Guides for amateur players: rules, levels and organizing games
In short
Plain-English guides for amateur players. They explain how scoring works in padel, tennis, badminton, pickleball and other sports, what your level means, how tournament formats and round robin schedules work, and how to organize games: pickup groups, no-shows, fair teams and finding partners in a new city. Each guide opens with a short answer and lists its sources.
- How does padel scoring work?Padel is scored like tennis. Points go 15, 30, 40, then game, and the first pair to win six games, two clear, takes a set. Matches are best of three sets. At…
- What padel level am I?Padel levels run from 1.0 (just starting out) to 7.0 (top-ranked professional) in half-point steps. A 3.0 is consistent and starting to play the walls, a 4.0…
- What is an Americano in padel, and how do you run one?A padel Americano is a social tournament where you change partner every round and score for yourself. Each match is played to a fixed number of points, usually…
- How does a Mexicano work in padel?A Mexicano is a padel format where players enter individually and change partners every round. Round one is random or set by level. After that, players are…
- How do you play padel? Rules for beginnersPadel is a racket sport played in doubles on a 10 by 20 metre court enclosed by glass walls and mesh. You serve diagonally after bouncing the ball and hitting…
- How does tennis scoring work?Tennis points are called love (0), 15, 30 and 40, and the fourth point wins the game. At 40–40 (deuce) a player must win two points in a row, or one deciding…
- What is my NTRP tennis rating?NTRP is the USTA's 1.0 to 7.0 tennis level scale, in half-point steps. A 3.0 player is fairly consistent at medium pace, a 3.5 has directional control on…
- How do you find a tennis partner near you?Use more than one route. Ask at your local club or courts, join an open-play session or a league, ask a coach to introduce you, and post a clear note with your…
- How do I find a padel tournament near me?Check four places: your federation's finder (the LTA in Britain, for example), the tournaments tab of your club's booking app, the club's own Americano and…
- How do I find an adult tennis tournament or league near me?Start with your federation's tournament finder (USTA in the US, the LTA in Britain, Tennis Australia in Australia), then a rating platform such as UTR, your…
- How do I find a pickleball tournament near me?Search a tournament directory by location, then filter by date and division (pickleballtournaments.com and PickleballBrackets in the US, your national…
- How do I find padel players near me?Use more than one route. Ask your nearest club about beginner sessions and its WhatsApp group, join an Americano or social night where you can turn up alone…
- How do I find pickleball players near me?Go where pickleball is already played. Look up open play sessions at nearby courts, clubs and recreation centers, join a local group or league, and try a…
- Table tennis scoring rules: is ping pong played to 11 or 21?Table tennis games are played to 11 points and must be won by 2, so 10–10 plays on until someone leads by two. Matches are best of 3, 5 or 7 games. Each player…
- How does badminton scoring work, and does my club have to switch to 3x15?No, your club doesn't have to switch. BWF's 3x15 (games to 15, won by 2, capped at 21) becomes its standard on Monday 4 January 2027, but 3x21 stays as an…
- How does pickleball scoring work?In standard pickleball only the serving side scores. You win a point by winning the rally on your serve; lose it and the serve passes on. Games go to 11 and…
- What are the rules of pickleball?Pickleball is played on a 20 by 44 foot court with a paddle and a perforated ball, as singles or doubles. You serve diagonally, and the serve and its return…
- What is my pickleball skill level?Pickleball skill levels run from about 2.0 (new, learning the rules) to 5.5 and above (top tournament players). Most recreational players describe themselves as…
- How does a pickleball round robin work?In a pickleball round robin every player or team plays every other one, and the most match wins takes first place. There are two kinds: fixed partners, where…
- What are the rules of badminton?Badminton is played by two sides, singly or in pairs, who hit a shuttle over a net and win a point whenever the other side faults or the shuttle lands in their…
- What is the difference between padel and pickleball?Padel is played in a walled 10 x 20 m court with a strungless racket and tennis scoring. Pickleball is played on a smaller open 6.10 x 13.41 m court with a…
- Volleyball rules for beginners: scoring, rotation and faultsVolleyball uses rally scoring: every rally gives a point to the team that wins it. Indoor sets go to 25 and must be won by two, matches are best of five, and a…
- Pickup basketball rules: 1s and 2s, games to 11 or 21, and 3x3Pickup basketball has no single rulebook, so agree the rules before the first shot. Many games use 1s and 2s: 1 point inside the three-point line, 2 beyond it…
- 5-a-side and futsal rules: how many players, how long and what is different?Futsal and 5-a-side both have five players per team, goalkeeper included. FIFA's futsal laws set two 20-minute halves on a stopped clock, a low-bounce ball…
- Ultimate frisbee rules for beginners: how do you play?In ultimate frisbee, two teams of seven pass a disc and score by catching it in the end zone they attack. You can't run with the disc: the thrower pivots on one…
- What's the best tournament format: single elimination, double elimination or round robin?There's no single best format. Choose single elimination when time is short (n − 1 matches), double elimination when one loss shouldn't end an entrant's event…
- How do I organize a padel tournament?Fix the format, the number of courts and a time per match, then send a rules sheet before the day. Pairs play groups plus a knockout or a bracket. Individuals…
