King of the court pickleball: rules, rotation and how to run it
One clear version of the rules, a worked 12-player example, and a free runner for tonight.
How does king of the court work in pickleball?
Courts are ranked from the king court down. After each game the winners move up one court and the losers move down one. Winners on the king court stay, losers on the bottom court stay, and partners split. To have anywhere to climb you need two courts in play, so eight players.
| Courts | Players to fill them | Waiting if 14 turn up |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | 8 | 6 |
| 3 | 12 | 2 |
| 4 | 16 | 2, and court 4 stays empty |
What king of the court is
King of the court is a fast, competitive way to run open play. Your result decides where you play next: win and you climb toward the king court, lose and you drift down. Partners split after every game, so nobody rides one strong partner to the top. A round robin follows a chart set before the night; here your result decides where you play next.
It is a house format, not part of USA Pickleball's rules summary. That summary covers how a game is played (serving, faults and the non-volley zone, or kitchen, which is 7 feet from the net on each side) and does not cover how players travel between courts. Every group sets its own rotation, which is why the versions online disagree. The standard version below is the simplest complete one. PickleCrew's quick play calls the multi-court version up and down the river, also known as king of the court.
The standard version
- Rank the courts. Court 1 is the king court. The last court is the bottom court.
- Play one game per round. One game to 11, win by 2, or a timed round. Someone has to win, so decide before round 1 how a level score is settled in a timed round. One way is to play one more rally.
- Winners move up, losers move down. The winning pair goes up one court. The losing pair goes down one court.
- The ends stay put. Winners on the king court stay on court 1. Losers on the bottom court stay on the bottom court.
- Partners split every round. On a night where nobody waits, two pairs arrive on each court. Each pair splits, and one player from each pair teams up with one from the other. Nobody should play with the same partner twice in a row.
What PickleCrew's quick play does. On a night where everyone plays every round and nobody joins or leaves, it runs exactly this: winners up one court, losers down one, the ends stay and partners split. Round 1 is drawn at random, and no one gets the partner they had in the round before. When someone sits out, the ladder closes up around them, so a player can move more than one court.
With one court in play nobody can climb: the winners and losers both stay, and only the sit-outs rotate. To have anywhere to climb you need two courts in play, so eight players.
How to set up a king of the court night
This is the by-hand method, for a group running the night on paper or a whiteboard. The free runner does these steps for you in your browser. If you would rather fix a whole schedule in advance, use the round robin generator, or browse the other pickleball formats.
- Count courts and players. Each court holds four. Two courts and eight players is the smallest night where anyone can climb. Only use as many courts as you have groups of four.
- Rank the courts. Pick the king court and number the rest in order.
- Seed round 1. Fill court 1 first, then court 2, and so on. Arrival order is easy, or seed by rough skill for a competitive night. After round 1, results take over. PickleCrew's runner and app draw round 1 at random instead.
- Agree the game length. One game to 11, win by 2, or a set time such as 10 minutes, and how a level score is settled.
- Agree how splits work. Decide before the first serve who pairs with whom. Any split is fine as long as old partners don't stay together.
- Move together. When every court has finished, everyone walks at once.
- Set the finish. A number of rounds or a clock time, announced before round 1.
Worked example: 12 players, 3 courts, 3 rounds
- Round 1Court 1Ana + Ben (won)vs Cal + DeeCourt 2Gio + Hana (won)vs Eli + FranCourt 3Kai + Lu (won)vs Ike + Jo
- Round 2Court 1Ben + Hana (won)vs Ana + GioCourt 2Cal + Kai (won)vs Dee + LuCourt 3Fran + Jo (won)vs Eli + Ike
- Round 3Court 1Hana + Kai (won)vs Ben + CalCourt 2Gio + Jo (won)vs Ana + FranCourt 3Dee + Eli (won)vs Lu + Ike
Twelve players fill three courts exactly: Ana, Ben, Cal, Dee, Eli, Fran, Gio, Hana, Ike, Jo, Kai and Lu. On every court the winners are listed first and marked (won).
This is the by-hand rule, not PickleCrew's engine. Round 1 fills the courts in alphabetical order, with the first two names against the next two. After that every move follows the standard version. Each court's two arriving pairs are listed alphabetically by first name, then split: the first name of each pair together, and the second name of each pair together.
After round 1. Ana and Ben stay on court 1. Cal and Dee drop to court 2. Gio and Hana climb to court 1. Eli and Fran drop to court 3. Kai and Lu climb to court 2. Ike and Jo stay on court 3. Each arriving pair then splits, so court 1 becomes Ana + Gio against Ben + Hana.
After round 2. Ben and Hana stay on court 1. Ana and Gio drop to court 2. Cal and Kai climb to court 1. Dee and Lu drop to court 3. Fran and Jo climb to court 2. Eli and Ike stay on court 3. Each arriving pair then splits, so court 1 becomes Ben + Cal against Hana + Kai.
Kai started on court 3 and reached the king court by round 3. Ike never left the bottom court.
