Open play runs on a paddle rack: finish a game, rack your paddle, wait your turn. The question every player asks at the desk is how long that wait is. It is the number of games you have to sit out — players ahead of you divided by the spots that open up each round — times how long a game takes. CEILING rounds the games up, because you cannot sit out half a game.
26 players waiting for 4 courts (16 spots a round) is 1.6 rounds, so you sit out 2 games — about 24 minutes at 12 minutes a game.
The example
Three sessions. The Saturday morning crowd is deep; the weekday lunch session barely has a wait.
| A | B | C | D | E | F | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Session | Waiting | Courts | Game min | Rounds out | Wait min |
| 2 | Saturday open play | 26 | 4 | 12 | 2 | 24 |
| 3 | Weekday lunch | 10 | 4 | 12 | 1 | 12 |
| 4 | Thursday league night | 50 | 6 | 15 | 3 | 45 |
The formula
Rounds first, because that is what the rack actually shows, then minutes:
How it works
Three ideas — spots per round, rounds, and minutes:
C2*4is spots that open every time games end: four courts of doubles is 16 players rotating on.B2/(C2*4)is how many rounds of rotation stand between the last paddle on the rack and a court. 26 over 16 is 1.625.CEILING(...,1)rounds up to whole rounds. The 0.625 of a round is still a full game of waiting for the people at the back — 2 rounds.*D2converts rounds to minutes. Two rounds at 12 minutes is a 24-minute wait.
The result is the wait for the last paddle on the rack. Someone in the first 16 waits one round; the formula gives the worst case, which is the honest number to post at the desk.
Try it: interactive demo
Enter players waiting, courts in play, and average minutes per game (including changeover).
Variations
Singles courts
Two spots per court instead of four. Change the multiplier and the wait roughly doubles.
Courts needed for a target wait
Flip it around: how many courts keep the wait to one game? Players divided by four, rounded up.
Pitfalls & errors
Game minutes must include the changeover: shaking hands, racking paddles, the next four walking on. A game to 11 is 8–10 minutes of play but 12–14 minutes of court time.
If winners stay on, only two spots open per court, not four. Use C2*2 in that format and the wait for new players roughly doubles.
Do not use ROUND instead of CEILING. 1.4 rounds rounded to 1 tells the 17th player they are on next when they are actually waiting a second game.
Practice workbook
Frequently asked questions
Why CEILING instead of ROUNDUP?
Does this work for a challenge-court format?
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