Rules and format
Everything you need to know to play in the league.
Cycles and dates
The league starts Monday 21 September 2026 and finishes Sunday 28 March 2027. Five cycles, each giving you five weeks to complete four matches.
| Cycle | Starts | Ends |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mon 21 Sep | Sun 25 Oct |
| 2 | Mon 26 Oct | Sun 29 Nov |
| 3 | Mon 30 Nov | Sun 17 Jan includes the Christmas break |
| 4 | Mon 18 Jan | Sun 21 Feb |
| 5 | Mon 22 Feb | Sun 28 Mar |
There is no gap between cycles. Once a cycle closes, promotion and relegation are applied and the next cycle opens.
Christmas break
We have added an additional two weeks to Cycle 3 to give you more time to complete your matches over the Christmas period.
Box format
Five teams per box. You play the other four teams each cycle.
- 4 matches per cycle
- 5 cycles
- Up to 20 competitive matches across the season
Booking your matches
We suggest booking a 90-minute court for league fixtures. That gives you enough time for two full sets and a championship tiebreak if the match goes the distance.
Match format
Two full sets, followed by a championship tiebreak if the match is level at one set each. The tiebreak decides the official league result.
Championship tiebreak
When sets are one set all, the match is decided by a championship tiebreak to 10 points.
Serving rotates through all four players, two points at a time, starting with a single point from the player next due to serve:
| Points | Who serves | Side |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Player A1 | Right only |
| 2–3 | Player B1 | Left, then right |
| 4–5 | Player A2 | Left, then right |
| 6–7 | Player B2 | Left, then right |
| 8–9 | Player A1 | Left, then right |
| 10–11 | Player B1 | Left, then right |
This four-player cycle repeats for as long as the tiebreak runs. Players change ends every 6 points. The first pair to 10 points wins, provided they lead by at least 2; if the score reaches 9-9, play continues until one pair is 2 points clear.
If both teams prefer a full third set and the court time allows, play one by mutual agreement. Enter it in the third-set boxes when you submit your score.
Submitting your result
Enter your result on the league site as soon as you finish, while you both still remember the score. Either team can enter it.
- Open the league, choose your box, then your team.
- Enter your 4-digit team PIN. Keep it between the two of you — anyone with it can enter results in your name.
- Pick who you played and enter the score, set by set.
The other team is then asked to confirm it. If they do nothing, the score confirms itself after 24 hours.
If they think the score is wrong they can query it. A queried score gives neither team any points until Padel Park sorts it out, so query only when something is genuinely wrong, and tell us what it should be.
Once a score is confirmed, only Padel Park can change it. If you spot a mistake after that, or a match was played and nobody recorded it, let us know and we will put it right.
League points
- 4 points for winning in two straight sets
- 3 points for winning after the teams split the opening two sets
- 1 bonus point for the losing team if they take a set
- 0 points for losing in two straight sets
Winning every match
A team that wins all four of its matches finishes top of its box, whatever the points say.
Points reward winning in straight sets, so it is possible to win every match and still finish second on points. Winning your box is the one thing that should not be in doubt when you have beaten everybody in it. Only one team can ever win all four — you all play each other — so this can never apply to two teams at once.
A match you win by forfeit counts as a win here — it is not your fault the other team pulled out. A match nobody played, or one exempted by the club, does not.
Standings tiebreaker
If two or more teams finish a cycle level on points, we separate them in this order:
- Head-to-head. If exactly two teams are level and they played each other, the winner of that match finishes higher.
- Sets difference across the cycle (sets won minus sets lost).
- Games difference across the cycle (games won minus games lost). Championship tiebreak points count as games, so a 10-8 tiebreak counts as 10 games to 8.
- Matches completed. The team that completed more of its matches finishes higher.
If teams are still level after all of that, Padel Park decides. Submit full scorelines so we can apply this accurately.
Add your results to Playtomic
Enter every league result in the Playtomic app as well as submitting it to us. Playtomic uses your match results to adjust your level, so the more matches you record, the more accurate your rating becomes over the season. That keeps future box placements and match-ups fair for everyone.
Settling the boxes after Cycle 1
The opening boxes were seeded on Playtomic ratings, and a number of players had no rating at the time. Some boxes will therefore have been set a little high or low.
At the end of Cycle 1 only, a team that has clearly over- or under-performed its box may be moved more than one box, rather than the usual one. This is a one-off correction to settle the league, at the discretion of Padel Park, and from Cycle 2 onwards the normal promotion and relegation applies.
Promotion and relegation
At the end of every cycle:
- 1st place: promoted
- 2nd place: promoted
- 3rd place: stays in the same box
- 4th place: relegated
- 5th place: relegated
Prizes
Prizes worth over €1,000 across the season.
The team finishing top of their box at the end of each cycle receives €15 Playtomic credit per player, €30 per team. With seven boxes and five cycles, that is 35 chances to win.
At the end of the final cycle there are prizes for the winners of every box, not just the top one, along with further prizes to be announced during the season.
Substitutes
If one of your registered players is unavailable, you may use a substitute whose Playtomic rating is within 0.75 of the player they replace. This gives you flexibility without changing the standard of the box.
Unplayed matches
All four matches must be completed before the cycle closes. Most cycles run five weeks; Cycle 3 runs seven, over Christmas. Any match not completed by the closing date is declared void and both teams take a 1 point penalty.
That includes a match that was started but not finished. It counts as not played, and both teams take the penalty.
Forfeits
A match is treated as a forfeit when either:
- a match was arranged and one team pulled out close to the time, or
- one team offered several dates and the other would not accept any of them.
The team at fault takes the 1 point penalty. The other team is awarded the win, worth 3 points. No sets or games are recorded, so a forfeit does not affect either team's sets or games difference.
Forfeits are at the discretion of Padel Park. We decide whether a match counts as a forfeit, and which team is at fault — or whether to treat it as an ordinary unplayed match with the penalty applying to both.
Arrange your fixtures when the cycle opens rather than leaving them to the final week. There are no individual extensions for holidays, work commitments or availability. Please only enter if you and your partner can commit to four matches in every cycle.
Padel Park may settle a match as not played before the closing date when it is clear it will not happen. Both teams take the penalty at that point, and neither can enter a score for it afterwards.