RULES
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& QA
Question : I ’ m thinking of running a small tournament for my pickleball club . How do tournament directors select the formats for each bracket ?
Answer :
While most tournaments have classic Double Elimination and Round Robin brackets , there are other options . Tournament directors ( TDs ) should consider the capacity of an event when they set limits on registration , but those limits need to consider the number of matches that will be needed for the published types of bracket formats .
Players typically dislike a Single Elimination bracket , since they can be out in one match , but they may also not be pleased with playing seven or eight or more matches in a large bracket , especially if play is spread out over a full day . So TDs need to choose carefully .
USA Pickleball will sanction tournaments with any of five types of bracket formats and these same formats are often used in non-sanctioned tournaments . These types are listed in the Rule Book in Section 12 . C . and here are some comments on why a particular bracket format may be selected .
The first bracket format listed in the rules is Single Elimination with Consolation ( see Rule 12 . C . 1 .). This is a good format for large brackets , like 16 teams and up , since it takes considerably less time than regular Double Elimination . It is the format used at the US Open . In this format , a single loss places a team in the “ Consolation ” bracket , which plays for the bronze , while the “ Winners ” bracket has a final match between teams that have not lost a match and the winners get the gold while the losers get silver .
By Bob Unetich
USA PICKLEBALL CERTIFIED REFEREE
The next format listed is Double Elimination , which permits the winner of the “ Back Draw ” to come back to play for gold . That adds a couple more matches to a bracket , which adds an hour or two , but it is very popular for brackets of six teams or more .
With fewer than six teams , TDs typically use Round Robin brackets , where each team plays every other team once or twice . Winners are then decided by which team wins the most matches . In case of a tie , there are defined ways to determine the winner . The 2023 Rules change how winners are decided if a team withdraws from the bracket and there is a tie . Section 12 . C . 3 . a ., b ., and c . explain this in detail , but the essence is that ties are first decided by head-to-head competition ( Section 12 . C . 3 . a .) between teams that did not withdraw and if a tie remains , “ point differentials ” are used . The point differential is the total difference between a team ’ s points scored and their opponents ’ points scored . It is simpler to figure out than it may sound , so read Section 12 . C . 3 . a . through d . of the rules to see some examples .
There are two other formats that are becoming more popular , and they are called Pool Play with Playoff and Round Robin Play with Playoff . The recent USA Pickleball Diamond Amateur Championship used Pool Play with Playoff for most brackets . In that format , players enter Round Robin pools and the results are used to “ seed ” a playoff . The top two teams from each pool move on to a medal round , based on how they finished within their pool . This format usually provides players with more matches , and it has a set of medal matches , which regular Round Robin brackets lack . This can be an excellent format for clubs and smaller groups .
If you are planning a tournament , you should consider all these options and select the one that maximizes play while using court capacity effectively . •