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Planning a club night

A good club night has a simple rhythm. Everyone plays, nobody waits long, and the person running it gets to play too. Most of that is decided before the first player walks in.

Start with the courts

Each court in a round of doubles takes four players, so six courts take 24. Count your courts first. Then you know how many can play at once, and how many will sit out on a busy night.

Play in rounds: all courts start together, and the next round starts when the last court is done. Everyone can see when they are on, and nobody has to watch for a free court.

Choose the points to fit the time. A set to 11 is over quickly, and a set to 21 takes the longest. Shorter sets give more rounds, more new partners and shorter waits for whoever sits out. Time one normal round, and plan the evening from that.

When the numbers do not divide by four

Most nights, they do not. There are three usual answers:

• Someone sits out. One, two or three players sit out this round, and different players next time.
• Singles. Two extra players play a singles match. Three take turns at singles on one court, and the winner stays on.
• Five on one court. Four play doubles, and the fifth waits and comes in on the next turn.

Which one suits you depends on your players. Some love singles, and some never want to play it. Ask once and write it down, so you do not have to ask every week.

Latecomers and early leavers

Decide the rule in advance and tell everyone: a player who arrives during a round joins the next one. Rebuilding a round that is already being played is unfair to the players who have started. If a court is still empty, latecomers can go straight onto it.

Ask players who leave early to tell you before they go, so they are not put on a court after they have left.

Finally, make sure two people can run the evening. Then it does not stop when one of them is ill.

How ShuttlePilot handles it

You set the courts and the points for the session, and check players in as they arrive. One button then builds a round for every court and tries to make the two sides of each court close in level.

• Numbers that do not divide by four: the extra players get a singles match, a three-player rotation or a five-player rotation. Only players who may play singles are put on singles, and the app tries to give the extra court to different players during the evening. If you would rather have some sit out, the app suggests the players who have sat out least, counted over all your club nights. You decide.
• More players than the courts can take: the app tells you how many need to sit out, and you choose who. With exactly one player too many, the last court becomes a five-player rotation instead.
• A latecomer: check them in and press "Generate round" again. Courts already in the round stay as they are, and only the empty courts are filled.
• Someone going home: mark them as out for the rest of the session. The match they are playing is not changed.