Social padel night, sorted: formats, one clock, a weekly series
Pick the variant, play to any number of points or against the clock, repeat the night automatically and plan every category on the same courts.
A regular padel night is not a one-off tournament. You want the right mix of players on court, every round starting at the same moment, the same event again next Thursday and, on bigger days, three categories sharing six courts without anyone double-booked. Classic Americano covers the first step. LiveCup now covers the rest.
What's new
- Six format variants: Classic, Mixed and Team Americano, Classic and Super Mexicano, and King of the Court.
- Play to any number of points (16, 21, 24, 32 or your own) or in timed rounds.
- One round clock for all courts, shown on the TV screen and on every phone.
- Repeat a tournament in two taps, or make it a weekly series that creates itself.
- A court planner that schedules every category of an event on shared courts.
Pick the variant that fits your night
Choose the variant in the creation wizard or in the tournament settings, before the first round. All of them work for padel, pickleball, tennis, badminton and table tennis.
Mixed Americano
Every pair is one woman and one man, and partners rotate from round to round. You set each player's gender at sign-up, and LiveCup stops you from starting a draw that cannot work: Mixed Americano needs at least two women and two men.
Team Americano
Pairs stay together and play every other pair once. The table ranks pairs by the points they scored. There is no rest compensation, because every pair plays the same number of matches.
Super Mexicano
Like Mexicano, each round pairs players by the current ranking, but the higher courts pay a bonus. Points are added after each round: the top court gets the most, and each court below gets one less. Leave the bonus empty and LiveCup uses the number of courts minus one.
King of the Court
Winners move up a court, losers move down. The best players end up on court 1, and the TV screen marks the king court. If a timed match ends level, the pair with the better point difference moves up.
Points or time: you decide
Play to 16, 21, 24 or 32 points, or enter any number from 1 to 99. A match ends when both pairs together reach the total, for example 13 to 8 at 21.
Prefer timed rounds? Pick 10, 12, 15 or 20 minutes, or any length up to 90. Every round starts and ends together, and any score counts. One clock runs for all courts, so nobody waits for the slowest match.
The clock shows on the TV screen and on every phone. You start, pause and restart it from the operator panel. It only signals the end of the round: matches finish when you or the scorer enters the result.
The same night, every week
After the tournament, press Repeat. LiveCup creates the next edition with the same format, rules, courts, TV screen and registration settings. Results are never copied. You choose the date and whether registration reopens or the same players carry over.
Turn on the weekly or every-two-weeks series and editions create themselves a few days ahead, as many days as you set. You can also email the previous edition's players when registration opens, so the regulars hear about it first.
The series page shows the next date, the editions so far and the rule. You can pause the series, skip a date, edit the rule or create the next edition right now.
One plan for the whole event
Running Women B, Mixed Open and Men C on the same Saturday? Add the event's courts and the time window for each day, set a priority for every category, pin a category to chosen courts if you need to, and preview the plan before you apply it.
The planner never puts two categories on the same court at the same time. It also keeps a player apart across categories when they signed up with the same email address. Players who used different addresses are not detected.
It plans matches that already exist, so generate league and group schedules first. Live and finished matches are never moved. If something does not fit, the preview shows what is left over and suggests a longer window or one more court.
What's free and what's not
All six variants, any points target and timed rounds with the shared clock are available on every plan, the Free plan included. The Free plan's limit of 4 players or teams per tournament still applies, so bigger nights need a paid plan.
Repeat, weekly series and the event court planner are part of the PRO, Business and Enterprise plans. An Event Pass does not unlock them.
See plansFrequently asked questions
Which sports can use these formats?
Padel, pickleball, tennis, badminton and table tennis. Any sport played in pairs works, because the variants only decide who plays with and against whom.
Does the round clock end the matches?
No. The clock signals the end of the round, and you or the scorer enter the result. In timed rounds any score is accepted.
Can I use Mixed Americano on the Free plan?
Yes. Formats, any points target and timed rounds are on every plan. The Free plan still allows 4 players or teams per tournament, so for a full night you need a paid plan.
How many players does Mixed Americano need?
At least two women and two men. Every player needs a gender, which they choose when they sign up or you set in the roster. With an uneven split, some players rest each round in turn.
How does Team Americano rank the pairs?
By the points each pair scored. There is no rest compensation, because fixed pairs all play the same number of matches.
How do recurring series work, and which plans include them?
Repeat creates the next edition with the same settings and no results. A weekly or every-two-weeks series creates editions automatically a few days ahead and can email last edition's players when registration opens. Series are available on PRO, Business and Enterprise, not with an Event Pass.
Will the court planner keep a player out of two matches at once?
It keeps categories off the same court at the same time. It keeps a player apart across categories only when they registered with the same email address. The planner is available on PRO, Business and Enterprise.
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