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Getting started

By Chris Sees
• 23 articles

How ladders work

A ladder ranks everyone in your league. Beat someone above you and you take their spot — lose and you stay put. Simple, and every match matters. Challenging. Tap Challenge on any player within range above you (most ladders let you challenge up to 3 places up). They get a notification and you arrange the match between you — the app can suggest courts and times if your club has them set up. Your range always reaches real opponents. Players who can't take a challenge right now — they're away/injured, haven't played their first match yet, or already have a full match diary — don't use up your range. Your reach simply looks past them, so "3 places up" means the nearest 3 players who could actually accept. You'll never be locked out of the ladder just because the people directly above you are unavailable. What happens when you win. Beat someone above you and you move up to their spot; they drop one place, and anyone you jumped shifts down a place too. Nobody else moves. If you lose, nothing changes — so there's never a reason not to challenge up. (This is the classic "leapfrog" ladder used by most clubs.) Overlapping challenges. You can have up to two challenges you've made on the go at once (finish one before starting a third), and positions only change when a result is confirmed — never when a challenge is made. So the swap always uses live positions at the moment your match is confirmed. If the person you challenged climbs before you play, you're challenging their current (higher) spot; and if someone below you beats you after you've climbed, they take the spot you hold at that moment — and you only ever slip one place. Results are applied in the order they're confirmed. Busy players — join the queue. Popular players can rack up several matches at once, so the ladder shows a 🎾 N booked tag on anyone who already has matches lined up — on the standings and in the challenge picker (tap it to see their queue). A player can have 4 matches on the go, and no more than 2 of them challenges they've sent — so at least two slots are always open for players below to challenge them. Beyond that, new challenges wait until one resolves, so nobody can be buried in deadlines by a pile-on (a ⚡ wildcard always gets through). A match whose date has passed without a result stops counting two days after its date, so a game you played but haven't logged yet never keeps you from challenging again (do log it, though: it's cleared a week after its date). A player with a full diary shows 🎾 diary full and doesn't block your reach — your range skips past them to the next player who's free. Accepting a challenge protects you from the answer clocks below — though repeatedly cancelling an agreed match still counts as a postpone, and past your postpones it's a walkover. Defending your spot. When someone below challenges you, answer within your league's answer window (5 days unless your organiser has set otherwise — the challenge card shows your reply-by date) — accept it or postpone it. Life happens, so you can postpone a few times to find a slot that suits you both — up to 3 on any one challenge, and no more than 3 in any 30 days across all your matches (organisers can change both). A postpone is any decline, a cancelled agreed match, or a week ignoring times the other player suggested. Ignore the challenge, or dodge again once your postpones are spent — on that challenge or for the month — and it's awarded as a walkover: your challenger climbs (into your spot if they're within range, otherwise up to their challenge range) and you slip one place (more if it isn't your first this season — see below). The app shows how many postpones you have left right on the challenge card, and the Postpone button says what it'll cost before you tap. Changed your mind in the same sitting? Postponing and cancelling again on the same day only ever costs one. (There's a hard 14-day limit on answering a challenge you've never accepted, from when it was made — postponing won't stretch it. Once you've accepted, the weekly set-a-date clock takes over.) Once you accept, set a date within 7 days. If the other player suggested times and you never answered, that week costs you a postpone. If nobody suggested anything, the first time the match simply goes back to needing an answer — no charge (you'll both get a reminder at day 5; either of you can set the time, and doing so stops the clock). Accept again and stay silent for a second week and that one does cost a postpone — accepting is a promise to arrange. Once a date is agreed, turn up. After the agreed time the fixture card asks "Did you play?" — tap Log result to record the score. (Logging it a day or two late? Set Played on to the day you actually played — up to two weeks back — so it lands on the right day in your history and ratings.) Logged it by mistake? Tap Undo on the result (or your opponent taps Didn’t happen) and the match goes straight back on Your Serve, exactly as it was. Didn't get played? The small link underneath covers it: it didn't happen (the fixture frees up so you can rearrange, no penalty), or they didn't turn up. If your opponent says you didn't turn up, you have 48 hours to answer: tap Reply, then I was there and nobody is penalised (the slot is freed and you both pick a new time), or I missed it — or say nothing — and it's a walkover, whatever postpones you have left. Cancelling ahead of time gives your opponent their evening back and only uses a postpone; an empty court doesn't. Organisers can reverse a walkover made in error. A match whose date has passed with no result is cleared a week after that date (a match with no date: after 21 days), no penalty either way, and both players are told. Still arranging it? Suggesting a new time in the app restarts those 21 days (up to 42 days in all), so a match you're actively rescheduling isn't cleared from under you. Three days before a match would be cleared, you both get a heads-up, so it never just vanishes. This keeps the top of the table earned, not just held. Genuinely away for a holiday or injury? Tap your avatar (top right) to open your profile and switch to Away / injured — nobody can challenge you (see below), and that's the way to take time off, not letting a challenge lapse. Wildcard challenges are the exception while they're waiting on you: they're out of range, so you can always decline one with no penalty. Accept one and agree a time, though, and it's a match like any other — not turning up is a walkover. Repeat walkovers cost more. The first walkover against you in a season drops you one place, as it always has. A second drops you two, and a third or any after that drops you five. You're told before it steps up — the message for your second says what the next one would cost — and the count resets every season, so it never follows you around forever. It can't drop you past the bottom of the ladder, and time marked Away / injured doesn't count against you: you can't be challenged while you're away, so you can't collect these. A few fairness rules around walkovers: - You'll get a heads-up first. A push and an email land a couple of days before an unanswered challenge would become a walkover — nobody gets blindsided. - Brand-new players are protected — for three weeks. If you've been added to a ladder but haven't played your first match yet (maybe you haven't even signed in), nothing goes on your record: no walkover can be recorded against you. For your first three weeks your spot is safe too. After that, ignoring a challenge past the deadline means the challenger takes your position (you drop one place) — still nothing on anyone's record, and you'll get the same heads-up warning first. Your first game switches the normal rules on. - We have to be able to reach you. If the app has no way to reach a player — no email address (or guardian's email), no app, and they've never signed in — a deadline can't count against them: the challenge is simply cleared, nobody moves, and the club organiser is asked to add their details. The same goes for a result they never confirmed: it waits for the organiser. - Rested after repeated walkovers. Concede three walkovers in a row without playing a match (your organiser can make it two or five, or switch it off) and you're set to Away, so nobody wastes a challenge on you. Any challenges waiting for you are cleared, no penalty either way. While you're away you'll slide down slowly, like anyone who isn't playing. When you're ready, tap I'm back on Your Serve (or play a match) and you're straight back on the ladder. - Made in error? Club organisers can reverse a walkover — positions and records are restored exactly. Ask your organiser. Arranging the match. Pick a date within the next 14 days (sooner if your league's match deadline is shorter) and before the season ends. The time picker shows the last day you can choose ("Play by …"). Booking close keeps the ladder moving: a match holds a slot in both your diaries until it's played. Climbs need both of you. You can log a result against anyone, and it always counts for your record. But a result without a challenge behind it, or one your opponent never confirms (it confirms itself after a few days), only lifts you up to your challenge range. To take someone's spot outright, challenge them and have the result confirmed. Walkovers. If someone ignores your challenge or runs out of postpones, you win by walkover. A walkover lifts you at most your challenge range (3 places on most ladders). Any climb nobody played out — a walkover, taking the spot of someone who's never played, or a result that confirmed itself — counts towards the same limit: a second one within 30 days lifts you one place. After a walkover you can't challenge that same player again for 14 days (the challenge list shows when). To take someone's spot outright, beat them on court. The player who ducked still drops a place (more for repeat walkovers in a season). Walkover news that lands overnight waits until 8am. Wildcards. Some ladders give each player one wildcard per season: a challenge to anyone above you, however high. Win and you leapfrog to their position. Use it wisely — you only get one. A wildcard match is always played level: there's no handicap on a wildcard, because handicap matches never change places. Handicap challenges. Some ladders let you propose a head start with your challenge — one side starts every game 15, 30 or 40 up (tie-breaks are always played level). The app even suggests a fair start from your ratings. Your opponent can accept, counter with a different handicap, or decline — nothing is locked until someone accepts. A handicap match never changes ladder places — it's a chance to play someone, not a route to take their spot. Wins, losses and Court Coins count like any other match, it never touches anyone's skill rating, and the start is shown on the scoreboard beside the player who had it (⚖ 30–0 means they started every game 30–0 up), so a handicap win is never mistaken for a level one. Already accepted the challenge and agreed a start on the day? On the match, tap ⋯ then Add a handicap; your opponent accepts it or keeps it level. Give the start and win anyway? That earns the 🎩 Class Act bonus — extra Court Coins and a badge. Staying active. A long lay-off gently slides you down: play at least once every few weeks (21 days by default) or you start slipping a place a week — so the table reflects who's actually playing, and nobody stays parked at the top after disappearing for months. Only your ladder position slides; your rating (your skill level) is never touched, so when you come back you climb straight up again. Already got a match arranged? You're protected — if you've sent a challenge, or accepted one, the countdown pauses until you play (a challenge you're sitting on unanswered doesn't count). So if an opponent gets injured, goes on holiday, or has to postpone, it never costs you a place — it's not your fault the match hasn't happened yet. Marking yourself Away (from your profile — tap your avatar, top right) protects you while you're injured or on holiday — no challenges, and no slide for the first few weeks — and it lifts automatically. When you go Away you can also pick a "Back on" date: everyone sees "away · back 2 Aug" on the ladder so they know when to challenge you, and you flip back to Free-to-play automatically that day (no date = you return automatically after 28 days). You can't duck into Away to escape a challenge that's already waiting, though — deal with that one first (play it, postpone it, or let it walk over). And Away works both ways: while you're Away nobody can challenge you, and you can't challenge anyone either. You can't go Away while a challenge you sent is still on (play it or cancel it first), and to challenge again just set yourself back to Free to play. (Clubs can also switch on a stricter "defend or drift" rule.) Ratings. Alongside your position you'll see a rating that moves with every confirmed result — win against stronger players and it climbs faster. It's separate from your ladder position and follows you across leagues. Seasons. The ladder itself never resets — but many leagues run seasonal chapters on top. When a season has an end date you'll see a countdown on the league page ("⏳ 23 days left this season") and reminder notifications at one month out, one week out and on the final day. Whoever is #1 on the final day is crowned champion, goes into the league's Hall of Fame, and the ladder rolls straight on into the next chapter with everyone keeping their place. Win/loss counts start fresh each season; your full match history is never lost. The next season's window starts automatically, so the ladder never stops. Season awards. The champion isn't the only name in lights: each season also crowns 🏔 Most improved (biggest climb from your starting rung), 🛡 Iron player (most matches played) and 🗡 Giant killer (most wins over players ranked well above you) - all into the Hall of Fame. There's also a Giant Killer badge for beating anyone 3+ places up, a personal-best alert when you hit your highest-ever position, and if someone below you goes on a winning streak... you'll hear about it. Joining the club without a league Not ready to climb a ladder yet? When you join, pick "Just join the club — pick a league later". You're a club member straight away: you appear in Players, you can be picked for Pickup Doubles and friendlies, and you can join a league whenever you fancy. Adults only — juniors always join a junior league so the safeguarding rules apply. Organisers can add club members the same way from Organiser → Players → Club members.

