How to Run a 1-Day Team Pickleball Tournament: Jay Jaudon’s Format

Pickleball organizer and instructor Jay Jaudon has found a team pickleball format that keeps players engaged, gives everyone plenty of court time, and wraps up in a single day. His events combine structure and simplicity, with a focus on team spirit and match flow.

Jay is the pickleball coordinator that oversees activities at GT Bray Park, a Manatee County-owned facility in Bradenton, Florida, with 20 courts, 14 of which are covered.

Jay shared his tips for running one of his favorite formats: team pickleball.

Each team consists of two men and two women. In a typical match, those four players compete in four games: men’s doubles, women’s doubles, and two mixed doubles matches. Games are played to 15, win by 1, and the match structure is designed to move smoothly—two courts are used at a time so all four games happen in quick succession.

To keep things fair and efficient, team captains declare their mixed doubles pairings (#1 and #2) before the tournament and can’t change them. This avoids delays and strategic maneuvering once matches begin.

Jay typically organizes teams into pools of five, guaranteeing each team four matches. That means each player gets to play up to eight games, which participants love. With uneven teams in pool play it will still work but will require one team to sit out for an hour.  This is usually not a bad thing because players can rest and scout out other teams in their pools and division.

The top two teams from each pool advance to a playoff match.

To determine top two teams, Jay goes by games won first, head to head second, and point differential for the third tiebreak and if that doesn’t solve the tiebreak, he does a coin flip or a quick game to 5 points.  Semifinals consist of top team in one pool playing second team in other pool.  Then teams that win semi’s play for first or second and teams that lose in semi’s play for bronze medal. 

While Jayruns his events old-school with pen and paper, he stresses the importance of having a visible scoreboard or results table so players can follow the action.

Here’s a quick summary of how he runs it:

Hope this makes sense,

Format at a Glance

• Team size: 2 men, 2 women
• Divisions: Typically 3.5+ and below 3.5
• Match structure:
  • Men’s doubles
  • Women’s doubles
  • Mixed doubles #1
  • Mixed doubles #2
  • Games to 15, win by 1
• Pools of 5 teams = 4 guaranteed matches per team
• Top 2 teams per pool move on to a playoff bracket
• Tiebreaker: Mixed Doubles #1 teams play a game to 5
• Ideal size: 10–20 teams per division with pools of 5 teams.
• Time estimate: 3–4 hours for a 10-team division
• Tools: Pen, paper, and a public scoreboard

Jay says competitors not only get lots of play but also enjoy the camaraderie and energy of team-based competition.