The player guide

Looking for the schedule, courts and check-in for a specific weekend? Each event page has a Weekend at a glance section. See the events.

The weekend at a glance

• Thursday. Check in, then come hit. There is a social at the courts to meet your squad. Nobody is required until Friday.
• Friday. Ladder day. Three matches, with about an hour and a half between them. By Friday night you are seeded.
• Saturday. Bracket day. Everyone plays at least twice. Lose and you drop a bracket, never out.
• Sunday. Super Sunday. Four squads, semis, then the final, with all four lines on court at once.

Before you go

• Your confirmation email arrives right after you pay. If it is not in your inbox within a few minutes, check spam, then email us.
• Squads are eight players, four pairs. The captain invites the other seven, then chases the one who has not clicked yet.
• If you came solo or as a pair, you hear from us about who you are playing with before the weekend.
• Fill to 8 of 8 and claim your team identity. Twenty to choose from, one per squad.

Thursday

Check in whenever you arrive. At the courts there is social play and a welcome: meet your squad, hit a little, figure out who is bringing the wine. No scoreboard. Nobody is required until Friday, so if Thursday is a travel day for you, we will see you at your first match.

Friday, ladder day

Three matches, with about an hour and a half between them.

• Arrive 15 minutes before your first match.
• Round 1 is blind. Rounds 2 and 3 are matched by record, so you meet pairs playing like you as the day goes on.
• Your court times are fixed all day. Plan the beach or the spa around them. Opponents post after each round.
• Friday night you are seeded. Your three results decide where you start Saturday.

Saturday, bracket day

Everyone plays Saturday, at least two matches. Your whole flight goes into one bracket, seeded by Friday.

• Lose and you drop down, not out. A loss moves you into the next bracket down: Championship, then Plate, then Bowl, then Shield. You keep playing, for a trophy of your own.
• Four trophies per flight. One for each bracket winner.
• The Championship winner's squad earns Sunday. One pair wins her flight and all eight of you are back in.

Sunday, Super Sunday

Four squads. Squad against squad semis, then the final. All four lines are on court at the same time, so it is loud.

• Win three of four lines and your squad advances.
• Tied 2 to 2? Each squad's best finishing pair plays a 10-point tiebreaker to decide it.
• Everyone not playing is in the chairs. Bring a voice.

Scoring

• No-ad games. At deuce, the receiving team picks which side takes the deciding point.
• 7-point tiebreak at 6 all in sets one and two.
• 10-point match tiebreak in place of a third set.
• Balls at every match.

Levels

No rating needed, and nothing here touches one. Your squad ranks its four pairs Line 1 to Line 4, and each line plays only its own flight, so a Line 4 pair never faces a Line 1 pair.

Friday's ladder then matches you by results. By Saturday you are in a bracket of pairs playing like you, whatever number you would have written on a form.

Weather

If it rains, we delay or shorten matches to get every match in. The bracket keeps moving.

Refunds

Each event has its own refund rules, and they are on its page before you pay.

Pack list

• Racquet (and the backup, you know the one)
• Tennis shoes that suit the court surface
• Sunscreen and a hat
• Refillable water bottle
• Something for the Thursday social
• A squad color. A costume is not required. It is also not discouraged.