Last updated on Oct 13, 2026

Logging and confirming results

After your match, either player taps Log result — on the match in Your Serve, or at the top of the league's Standings — and enters the score set by set: tap each side's games from the row of numbers (6, then 4…). The app understands tiebreaks and match tiebreaks — enter games as they finished (e.g. 6–4, 3–6, 10–7). Won a set on a tiebreak? Tiebreak points appear inside that set under a 7–6 (or a Fast4 4–3). Enter both sides' points; the result then reads 7–6(4). A Preview shows the result exactly as it will appear in Results before you save. The app knows the rules (first to 7, or 10 for a championship tiebreak, and win by two after that), so you can't save an impossible score. It's optional and never changes the games or points. The score is needed — it's how the ladder counts games won. Opponent retired? If someone had to stop (injured or ill), enter the score as it was when play stopped — the last set can be unfinished, e.g. 6–1, 1–0 — and switch on My opponent retired under the score. That's the tennis rule: the match goes to the player who didn't retire, the score stands, and it's recorded as 6–1, 1–0 ret. It counts as a normal win (not a walkover). Scoring live on the umpire pad? Use Injured player there instead (below). Confirmation. Your opponent gets a notification to confirm. Results auto-confirm after the grace period (usually 3 days) so a forgotten tap never blocks the ladder. If something's wrong they can dispute it and the organiser sorts it out. Fixing mistakes. Wrong score? Use Fix score rather than logging a new match. Match never happened? The organiser can remove it. After it's confirmed the ladder updates instantly: if the challenger won they move up to your spot and you slip one place (leapfrog), ratings adjust, and you can share a result card to WhatsApp or anywhere else — or send your opponent a GIF reaction for bragging rights. Good game. You can also tap Say good game on your opponent's profile after any match — these add up to a Fair Play count on their profile. Finding a friendly. Mark yourself Free to play (tap your avatar, top right, to open your profile) and you'll appear on the "Who's up for a game" board — where anyone can tap 🎾 Friendly to invite you (it lands in your Your Serve). It's separate from ladder challenges, so you can play anyone, whatever their position. Arrange a time, play, then log it (below). Friendly matches. Played a game that isn't a ladder challenge? Tap Log a game and switch to the 🎾 Friendly tab. Pick any format (single set, best of three, pro set…), enter the score, and your opponent confirms it just like a ladder result. A friendly counts towards your rating (your skill level) but doesn't change your ladder position — so you can play anyone, any time, without risking your spot. Friendlies show with a "Friendly" tag in the club's Results feed — tap Filter at the top of Results and switch off Friendlies if you'd rather see ladder matches only. (The same Filter button narrows Results to a competition, a time window or any date range, shows just your matches, or brings walkovers back into view — they're hidden by default.) (Friendlies between two juniors are the exception: those stay private to the junior group.) Poor signal at the courts? No problem — if you log or confirm a result while you're offline or on a weak connection, we save it on your phone and show a "waiting to sync" note. It sends automatically the moment you're back online (and notifies your opponent then), so you never lose a result you've entered. Live scoring (organisers). Running a big match — a final, a marquee clash? Open the fixture and tap Score this match live. You get a full-screen umpire pad (tap the winner of each point; Undo is always there) and a public link you can share anywhere — anyone can watch the scoreboard update live, no account needed. When the match ends, the result saves straight to the ladder: no retyping. Club TV — every live match on one screen. Got several matches running at once — finals day, a league night? Open Clubhouse → 📺 Club TV on the clubhouse screen (or any tablet/TV). Every match being live-scored at your club appears side by side — up to four scoreboards, each updating live — and if a club night is running, its standings show alongside. It needs no login, matches appear and disappear automatically as they start and finish, and between matches it shows a friendly "nothing on court right now". Cast it and leave it. Court time. Live-scored matches show a running clock — it starts at the first point (not the warm-up) and pauses automatically whenever the match is suspended. Finished matches show how long they took on the results feed, pro-style. If something interrupts the match. On the umpire pad, tap Match issue for the two things that stop play: - Weather delay or Bad light — pauses the match. The scoreboard shows "Suspended — weather delay" (or "bad light") to anyone watching, and scoring is locked until you tap Resume play. Nothing is lost; you pick up on the exact point you left off. - Injured player — if someone can't continue, this retires the match. Pick who's retired; the other player takes the win, and the score stands wherever it was (e.g. "6-4, 2-1, ret."). Because both players did play, both still earn their Court Coins for the games they won — a retirement isn't a walkover. Your watch workout on your result. On iPhone, the app can attach the workout you recorded during a match — duration, calories, heart rate — to your result row (private to you unless you choose to share the strip). It reads from Apple Health, so any watch that syncs there works: Apple Watch natively, and Garmin, Polar or Fitbit work too once you switch on their Apple Health sync (in Garmin Connect: Settings → Health & fitness → Apple Health). There's no direct Garmin/Tennis Ladder pairing — Apple Health is the bridge. On Android the same works through Health Connect — Garmin, Samsung Health and Fitbit all sync into it, and the app offers the attach automatically. Watch it back. Every match scored live can be replayed afterwards. On the Results feed, matches scored live show a Replay button with the circular replay mark — tap it to play the match back point-by-point, with pause, a scrubber to jump to any moment, and 0.5×–4× speed. The live link you shared during the match keeps working too, so it becomes a rewatch. A momentum line shows who was winning the points as it unfolded.

