Padel game formats: Americano, Mexicano, King of the Court and more

How points-per-match scoring works

Americano, Mexicano, Team and Mixed play a fixed number of points instead of games and sets. Every rally is one point, whoever serves. Serve two points each and rotate the server. The match ends when the two scores add up to the total, so every match lasts about the same time and every court finishes together.

Americano

The classic social format. You play with a different partner every round and keep your own score, so the winner is the player who wins the most points, not a fixed pair.

1. Everyone plays every round (or sits out in turn if numbers do not fill the courts).
2. Each round the app draws new pairs, avoiding repeat partners and spreading opponents.
3. Each match is a fixed number of points (16, 21, 24 or 32). Every rally is a point; no tennis scoring.
4. Each player banks the points their pair won. Most points at the end wins.

Mexicano

Americano with the table in charge. After a random first round, players are grouped by their place in the table, so games get closer as the evening goes on.

1. Round 1 is drawn like an Americano.
2. From round 2, places 1 to 4 play on court 1, 5 to 8 on court 2, and so on.
3. On each court, 1st and 4th play against 2nd and 3rd, which keeps the matches level.
4. Points per match and the table work exactly as in Americano.

Team Americano

For players who came with a partner. Pairs stay together all evening and every pair plays every other pair once.

1. Enter the pairs. The app builds a full round robin and packs it onto your courts.
2. If there is an odd number of pairs, one rests each round, in turn.
3. Matches are a fixed number of points, as in Americano.
4. The table ranks pairs by points won, then matches won, then point difference.

Mixed Americano

Americano with one rule added: every pair is one man and one woman. Partners still change every round.

1. Mark each player as a man or a woman when you enter them.
2. Each court needs two men and two women; with extra players, men and women sit out in turn.
3. Scoring and the table are the same as Americano: everyone keeps their own points.

Mixicano

Mexicano with mixed pairs. After round 1 men and women are each ranked by the table, and on each court the higher-placed man partners the lower-placed woman, and the other way round, so the pairs stay level.

1. Round 1 is drawn as a Mixed Americano.
2. From round 2, courts are filled by table position, two men and two women each.
3. Pairs are always one man and one woman.

King of the Court

Fast and noisy, for one court and a crowd. A King pair defends their side; challengers come on from a queue. Win and you stay on; lose and you go to the back.

1. Fixed pairs. The first two pairs play; everyone else queues.
2. Games are short: one game with golden point, or first to an agreed number of points.
3. The winning pair stays on (or takes over) as King; the losing pair joins the back of the queue.
4. The table counts wins. ♛ counts wins while defending as King, which settles a tie.

Up and Down the River

Also called winners court or ladder. Courts are ranked top to bottom; win and you move up, lose and you move down. Everyone gets a new partner every round.

1. Round 1 is drawn. Court 1 is the top court.
2. Play each round for a set time. The pair ahead when time is up wins.
3. Winners move up one court (winners on the top court stay), losers move down one (losers on the bottom court stay).
4. The two pairs arriving on each court split, so every pair is new.
5. The table ranks by the court you finish on, then wins.

Which format?