- How do you organize a tennis tournament?Fix the date, courts and a cap on entries, then pick a format that fits the time: single elimination for a short day, or small round-robin groups so everyone…
- How do I organize a pickleball tournament?Choose the format and the scoring first, then fit them to your courts. Pools of 3 or 4 teams followed by a playoff give every team several games. A game to 11…
- How do you organize your first tournament?Decide the sport, date, venue and number of courts first, then cap the entries at a number your time allows. Pick the simplest format that fits: a round robin…
- How does a tennis league work?A tennis league is a round robin spread over weeks: everyone in the group plays everyone else once (or twice), and a table ranks the players by wins, with…
- How do amateurs play padel tournaments in Saudi Arabia?The Saudi Padel Federation runs numbered ranking (classification) tournaments, with 372 to 526 men, women and juniors entering each in 2026. At the latest…
- How do I find padel players in Saudi Arabia beyond the WhatsApp group?Most Saudi players start in a city WhatsApp group (قروب بادل), then add club contacts and booking apps such as Playtomic or Malaeb. A fourth route is a Flobit…
- How do I find women's padel sessions, leagues and tournaments?Search your city with «بادل نسائي» or "padel ladies only", ask clubs about their own women's sessions, and look at federation events that include women's…
- Padel tournaments, leagues and players in the UAEAmateurs in the UAE can enter the federation's UAE Padel Tour (35 ranking events in 2026). In 2026 the Abu Dhabi Padel League (May to September, with categories…
- Padel tournaments, leagues and players in QatarAmateurs in Doha can enter community events from the Qatar Sports for All Federation, such as the men's padel tournament it holds in November 2026, registered…
- How do I organize a Ramadan night tournament or league?Ramadan 2027 is expected to begin on or around Monday 8 February, with Eid al-Fitr on 9 or 10 March, depending on the moon sighting. Matches usually start at 8…
- How do you make a round robin schedule?A round robin has n(n − 1)/2 matches. With an even number of players it takes n − 1 rounds; with an odd number it takes n rounds, and one player sits out each…
- How do you organize a pickup game?Pick a fixed day, time and place, then set a minimum and a maximum number of players. Keep one list of who's in, with a waitlist, and ask for a firm yes by a…
- How do you stop no-shows in a sports group?Make a yes mean something. Ask for a firm in or out by a deadline, treat maybe as out, and remind people 48 hours before and again on game day. Keep a waitlist…
- How do you find people to play sports with in a new city?Use more than one channel and keep going back to the same one. Join a club or league for regular fixtures, add a pickup game or open session for variety, and…
- How do you make fair teams for a pickup game?Rank the players from strongest to weakest, then deal them out in a snake order: one to team A, two to team B, two to team A, and so on. Add up each side's…
How are the guides organized?
The guides fall into four groups, and you can read them in any order.
- Rules and scoring. How each sport is scored and played at amateur level: padel scoring and padel rules, tennis scoring, table tennis, volleyball, pickup basketball, five-a-side and futsal, and ultimate frisbee. There are also guides to badminton scoring and badminton rules, pickleball scoring and pickleball rules, and a comparison of padel and pickleball, and Flobit scores both badminton and pickleball.
- Levels. What a rating means and how to rate yourself honestly: padel levels, tennis levels (including NTRP) and pickleball levels.
- Formats and schedules. How to run an event: tournament formats, the round robin schedule, and the padel Americano and Mexicano formats. For pickleball there is a round robin guide. The free tools include a pickleball rotation generator.
- Organizing. The people side of sport: pickup games, no-shows, fair teams, and finding a partner in your sport or in a new city.
Where to start: if you're new to a sport, read its rules guide and then its levels guide. If you run a group, start with pickup games, then no-shows and fair teams. If you're planning an event, start with tournament formats.
Can I trust the rules and numbers in these guides?
Every guide opens with a short direct answer, then gives the detail. Each one lists its sources with the date they were last checked, and the date at the top shows when the guide last changed. Where a rule book exists, such as a federation's laws of the game, the guide follows it.
When a guide mentions Flobit, it describes only what the app does today. For example, Flobit runs Mexicano tournaments but not Americano, and it does not book courts.
What if I can't find my question?
Try the FAQ for short answers about Flobit itself, such as what is free and how open matches work. To see which sports Flobit supports and which formats each one has, browse the sports pages, which link to that sport's guides. If your question is still missing, contact support and tell us what you were looking for, so we can write the guide.
Frequently asked questions
Are these guides the official rules?
No. They explain rules and formats in plain words and point to the official sources, such as federation rule books, so you can check the detail yourself. If a competition publishes its own rules, those come first.
Do I need Flobit to use these guides?
No. The guides are free to read and work with any app, a spreadsheet or pen and paper. Flobit is there if you want to keep score, find players or run the event in an app.
Which sports do the guides cover?
The rules and scoring guides cover padel, tennis, table tennis, volleyball, pickup basketball, five-a-side and futsal, and ultimate frisbee, plus badminton and pickleball scoring and rules (Flobit scores both). The formats and organizing guides apply to almost any sport.
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