Most rec groups run on some version of the same system. You show up, you rotate in, you figure out partners between games, and it works well enough that nobody thinks much about it.

If you're happy with that, you're not missing anything urgent, but there are a few practical reasons to try running your group's session as a format instead, and they're worth exploring.

1. Less time spent organizing between games

Sorting out who's playing next and who's with who takes a few minutes every time, and it happens after every game. By the end of a session that's a decent amount of your court time spent on logistics. If the bracket is already built, the next matchup is on your phone when the game ends and you just go to the court it lists.

2. More variety in who you play with

Most people end up partnering with the same couple of players out of habit. A scramble format rotates partners every match, so you play with and against people in your group you don't normally draw. It's a small thing, but you tend to pick up more playing with someone whose game you don't already know.

3. You end up with stats

When matches are recorded as part of a format, they add up into something you can look back at later.

Game Maker keeps a rolling 90-day record with your wins, losses, win percentage, games played, points for and against, and point differential. It also tracks who you win most with and who you lose most to, your record in close games and deciding games, and your average partner and opponent ratings so you can see what level you've been playing at.

There's a head-to-head view too. Pick anyone in your group and you can compare mutual record, power rank, clutch index, point differential and points won percentage, filtered by singles, doubles or skinny singles.

If you play weekly, each session gets its own breakdown: matches played, win percentage, point differential, your rating that day, and your best partner and toughest opponent for that day specifically. After a couple months of that you have a reasonably clear picture of how you're doing and who you're doing it against.

4. There's an overall winner

In free play you win individual games. In a format, someone wins the day. The leaderboard sorts on win percentage, head-to-head, point differential and points earned against points allowed, so going 6-2 against tough draws can finish ahead of 7-1 against easy ones. It gives the session a little more shape without making it a big deal.

Closing

Setting this all up manually is a pain, but there's an easier way in your pocket. Open your game in Game Maker, tap Create organized play, and pick your bracket type, singles or doubles, and a score format. The app handles the rest, including the matchups, the courts and the scoring. At the end you've got a record of what happened instead of just a general sense of how it went.

Game Maker is free to download for organizing your groups session, and organized play formats are available with Premium which everyone can access with a 30-day free trial.