Play Format
The Manitoulin Pickleball Club tries to create a positive experience for all players, from newcomers to the game, to seasoned players who want to be a little more competitive. As a result, there are a few things we do when deciding on our play format:
- Keep revisiting the daily play format and tweaking the details to suit the usual mix of people playing.
- Be flexible on a given day and change the plan if it's what the group wants.
- Meet regularly through the season (approx. monthly) to give players a chance to give ideas, and tell us what is working and what could be improved.
Our Monday/Wednesday/Friday sessions are the most consistently managed play times, and the format is roughly as follows (see below for format descriptions):
9:00 - 9:30 - Doors open, warmup/drills, open play.
9:30-11:00 - Snakes and ladders play, accommodating latecomers and giving a good amount of play time to those who only want to play this format.
11:00-12:30 - Round-robin ladder play begins for those who wish to participate, and groups are assembled. Anyone who wishes to stay and continue playing in another format is welcome to do so.
12:30 - 1:00 - Open play, challenge matches, or any other format are welcome, for those players who remain.
There are a number of modes of play that we mix and match within a session:
"Snakes and Ladders" - These are timed games, starting out randomly populating the courts. At the end of the time, the winners shift up one court and split to be on separate teams, and the losers stay on the same court and split to be on separate teams. These games can have a widely varying range of skill levels, but promotes the social aspect of pickleball and helps people to improve their game by playing against better players. This format also easily accommodates people arriving late or leaving early. This is typically done for the first hour or two of regular play.
"Round-robin ladders" - These are games played to a specific number of points, with rotation among a small group of 4-6 players. These groups are typically selected to be fairly close in skill level range, so that the games can be more competitive or more friendly than open play, as the group desires. This is often done in the second half of a play session. Past performance in these round-robins is tracked to aid in assembling the groups, and to promote people moving up to higher-level courts if they play well, or moving down if they do not.
"Challenge matches" - These games are an opportunity for a specific group of players to play a game outside of the larger organized group play. Any four people can decide to play together. This format typically happens after round-robin ladders are done for the day, when courts are open and people still wish to play. A risk with this format is some players feeling excluded, so we don't make this a significant part of day-to-day play.
"Open play" - This is completely unmanaged play, where any group of any size may warm up, drill, play games, or do whatever they wish. This typically happens for the first part of a play session so people can warm up at their own pace and begin playing if they prefer to warm up that way.
"Drills" - There are many specific repetitive exercises which have been designed to help to improve consistency and skill in playing. Higher-level players routinely do these exercises to improve their play and to remain sharp. They are also a useful tool for newer players to become familiar with certain types and angles of shots. Anyone can benefit, but we recognize that not all players wish to do this, and many are just out to play for fun and are not as concerned about improving their technical skills. As such, these tend to be self-led, and performed as part of warmup or at specific organized times by a smaller group.