Introduction

The ahm National Pickleball League is back for Season 4. With $50,000 on the line for the champions and a revamped Division 2, this season is set to raise the bar for professional pickleball in Australia.

Round 1 kicks off this Saturday, 20 September. Here’s your quick guide to how the Pro League works and what players are battling for in the most competitive season yet.

(Note: this article focuses on the Pro League. For the full picture on Division 2 and the NPL Academy, check out our other features.)

ahm NPL S4: An overview

This year’s Pro League brings together 12 teams — four each from Queensland, New South Wales + ACT, and Victoria. See this feature for an overview of each team.

• Regular season: Teams compete within their home state (no travel)

• Advancement: The top three finishing teams in each state head to Melbourne to compete in the finals

• Knockout stage: 3rd-place teams face off to determine 7th/8th place, and the overall 9th-placed team is eliminated

• Finals: The top eight teams battle it out for the grand prize of $50k

Regular season format

• Six matches per team (facing each regional opponent twice)

• Two matches per round

• State rankings updated after each round

• Top 3 teams per state advance to the finals

How matches work: The NPL format

The NPL league format is one-of-a-kind. It incorporates all standard pickleball disciplines — gender doubles, mixed doubles, and singles, testing players across all skillsets. From NPL’s inception, the league has sought to do things differently. The goal of this format is to highlight the athleticism and “wow” factor of pickleball, particularly for audiences new to the sport.

It can be a little confusing for those participating or spectating for the first time, so here’s a quick breakdown of what to expect on court:

• NPLeague match-ups always consist of four parts: men’s singles, women’s singles, gender doubles, and mixed doubles

• Each “part” is comprised of two games: two women’s singles, two men’s singles, women’s doubles/men’s doubles, and mixed pair 1/mixed pair 2

• The four singles games are scored individually (one game to 11 points) while the gender and mixed doubles are stacked — one pair plays first, and the second pair closes out that game. The first team to reach 22 points wins

  • i.e., while Team A’s pair may be the first to reach 11 points, if Team B’s pair make a comeback and reaches 22 points first, they win that game

• During the regular season, the first time teams play each other, the gender doubles begins with women’s doubles to 11 points and men’s doubles continuing from that score until one team reaches 22 points

• The second time teams play each other, this switches, with men’s doubles starting and women’s doubles closing out the match

  • This is notable because the first pair can only get to 11 points (while trying to give away as few points as possible to the opposing team), so it’s the second pair that will determine the overall win/loss for gender doubles

• The mixed pair lineup stays consistent, so the same mixed pair can choose to play second the entire season

Gravy on top:

• A crucial element of NPL’s format is the designation of a ‘home’ and ‘away’ team for each matchup.

• Similar to the gender doubles finish, this switches the second time teams are matched up. For each game of the match, the home team automatically “wins” the coin toss, getting the choice of serve/receive or their starting end on the court

• In the finals, the home/away team designation is determined by team seedings. The higher-seeded team is the home team, and this time they also get to choose the gender doubles order

IN SUMMARY:

Team structure:

• 4 players (2 men, 2 women, including a captain)

Events each match day:

• Men’s singles & women’s singles

• Men’s doubles & women’s doubles

• Mixed doubles (two pairings per team)

Scoring system:

• Singles: one game to 11, win by 2

• Gender doubles + mixed doubles: “stacked scoring” — two pairs combine toward 22 points total

• DillBreaker: a 22-point race if the match is tied after regulation

Rotation rules (gender doubles):

• First meeting: Women’s doubles open, men’s doubles close

• Second meeting: Men’s doubles open, women’s doubles close

Prize money breakdown

This season, teams are once again competing for a whopping $50,000 grand prize for first place. And, in a big shift from season 3, teams finishing in 5th – 9th place will also receive prize money for making it to the finals.

Pro League Team Prizes

• 1st: $50,000

• 2nd: $25,000

• 3rd: $15,000

• 4th: $10,000

• 5th – 6th: $2,000 each

• 7th – 8th: $1,000 each

• 9th: $500

MVP Prizes

• Weekly MVPs: $500 each (male + female, per state, per round)

• State MVPs: $1,500 each (3 total)

• Finals MVP: $5,000

Where to watch

Come be part of NPL’s biggest season yet! It’s free to attend in person at the regular season venues across Victoria, Queensland, and New South Wales.

• Victoria: The Jar (29 White St, South Melbourne VIC 3205)

• Queensland: Focus Tennis and Pickleball Centre (461 Oxley Ave, Redcliffe QLD 4020)

• New South Wales: Oxford Falls Grammar School (1078 Oxford Falls Rd, Oxford Falls NSW 2100)

In addition, all matches + live scoring will be available via NPL Green Zone YouTube + lader.live. And finally, game time for pro matches each round will run as follows: Match 1 kicking off at 1:00pm local time, Match 2 on at 3:30pm local time.