Scored with the points below, Hana leads on 8. Ben and Kai are level on 6, and Ben takes second place because he has 2 king-court wins to Kai's 1.
The example, scored
| Place | Player | Points | Games | King-court wins |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hana | 8 | 3 | 2 |
| 2 | Ben | 6 | 3 | 2 |
| 3 | Kai | 6 | 3 | 1 |
| 4 | Gio | 4 | 3 | 0 |
| 5 | Ana | 3 | 3 | 1 |
| 6 | Jo | 3 | 3 | 0 |
| 7 | Cal | 2 | 3 | 0 |
| 8 | Dee | 1 | 3 | 0 |
| 8 | Eli | 1 | 3 | 0 |
| 8 | Fran | 1 | 3 | 0 |
| 8 | Lu | 1 | 3 | 0 |
| 12 | Ike | 0 | 3 | 0 |
When you have more players than court spots
A court runs only with four players, so extra players wait. With 14 players on 3 courts, 12 play and 2 wait. With 14 players on 4 courts, 3 courts run, 2 wait and court 4 stays empty.
By hand. A house method is a waiting line, such as a paddle stack: paddles leaned against the fence in order, so everyone can see whose turn is next. The bottom court's losers leave the court and go to the back of the line. The next two in line take their place, and the two losers who just arrived from above split, with one partnering each newcomer. Anyone who sat out the last round, and anyone arriving late, enters on the bottom court. Agree this before round 1.
Odd numbers, by hand. With 13 players on 3 courts, one person waits, so only one of the bottom court's two losers can be replaced. A fair house rule is that the losing pair picks who sits, and nobody sits twice before everyone has sat once.
What PickleCrew does. The app and the runner use no waiting line. Each round they pick who sits: the players with the fewest sit-outs first, then anyone who did not sit last round, then the players with the most games, with ties shuffled. The players are then lined up by where they finished and cut into fours from the top court, so the ladder closes up around anyone sitting out. A player can move more than one court that way. Anyone coming back from a sit-out, and anyone who arrives late, starts at the bottom.
Scoring the night
Most nights want a winner. This is the version we recommend, and it is the one the free runner uses. PickleCrew's app ranks quick play by wins instead.
- Wins earn points by court. A win earns the number of courts in play, less the court number, plus one. With 3 courts, a win on court 1 earns 3, court 2 earns 2 and court 3 earns 1. With 4 courts, it runs 4 down to 1. A loss earns nothing.
- Highest total points wins. Add up the points after the last round.
- Level on points: points per game. If two players have the same points, the one who got them in fewer games ranks higher (divide points by games played). Totals still come first, so a player who sat out a round can finish lower. If everyone played the same number of games, this changes nothing.
- Still level: king-court wins. The player with more wins on court 1 ranks higher. Players still level share the place.
That is one ranking, in this order: points, then points per game, then king-court wins.
Common house rules
Every group runs king of the court a little differently. These variants are all house rules, so agree whichever you use before round 1.
- Who splits after a game. The standard version splits everyone. One house rule lets the winners stay together and only splits the losers, or splits the winners and keeps the losers paired.
- Winners stay or both move. A single king court is another house rule: the winners stay on and the losers swap with the next pair in line. A cap on straight wins stops one pair holding the court all night.
- Timed or to 11. Games to 11 end when they end, so courts can finish minutes apart. Timed rounds end together, with the score as it stands. Shorter games to 7 or 9 speed up a big group.
- How the king is crowned. The final-round king is whoever holds the king court at the end, and it is the simplest rule. Points by court totals the whole night. A third house rule counts only wins on the king court.
Common mistakes
- Moving at different times. If courts move as they finish, winners arrive before the court above is clear and people stand around. Move together.
- Splitting by feel. It works until two friends keep landing together. Agree a rule and stick to it.
- No finish line. Without a set round count or end time, nobody knows who won.
- Forgetting the kitchen. The non-volley zone is the 7-foot band on each side of the net, and volleys from inside it are faults.
Running this tonight?
The free runner works in this browser with no account. PickleCrew's app keeps your history across devices and for your crew.
Frequently asked questions
What is king of the court in pickleball?
A format where courts are ranked and your result decides your next court. Winners move up one court, losers move down one, partners split, and winners on the king court stay. It is a house format, not part of USA Pickleball's rules summary.
What are the rules of king of the court pickleball?
There is no single official set. The standard version ranks the courts, plays one game per round, moves winners up and losers down, keeps the ends in place and splits partners every round. Agree the game length, the split rule and the finish before round 1.
How do you play king of the court pickleball?
Rank the courts with court 1 as the king court. Play one game per round, then everyone moves together: winners up one court, losers down one. Winners on court 1 and losers on the bottom court stay. Each pair splits so partners change. Stop at a set round count or time.
Is there a king of the court pickleball app?
PickleCrew has a free king of the court runner that works in your browser with no account, and it saves the night on your device. PickleCrew's app also runs king of the court for a crew you admin, and keeps your history across devices and for the crew.