Finding a Match
The Find tab answers one question: where can I play right now?
What's on it
Hot Venues — where people are actually playing near you. The most useful list on the screen, because a court with players on it is a game; a court without them is a wall.
Closest — venues by distance.
Recent — venues you've played at before. Most people rotate between two or three places, so this is often the fastest route.
Search — find a specific venue by name.
The Map — the same venues, geographically. See The Map.
Hot vs. closest
The two lists answer different questions and it's worth being deliberate about which you use.
Closest is right when you're organizing — you've already got people, you just need a court.
Hot is right when you're alone and want a game. A busy venue means a queue you can join and people to play with. The nearest court being empty is not an advantage.
Access types
Venues list how you get on the court, and it's the thing to check before driving:
- ›Free — public courts, no cost
- ›Drop-in — pay per session
- ›Hourly — court rental by time
- ›Member / Membership — members only
- ›Court rental — reservable
A membership-only venue with great courts isn't useful to you today if you're not a member.
What to check before you go
- ›Access type — can you actually get on?
- ›Hours — venues show open and closed status
- ›Courts — how many, and their current state
- ›Recent activity — is anyone there?
Full detail: Venue Profiles.
If your venue isn't listed
Add it. New venues are reviewed by a moderator before going live. See Adding or Claiming a Venue.
Playing without a venue
You don't need one. A game with no venue attached is a quick game — it scores identically and still earns PaddleRank.
The tradeoff is the source multiplier: quick games are worth the least. And you don't get court features like the queue or voting, because those live on courts. See The Four Kinds of Game.
Next
The Map, or straight to How Courts Work.