How many rounds for a 21-player round robin?

18 rounds — 5 courts, 1 player sit out each round in a fair rotation. The schedule keeps partners and opponents fresh until repeats become mathematically unavoidable.

How many rounds before partners repeat?

First partner repeat: never (within the schedule). The schedule is generated at quality 40 (the user-facing mixer maximum) so partner repeats land as late in the rotation as the search can manage.

How many rounds before opponents repeat?

First opponent repeat: round 8. Once every unique pair has faced each other once, an opponent repeat becomes unavoidable — the schedule delays it until that point.

What if someone shows up late or leaves early?

Static schedules break the moment that happens. The live mixer adjusts on the next round — if a player no-shows you can drop them from the lineup and the next mix accounts for it; if someone leaves early the same applies in reverse.

Can I print this schedule and use it on its own?

Yes. Download the PDF or Excel — every round is laid out with court assignments and (where applicable) sit-outs. Just assign your players to slots P1 through P21 or write names in.

What do the P / O / X badges mean?

We only flag repeats. P (orange) = partner repeat — the same two players are partners again. O (yellow) = opponent repeat — the same two players are facing each other again. X (pale yellow) = cross-repeat — an ex-partner is now an opponent, or an ex-opponent is now a partner. A clean cell with no badges means everything on that court is fresh — no repeat partners, no repeat opponents.

Why use the live mixer instead of the printed schedule?

Because real sessions never go to plan. The mixer handles drop-ins, no-shows, swaps, locked partners, rating balance, mixed-doubles constraints, and sit-out fairness — none of which a printed sheet can adjust to mid-session. Use the download to plan; use the mixer to run the night.

21-Player Pickleball Round Robin Schedule

Free, printable rotation for 21 players. Every round shows who plays, who sits, and which pairings repeat — so you can see exactly how fair the schedule is before you ever start a game.

Below is the pre-built rotation for 21 players, with a free PDF and Excel download for each variation. We only flag repeats: P partner repeat, O opponent repeat, X cross-repeat. A clean cell means everything is fresh.

5 courts, 1 sit out

Each round, 1 player sits out, rotating fairly across the schedule.

Rounds: 18
Courts: 5
Sit out: 1
First partner repeat: never
First opponent repeat: round 8
First cross-repeat: round 5
Settings used: default

