Printable 5-Player Round Robin Pickleball Schedule
Five is an odd number, so somebody sits every round — and on this sheet that is the only compromise you make. Across five rounds each player sits exactly once, plays four games, partners with all four of the others, and faces each of them twice. The byes run straight down the roster, so nobody is ever stuck watching two rounds back to back. Print this chart or save it as a PDF, or hand the bye rotation to the free DillDraw round robin generator and run it live with real names.
Fill any of these in and the schedule below updates automatically — leave any blank to keep its letter. Saved on this device so it's still here next time.
Where the bye goes
The rotation is built so the bye walks down the roster one player per round: A sits round 1, B sits round 2, and so on through E in round 5. That makes the sit-out completely predictable. Whoever is on the bench knows exactly which round they are back on, and nobody has to be talked into sitting again.
The partner side lands exactly as well. Five players make ten possible pairs, and five rounds of doubles fill ten partner slots, so every pair happens once and none repeat. That is a complete round robin — the same guarantee the four-player sheet gives, just with a bench.
One thing not to do: if a second court happens to be free, resist splitting five players across it. Four on one court with one sitting is the balanced version, and two half-empty courts is worse for everyone. Eight players is where a second court starts to earn its keep.
With five players somebody sits every round. King of the court turns that into the format itself rather than an exception, because the person off court is simply next in the queue.
Five is small enough to be sociable and awkward enough to need a plan. Organizing a pickleball mixer covers round length, keeping the odd player involved, and what to do when a sixth person turns up.
DillDraw is a free round robin generator for any player count — type in your real names, tap to enter scores, and standings update automatically. No account, no install.
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A few things that come in handy when you're the one organizing.
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Schedule generated and verified programmatically for balanced partnerships — not hand-typed. Player names above are placeholders (A, B, C…); swap in your own group's names before you print.