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Why padel matches share a start time, and when that is a clash

A shared kick-off is what a round is. It is only a problem when the matches also share a court, and two things can do that.

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Written by Maab Saleem

In a padel tournament, matches that start at the same time are normal. That is what a round is: every pair plays at once, on a court of its own.

Round Robin is the exception. Its generated fixtures each get their own kick-off time, so two of them starting together is worth reading - see What causes it. Every other padel format starts a whole round at once.

When it is fine

  1. Open the tournament and select Schedule.

  2. Read one round. Both matches have the same kick-off time.

    Round 1 with two fixtures, both at 10:00, one on court 1 and one on court 2.

  3. Read the court on each. Different courts mean nothing is wrong.

    A padel fixture card with its court number outlined, reading 2.

Scoryboard gives each match in a round its own court, counting up from 1. Two pairs at 10:00 on courts 1 and 2 is the fixture list working correctly.

When it is a clash

It is a clash when two matches share a start time and a court number. Two pairs cannot use one court at once.

A pair in two matches at once is the same problem. Look for a pair whose name appears twice under one kick-off time.

  1. Look down the court column. If every match reads the same court, they have all been written to it.

    A padel group where all eight matches kick off at 10:00 and every one is on court 1.

  2. Select Format, then Configuration, and check Courts.

    The Padel Configuration dialog with the Courts field outlined, set to 4.

What causes it

Two things do.

A Court number typed into BULK MATCH UPDATE. That field writes the same court to every match it touches. Leave it empty unless the whole group really is on one court.

A round added by the Continue banner. Once every fixture in the group has a score, the Results tab grows a banner - Continue RoundRobin, or your own format's name - reading "Complete the current round to create the next player combinations". Selecting Continue builds another round, and that round is not spaced the way the first ones were.

Read a Continue-added round before you publish it. On a round-robin tournament with four pairs and four courts, the six new fixtures shared two kick-off times: four at the first, two at the second. Three of the four at the first kick-off were the same pair. One of them landed on a court and a kick-off time that an already-played fixture holds.

The first fixture list does not do this. Set Courts to 1 and the generator splits a round across two start times rather than putting two matches on court 1.

How to fix a Continue-added round

Change the kick-off times and courts by hand, on the Schedule tab, with SELECT MATCH TO UPDATE.

Do not save Padel Configuration to rebuild them. Saving a changed configuration throws every fixture away and builds the group again from the format. On a tournament that has been played, that means:

  • the round Continue added is deleted;

  • every match that had been played goes back to Scheduled with no score.

Eighteen played fixtures were reset this way on a test tournament. Nothing undoes it. Saving the dialog with nothing changed is safe and rebuilds nothing, but it also fixes nothing.

If it does not work

  • Every match is on court 1. A bulk update wrote that court number across the group. Clear it and set the courts again with SELECT MATCH TO UPDATE. Do not reach for Padel Configuration if any fixture has been played - see above.

  • A pair is in two matches at one kick-off time. The round was added by Continue. Re-time one of the two by hand.

  • You have more courts than the rounds use. A round can only hold as many matches as there are pairs to play them. Four pairs make two matches, so only two courts are used.

  • The rounds have become a flat list. Same start time per round was cleared in a bulk update. Tick it and update the group again.

  • This is a football tournament. There, matches sharing a time is a genuine clash - see "Why two football fixtures clash, and fixtures showing only one team".

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