How it Works

When:

Starts on July 6th, 2026, and runs through September 16th, 2026

Where:

Players decide where to play their matches, but typically central Sonoma county locations including Santa Rosa and Rohnert Park

Match Frequency:

Each round (set of matches) will be played over the course of 1.5 weeks, starting alternately on a Monday or Thursday. There will be 7 rounds in total this season

Confirming Availability:

You will need to confirm that you are available before the start of each round in order to be included in the groups for that round
Being "available" entails being able to offer numerous possible time-windows in which you can play, and being willing to play after standard work hours (many participants are not yet retired). When deciding whether to mark yourself as available, you should consider whether it would be realistic to schedule a match with 3 other players within the 1.5-week timeframe if everyone had the same amount of availability as you
If you don't have much availability for a particular round or don't want to play because of injury or anything else, you don't have to do anything (you're assumed unavailable if you don't confirm)
If you think your normal weekly availability won't qualify you as "available" as described above, this ladder maybe isn't for you

Groupings:

Players will be assigned to a group of 4 at the start of each round. These are determined by a combination of Standings position and availability. Group 1 will be comprised of the 4 highest-standing available players. Group 2 will be the next 4, and so on. (Note: if the number of available players is not a multiple of 4, the last group will have to be completed with subs)
Groupings can be found on the Groups page. They will be updated on the first day of each round and you will be notified (by email) as soon as they are ready

Scheduling:

Once you receive the email at the start of each round which tells you the new groups are ready, identify your group on the Groups page and initiate communication with everyone via a single email or text thread to coordinate when and where you will play your match
If you are unable to land on a viable time for all 4 of you, your group can get a sub (or multiple subs if necessary) to replace whoever is least available. A sub may also be called in if a player has not responded to the others' efforts to schedule after 2 days notice or more

Unforeseen Circumstances:

If one or more players in your group get sick, injured, or are otherwise unable to play due to exceptional circumstances, the following applies:

The missing players drop 1 place in the Ladder Standings for the following round (as they would if they had otherwise not been available)
The rest of you should try to a get a sub (and reschedule if necessary). If this is not possible – perhaps it is the last day of the round (pro tip: don't schedule your match for the last day of the round) – your group will not play and everyone in it will drop 1 spot in the Standings)

Subs:

As I'm sure you gathered from reading the above, there will inevitably be groups that end up needing subs throughout the course of the Ladder Season

Subs do not have to be in the Ladder, but should ideally be of a similar skill-level
The Subs page can help facilitate the process of finding a sub. Anyone interested in subbing for a particular round can add their name and contact info, and you can see everyone who is available
Subs' scores don't count for the players they are subbing for. All other players' scores count as normal
If a sub is already a ladder participant, their scores can count for them if they were unable to play in their own group but were able to fill in for someone in an adjacent group

Punctuality:

Please don’t be late! Be conscious that others in your group have arranged their schedule to play at that specific time. If you’re late, you may be significantly inconveniencing or frustrating them
To be fair to all the other players, unless it’s an emergency, or there are extenuating circumstances, the following penalties apply for arriving late past the scheduled start time:

15-30 mins late – your opponents get a 3 point head start in every game to 11 (a 5 point head start in every game to 15)

30-45 mins late – your opponents get a 5 point head start in every game to 11 (a 8 point head start in every game to 15)

45+ mins late – your opponents get a 7 point head start in every game to 11 (a 11 point head start in every game to 15)

No-show – you will not be able to play the next round. (Please report to me if anyone in your group is a no-show so I can enforce this 😊)

Format:

Round-robin, 6 games to 11, win by 2, (don't switch sides mid-game)
If all 4 players in your group agree to it, you may also choose to play 3 games to 15 (switch sides at 8), or 3 games to 11 (switch at 6)
The #1 seed (highest-ranked player) shall play with the #4 seed first game, then with the #3 seed, and lastly with the #2 seed
In the default 6 games to 11 format, repeat this sequence twice and play on the opposite side of the court the second time you play with the same person

Note: As per public-court policy, you will need to rotate off between games if there are players waiting, and then you can rotate on to the next available court

Submitting Scores:

Please keep track of your scores after each game finishes and make sure everyone in your group is in agreement about them at the end of the match
It is every group's responsibility to submit their scores before the end of each round, as they are used to compute the new Standings for the next round. Failure to submit on time will result in all players in the group dropping 1 ranking spot (the same as if they hadn't played). Since nobody wants this to happen, try to get into the habit of submitting them the same day right after playing. You may want to nominate one player from your group to do the submission
It's also good practice for everyone in the group to look at Results page before the start of the next round to check that the scores appear correct after they've been submitted. Once the next round starts, they won't be able to be changed

Moving Up or Down:

New Standings will be formed each round based on the previous round's results
There are two sets of operations which are performed to calculate these:

Firstly, the players who played that round are re-ranked based on their seed number (relative rank within their group) and how they finished in their group (see 'Players Playing Re-ranked' rows on the Results page). The finishing positions within each group are determined by number of games won, and then point differential (points won minus points lost) in case of ties. If players are still tied, the higher-seeded player is awarded the higher finish

This table below shows how you move up (←) or down (→) initially according to different finishes. The logic behind the movement is that the 1st seed (highest ranked player) is expected to win the group and therefore moves up less for doing so. If the 1st seed gets last in the group however, they are losing to 3 lower ranked players and therefore should be dropped below all of them. The same concept applies for the other 3 seeds. This system allows for significant movement whenever the rankings are inaccurate and should result in less movement as the rankings become more accurate and stabilized

	Seed
Finish
		1	2	3	4
	1st	← 2	← 3	← 4	← 5
	2nd		← 1	← 2	← 3
	3rd	3 →	2 →	1 →
	4th	5 →	4 →	3 →	2 →

The 'Players Playing Re-ranked' list (excluding any subs) forms the foundation of the next round's Ladder Standings, but any players who did not play that round need to be merged back in and will be inserted 1 spot lower then they were at the start of the round. For example, if the player ranked 13th in the Ladder Standings does not play one round, they will be the 14th ranked player the next round (bumping down whoever was previously occupying the 14th spot in the 'Players Playing Re-ranked' list)

Note: When you move up, you improve your position in the Standings (your ranking), but you will not necessarily find yourself in a higher group the next round, as groups are determined by a combination of rankings and availability

Questions:

If you have any questions about how it works, please re-read the website very carefully and refer to the FAQ page. If, after having done so, your question is still unanswered, email me (Theo, the Ladder Administrator) at info@pbl.ink, and I will respond as promptly as I can