Last updated on Sep 30, 2026

Claiming your club

Run a club? Claiming your listing is free and takes two minutes. Find your club in Find a club and tap Claim this club. Give us your name, an email, and — optionally — a line about your role ("I'm the membership secretary, I'm on the committee page"). That note is the fastest way for us to verify you. Any email works. Most clubs are run from personal addresses and that's fine — we verify every claim by hand, usually the same day. A club-domain email just speeds things up. Straight away you'll get a confirmation email so you know the claim landed — we verify every claim by hand, usually within a day. Once approved you'll get a getting-started email with your access link, a three-step setup guide and your shareable club link. Your first league — "The Club Ladder" — is created for you, ready to rename or reshape. You become the club's organiser: create ladders, box leagues and tournaments, invite members with a link or QR code, import players from a spreadsheet (ClubSpark exports work directly), post club news and events, list your coaching and services, and add co-organisers so you're not doing it alone. Nothing to switch on. Match reminders, big-match "come and watch" emails and the Monday club round-up (including the week's upcoming fixtures) are automatic for every club from day one. Your club's page gets its own address — tennisladder.co.uk/c/your-club — with your logo, colours, courts and contact details, pulled through automatically where we can.

Last updated on Aug 29, 2026

Ratings and tiers

Alongside your ladder position, every player has a rating — a single number that reflects how you're playing. It's separate from your ladder spot: your position is about who you've beaten and climbed past, while your rating is a broader measure of your level that follows you across every league you play in. Where you start. Everyone begins as a Rookie on 1000. You're never "unrated" once you've joined — you start on the same footing and climb from there. How it moves. Your rating updates with every confirmed result. Win and it goes up; lose and it dips. Crucially, who you play matters: beat someone rated well above you and your rating jumps more, while beating someone well below you nudges it only a little. Losing to a much stronger player barely costs you. So the rating naturally finds your true level over time — you can't inflate it by only playing weaker opponents. Tiers. Your rating sits in a tier, shown as the coloured ring around your avatar and as its own tennis shield in the Skill levels guide, so you can see your level at a glance and watch it level up as you win: | Tier | Rating | |---|---| | Rookie | up to 1049 | | Challenger | 1050–1124 | | Contender | 1125–1199 | | Pro | 1200–1299 | | Champion | 1300+ | Rating vs position. They're related but not the same. Your position is your rung on the ladder (what you change by winning challenges). Your rating is your level, and it carries across leagues and clubs. A win helps both. Seasons. Win/loss counts start fresh each season, but your rating and full match history are never lost — they carry straight on. Court Coins (season points) Separate from both your position and your rating, you'll earn Court Coins — our season points — just for getting on court. You pick up coins for playing a match and for every game you win — win or lose. So a hard-fought loss still earns you something, and the more you play, the more you rack up. Giant-killer bonuses 🗡️ — beat someone well above you and you bank bonus coins on top. "Above you" counts both ways of being better: ladder places (+1 per 4 places you jumped — so #27 knocking off #5 is a proper giant kill, whatever the ratings say) or rating (+1 per 50 points of gap; doubles pairs use their average). You get whichever reads bigger, capped at +5. Topple the ladder's No. 1 — the row wearing the 👑 — and you claim a +5 bounty as well. Bonuses come from real upsets only: - you have to have been below them on the ladder — beating someone beneath you is a good win, not a giant kill; - a rating only counts when it has results behind it (a starting level nobody has played to yet is a guess); - the result needs a score, and one both sides stand behind — a result that went through only because the other side never answered pays no bonus; - friendlies and walkovers never pay, and the same pairing can't earn a bonus twice within a fortnight; - bonus coins top out at +15 a month across all your leagues and Pickup Doubles (the No. 1 bounty doesn't count towards it). Win a handicap match while giving a head start and you earn 🎩 Class Act instead (up to +5). Look for the 🗡️, 👑 and 🎩 tags on results. Court Coins are purely a bit of fun and a nudge to play more — they don't change your ladder position. They reset at the start of each season, so there's always a fresh race to be the most active.

