Choosing a Nonstop mode
Which Nonstop Courts mode fits your night — Pods, Round Ahead or Court Waves — with the simulated gains and costs for venues from 3 to 8 courts.
The Start dialog looks at your night and recommends one mode, with a line that says why. It is only a suggestion. Every mode stays in the list, so you can pick another one. The first time, the dialog opens on the recommended mode. After that it opens on the mode your group used last, unless that mode can't start tonight.
| Your night | The dialog recommends |
|---|---|
| Fixed partners (linked partners, or a team group) | Round Ahead |
| Changing partners, grouped by level (Similar ratings on court or Similar ratings in partnerships at 10 or more, as in the Ladder and Rating Isolation presets) | Pods |
| Changing partners, social mix, 6 or more courts | Court Waves |
| Changing partners, social mix, fewer than 6 courts | Round Ahead |
Pods are not offered while Mixed Doubles is on, because a pod mixes partners every game and can't keep mixed pairs.
How many courts?
Nonstop Courts gains time when one court can start its next game while another is still playing. That needs courts that run out of step:
- 1 court: nothing to run ahead of. Every mode plays the games rounds would.
- 2 or 3 courts: about as many games as rounds. Court Waves on 2 courts waits for both, which is rounds; on 3 courts, waiting for 2 played no more games than rounds in our simulations (12 and 14 players) and spread them less evenly. Round Ahead gained 0 to 2%.
- 4 or 5 courts: the gains begin, most when some players sit out each round. See the table below.
- 6 or more courts: Court Waves can wait for 3 or 4 courts and keep groups fresh. This is where it is recommended.
Pods are the exception. They are chosen for level courts, not for extra games, and because each pod runs on its own court, two courts already run out of step. Pods only need the roster to fit, 4 or 5 a court.
The Start dialog says this under the Courts stepper when you have 3 courts or fewer. It is a hint: you can still start.
Social nights: rounds, Round Ahead or Court Waves?
Games per player in a 90-minute night with a social mix. Rounds here play every game to 11 and start the next round only when the last court has finished. Court Waves waits for its default number of free courts: half the courts, at least 2 and at most 4.
| Players, courts | Rounds (all games to 11) | Round Ahead | Court Waves (waits for) | Court Waves: pairs who were in the same last game, per game |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12 players, 3 courts | 4.8 | 4.8 | 4.8 (2) | 1.6 |
| 14 players, 3 courts | 4.1 | 4.2 | 4.1 (2) | 0.9 |
| 16 players, 4 courts | 4.6 | 4.6 | 5.3 (2) | 1.7 |
| 20 players, 4 courts | 3.7 | 3.8 | 4.2 (2) | 1.3 |
| 20 players, 5 courts | 4.4 | 4.6 | 5.3 (2) | 1.7 |
| 24 players, 5 courts | 3.7 | 3.9 | 4.4 (2) | 1.4 |
| 24 players, 6 courts | 4.3 | 4.6 | 5.0 (3) | 0.8 |
| 28 players, 7 courts | 4.2 | 4.5 | 5.1 (3) | 0.9 |
| 32 players, 8 courts | 4.1 | 4.5 | 4.9 (4) | 0.3 |
| 40 players, 8 courts | 3.3 | 3.9 | 4.0 (4) | 0.3 |
What the table shows:
- Round Ahead never costs anything. It adds up to about 17% more games than rounds where every game plays to 11, and everyone stays within one game of each other. It gains most when some players sit out each round, and almost nothing when every player is on court (12 on 3, 16 on 4).
- Court Waves adds the most games, but on fewer than 6 courts it can only do that by waiting for 2 courts. Then more than one pair in each game were together in their last game. From 6 courts it waits for 3 or 4: at 3, about one pair per game was together last time; at 4, hardly any.
- With many spare players (40 on 8 courts), Round Ahead and Court Waves play about the same number of games. Round Ahead keeps everyone within one game; Court Waves does that on about 65% of nights.
Fixed-partner nights
Games per team for 16 teams on 8 courts (details: Round Ahead, Court Waves):
| Rounds (all games to 11) | Round Ahead (1 round) | Court Waves (wait for 4) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Games per team | 4.1 | 4.9 | 4.9 |
| Rematches per night | 0 | 0 | 1.8 |
| Average rating gap between opponents | 0.23 | 0.26 | 0.30 |
| Longest wait | 17 min | 20 min | 11 min |
Round Ahead gives fixed teams about as many extra games as Court Waves, with closer matchups and no rematches. Court Waves' only edge is a shorter longest wait.
Level nights: Pods
When players should play people of their own level, Pods keep each court at one level all night, and nobody waits for another court. The cost is variety: each player plays only the 3 or 4 other people in their pod. See the Pods page for how a pod night compares with rounds. Pods are cut from the ratings once, at Start, so settle the ratings first.
How we measured: 200 simulated nights per row, 90 minutes of play, games to 11 lasting about 15 minutes, 1 minute between games, players rated 3.0 to 4.55 (fixed teams 3.0 to 4.5). Rounds means every game plays to 11 and the next round starts only when the last court has finished. Our simulated mixer is simpler than the real one, so real nights usually repeat partners even less.