Ladder League

Ladder League is the most configurable format in the ladder family. Players are divided into groups of four or five, one group per court. After each round, the top finishers move up and the bottom finishers move down. You control how far people move with the Player Movement setting, which shifts one or two players (or teams) at each boundary. Ladder League also remembers ladder position across weeks, so players who miss a session keep their slot rather than being leapfrogged. This continuity unlocks features such as an Absence Penalty, a Courts picker, and a By Event Rank sorting option. Both Individual and Set Partners variants exist.

How it works

Players are divided into groups of four or five, one group per court.
Partners play multiple matches together before rotating. The number of switches setting controls how many.
After the round, the top finishers move up and the bottom finishers move down.
Player Movement controls how many players or teams shift at each boundary: 1 or 2. Default is 2.

Settings that apply

Player Movement — 1 or 2 (default 2).
Group Size Priority — when the count is not a clean multiple of 4, places groups of 4 or 5 on the top courts. Default: 4s on top.
Scoring Type — Match Wins (default) or Individual Game Wins.

Format-specific settings

Absence Penalty — first missed day is free. Each additional missed day drops you 2 ranks. Byes never count. Default is on.
Courts picker — choose exactly how many courts to spread people across when you generate a round. Pre-filled with the optimal number.
By Event Rank — a sorting option where every player carries a single rank number that moves based on finishing position. Requires player counts in multiples of 4.

Individual and Set Partners

Ladder League comes in both Individual and Set Partners variants.

Individual: Players register solo. The number of switches setting is available: choose 1x, 2x, or 3x. This controls how many matches each partnership plays before partners rotate.
Set Partners: Two players register as a fixed pair. The number of switches setting is not available in this variant.

Bye handling

Ladder League does not use a separate bye group. If your player count is odd, the system handles it within the group structure.

For bye handling in other formats, see Bye Mode for Ladder Leagues.

When to choose it

Choose Ladder League for serious, ongoing leagues that want balanced, standings-driven progression and the finest control over how movement and scheduling work.

For Event Rank details, see How to run a ladder league with "By Event Rank". For auto-generation, see Auto-generation in Ladder formats. For court management, see Court management in Ladder formats. For editing groups, see Editing groups in Ladder formats.

Was this helpful?