Last updated on Oct 03, 2026

Doubles, partners and free agents

Some leagues are doubles — you play and climb as a pair, sharing one spot on the ladder. Here's how partnering up works. Joining as a pair. When you join a doubles league you can add your partner's name (and email, so they get their own sign-in). The pair holds a single ladder position, and challenges, results and ratings all count for the two of you together. Free agents. Don't have a partner yet? You can join as a free agent — a solo player looking for a doubles partner. You'll show on the league as available to pair up, and any other free agent (or an organiser) can team up with you. Once you're paired, you become a normal doubles entry with a shared spot. Injured or away? Set yourself to away / injured and you'll stop being shown as looking for a partner — no partner requests, and you won't come up in the partner swipe deck — until you're back. You're still listed in the league, just marked as away, so nobody wastes a request on you while you can't play. Leaving a doubles league. Whoever stays keeps the spot: if you set the team up, your partner takes over the position and record and goes back to being a free agent; if you're the partner, they keep it. Nobody ever loses a place they didn't choose to give up. See Leaving a league (or just taking a break). Partner requests. Want to team up with a specific person? Send them a partner request. They get a notification and, once they accept, you're paired and take your place on the ladder together. If someone requests you and it's not a fit, you can simply decline — no hard feelings, no penalty. Playing and results. Doubles challenges and results work exactly like singles — challenge a pair above you, log the set-by-set score, and the winning pair takes the losing pair's spot (the losers drop one place). Both partners get the win or loss on their record. Changing partners. Life happens — injuries, holidays, house moves. If your partner can't play any more, you can swap in a new one yourself: on the league page, look for "Partner can't make it any more? Change your partner" under the standings. Either half of the pair can do this — it doesn't matter who set the team up. Pick a club member and they'll get a request to accept — your current pair stays as it is until they say yes, and you can cancel the request any time. Quicker still: on the Looking for a partner board under the standings, every free agent has an "Ask to swap in" button — same request, one tap. Adding someone who's not on Tennis Ladder yet? Type their name and email and they'll get an invite. Either way the pair keeps its ladder spot and record — only the person changes — and whoever you replaced is told about the new line-up (they can't block it, just as you couldn't block them). Mid-season swaps cost the pair two rungs; the first fortnight of a new season is free. Your league's organiser can always adjust pairs and positions too if something needs fixing. Partner away for one match? Use a sub. No need to change partners because someone's on holiday. On any accepted doubles fixture, next to the time and court, tap "Partner away? Use a sub" and pick a club member to stand in for that match only. Either half of the pair can nominate. The stand-in must be an adult club member who isn't in a pair of their own or on the other side, with a doubles rating close to the person they're replacing (within 100 points) — that cap keeps it fair, so your opponents are told rather than asked. The match still counts for your pair's position and record; the sub gets rating credit for the match, and your absent partner's rating doesn't move. Changed plans? The same button lets you change the sub, right up until the result is logged. Not sure whether your league is singles or doubles? It's shown on the league page, right under the name. Partner away for a while? Three options, from lightest to heaviest: - One match: on the fixture (Your Serve), tap Partner away? Use a sub and pick a clubmate. That match only. The result still counts for your pair's rung. - A few weeks: on your league page, tap Partner away for a while? Pick who's away, the date they're back, and who stands in. Every fixture in that window fills them in for you; you can still flip any single match back on the fixture (the weekends they're about, say). Your pair keeps its rung and record, your partner keeps their place. Tap End on the same row when they're back early. - For good: Change your partner — a mid-season swap costs your pair two rungs. Stand-ins have to be a fair swap: an adult clubmate without a pair in that league, rated close to the person they're covering. Pickup guests can't stand in.

