Ladder

Competition

A Ladder Competition...
...Is a type of competition wherein
members play matches against each other
and move up and down in the ranking as
they win or lose
...Makes 1-on-1 sports such as squash,
tennis or badminton more engaging,
competitive and fun

What is a Ladder system?

This format sees all players placed in a
ladder, one on top of the other.
Players challenge each other. If a player
lower down the ladder beats a higher
placed player, they change places the
lower, winning player moving up the
ladder.

What Happens After I Start a

Ladder?
Everyone who joins a ladder is initially
unranked. Players then challenge each
other to 1-on-1 matches and record the
match results. They move along the ladder
according to how well they do in the
matches against the other ladder
participants.

What Happens After I Start a

Ladder?
The ranking is updated automatically and
the match scores (including individual
sets) are saved, so you no longer need to
keep spreadsheets or email the results to
the organiser. The player on the top of the
ladder becomes the winner when the
ladder competition ends.

Structure of a Ladder competition

COURTS AND PLAYERS
A maximum of 20 players per ladder is
recommended. If there are more than 20
players, create a Division 1 Ladder and a
Division 2 Ladder.
SCORING
Choose a scoring format. Best of 3 tiebreak
sets works well. Players score their own
matches.

Structure of a Ladder competition

SCORESHEETS
A ladder is displayed in the club showing all
the player names, when players win a
match against somebody above them
they switch places on the ladder. A notice
board can be used to display the ladder or
a purpose mde ladder created.

Structure of a Ladder competition

ORDER OF PLAY
The organiser should set a start and finish
date for the ladder, giving at least 3-4
months in time e.g start on 1 May and
finish on 1 September. Players must
organise with other players to play
matches in their own time. Players
challenge each other in order to move up
the ladder.

Structure of a Ladder competition

As an example, for a ladder that has 20
players, 20th-15th place can challenge
players a maximum of 4 places above
them, 15th - 5th placed players can
challenge players 3 places above and 4th1st can challenge 2 places above.

Structure of a Ladder competition

Players should not refuse a challenge from a
player below. If players continue to refuse
challenges or are unable to play matches
they should be removed from the ladder or
moved down a set number of places. It is
important to encourage competition at all
times and highlight the benefits of playing
everyone within the ladder system.

Structure of a Ladder competition

AT THE END
The winner is the person at the top of the
ladder on the finish date the organiser set.
If the organiser is running a number of
ladders, the top 3 players in ladder could
each be promoted and the bottom 3
relegated. This is similar to how league
competitions work.

Structure of a Ladder competition

ADVANTAGE
The advantages of both previous systems
are combined in this system. On the top
there is a very clear rank order visible. In
this system it is possible to place a lot of
players.
DISADVANTAGE
This system depends on the involvement
and participation of the players.

Structure of a Ladder competition

Timescale The players choose who and when
they are going to play. The challenge systems
are generally drafted so that they can be played
over a long period of time.
Participants maximum 60.
This is combination of both previous systems: a
pyramid with on top a small ladder. On the
bottom part the rules for the pyramid system
apply. For the chimney the rules for the ladder
system apply (not challenging more than two
ranks up).

The Ladder Format