Download PDF Download Excel

Round	Court 1	Court 2	Court 3	Court 4	Court 5	Sit out
1	P8 & P6 vs P17 & P5	P13 & P12 vs P1 & P11	P19 & P15 vs P7 & P9	P20 & P3 vs P14 & P21	P10 & P2 vs P18 & P16	P4
2	P10 & P8 vs P21 & P1	P18 & P5 vs P4 & P19	P2 & P9 vs P11 & P14	P13 & P7 vs P20 & P17	P12 & P3 vs P16 & P6	P15
3	P18 & P6 vs P20 & P1	P8 & P4 vs P14 & P16	P17 & P3 vs P11 & P15	P13 & P2 vs P21 & P19	P7 & P10 vs P12 & P5	P9
4	P20 & P4 vs P9 & P10	P8 & P18 vs P13 & P3	P5 & P16 vs P1 & P15	P7 & P11 vs P21 & P6	P19 & P14 vs P12 & P17	P2
5	P21 & P3 X vs P17 & P4 X	P10 & P19 vs P15 & P8 2X	P5 & P2 vs P12 & P20 X	P9 & P11 X vs P1 & P18 X X	P7 & P6 X vs P13 & P14 X	P16
6	P12 & P18 vs P17 & P21 X X	P2 & P6 vs P10 & P4 X X	P9 & P3 vs P7 & P5 X X	P11 & P20 vs P8 & P16 X	P15 & P14 vs P1 & P13 X 2X	P19
7	P3 & P7 X vs P1 & P2	P14 & P5 vs P21 & P11 X 2X	P13 & P8 X vs P4 & P9 X X	P20 & P16 X vs P19 & P17 X X	P6 & P12 X vs P15 & P18 2X	P10
8	P19 & P8 X vs P15 & P6 X O 2X	P10 & P5 X vs P14 & P3 X O X	P21 & P18 X vs P1 & P16 X O 2X	P12 & P2 X vs P9 & P13 X 3X	P7 & P20 X vs P11 & P4 3X	P17
9	P4 & P21 X vs P15 & P9 X O	P2 & P18 X vs P8 & P5 X 3X	P19 & P20 X vs P12 & P11 X 2O X	P17 & P7 X vs P10 & P1 X O X	P3 & P16 X vs P6 & P13 X O 2X	P14
10	P3 & P18 X vs P20 & P14 X 2O X	P16 & P12 X vs P8 & P7 2O	P19 & P9 X vs P17 & P10 X O 2X	P11 & P2 X vs P4 & P15 X O 2X	P6 & P5 X vs P13 & P21 X 2O X	P1
11	P17 & P1 X vs P4 & P5 X O 2X	P15 & P7 X vs P18 & P13 X 2O X	P11 & P3 X vs P12 & P9 X 2O 2X	P20 & P6 X vs P2 & P21 X 3O X	P16 & P19 X vs P14 & P10 X 2O 2X	P8
12	P10 & P6 X vs P11 & P18 X 3O	P17 & P14 X vs P2 & P15 X 2O X	P7 & P21 X vs P8 & P9 X 3O X	P3 & P4 X vs P1 & P19 2O X	P20 & P5 X vs P13 & P16 X 3O X	P12
13	P5 & P21 X vs P11 & P19 X 3O X	P20 & P18 X vs P15 & P3 X 3O	P17 & P16 X vs P14 & P9 X 3O	P6 & P1 X vs P2 & P8 X 3O X	P13 & P4 X vs P12 & P10 X 2O	P7
14	P3 & P5 X vs P12 & P8 X 4O	P1 & P9 X vs P6 & P19 X 2O X	P16 & P10 X vs P13 & P15 X 4O	P21 & P20 X vs P14 & P4 X 4O	P11 & P17 X vs P7 & P2 X 4O	P18
15	P13 & P10 X vs P21 & P9 X 4O	P3 & P1 X vs P15 & P16 X 4O	P8 & P17 X vs P4 & P18 X 4O	P20 & P2 X vs P19 & P5 X 4O	P7 & P12 X vs P14 & P6 X 4O	P11
16	P21 & P12 X vs P18 & P17 X 4O	P9 & P6 X vs P20 & P15 X 4O	P4 & P16 X vs P7 & P19 X 4O	P8 & P1 X vs P10 & P11 X 4O	P5 & P13 X vs P2 & P14 X 4O	P3
17	P9 & P18 X vs P5 & P1 X 4O	P21 & P8 X vs P19 & P2 X 4O	P11 & P16 X vs P13 & P17 X 4O	P14 & P12 X vs P15 & P10 X 4O	P7 & P4 X vs P3 & P6 X 4O	P20
18	P18 & P14 X vs P16 & P9 X 4O	P15 & P12 X vs P2 & P4 X 4O	P21 & P10 X vs P8 & P11 X 4O	P20 & P13 X vs P1 & P7 X 3O X	P19 & P3 X vs P17 & P6 X 4O	P5

4 courts, 5 sit out

Each round, 5 players sit out, rotating fairly across the schedule.

Rounds: 18
Courts: 4
Sit out: 5
First partner repeat: never
First opponent repeat: round 10
First cross-repeat: round 5
Settings used: default