Last updated on Sep 19, 2026

Finding a game and who to play

The whole point is to get you on court more often. Here's how to line up your next match — singles or doubles. Locked courts? Padlock and keypad codes live in Clubhouse → Club info → Getting on court — members only, tap Reveal to see a code. Every fixture sheet has a Court access button too, and your day-before match reminder email carries the codes, so you're never stuck at the gate. The Play tab. Tap Play in the bottom bar for every way to get a game. The buttons along the top take you to Challenge (who you can challenge right now, on every ladder you're in), Pickup doubles, Singles (friendly games), Enter (leagues and tournaments you can join right now, plus a box for a private league's code) and Players. You only see the ones you can use: juniors don't see Pickup or Singles, which are for adults. Who you can challenge. On a ladder you challenge players above you, within the league's range (usually up to 3 places up). Tap Challenge on any eligible player and they'll get a notification to arrange the match. In a box league you play everyone in your box, any direction — no range to worry about. Players. Tap Play, then Players at the top, to browse everyone at your club. See their rating, whether they're around right now, and tap anyone to open a quick menu — Challenge them on a ladder, arrange a Friendly, log a game, favourite them, or get in touch by WhatsApp or email (when they've shared those). An "up for a game" row surfaces the players who are online or free right now. Friendly games. Open Play → Singles (it's also under Your Serve → Friendly games). There are two clear choices: Invite a player opens the club directory, where you can choose someone and suggest up to three times; Post an open game lets you name an opponent or leave the seat Open for any eligible adult member to claim. You can add a time and court, and make an open post repeat weekly. Friendly games build your singles rating but never touch your ladder position. (A ranked singles match is still the normal in-range ladder challenge.) Big gap in levels? Tap ⚖️ Add a handicap on the invite — one of you starts every game 15, 30 or 40 up (tie-breaks stay level). A handicap friendly is just for fun: unlike a normal friendly it won't move either player's rating, so it's the zero-stakes way to get a proper game against someone far above or below you. The head start is stated on the invite; accepting it is the agreement, and the result always carries the ⚖️ tag. For doubles, use Play → Pickup doubles. That is the shared doubles route and feeds the doubles rating, monthly standings and Finals Night. Both at the courts right now? Tap ⚡ Play now when sending a challenge or friendly — it fills in the current time, the other player accepts on the spot, and you're away. (Times in the past can't be picked.) A friendly that didn't get logged. The day after the agreed time you'll get a "Did you play?" — log the score from the fixture on Your Serve. If it still isn't logged three days after the agreed time (or three weeks after accepting, if you never set a time), the friendly is cleared and you're both told. Played it after all? Open the other player's profile, tap ⋯ → Log result and choose Friendly. Who wins? and the odds Every upcoming fixture has a Who wins? pick. Under each side you'll see the club's share of the picks and a decimal price such as F 1.60 — the F marks the favourite. The price blends the club's votes with current form so a handful of picks can't swing it wildly. It's for fun and for the Predictor board only: nothing is ever staked, and Court Coins can't be wagered. Ladder matches, doubles fixtures, Pickup Doubles fours and tournament winners all count towards your Predictor record. Pickup Doubles Four players, two a side. Most of the time you'll simply pick your people: the three you're standing on court with, or the three you've agreed a time with. No partner? No problem — open the seats and the club fills them, with teams balanced by rating. Open Play → Pickup doubles. Getting a game is one button — ⚡ Play now — and two quick choices: - Who's playing? My three — pick the people you're playing with — or Open seats, which opens the game for the club to join (set who's allowed in: open to all, or a level band). - When? Now, or Pick a time — type it the way you'd say it ("tonight 7pm", "tomorrow 6", "Friday 7pm"). - Court (optional) — pick one of the club's courts, or leave it as any court. Everyone sees it in their notification, and Time & court on the game card changes it later. Confirmed fours get a reminder the day before, the same as a ladder match. Playing now with your three, the game starts immediately: nothing to accept, log the score when you're done, and everyone you pick gets a heads-up (they can swap out if it wasn't them). Picking your own four with mixed levels? Tap ⚖️ Add a handicap and one side starts every game 15, 30 or 40 up (tie-breaks stay level). Everyone sees the head start on their invite and consents by accepting their seat. Handicap games count for pickup points and the Monthly Race but never touch anyone's doubles rating — and if the giving pair wins anyway, both earn the 🎩 Class Act bonus. Open seats + now asks the club — the first three to say yes are in. Timed games with open seats can Repeat weekly as a standing game. Bringing a guest. A friend from another club coming down for a game? In the seat picker, tap Bring a guest and add their name, and optionally their email, mobile and their club. They're in the four straight away (their seat is a yes already — you vouch for them), they don't need an account, and they get one email with the details. If your club charges visiting players a fee, it's shown to you and in the guest's email (organisers set it under Settings → Guest fee). Guests are remembered, so next time they're one tap from the list. They play and earn a doubles rating, but never take the Monthly Race, a crown, or a place in the Players list. Two guests per four at most. Adults only. Got a guest's details wrong (a typo, or the wrong club)? Ask an organiser: they can fix a guest's name, email, mobile and club under Admin → Players → Club members. Let games come to you (optional). Underneath the Play button you can tap the times you could usually play — a normal week, not real dates. When four of you are free at the same time we build the game and ask all four to confirm. It's not a commitment: say no any time and we find someone else. Going away? Set yourself away on your profile and we stop asking until you're back. You can also choose who we put you with: anyone, similar level, or very close (closer levels give better games, but fewer of them). The full rules live in the app — the Rules link at the bottom of the Pickup page. Standings & results sits next to it. The rules - Four players, two a side, no fixed partner — you'll play with different people every time. - Named games play as you picked them. For open games, we pick the teams, balanced by your individual doubles rating, so the game is as close as we can make it. New to doubles? Your first rating is seeded from your ladder points, so your first game is a fair one. - Your club sets the format — one set (the default), Fast4, or the same two sets plus a 10-point tiebreak your ladder uses. It's shown in the Rules tab of Pickup Doubles, and the score entry matches it. Organisers change it under Admin → Club settings → Pickup Doubles format. - Anyone of the four logs who won, entering the score set by set. The score is optional; who won is what counts. - Your Doubles rating starts at 1000, rises after wins and falls after losses. It is separate from the Singles rating on your profile and it never changes your ladder position. - Court Coins never go down: every Pickup result earns 2 for playing plus one coin for each game you won. Entering the score matters; without one, you still receive the 2 playing coins. - Giant-killer 🗡️ — if your pair's average rating is well below the other pair's and you win, both of you bank bonus coins: +1 per 50 rating points of gap, up to +5. - Can't make a game you said yes to? Tap "Can't make it" — we refill your seat and there's no penalty. - Adults only for now. Something to play for. Every win counts in the monthly standings — most wins in a month takes Doubles Champion of the Month. Each quarter, the top four play 🏆 Finals Night: three rounds where you partner each of the other three once and face everyone twice, and most games won takes the Quarterly Doubles Champion badge into the Hall of Fame. Fifth to eighth are reserves — if a qualifier can't make it, the next reserve gets the seat. Ladder vs friendly. A challenge counts on the ladder — win and you can take the higher player's spot. A friendly is pure play: it builds your rating (skill is skill, win or lose) and earns Chase the Pros coins, but it never touches your ladder position, your W–L record, your Court Coins or your badges — so nobody ever needs to duck a friendly to protect a record. Play higher than your range with a ⚡ wildcard when your league allows it. Take the crown. See a 👑 next to the player at the top? That's the current number one. If they're in your range, you'll get a "take the crown" prompt — beat them and the crown (and top spot) is yours, plus a +5 Court Coin bounty. Show you're up for it. Your status lives on your profile — tap your avatar (top right) to open it. Free to play (the default) means others can see you're available and challenge you. Going on holiday or carrying a knock? Switch to Away / injured there to pause challenges until you're back. (If your league has the inactivity slide enabled, being Away also protects you from slipping down for a long absence.) Favourites. Tap the ♥ on a player to add them to your favourites so they pin to the top of Players — handy for keeping the people you play most (and your rivals) close to hand. How many challenges at once. You can have up to four matches on the go, but only two can be challenges you've sent — finish or cancel one before sending a third. The other two slots are kept for players below challenging you, so everyone can climb and everyone can be caught. Once a player has 4 matches on the go in total, new challenges to them wait until one resolves. A match stops counting two days after its date even if nobody has logged the score yet, and matches are booked within 14 days, so slots free up quickly. If you're at two, the app tells you which two and when they're booked.

Last updated on Oct 13, 2026

Rivalries, badges and awards

Half the fun of a ladder is the story that builds up over a season — your rivals, your streaks, and the badges you collect along the way. Rivalries and head-to-head. Play someone more than once and they become a rival. Your head-to-head record (e.g. 3–2) shows on the ladder and on their profile, so you always know who's ahead. Lost to the same person a few times? They're marked as your rival — go settle the score. Nemesis badge. Beat the same rival five times and you earn the Nemesis badge for that match-up. It's one of the most satisfying ones to unlock. Badges and achievements. You earn badges as you play — your first result, win streaks, career milestones (like your 50th and 100th match), reaching the top of the table, and plenty more. See how close you are to the next one on your profile's Achievements tab (tap your avatar → Achievements). Badges you can earn win or lose. Some badges are for playing well, not just winning, so a tough loss still counts for something. They sit first on your Achievements tab, under Earned by playing — win or lose: - First match — play your first match - 5 matches — play five - Fighter — win a set in a match you lost - Tiebreak hero — win a tiebreak - Close call — take a match all the way to a deciding set or a tiebreak - New faces — play five different opponents - Every week — play four weeks in a row Walkovers don't count. When you earn one you'll get a notification, even if you lost the match. For juniors, the parent or guardian is told. Ball levels (juniors). Junior leagues can be set to the ball they're played with: red, orange, green or yellow. Players earn a badge for each colour they play, and the Yellow ball badge once they've come up through the colours. Badges from your coach. Your club's organisers can give you a badge they choose (Coach's Star, Fair Play, Most Improved or Great Partner), often with a few words, and leave a note on any of your matches. Only you (and a parent, for juniors) and the club's organisers can read their words. Organisers: open a player's profile → Achievements → Give a badge, or Results → Add a coach's note under a match. Monthly awards. At the end of every month the club's Unwrapped celebrates six achievements: - Player of the Month — most Court Coins from playing, winning and games won - Most Wins — the most match wins - Most Active — most matches played - Hot Streak — longest run of wins - Biggest Climber — the most ladder places gained - Giant Killer — the biggest win over a higher-ranked player Follow the live leaders on Results → Honours → [month] race. Switch to the Hall of Fame tab there to revisit every completed monthly honour and the club's season and tournament champions. Past monthly honours have their own Share button, which creates a Tennis Ladder-branded winner card ready for WhatsApp or any other app. How the awards are judged. Only matches that were actually played count: a walkover isn't a match played and doesn't add to a winning streak (losing one by not turning up does end your streak). A match that ended in a retirement counts as normal. Player of the Month, Most Active and Hot Streak each need at least three matches in the month. If two or more players finish level, they're joint winners — everyone level at the top gets the badge. The full spread also arrives in the club's monthly Unwrapped email. Player of the Month, Top of the Table, Most Active, Hot Streak and Biggest Climber become permanent profile badges when the month closes — and every winner now gets a personal congratulations email too. Every format crowns a champion. Beyond the ladder's monthly awards, each way of playing has its own honour, all on the Hall of Fame: - Doubles Pair of the Month — the doubles ladder's top pair each month; everyone who played for that pair during the month earns the badge (so if you changed partner mid-month, all of you share it) - Box Winner — top your box when a box-league round closes (the top box's winner makes the Hall of Fame) - Night Winner — most games won at a club night - Tournament Champion (and Plate Champion) — win the draw - Doubles Champion of the Month and the Quarterly Champion — Pickup Doubles' own honours Every award needs real play behind it — nobody gets crowned for sitting at the top of a table where no games were played that period. Season awards. When a season ends, the club also recognises standouts like Most Improved, Iron Player (most consistent) and Giant Killer (beating players ranked well above you) — see How ladders work for how seasons wrap up.

