Fast & Furious! 8-Player Round Robin w/Pickled.App
While Pickled.App has options for round-robins of various sizes, we’ve found hosting with 8 players is simply a blast! It’s fast-paced, entertaining, and with the right setup, you can transition from first serve to awarding medals in less than two hours. I’m not here to brag, but Pickled.App makes things a breeze compared to other apps, not to mention the old-school paper methods. You can post the event for sign-ups, establish rules, auto-generate matches, record scores, and it’ll automatically tally up the results — all within the app.
While there are various configuration options, this is the setup that works perfectly for us given limited court availability and time constraints. With 8 participants and two courts, everyone stays engaged and your event can wrap up in less than two hours. In terms of game format, I’ve found that setting games as “first to 9” with the winner determined by points seems to work best. This approach keeps the momentum going and softens the blow of losing a match, thus encouraging players of a wide range of skill levels to join in the fun.
Today, I’ll guide you through a complete walkthrough from setting up the event to the final tally. So, without further ado, let’s dive in!
Step 1: Create the Round Robin Event
First things first, you need to let people know about your event so they can sign up! Here’s my recommended settings:
- Choose a date and click the ‘+’ icon to create a new event.
- Set the ‘Duration’ to two hours and the ‘Type’ to ‘Tournament’.
- Set both the ‘Min’ and ‘Max Players’ to 8. This ensures that you’ll have the perfect number of players for two courts.
- Keep the ‘Guests’ to zero. This is because you can’t log scores for guests, so everyone needs to sign up through the app.
- Next, adjust the ‘Min/Max Skill Level’ according to your particular group. This helps ensure a balanced and competitive tournament.
- In the ‘Note’ section, I usually mention something like, “Round Robin Tournament w/2 courts. First to 9. Winner by Points.” This gives players a clear idea of the format and what to expect.
- Finish by clicking “Create Event”. Your event will be instantly published to the dashboard at the selected location so people can start signing up. If you want to fill the event quicker, don’t forget about the “Share” button. This feature lets you post a link directly to your event on your favorite social media platform.
And there you go! Your round robin event is created so sit back and watch those sign-ups roll in. Next I’ll cover my approach to managing the event on game day.
Step 2: Create the games
Remember, this particular event works best with exactly 8 players; any more or less and people will have to sit out between games, which costs time and we’re on a schedule! Let’s assume you’ve arrived at the courts, and everyone is fired up and ready to play so here’s how to get those matches started!
- Open your event in the Pickled.App and click the “Games” button, followed by “Create New Game.”
- Select the “Round Robin” format. This is the type of tournament where every player will play with every other player at least once (details on that here).
- Next, set the “Scoring type” to ‘Individual’ and “Scoring Method” to ‘Points.’ This means each player will score individually, and the winners are determined by points.
- To keep things moving along, we’ll set the “Win At” to 9 and the “Win By” to 1. This sets our games to be first to 9, keeping the pace brisk.
- Lastly, click on “Generate Games”. Voila! Pickled.App has automatically created the perfect lineup using both courts (odd on court 1, even on court 2). There will be 14 individual games, with each player set to participate in 7.
Players can now be informed of their first court assignments verbally, and/or, if they have their phones, they can access the game lineup themselves. The next step covers the different options for logging scores to keep track of those all-important wins and losses!
Step 3: Game On!
When it comes to logging scores for individual games, Pickled.App provides several options for your convenience. You can either tap the ‘+’ or ‘–’ icons to incrementally adjust scores, or you can tap the “Edit Game” icon and scroll down to input the scores directly there. Either way, scores will be updated live.
Fun fact: my wife often uses this feature to keep tabs on my progress from home and anticipate what kind of mood I’ll be in when I return :)
Pickled.App will automatically detect when a game concludes based on the score you’ve set, and the winners will be denoted with a nifty trophy icon. Keep playing until all matches are completed. However, if you run out of time and need to end the tournament early, that’s no problem. Just make sure everyone has played the same number of games, and you can delete the unplayed ones. Round-robins are all about flexibility and fun!
Step 4: And the Award Goes To…
Once all the games have concluded, it’s a good idea to ask players to review the results and verify they agree with the scores logged. If no one raises any concerns, it’s time to wrap up the event. To do this, simply click the “Close Event / Record Scores” button. This logs the results for this event and updates player scores accordingly.
But wait, what if someone discovers an issue after the fact? This is when some players might start to panic, but with Pickled.App, there’s no need to worry because there’s an “Undo” button! As the event organizer, you can reverse the scores and reopen the event for editing by clicking “Open Event / Reverse Scores,” make any necessary adjustments, then close the event again.
And there you have it! You’ve successfully run a round-robin pickleball tournament for 8 players in less than two hours, thanks to the power of Pickled.App. You’ve managed sign-ups, created matches, logged scores, and determined winners all with a few taps on your phone. More time for fun, less time for fuss. That’s the Pickled.App way!
So get out there, rally your fellow pickleball enthusiasts, and keep on pickle-ballin’! 🥳🏓💫
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