Download PDF Download Excel

Round	Court 1	Court 2	Court 3	Court 4	Sit out
1	P9 & P11 vs P6 & P21	P1 & P15 vs P18 & P3	P8 & P5 vs P10 & P2	P16 & P12 vs P13 & P7	P4, P14, P17, P19, P20
2	P2 & P1 vs P7 & P9	P13 & P8 vs P6 & P19	P21 & P3 vs P20 & P14	P4 & P18 vs P17 & P16	P5, P10, P11, P12, P15
3	P11 & P5 vs P13 & P14	P16 & P19 vs P3 & P9	P17 & P6 vs P10 & P20	P12 & P4 vs P21 & P15	P1, P2, P7, P8, P18
4	P14 & P2 vs P19 & P12	P4 & P10 vs P13 & P1	P5 & P20 vs P7 & P18	P8 & P15 vs P11 & P17	P3, P6, P9, P16, P21
5	P5 & P2 X vs P16 & P11 X	P10 & P12 vs P9 & P18	P7 & P6 vs P15 & P3 X	P8 & P1 vs P21 & P14 X	P4, P13, P17, P19, P20
6	P13 & P3 vs P17 & P2	P16 & P4 X vs P6 & P12 2X	P19 & P7 vs P21 & P18 X	P8 & P20 vs P9 & P1 X X	P5, P10, P11, P14, P15
7	P13 & P16 X vs P14 & P15 X	P3 & P20 X vs P10 & P11 X	P17 & P18 X vs P21 & P9 X 2X	P6 & P4 X vs P5 & P19 X	P1, P2, P7, P8, P12
8	P2 & P19 X vs P15 & P20	P14 & P11 X vs P17 & P4 X X	P12 & P7 X vs P8 & P10 X X	P5 & P13 X vs P21 & P1 X X	P3, P6, P9, P16, P18
9	P7 & P14 vs P9 & P6 X 2X	P8 & P11 X vs P16 & P18 X X	P5 & P12 vs P3 & P17 X	P10 & P1 X vs P15 & P2 X 3X	P4, P13, P19, P20, P21
10	P12 & P13 X vs P20 & P7 X O X	P8 & P9 X vs P4 & P3 X	P21 & P19 X vs P16 & P10 X	P18 & P2 vs P1 & P6 2O	P5, P11, P14, P15, P17
11	P16 & P3 X vs P20 & P13 X 2O X	P21 & P17 X vs P2 & P6 X 3X	P15 & P11 X vs P14 & P9 X O 2X	P18 & P5 X vs P4 & P19 X 2O 2X	P1, P7, P8, P10, P12
12	P21 & P20 X vs P15 & P4 X O 2X	P19 & P11 vs P12 & P1 X	P8 & P18 X vs P13 & P17 X 2O X	P14 & P5 X vs P10 & P7 X 2O X	P2, P3, P6, P9, P16
13	P6 & P15 X vs P12 & P8 X 2O 2X	P2 & P3 X vs P14 & P4 X O 2X	P9 & P16 X vs P1 & P5 X 2O	P11 & P7 vs P10 & P17 X 2O X	P13, P18, P19, P20, P21
14	P8 & P17 X vs P1 & P20 X 2O X	P16 & P6 X vs P9 & P10 X 3O X	P19 & P3 X vs P21 & P7 X 2O 2X	P18 & P13 X vs P2 & P12 X 3O X	P4, P5, P11, P14, P15
15	P19 & P9 X vs P13 & P11 X 2O X	P4 & P1 X vs P6 & P14 X 3O X	P18 & P15 X vs P3 & P5 X 2O X	P21 & P2 X vs P20 & P16 X 4O	P7, P8, P10, P12, P17
16	P4 & P11 X vs P7 & P8 X 2O X	P19 & P10 X vs P17 & P20 X 3O	P5 & P21 X vs P14 & P12 X 3O X	P15 & P13 X vs P6 & P18 X 4O	P1, P2, P3, P9, P16
17	P16 & P7 X vs P14 & P17 X 3O X	P12 & P3 X vs P11 & P1 X 3O X	P9 & P5 X vs P20 & P2 X 3O X	P15 & P10 X vs P8 & P4 X 3O X	P6, P13, P18, P19, P21
18	P17 & P1 X vs P13 & P21 X 4O	P18 & P11 X vs P6 & P10 X 4O	P8 & P19 X vs P12 & P9 X 4O	P16 & P2 X vs P7 & P3 X 4O	P4, P5, P14, P15, P20

Static schedules break the moment something changes

A printed sheet works until it doesn't — someone shows up late, a player has to leave early, two friends want to play partners every round, or the rating gap on one court is too wide. PickleMixer handles all of it without rewriting the schedule.

Drop-ins & no-shows — add or remove a player and the next round adjusts on the fly
Fair sit-outs — tracks who has sat out the most and rotates them in next
Player swaps, court freeze, pin player to court — fine-tune any round before you commit it
Linked partners — couples or training pairs stay together while opponents rotate

Try the live mixer for 21 players

21-Player Round Robin FAQ

How many rounds for a 21-player round robin?: 18 rounds — 5 courts, 1 player sit out each round in a fair rotation. The schedule keeps partners and opponents fresh until repeats become mathematically unavoidable.
How many rounds before partners repeat?: First partner repeat: never (within the schedule). The schedule is generated at quality 40 (the user-facing mixer maximum) so partner repeats land as late in the rotation as the search can manage.
How many rounds before opponents repeat?: First opponent repeat: round 8. Once every unique pair has faced each other once, an opponent repeat becomes unavoidable — the schedule delays it until that point.
What if someone shows up late or leaves early?: Static schedules break the moment that happens. The live mixer adjusts on the next round — if a player no-shows you can drop them from the lineup and the next mix accounts for it; if someone leaves early the same applies in reverse.
Can I print this schedule and use it on its own?: Yes. Download the PDF or Excel — every round is laid out with court assignments and (where applicable) sit-outs. Just assign your players to slots P1 through P21 or write names in.
What do the P / O / X badges mean?: We only flag repeats. P (orange) = partner repeat — the same two players are partners again. O (yellow) = opponent repeat — the same two players are facing each other again. X (pale yellow) = cross-repeat — an ex-partner is now an opponent, or an ex-opponent is now a partner. A clean cell with no badges means everything on that court is fresh — no repeat partners, no repeat opponents.
Why use the live mixer instead of the printed schedule?: Because real sessions never go to plan. The mixer handles drop-ins, no-shows, swaps, locked partners, rating balance, mixed-doubles constraints, and sit-out fairness — none of which a printed sheet can adjust to mid-session. Use the download to plan; use the mixer to run the night.

See more group sizes

All round-robin schedules Open PickleMixer