How the league works

Nothing is required from you right away. Before the season starts you'll get a kickoff email confirming the start date and how the season runs. Then every Sunday night you'll get an email with your group for the week: three other players at your level, plus their contact info. That email is your starting point each week. The one thing worth doing now: add your phone number (see below) so your group can reach you.

Your group coordinates by text. Without a number, the other players have no practical way to reach you, and you're the one who ends up missing games. To add it: sign in, go to your dashboard, and use the banner at the top of the page, or open Account. It takes about ten seconds. Your number is only ever shown to players registered in your league — it is never on the public site.

When the new week opens — not before. Groups for an upcoming week aren't shown until the current week closes on Sunday at 11:00 PM ET, even if they've already been drawn behind the scenes. Everyone finds out at the same time.

Two places, and they always match: 1. The Sunday night email — your group and everyone's contact info. 2. Your dashboard — sign in at palmvolleypickle.com and your current week is the first thing on the page, under "This week." If you ever think they disagree, the dashboard is the source of truth.

• Add your phone number to your account. • Watch for the Sunday night group email. • Reach out to your group and agree on a day, time, and court. • Agree on who logs the scores (any of you can, but one person is tidier). • Play, log the scores, and check the standings.

Each week you're placed in a group of four. Your group plays a double round-robin: you partner with each of the other three players twice, for 6 games total. Games are played to 11, win by 1. There is no fixed league night and no assigned venue — the four of you pick a day, time, and court that works for everyone that week. Your week runs Monday through Sunday. If the numbers don't divide evenly one week, a group of five is possible. Those games are played to 15.

That's up to your group, and it's the trade-off that makes a flex league work: no fixed night, but somebody has to start the conversation. The practical version: whoever reads the Sunday night email first sends a text to the others with two or three options. Lock it in early — groups that leave it to the last day are the ones that don't get their games in.

Wherever works for your group — venue choice is part of the flex format, and there's no assigned home court. Most groups play public courts around Ponte Vedra and Jacksonville. One option worth knowing: HoleyBallz gives Palm Volley players a league rate of $5/hour after 8pm, any day — worth it if your group wants a booked court instead of waiting on a public one. Mention the league when you book.

You play each pairing twice. The team that did not serve first in the first game serves first in the second game, and you switch ends of the court between those two games.

Games are self-officiated. Out calls and rules questions are settled among the players on the court — league administration does not intervene after the fact. The convention: the receiving team makes the call on their own side, and if there's genuine doubt, the point is replayed.

Players supply their own game balls. The Lifetime LT Pro 48 is the league's recommended ball. If nobody in your group has one, any ball all the players agree on is fine.

Any player in the group can log a score — the app doesn't restrict it to one person. That said, the smoothest approach is to agree on one person before you start and let them enter all 6 games. It keeps the running count straight and avoids two people entering the same game. If that person has to leave early or their phone dies, anyone else can pick it up.

Right after each game, while you're still on the court. It takes a few seconds and it's the only reliable way to avoid "wait, was that 11-9 or 11-7?" an hour later. Everything for the week must be in before the week closes on Sunday at 11:00 PM ET.

Yes, as long as the week is still open. Go back to the same game on your dashboard, tap the score, correct it, and save again. Once the week closes on Sunday at 11:00 PM ET, scores are final and the entry fields are gone. If something is genuinely wrong after that, contact league admin — corrections after the lock are handled manually.

The week locks and any unlogged games stay unlogged. Because standings are based on the percentage of points you won out of the points available to you, games that never get entered simply don't count toward your total. If your group couldn't play at all that week, message league admin rather than leaving it silent.

You can only enter scores for the group you're in. Other groups' games are visible so you can follow the league, but they're read-only for you — the players in that group enter their own.

You're ranked by the share of available points you actually won — not by wins and losses. Games go to 11, and you play 6 games, so the most points you can win in a week is 66. Win all 6 and you're at 100%. Win five and score 8 in your only loss, and you're at (55 + 8) ÷ 66 = 95.5%. The reason for this: every point counts, even in a loss. There are no dead games and no coasting once a game is decided. Ties are broken in this order: win rate (share of games won), then head-to-head record between the tied players, then the largest margin of victory either player has managed in a single game.

Weeks 1 through 2 are random draws, not based on standings — there aren't any yet. The opening weeks are built to get you on court with as many different people as possible. Week 2 is drawn so that, wherever the roster allows it, you won't be grouped with anyone you already played in week 1. New faces, not a rematch. From week 3 on, groups are re-seeded every week by the standings: the top four players form group one, the next four group two, and so on. Play well and you climb into tougher groups — which is the point.

The regular season runs 7 weeks. The top 3 finishers in the final standings receive custom Palm Volley medals.

Tell your group and message league admin as early as you can. Finding a substitute is a last resort, but if you truly can't play we'll help find an approved sub if you don't have one. Any points your sub earns count on your behalf. Each player can use a substitution once per season.

Full refund any time before week 1 groups are announced — just reach out through the contact page. After the season starts, we'll pro-rate a credit toward a future season.

Use the same email address you registered with. If you registered with Google, use the "Continue with Google" button rather than a password. If you're stuck, use "Forgot your password?" on the sign-in page. If the reset email doesn't arrive within a few minutes, check spam — then contact us and we'll sort it out manually.

No — they're two different things, and it's an easy mix-up. Your league dashboard (palmvolleypickle.com) is where your weekly group, league score entry, and standings live. That's what league emails link to. Court Report (tracker.palmvolleypickle.com) is our free pickleball tracker for casual games with any group of friends. It's a separate app with its own stats and ratings. Games you log there do not count toward your league standings.

Use the contact page and it goes straight to league admin. Include your league and, if it's about a specific week, the week number. We usually reply within a day.