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Referees & running a tournament

Preparing and starting a game

Five steps from opening the console to the ball being in play: pick the court, call both teams on, coin toss, choose ends, set positions.

Updated 9/27/2026

The console walks you through in order

You don't have to remember the order — the console only opens the next step once the current one is done. The full sequence for a tournament match is pick the court → call teams on → coin toss → choose ends → set positions → start.

Team formats add two blocking steps at the front: submitting the line-up (the captain's job; the console just takes you there) and choosing the rubber you are officiating, since several rubbers may run in parallel on several courts.

Six steps courtside

01

Pick the court

Choose from the list of courts the organisers registered for the tournament. There is no free-text field — a typed name that doesn't match a real court means the camera won't record and nothing warns you.

02

Call both teams on

Tap "Call" on each team to run a 5-minute clock, then tap "Confirm present" when they arrive. Until both teams are in, the next button stays locked.

03

Coin toss

Tap "Toss for choice". Pick the team that calls, pick heads or tails, then the winning team chooses one of three rights.

04

Choose ends

Tap the half of the court where the team with the choice of ends will stand — matching their REAL position on court, not their order in the app.

05

Set positions

The two halves show "EVEN BOX" and "ODD BOX" labels. Tap a half to swap that team's two players so it matches what you see on court.

06

Press start

The green button on the bottom bar, reading "Start Game 1" or the rubber name. Once pressed, the ball is in play and points start counting.

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The console only opens the next step once the current one is done — no order to memorise.

Starting the FIRST RUBBER locks the line-ups for the whole match

In team formats, starting the first rubber locks BOTH TEAMS' line-ups for the entire match, with no further edits. Check the names in each rubber one last time before pressing. Court positions can also only be edited BEFORE the game starts.

The coin toss: three rights, not two

The team that wins the toss picks one of three; the other team gets what's left:

  • Serve — you serve first, the opponents choose ends.
  • Receive — the opponents serve first, and they also choose ends.
  • Choose ends — you choose ends, the opponents serve first.

The steps stack up and keep showing the choices already made, so you can read the whole chain back. If you pick the wrong right, just tap another to change it — this step is deliberately not locked. To go back further, use Previous step at the top of the card, and Next to move forward again.

The toss result is genuinely random and cannot be rigged.

Have the teams already agreed everything on court?

Tap "Skip — name the server" at the top of the coin toss card. The console narrows down to a single question: which team serves first. Ends stay exactly as displayed.

Frequently asked questions

The court list is empty and says "No courts registered for this tournament" — what now?

Tap "Skip" and score as normal — the match runs in full, it just can't be recorded. Ask the organisers to add courts in tournament management so later matches get video.

Is the roll call written into the match record?

No. The call-on clock and the present/absent state only live on your device and are lost when you leave the console. It is a stopwatch for use on the spot, not an official record.

I tapped the wrong end — can I fix it?

Yes, as long as you haven't pressed start. The top-left button becomes "Choose ends again" — tap it to go back to that step. Once the game has started, use the switch-ends function in the three-dot menu.

Team formats: which rubber should I pick?

Pick the rubber actually being played on the court you're standing at. Each rubber card states its status — "WAITING", "IN PLAY" or "FINISHED" — plus the court number and the name of the referee holding it, if any. A finished rubber can no longer be picked.

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