Last updated on Oct 04, 2026

Running your club — setting up leagues

You've claimed your club (or been made owner) — here's how to get people playing. It takes a few minutes and everything's free. Open the Organiser area Tap the organiser icon at the top of the screen, next to your messages (it appears once you're an owner or admin, with a count of any join requests waiting). It's also the top row of More, and on a computer it's Organiser at the top right. This is your control room: leagues, players, courts, results and settings, all in one place. Create your first league The quickest way: open Comps — as an owner or admin you'll see Get your club live (a four-step checklist) at the top, and ＋ New league and ＋ New tournament right under the page title. Each opens the create form with that kind already picked. It's the same place as Organiser → Competitions → + Create. Give it a name and pick the essentials on one card: - Name — if another active league at the club already has that name, the form says so and offers a distinct one (like "Junior Singles — Autumn 2026") in one tap, so players can tell them apart. - Who plays — Men's, Women's, Mixed or Open; adults or juniors. For a junior league you can also set the ball: red, orange, green or yellow. - Format — the type of competition: - Ladder — the classic. Everyone has a rank; challenge someone above you, win, and take their spot. Great for ongoing, self-driven play. - Box league — small groups ("boxes") of 4–8 (or everyone in one box) who all play each other over a round; winners move up a box next round. Ideal for club nights and fairer, sociable matches. - Tournament — a one-off knockout or round-robin draw with a champion at the end. - Singles or doubles — either works for any format. - Who can find it — Public (listed on your club page, anyone can join) or Private (invite-only via a code/link — perfect for a friendly group or a trial). - Scoring & rules — sets, tiebreaks, challenge range, how long players have to respond. Sensible defaults are pre-filled; change them only if you want to. Tap Create and you land straight on your league's share screen — the join link, a QR code and a copy button, ready to drop into your WhatsApp group. Rather type people in yourself? Tap Add players yourself on the same screen. We also email you the link so it's always to hand. Get people in - Share the join link or QR — from the share screen right after creating, from the ⋯ menu on the league card ("Invite a player" works before the league has started — recruit first, launch later), or any time from Organiser → Invites & links. Players sign themselves up in a tap — no typing names or emails. - Add players directly — Organiser → Players → Add, by name or email. Email invites let them sign in and link automatically. - Remind everyone — the "✉️ Remind all" button chases anyone who hasn't signed in yet. - When a few are in, hit Start league — everyone gets the launch announcement by email and push, and the challenges begin. Keep it running - Results confirm themselves between players; you can fix a score or reverse a walkover from Organiser → Results. - Co-managers — share the load. Two roles, both scoped to YOUR club only: a Club admin has full control (create leagues, featured matches, settings, admins — a club captain, say), while a League manager runs only the ladders you assign them. Add either from Organiser → Admins with their email: they get a sign-in invite straight away and sign in as themselves (email link, Apple, Google or Microsoft; no passwords). You can also grant admin from the players list. Nobody you add can ever touch another club. - Club night — run a social mix-in evening with automatic fair pairings and live standings (More → Club night). Stuck on anything? Tap More → Help & support and message us — we're quick. Have an idea for Tennis Ladder itself? Tap More → Ideas & feedback. Feature suggestions and private problem reports have separate paths, so requests are easy to review without publishing account, club, match or junior information. Ending a season Set season dates in League details and members see a countdown; they get a nudge a month, a week and a day out. The day after it ends you get an email (and a banner at the top of League details) to wrap it up. End the season (League details → End the season) shows you what will happen before it does: - Champion — the current #1, crowned into the Hall of Fame with a push, an email and a printable certificate. - Honours — Most improved, Iron player, Giant killer and Oracle of the season are awarded automatically where earned, each with an email and certificate. - Season name — defaults to the dates; name it if you like ("Summer 2026"). - Positions next season — Keep positions (singles default: a season is a chapter, not a reset) or Reseed by rating. Doubles pairs reseed by their players' doubles ratings by default, with partner swaps free for two weeks. - Next season — same length starting today, a date you pick, or open-ended. Everyone on the ladder gets one push with the crowns and what the new season means for them. W/L and open challenges reset, except a match that's already agreed and booked for a later date: that carries into the new season. Every match ever played stays on each player's profile. Recording a result for two members Two members played but neither can log it — a coach-run junior ladder, a championship final that counts, a member without a login? Organiser → that league → Record a result: pick the winner and loser, enter the score in the league's format, set the date. It saves as confirmed, moves positions like any other result, and both players are told. Marking a one-off result Did a club championship final, a charity day or a grudge rematch double up as a ladder match? Organiser → Results → Edit on that result → Occasion. Type a label such as "🏆 Club Championship Final" and it shows as a gold chip on the result card for everyone. It's a label only — positions, points and ratings are exactly as the match already counted. Padlock codes and getting on court Members always ask "what's the padlock?" — so give the app the answer once. Under Organiser → Club settings → Court access & codes, tap the courts a code opens, give it a short label ("Padlock", "Keypad") and type the code — it reads "Courts 4–8 · Padlock" to members. Notes with no courts picked are general ("Lock up if no one is waiting"). Leave Hide until tapped on for codes (members tap Reveal to see them) and off for plain notes. They're members only — never on public pages. Members find them in Clubhouse → Club info, by tapping a court on the Courts tab, on the Court access button of every fixture (their court first), and in their day-before match reminder email. Change a code and every member sees the new one straight away.

