Seeds are assigned based on the tournament's listed rating system at the time the bracket is generated, or by the manual ranking order you set in PT event settings. PT handles bracket placement automatically once seeds are confirmed.
In Pickleball Tournaments (PT), bracket seeding is assigned based on the ranking type the Tournament Director chooses — Seed 1 is the highest-ranked team, and the highest seeds receive byes when the bracket size calls for them, to keep the draw as balanced as possible. Use the PT Seeding Reference Tool below to look up exactly who plays who and which seeds receive byes for the most common bracket size of 4 to 24 teams.
Every team is assigned a seed number. Seed 1 is the highest-ranked team, Seed 2 is second-highest, and so on. PT builds the bracket so the strongest seeds are placed on opposite sides — meaning top teams can only meet in later rounds if both keep winning.
Single and double elimination brackets in PT support 2 to 128 teams; Round Robin and Scramble formats support unlimited overall event sizes (individual Round Robin pools cap at 20 teams, Scramble pools at 16).
Seeds are based on standings at the time the bracket is generated, or by the manual ranking order you configure in PT event settings. PT assigns bracket positions automatically once seeds are confirmed.
For Round Robin events using pool play, PT distributes seeds evenly across all the pools instead of building a single elimination-style bracket. Top seeds are assigned one to each pool, the bottom seeds are then paired with the top seeds in reverse order, and the remaining seeds are spread out to produce the most even pools possible.
NoteFor example, with 4 pools and 20 players split 5 per pool: seeds 1–4 go one to each pool, seeds 17–20 are paired one to each pool in reverse order (1+20, 2+19, 3+18, 4+17), and the remaining seeds are distributed to keep every pool as even as possible.
Select the number of teams registered in your event to see which seeds play each other in the first round, which seeds receive byes, and the full bracket progression through Quarterfinals, Semifinals, and Finals.
Events with 4 teams run a Semifinals → Finals structure. Events with 5–8 teams add Quarterfinals before Semifinals and Finals. With fewer teams, byes go to the very top seeds only.
| Teams | First-Round Byes | First-Round Matches |
|---|---|---|
| 4 | None | Semifinals: 1v4 · 2v3 |
| 5 | Seeds 1, 2, 3 | Preliminary: 4v5 |
| 6 | Seeds 1, 2 | Quarterfinals: 4v5 · 3v6 |
| 7 | Seed 1 | Quarterfinals: 4v5 · 2v7 · 3v6 |
| 8 | None | Quarterfinals: 1v8 · 4v5 · 2v7 · 3v6 |
These events add a Round of 16 before Quarterfinals. Top seeds receive byes directly into Quarterfinals, while lower seeds play an opening round to earn their spot.
| Teams | Seeds & Byes to QF | Round of 16 Matches |
|---|---|---|
| 9 | Seeds 1–7 | 8v9 |
| 10 | Seeds 1–6 | 8v9 · 7v10 |
| 11 | Seeds 1–5 | 8v9 · 7v10 · 6v11 |
| 12 | Seeds 1–4 | 8v9 · 5v12 · 7v10 · 6v11 |
| 13 | Seeds 1–3 | 8v9 · 4v13 · 5v12 · 7v10 · 6v11 |
| 14 | Seeds 1–2 | 8v9 · 4v13 · 5v12 · 7v10 · 3v14 · 6v11 |
| 15 | Seed 1 | 8v9 · 4v13 · 5v12 · 2v15 · 7v10 · 3v14 · 6v11 |
| 16 | None | 1v16 · 8v9 · 4v13 · 5v12 · 2v15 · 7v10 · 3v14 · 6v11 |
Larger events add a Round of 32 at the start. The number of opening-round matches equals the number of teams minus 16 — so a 17-team event has just one Round of 32 match, while a 24-team event fills all eight slots. Top seeds receive byes directly into the Round of 16.
| Teams | Seeds & Byes to 16 | Round of 32 Matches |
|---|---|---|
| 17 | Seeds 1–15 | 16v17 |
| 18 | Seeds 1–14 | 16v17 · 15v18 |
| 19 | Seeds 1–13 | 16v17 · 15v18 · 14v19 |
| 20 | Seeds 1–12 | 16v17 · 13v20 · 15v18 · 14v19 |
| 21 | Seeds 1–11 | 16v17 · 13v20 · 12v21 · 15v18 · 14v19 |
| 22 | Seeds 1–10 | 16v17 · 13v20 · 12v21 · 15v18 · 14v19 · 11v22 |
| 23 | Seeds 1–9 | 16v17 · 13v20 · 12v21 · 15v18 · 10v23 · 14v19 · 11v22 |
| 24 | Seeds 1–8 | 16v17 · 9v24 · 13v20 · 12v21 · 15v18 · 10v23 · 14v19 · 11v22 |
Seeds are assigned based on the tournament's listed rating system at the time the bracket is generated, or by the manual ranking order you set in PT event settings. PT handles bracket placement automatically once seeds are confirmed.
Seeding adjustments must be made before the bracket is locked and published. To change the seeding, re-verify the event. This should not be done after the event has started.
You can use the Remove tab to remove the team and re-verify the event. If the event has already started, don't remove the team this way — instead, withdraw the team from the matches directly in the bracket.
Yes — the interactive reference tool shows the standard PT seeding structure for each team count. Your published bracket in PT will match this layout once the field is finalized.