How SPL works

This is a team-based padel league. Teams sign up for a season, get placed in a division with teams of a similar level, and play a scheduled fixture list against every other team in their division.

Divisions are grouped by skill level across Men's, Women's and Mixed leagues - a top-level division for the strongest teams down to entry-level divisions, with names like Gold or Silver for the tiers. How many divisions run, and which levels, is set each season based on how many teams sign up.

A team is 4 players. Each match night, 2 of them take the court as the pair for that fixture. Who plays is up to the team - within the rotation rules.

The rotation rules keep it a team sport, not a two-player show. Over the season, every rostered player must:

• play at least a minimum share of the team's matches, and
• rest (sit out) at least a minimum share.

The exact shares are set per division rules; the league default is one third each. Teams can also register substitutes, up to a per-division maximum (default 2).

League matches are best of three sets with standard padel scoring: sets to 6 games, tiebreak at 6-6 (recorded as 7-6).

Star point at 40-40, in this order:

deuce 1 (40-40) / advantage 1 / deuce 2 / advantage 2 / star point - a single point for the game.

A win earns your team standings points - per division rules, the default is 1 point for a win, 0 for a loss. Walkovers are recorded as 6-0 6-0 to the team that showed up.

The league follows FIP rules, with four exceptions:

• Out-of-court play is always allowed, at the player's own risk.
• Coaching is always allowed - no permission or prior notice needed.
• Self-refereed: in case of dispute, players replay the point (let).
• The star point above - FIP's own system, on their circuits from 2026.

Lateness: both players must be on time for the 7-minute warm-up. The team with missing players concedes games:

• 7-10 minutes: 1 game
• 11-15 minutes: 2 games
• 16-30 minutes: 4 games
• Over 30 minutes: walkover

Any match can be scored point by point while it is being played - a league fixture, a tournament tie, or a friendly you set up yourself. Whoever has a phone free opens the match and taps Start live scoring, and gets a full-screen scoreboard: one big tap zone per side, one tap per point. A league fixture asks which two of the four are on court first; everything else already knows.

Everyone else watches it move. The score appears live on the match page and on the public share link, so anyone you send that link to follows along without an account.

League fixtures also show on the division and season pages and on everyone's home page while they run. A friendly is yours: it shows on the home page of the people playing it, and travels to anyone else through the link you send.

• Anyone playing can run the scoreboard, not just captains - plus a league admin on a league fixture, or whoever set up a friendly. One person at a time, and someone else can take over if the phone goes quiet for ten minutes.
• Undo takes back the last point. Fix score sets the score to whatever it actually is, for when nobody touched the phone for a few points.
• Bad signal is fine - points are kept on the phone and sync when the connection comes back.
• When a league fixture ends, the score goes into the usual confirmation flow for the other captain. A friendly is final the moment you end it. Either way, nobody types the score in twice.

Division tables are ranked in this order:

1. 1

   Points

2. 2

   Overall set difference

3. 3

   Overall game difference

4. 4

   Head-to-head points

5. 5

   Head-to-head set difference

6. 6

   Head-to-head game difference

Every result is confirmed by both teams before it counts:

1. 1

   Captain submits

   After the match, one captain enters the sets and who played, right from the match page.

2. 2

   Opponent confirms or contests

   The opposing captain approves the score or contests it within the grace window (per division rules, default 24 hours).

3. 3

   Silence approves

   If nobody responds before the window closes, the submitted score is approved automatically.

4. 4

   Disputes go to admins

   A contested match lands in the admin queue, where it is upheld, corrected, or sent back for a replay.

Every player has a PadelHero Level on the familiar 0-7 scale. Elo remains the internal engine behind it. If we know your level from another system such as VPR or PadelHub, that helps place your starting point. After each approved match, two things set the size of the move: the result and how close the games were compared with what the level gap predicted. Beating a stronger pair moves you far more than beating a weaker one. A narrow loss to a much stronger pair can still move you up because you did better than expected. Short formats move levels less than full-length matches.

Confidence reads Estimated for the first 9 rated matches, Settling from 10 to 19, and Established from 20 onward. New ratings move more at first and settle smoothly over those matches. A global rank arrives at Established. Returning after 90 days away also lets the next three rated matches move the level faster, so an old number can catch up with current play.

The badge also shows who the Level was earned against: the average Level of your opponents over your last 20 rated matches. An arrow beside the figure means your results are running ahead of (up) or behind (down) what the Level predicts over those matches; no arrow means they match. A friendly counts, at three quarters of the weight of a league or tournament match.

Matches played in a separate pool of players (currently a handful of Cambodian tours) count toward your match history and stats, but not toward the Level - a Level only means something among players who actually meet each other.

External ratings (VPR, PadelHub) are shown on player profiles alongside PadelHero Level.

Every player page has a Compare button, and a match page links straight to a comparison with each opponent. It puts the two of you side by side:

• Head-to-head - your record against each other, your record as partners, and the last time you met.
• Both rating trajectories on one chart, plus a win probability from the current gap.
• Career numbers next to each other, and the opponents and partners you have in common with their records against each.
• Court DNA - where each of you stands on court, drawn from your last analysed match recording.

Follow anyone from their profile - the player you keep losing to, the partner you always play with, the pair a division above you. Follow as many as you like.

What you get back is one story a day at most, about whoever had the night worth telling you about: someone crossing you in the rankings, a win over a much stronger pair, a run of four straight, a rating that moved a long way in either direction. On a quiet night nothing arrives. You are told when someone starts following you, and your follower count shows on your profile - the list of who they are stays on your own Following page.

When a season opens for registration, a signup link is shared in the league's community channels. You sign in (or create an account) first - the form then fills in your details and lets you pick teammates straight from the player directory. Two ways in:

• As an individual - name, WhatsApp number, which leagues you want to play, your self-assessed level, and whether you are happy to sub. Admins pair individuals into teams of a matching level.
• As a team - team name, you as captain plus three teammates (mixed teams: two men and two women), and up to 2 substitutes. Slots you have not filled yet can be marked TBD.

Admins review every signup, assess levels, and assign teams to divisions. If a division is full you may be waitlisted for the next spot.

Played in the league before? Your player profile - with your match history and rating - probably already exists. Create an account, find your player page, and hit Claim this profile. An admin approves the claim and your history attaches to your account.

Once you are in, the app keeps the whole season in one place:

• League - divisions, fixtures, live standings.
• My Matches and Calendar - your upcoming and past matches.
• My Stats - win rate, rating history, season summary.
• Notifications - score submissions, confirmations and roster decisions, in-app and as push.

Standings pages have public share links too, so the whole division can follow along without logging in.

Every match has a Photos section. Use Take photo to snap one on your phone, or add shots from your camera roll. The players on that match get notified when new photos land - and a pre-match team photo becomes the background of the match's shareable result card.

Tap Kudos on a match to give the players a thumbs up. It is the quick way to show a good result some love; the participants get notified the first time a match is kudoed.

Matches, player cards, division standings and season pages all have public share links - anyone can open them without an account, so you can drop a result or your player card straight into a group chat.

When a season wraps, My Recap gives you a personal rundown of how it went - your matches, form and rating movement across the season.

Done with PadelHero? You can delete your account under Settings > Account. Your login and personal data are removed; your league match history stays and your player profile becomes unclaimed.

Snapped a good photo on a match night? You can add it without an account. Each round has a photo QR posted courtside - scan it, pick the match, and upload. Your photos attach to that match and the players get notified.

Every result, division table and player card also has a public link - no login needed - so scores, standings and player cards are easy to share in the group chat.