Free tool, no sign-up
Free ladder spreadsheet for tennis, squash and pickleball
A challenge ladder that moves itself. Type the ladder in its starting order, then each challenge as it is played: who challenged, who they challenged and who won. The ladder reorders itself, says what each result did, and flags a challenge from too far down. In Excel, Google Sheets or LibreOffice, for singles or doubles pairs.
An .xlsx file for up to 40 players and 150 results, with a Players tab, a Results tab, the Ladder, a Settings tab and a Read me. Nothing to sign up for.
The Results tab, with ten challenges in
Pick the names and the winner from the drop-downs. What happened is worked out.
| No. | Challenger | Defender | Winner | What happened |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jo | Sam | Challenger | Jo moves up to 2 |
| 2 | Kate | Tom | Defender | Tom stays at 5 |
| 3 | Dev | Alex | Challenger | Dev moves up to 4 |
| 4 | Kate | Priya | Challenger | More than 3 places up, so nothing moved |
| 5 | Ruth | Tom | Challenger | Ruth moves up to 6 |
| 6 | Sam | Priya | Defender | Priya stays at 1 |
| 7 | Alex | Jo | Challenger | Alex moves up to 2 |
| 8 | Tom | Kate | Challenger | Challenges go up the ladder, so nothing moved |
| 9 | Kate | Tom | Challenger | Kate moves up to 7 |
| 10 | Ruth | Dev | To play |
The Ladder tab it works out
| Place | Player | Played | Won | Lost | Since the start |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Priya | 2 | 1 | 1 | |
| 2 | Alex | 2 | 1 | 1 | Up 2 |
| 3 | Jo | 2 | 1 | 1 | |
| 4 | Sam | 2 | 0 | 2 | Down 2 |
| 5 | Dev | 1 | 1 | 0 | Up 2 |
| 6 | Ruth | 1 | 1 | 0 | |
| 7 | Kate | 4 | 2 | 2 | Up 1 |
| 8 | Tom | 4 | 2 | 2 | Down 3 |
Here a winning challenger takes the place, and a player may challenge up to 3 places above. Change both on the Settings tab and the whole ladder replays.
What is in it
A ladder spreadsheet that replays every challenge
- A Players tab for the ladder at the start, top first. Somebody new goes at the bottom.
- A Results tab, one line a challenge, with the names and the winner picked from drop-downs, and a score and a date if you want them.
- What happened, in words. Who moved up, who stayed, or why a challenge moved nobody: too far up, downwards, or a name that is not on the ladder.
- A Ladder tab that keeps itself. Every place, each player's played, won and lost, how far they have moved since the start, and which places they may challenge.
- Your rules on a Settings tab: how many places up a challenge may reach, and whether a winning challenger takes the place or swaps.
- Corrections replay. Fix a result in the middle and every result after it is replayed.
For the rules themselves, read tennis ladder rules, and for whether a ladder suits your club better than boxes, ladder or box league.
Questions
What clubs ask about the ladder spreadsheet
Does it work in Google Sheets?
Yes. Open Google Sheets, choose File, then Import, and upload the file. It works in Excel and LibreOffice as it is, drop-downs and colours included.
What happens when the challenger wins?
You choose on the Settings tab. Take the place: the challenger moves into the defender's place and everybody from there down to the challenger's old place drops one. Swap places: the two change places and nobody else moves. When the defender wins, nothing moves.
How far up can a player challenge?
3 places to start with, and you can change it on the Settings tab. A challenge from further down is flagged on the Results tab and moves nobody, so a result nobody should have played cannot shuffle the ladder.
What if a result was typed wrong?
Correct it where it is. The ladder replays every result after it, so everybody ends up where the corrected results put them.
Can somebody join halfway through?
Yes. Add them at the bottom of the Players tab and they start at the bottom of the ladder, ready to challenge up.
Does it work for squash, pickleball and padel doubles?
Yes. A ladder is the same in every racket sport, and the score is whatever you type. For doubles, a pair is one line on the Players tab: Priya and Sam.
Can players put in their own results?
Not in a spreadsheet, unless you share it with everybody and trust them all with every cell. That is the point where most clubs move to an app, where players challenge, enter and confirm their own results and the ladder moves for everybody.
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