Last updated on Oct 11, 2026

Claiming your club

Run a club? Claiming your listing is free and takes two minutes. Find your club in Find a club and tap Claim this club. Give us your name, an email, and — optionally — a line about your role ("I'm the membership secretary, I'm on the committee page"). That note is the fastest way for us to verify you. Any email works. Most clubs are run from personal addresses and that's fine — we verify every claim by hand, usually the same day. A club-domain email just speeds things up. Straight away you'll get a confirmation email so you know the claim landed — we verify every claim by hand, usually within a day. Once approved you'll get a getting-started email with your access link, a three-step setup guide and your shareable club link. Your first league — "The Club Ladder" — is created for you, ready to rename or reshape. You become the club's organiser: create ladders, box leagues and tournaments, invite members with a link or QR code, import players from a spreadsheet (ClubSpark exports work directly), post club news and events, list your coaching and services, and add co-organisers so you're not doing it alone. Nothing to switch on. Match reminders, big-match "come and watch" emails and the Monday club round-up (including the week's upcoming fixtures) are automatic for every club from day one. Your club's page gets its own address — tennisladder.co.uk/c/your-club — with your logo, colours, courts and contact details, pulled through automatically where we can.

Last updated on Aug 26, 2026

Doubles, partners and free agents

Some leagues are doubles — you play and climb as a pair, sharing one spot on the ladder. Here's how partnering up works. Joining as a pair. When you join a doubles league you can add your partner's name (and email, so they get their own sign-in). The pair holds a single ladder position, and challenges, results and ratings all count for the two of you together. Free agents. Don't have a partner yet? You can join as a free agent — a solo player looking for a doubles partner. You'll show on the league as available to pair up, and any other free agent (or an organiser) can team up with you. Once you're paired, you become a normal doubles entry with a shared spot. Partner requests. Want to team up with a specific person? Send them a partner request. They get a notification and, once they accept, you're paired and take your place on the ladder together. If someone requests you and it's not a fit, you can simply decline — no hard feelings, no penalty. Playing and results. Doubles challenges and results work exactly like singles — challenge a pair above you, log the set-by-set score, and the winning pair takes the losing pair's spot (the losers drop one place). Both partners get the win or loss on their record. Changing partners. Life happens — injuries, holidays, house moves. If your partner can't play any more, you can swap in a new one yourself: on the league page, look for "Partner can't make it any more? Change your partner" under the standings. Pick a club member and they'll get a request to accept — your current pair stays as it is until they say yes, and you can cancel the request any time. Adding someone who's not on Tennis Ladder yet? Type their name and email and they'll get an invite. Either way your pair keeps its ladder spot and record — only the partner changes — and your old partner is told about the new line-up. Your league's organiser can always adjust pairs and positions too if something needs fixing. Not sure whether your league is singles or doubles? It's shown on the league page, right under the name.

Last updated on Aug 28, 2026

Finding a game and who to play

The whole point is to get you on court more often. Here's how to line up your next match — singles or doubles. Who you can challenge. On a ladder you challenge players above you, within the league's range (usually up to 3 places up). Tap Challenge on any eligible player and they'll get a notification to arrange the match. In a box league you play everyone in your box, any direction — no range to worry about. The Players tab. Tap Players in the bottom bar to browse everyone at your club. See their rating, whether they're around right now, and tap anyone to open a quick menu — Challenge them on a ladder, arrange a Friendly, log a game, favourite them, or get in touch by WhatsApp or email (when they've shared those). An "up for a game" row surfaces the players who are online or free right now. Friendly games. Open Comps → Friendly games or Your Serve → Friendly games. There are two clear choices: Invite a player opens the club directory, where you can choose someone and suggest up to three times; Post an open game lets you name an opponent or leave the seat Open for any eligible adult member to claim. You can add a time and court, and make an open post repeat weekly. Friendly games build your singles rating but never touch your ladder position. (A ranked singles match is still the normal in-range ladder challenge.) Big gap in levels? Tap ⚖️ Add a handicap on the invite — one of you starts every game 15, 30 or 40 up (tie-breaks stay level). A handicap friendly is just for fun: unlike a normal friendly it won't move either player's rating, so it's the zero-stakes way to get a proper game against someone far above or below you. The head start is stated on the invite; accepting it is the agreement, and the result always carries the ⚖️ tag. For doubles, use Comps → Pickup Doubles. That is the shared doubles route and feeds the doubles rating, monthly standings and Finals Night. Both at the courts right now? Tap ⚡ Play now when sending a challenge or friendly — it fills in the current time, the other player accepts on the spot, and you're away. (Times in the past can't be picked.) Pickup Doubles Four players, two a side. Most of the time you'll simply pick your people: the three you're standing on court with, or the three you've agreed a time with. No partner? No problem — open the seats and the club fills them, with teams balanced by rating. Open Comps → Pickup Doubles. Getting a game is one button — ⚡ Play now — and two quick choices: - Who's playing? My three — pick the people you're playing with — or Open seats, which opens the game for the club to join (set who's allowed in: open to all, or a level band). - When? Now, or Pick a time — type it the way you'd say it ("tonight 7pm", "tomorrow 6", "Friday 7pm"). Playing now with your three, the game starts immediately: nothing to accept, log the score when you're done, and everyone you pick gets a heads-up (they can swap out if it wasn't them). Picking your own four with mixed levels? Tap ⚖️ Add a handicap and one side starts every game 15, 30 or 40 up (tie-breaks stay level). Everyone sees the head start on their invite and consents by accepting their seat. Handicap games count for pickup points and the Monthly Race but never touch anyone's doubles rating — and if the giving pair wins anyway, both earn the 🎩 Class Act bonus. Open seats + now asks the club — the first three to say yes are in. Timed games with open seats can Repeat weekly as a standing game. Let games come to you (optional). Underneath the Play button you can tap the times you could usually play — a normal week, not real dates. When four of you are free at the same time we build the game and ask all four to confirm. It's not a commitment: say no any time and we find someone else. Going away? Set yourself away on your profile and we stop asking until you're back. You can also choose who we put you with: anyone, similar level, or very close (closer levels give better games, but fewer of them). The full rules live in the app — the Rules link at the bottom of the Pickup page. Standings & results sits next to it. The rules - Four players, two a side, no fixed partner — you'll play with different people every time. - Named games play as you picked them. For open games, we pick the teams, balanced by your individual doubles rating, so the game is as close as we can make it. New to doubles? Your first rating is seeded from your ladder points, so your first game is a fair one. - Your club sets the format — one set (the default), Fast4, or the same two sets plus a 10-point tiebreak your ladder uses. It's shown in the Rules tab of Pickup Doubles, and the score entry matches it. Organisers change it under Admin → Club settings → Pickup Doubles format. - Anyone of the four logs who won, entering the score set by set. The score is optional; who won is what counts. - Your Doubles rating starts at 1000, rises after wins and falls after losses. It is separate from the Singles rating on your profile and it never changes your ladder position. - Court Coins never go down: every Pickup result earns 2 for playing plus one coin for each game you won. Entering the score matters; without one, you still receive the 2 playing coins. - Giant-killer 🗡️ — if your pair's average rating is well below the other pair's and you win, both of you bank bonus coins: +1 per 50 rating points of gap, up to +5. - Can't make a game you said yes to? Tap "Can't make it" — we refill your seat and there's no penalty. - Adults only for now. Something to play for. Every win counts in the monthly standings — most wins in a month takes Doubles Champion of the Month. Each quarter, the top four play 🏆 Finals Night: three rounds where you partner each of the other three once and face everyone twice, and most games won takes the Quarterly Doubles Champion badge into the Hall of Fame. Fifth to eighth are reserves — if a qualifier can't make it, the next reserve gets the seat. Ladder vs friendly. A challenge counts on the ladder — win and you can take the higher player's spot. A friendly is pure play: it builds your rating (skill is skill, win or lose) and earns Chase the Pros coins, but it never touches your ladder position, your W–L record, your Court Coins or your badges — so nobody ever needs to duck a friendly to protect a record. Play higher than your range with a ⚡ wildcard when your league allows it. Take the crown. See a 👑 next to the player at the top? That's the current number one. If they're in your range, you'll get a "take the crown" prompt — beat them and the crown (and top spot) is yours, plus a +5 Court Coin bounty. Show you're up for it. Your status lives on your profile — tap your avatar (top right) to open it. Free to play (the default) means others can see you're available and challenge you. Going on holiday or carrying a knock? Switch to Away / injured there to pause challenges until you're back. (If your league has the inactivity slide enabled, being Away also protects you from slipping down for a long absence.) Favourites. Tap the ♥ on a player to add them to your favourites so they pin to the top of Players — handy for keeping the people you play most (and your rivals) close to hand. How many challenges at once. You can have up to three challenges you've made open at the same time — finish one before starting a fourth. Incoming challenges don't count against that — though once a player has 3 matches on the go in total, new challenges to them wait until one resolves.

