? Players love them but I know how involved running a round robin can be, trust me! From printed spreadsheets to dealing with player no-shows, organizing a round robin can be more work than you expect.
Luckily, there are a range of round robin generators online to help you, including our own comprehensive Pickleheads Round Robin Tool that takes all the stress out of organizing. Enhance your competitive pickleball play with one of the tools highlighted below.
How to run a pickleball round robin
So, what is a round robin? While the format can vary, a round robin tournament is one in which players or teams rotate opponents, with winners crowned at the end. Round robins are very popular in pickleball, allowing rec players to participate in more structured and competitive play.
Let's get into how to run a round robin in pickleball:
- Pick a platform: choose one of the many round robin generators to help you organize your round robin. We'll highlight some of the best below.
- Decide on a format: there are different types of round robin formats, from a basic single or double round robin to a ladder round robin and more detailed formats like the ones available in the Pickleheads round robin generator.
- Invite players: now it's time to invite players to your round robin. Some platforms let you invite players easily through their app or website.
- Reserve courts: time to book pickleball courts (enough for the number of players and matchups you have scheduled).
- Build the draw: generate the tournament matchups. Some generators build the entire draw straight away. With the Pickleheads app, you only generate per round so you can keep playing as long as you wish.
- Check players in: the day has arrived, so it's time to take over and manage no shows/late arrivals, making changes to your draw if needed.
- Communicate: make sure every player knows their court assignments and matchups.
- Manage timing: timing each round can be key to keeping things moving! I recommend capping each round to 10 minutes and moving to a rally scoring system in the event of a tie score.
- Collect scores: either keep scores manually (if using a printout) or have players input their own scores in the Pickleheads app.
- Crown your winner! Why not give out some prizes?
Why run a pickleball round robin?
There are a lot of benefits to running a round robin over open play format:
- You can accommodate a wide mix of skill levels and keep it fun for everyone.
- Players typically get more competitive games than open play.
- They're social and encourage partner rotation.
- You can have winners and make it fun with prizes.
- Players typically like the structure and you can charge money for organizing them.
We recently launched the Pickleheads round robin tool. See it in action here:
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How to pick the best pickleball round robin platform
You have plenty of tools to choose from, with each one offering slightly different features. Here are some of the best options:
Pickleheads
Cost: free
We designed our round robin tool to work on your mobile phone, without the need for spreadsheets or printouts. You can generate matchups, collect scores, view live standing, send scores to DUPR, and more.
Pros:
- Six formats available for players of all skill levels.
- Run unlimited rounds with any number of courts or players.
- Players can add scores in the app and see standings in real time.
- Send scores to DUPR for automatic validation (optional).
- In case of no-shows or late arrivals, mark players as unavailable for rounds so your tournament continues.
- Set player number limits for automatic waitlisting.
- Direct and group messaging for easy communication with all confirmed players.
- Players can add the round robin to their Calendar to stay organized
- Sends game reminders to each player to avoid no-shows and late arrivals.
- Collect and track payments through cash or add your Venmo, Cashapp or Paypal information to collect payments directly from players.
- All easily managed through the Pickleheads mobile app (App Store and Google Play).
Cons:
- Doesn't support credit card processing (coming in the next few months).
- Doesn't support fixed partner formats (coming soon).
- Can't create a preset printable draw since each round is generated dynamically. This can be challenging for large group formats since you can't create a large printout that everyone can reference, so organizers must tell everyone where to go.
- Built to operate on the Pickleheads App (free). If you're the organizer and only you have the app, you'll be in charge of telling everyone where to go and collecting scores.
Try the Pickleheads round robin tool
See why this is the #1 tool for round robins in pickleball
League Lobster
Cost: free (up to 25 teams); plans start from $9.95 a month for over 25 teams
League Lobster is a more modern round robin tool with good customization options and a public page for players.
Pros:
- More modern interface.
- Can run a league.
- Can easily customize everything on the free plan.
- Handy drag-and-drop feature lets you move matchups around.
- Enter scores to generate standings automatically.
- Event pages are public, so players can see matchups, scores, and standings.
- Can print your schedule with custom team names, times, and locations.
- Can export your schedule to a CSV file for use in other applications (paid plans only).
Cons:
- Exporting not available on the free plan.
- No mobile app (all managed via an online browser).
Try League Lobster for free
Print Your Brackets
Cost: free
This is an easy-to-use, basic round robin generator available for free online.
Pros:
- Easy to use.
- Quick round robin generation.
- Can create tournaments for up to 64 teams, 32 pools, and 50 courts.
- Allows for customizable team names.
Cons:
- Older-looking interface.
- Print only.
- No mobile app (all managed via an online browser).
- You'll have to handwrite everything.
- No way to input scores or generate standings.
- Have to decide a minimum number of rounds in advance (as the matchups are printed).
- In case of disruptions (player dropouts, court unavailability, etc), your schedule is ruined.
Try Print Your Brackets for free
Plan 2 Play
Cost: free for basic features, $5 for customizable version
Plan 2 Play is another easy-to-use, basic round robin generator available for free online, with an optional paid Excel format for customization.
Pros:
- Easy to use.
- Quick round robin generation.
- Excel format can be downloaded so you can customize some details.
- Can create tournaments with up to 12 rounds, 29 courts, and any number of players.
Cons:
- Slightly older-looking interface.
- While you can print your tournament for free, there's a $5 charge for the customizable Excel format.
- The print version doesn't allow for customizable team names.
- Takes a lot of work to customize.
- No mobile app (all managed via an online browser).
- No way to input scores to generate standings.
Try Plan 2 Play for free
Tournament Scheduler
Cost: free
Tournament Scheduler is an easy-to-use, free round robin generator that gives you the basics to organize a tournament quickly.
Pros:
- Easy to use.
- Quick round robin generation.
- Organizers get a customizable admin URL, with a read-only URL to share with players.
- Players can input scores to generate standings automatically.
- Easy to customize schedule.
Cons:
- Basic interface.
- Once the schedule is created, you can't add more rounds (you have to start over).
- No printing option (everything done via an online browser).
- No mobile app.
Try Tournament Scheduler for free
Pickleball Brackets
Cost: $25 setup fee; $5 per round robin
This paid round robin tool comes with lots of features, including score submission, player invites, and automatic matchup generation.
Pros:
- More comprehensive than most tools.
- Can create player lists, invites, notifications, and wait lists.
- Can submit scores to USA Pickleball for UTPR calculations.
- Automatically generates next matchups.
- Can support large format tournaments, which most tools can't (including Pickleheads).
Cons:
- No mobile app (coming soon).
- No free version available.
- Potentially very expensive if you have a lot of players.
- UTPR rating submission not automatic—you must download the results and go to a USAPA-UTPR partner upload page.
- User interface is more challenging to learn.
Try Pickleball Brackets' plans today
Bottom line
Whichever tool you end up choosing, I hope your round robin goes off without a hitch. Make sure you remember to relax and enjoy it. Share photos on your social media of the big event so we can keep the pickleball fun going!
Try the Pickleheads round robin tool
View sessions at your nearest court on Pickleheads today.
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