King of the Court Pickleball: Rules, Formats and How to Run It

King of the Court is the format for groups with a skill spread. Instead of a random draw, the courts themselves are ranked: the king court at one end, the bottom court at the other. After play, two players move up a court and two move down, so within a few rounds everyone is playing people near their own level. pikel runs three versions of it and does all the moving for you.

How the ladder works

Every court seats four. After each movement, two players go up a court and two go down — the same rule in every version. The king court keeps its winners, since there is no higher court, and the bottom court keeps the players who dropped.

You pick which end of the hall is the king court. It can be either end of your court numbering, so the ladder matches how your courts are laid out.

The three versions pikel runs

Up & Down the River

The rotating-partner ladder. On your court you partner with each of the other three players in turn, so a round is three games and the record is yours alone. Then two players move up a court and two move down, based on those three-game records. Because you move on your own record, winning one game doesn't guarantee a move up — it's the round that counts.

Claim the Throne

Every single game moves you. Two players go up a court and two go down, and on the middle courts the arrivals split, so you get a new partner almost every time. The king court and the bottom court are the exceptions: those pairs stay together, which makes the top a real title defence.

Hold the Throne

The fixed-partner ladder. You and your partner commit for the session and never split: when two players move up from a court, that's both of you, together. At the king court the holding pair defends against the pair that just climbed. Everyone needs a partner, so keep the headcount even.

Step 1 — Create the game and pick a King of the Court format

Open the Create tab and start a game. On the format step, choose King of the Court, then pick Up & Down the River or Claim the Throne for rotating partners, or Hold the Throne for fixed partners.

Step 2 — Set your courts

Set how many courts you have and enter your real court numbers. Plan about one court per four players — with fewer courts the laddering effect flattens out. pikel takes 8 to 80 players.

Step 3 — Set the ladder

Choose which end is the king court, then set the opening order: by hand, by rating, or at random.

Step 4 — Play and let pikel move everyone

Players see their court on their phone. Enter scores at the net and pikel works out who moves up and who moves down, then deals the next round. Where you finish is your standing, and ties break on point differential.

When to pick something else

If your group is around the same level and just wants to mix, a rotating round robin like Mixer — often called popcorn pickleball — spreads partners more widely. Want to see a round robin on paper first? The free round robin generator prints one for any headcount. King of the Court can't be printed ahead, because who moves depends on the scores.