Last updated on Aug 28, 2026

Leaving a league (or just taking a break)

Life happens — an injury, a busy few months, a league that turned out not to be your thing. You don't need to ask anyone: both options are in the app. Where to find it. Open the league and stay on Standings. Your spot sits at the top (your rank, Challenge and Log result) — tap its ⋯ button. There you can switch to away / injured, and at the bottom is Leave. (In a box league it's at the bottom of the page instead.) First — you probably want to pause, not leave If you're injured or away for a while, don't leave. Set yourself to away / injured instead (it's the first button on that screen, and it's also on your profile). While you're away: - You keep your spot on the ladder — your position, record and streak all stay - Nobody can challenge you until you're back - You're not shown as looking for a doubles partner, and you won't get partner requests or appear in the partner swipe deck - You come back automatically — pick a "back on" date, or you'll return after 28 days if you don't That's the one to use for an injury. Nothing is lost. If you really are done with a league Tap Leave, and you'll be asked to confirm. Be aware: - You give up your position, and rejoining later starts you at the bottom - Any open challenges or friendlies you had are cancelled, and those players are told so they can arrange something else - Your past results stay in the club's records — matches you played still happened, and other people's records don't change Leaving a doubles league In doubles you share one spot with your partner, so leaving affects them too — which is why nobody ever loses a place they didn't choose to give up: - If you set the team up: your partner takes over the spot. They keep the position and record, and go back to being a free agent looking for a partner. - If you're the partner: your partner keeps the spot and the record, and goes back to being a free agent. Either way the one who stays gets a message telling them what happened, with a link to find someone new. If you're a free agent (in the league but not yet paired with anyone), leaving affects nobody at all. Junior leagues Junior places are managed by the organiser — ask them and they'll take your child out. Parents and juniors can't remove a place themselves; that's deliberate, so a child can't be removed from a league without an adult knowing. Changed your mind? You can rejoin any league you've left — you'll come in at the bottom of the ladder and climb back up from there.

Last updated on Sep 27, 2026

Walkovers: how to avoid them (and keep your place)

A walkover is a match that's awarded without being played: someone challenged you and it never happened. It's the one way to lose places without hitting a ball, so here's how to make sure it never happens to you. The numbers below are most ladders' settings; your league's rules card shows its own. The short version 1. Answer every challenge within 5 days. Accept it, or suggest times. 2. Get a time in the diary within 7 days of accepting. Either of you can set it. 3. Turn up. If you can't make it, say so before the match, not after. 4. Going away or injured? Set yourself to Away (Your Serve → your status), and nobody can challenge you while you're off. Do those four things and you'll never be walked over. If you're challenged - Accept or suggest times from the challenge itself (the notification opens it). You have 5 days to answer, and the match needs playing within 14 days of the challenge however it goes. - Can't do it this week? You can postpone: 3 postpones in any 30 days. After that, a decline counts as a walkover. - Once you've accepted, set a time. No time after 7 days and the match resets: free the first time, after that it uses one of your postpones. Whoever is holding things up is the one it counts against. If your opponent suggested times and you haven't answered, that's you. - We remind you first. You'll get a heads-up two days before an unanswered challenge or an undated match would turn into a walkover. If you can't play for a while Set yourself to Away before anyone challenges you: holiday, injury, busy patch, anything. While you're Away nobody can challenge you, so you can't be walked over. Come back whenever you like. (Once a challenge has arrived you'll need to answer it first, so set Away early.) Already accepted a challenge you now can't play at all? Don't leave your opponent waiting. Open the match, tap Match options → I can't play — give them the walkover. It's settled straight away: it counts as a walkover to them, and it costs you the same as any other walkover. To play another day instead, cancel and pick a new time. If you simply stop playing, you'll slide gently down the ladder: after 3 weeks without a match you drop one place, then one place a week. That's the same whether you're Away or not. Your rung is for people who are playing. What a walkover costs - Your first walkover in a season drops you 1 place; the second 2; any more 5. - Three walkovers in a row without playing a match and the app rests you: you're set to Away so nobody keeps challenging an empty chair, any challenges waiting for you are cleared (no penalty for anyone), and you and your organiser are told. - Never played yet? New members get 3 weeks to get going. After that, if you let a challenge lapse your challenger takes your spot and you're rested straight away, so nobody can keep stepping over an empty rung on the ladder. - Coming back from a rest: tap "I'm back — put me on the ladder" at the top of Your Serve, or play a match. Just opening the app doesn't bring you back. That way a quick look can't make you a target again before you're ready. If you're the challenger A walkover isn't a free ride up the ladder: - A walkover moves you up at most your challenge range (usually 3 places). - Every climb nobody played out counts towards one limit: a walkover, taking a never-played player's spot, or a result the other side never confirmed. The second within 30 days moves you up 1 place. - After a walkover over someone, you can't challenge that same player again for 14 days (they can still challenge you). Challenge someone else in the meantime. - No-shows need a match time you both agreed, or one set at least a day ahead. You can't claim a no-show for a time the other player never saw. Fair warning, always Nobody loses places for something they couldn't have known about. If a player has no email, no app and has never signed in, a challenge to them is cleared instead of becoming a walkover, and your organiser is asked to add their details. Walkover news that lands overnight waits until the morning. Made in error? Your club organiser can reverse a walkover, and positions and records are put back exactly as they were. Ask them from the league page. For organisers: these numbers live in your league settings (Settings → Activity rules): the answer and match deadlines, postpones, slide, the walkover climb ("up to the challenge range" or the stricter "one place"), and "Rest a player after this many walkovers" (Off, 2, 3 or 5; default 3).

Last updated on Oct 08, 2026