Ladder/Mortimer/Royal Court Rules
LADDER PLAY
EPC members will adhere to the following rules regarding Ladder Play for separate 3.0, 3.5 and 4.0+ mixed ladders.
There will be a Men’s and Ladies’ champion for each ladder and each champion will have his/her name inscribed on the appropriate Club Ladder Trophy.
Play will begin May 26, 2025, for a total of 12 weeks.
• All scores will be recorded using an appropriate scoring program which will calculate players’ winning percentages.
• To be eligible to win, a player must have recorded scores on 7 different dates.
• The champion will be determined by the player with the highest winning percentage.
• All players start at 0% and the scoring program will determine which court a player will start.
• Players may participate in the ladder anytime. New players will always start at the bottom of the ladder.
• All ladders will use balls provided by EPC.
Players sign up for the ladder on Court Reserve and must be checked in by the Ladder Captain 10 minutes before play can begin. No exceptions.
• Courts with 4 players will play to 11, win by 1, switch sides at 6.
• Courts with 5 players will play to 9, win by 1, switch sides at 5.
• If all players agree, players may decide to not switch sides during the game.
• In case of rain, the decision to call the games will be made 1 hour before the scheduled start of the games and players shall be notified by email. Once the call has been made, that is it. RAINOUTS WILL NOT REDUCE THE MINIMUM AMOUNT OF PLAY REQUIRED TO WIN THE CHAMPIONSHIP.
• In case of rain, if all courts have completed Round 1, then those scores will count. If rain affects Round 2, any completed games will count. The Ladder Captain will determine whether courts are safe to play on. The decision of the Ladder Captain shall be final.
• In case of injury where a player can no longer play, a substitute can be brought in, provided remaining players all agree. If no substitute is found, scores will be final as they stand.
• If injury occurs in Round 1 and no substitute is found, the courts assignments will be manually adjusted.
MORTIMER
Mortimer is a 3 v. 3 version of Pickleball. The Round Robin schedule shows your group of three. Once you get to the court, choose one player on your team to start as the Mortimer. That individual stands behind the baseline at the center of the court. So, the serving team will have all three players at the baseline. The Mortimer is not permitted to serve, return a serve or return the third shot. (AFTER 2ND SHOT OF SERVING TEAM IS COMPLETE EVERYONE IS IN THE GAME). The Mortimer hovers in the back of the court while the other two players move up to the kitchen line. The Mortimer typically picks up lobs and shots down the middle that get past the players at the net. When one of the kitchen line players makes an error, they swap places with the Mortimer.
QUEEN'S COURT (WOMEN)/KING'S COURT (MEN)/ROYAL COURT (MIXED)
Meant for more competitive play.
At the start of the session, the Royal Court is designated. Players are randomly assigned partners and their starting court.
Play is determined by the court captain; can be timed play, play to 11, or rally points. If you win, you and your partner move up one court towards the Royal Court. If you lose, you and your partner move down one court. After moving to your next court, players do a rotation so that you play with a new partner.