An Americano is the easiest way into padel with people you don't know yet. You turn up on your own, you get a new partner every round, and you go home with a score. A Mexicano looks the same on the booking page but plays very differently once it starts.
This page explains both, puts the scoring side by side, gives you rotation grids for 8, 12 and 16 players to print or screenshot, and shows you how to find a social near you.
How an Americano works
Four players share a court, but nobody shares a score. In Padel.fyi's definition, each round brings a new partner and new opponents, and the winner is the player with the highest total once every round is added up. Your partner's form doesn't matter. Your total does.
Each round is a short game to a fixed number of points. Padel Browser says 16, 21 or 24 are the usual targets, and VISU's generator also offers 32. Every rally is a point, so there's no 15, 30, 40. In a game to 24, a score might finish 14-10. Both players on the winning side get 14 added to their totals, both on the other side get 10. The serve passes to the other pair every four points.
Because the whole schedule is fixed before the first ball, you can print it. That's what the grids below are for.
How a Mexicano works
Round one is a random draw. After that, nothing is fixed. You add up everyone's totals, rank the players, and the ranking decides the next round. Padel Browser's version puts the top four on court one, with the leader and number four against numbers two and three. Players five to eight go on court two in the same pattern, and so on down the courts.
The result is that strong players drift to court one and play each other, and everyone else ends up in closer games. Padel Browser recommends it for mixed-skill groups where an Americano would produce blowouts.
Americano vs Mexicano in one table
| Americano | Mexicano | |
|---|---|---|
| Partners | Fixed rotation, new partner each round | Set by the leaderboard after each round |
| Round one | From the printed schedule | Random draw |
| Can you print it in advance? | Yes, all of it | Only round one |
| What a game is played to | A points total, often 16, 21 or 24 | The same |
| What counts | Your own points, summed over every round | The same |
| Who plays who | Everyone mixes with everyone | Similar levels end up on the same court |
| Best for | Groups of roughly the same level | Mixed levels, or a group that wants it competitive |
| Paperwork | None once the grid is printed | Add up and re-rank between every round |
The rotation grids
Hand out numbers at the door. Each row is a round, read left to right from court 1. Write "1+4 v 2+5" on the board and people sort themselves out.
How long will it take? Padel Browser says games typically run 12 to 16 minutes, and Padel.fyi puts an 8-player Americano at about two hours. So the full grids below need a two-hour booking. If you only have 90 minutes, Padel Browser suggests a short Americano of four 15-minute rounds: play the first four rows and pick a lower total, like 16. Set a timer either way.
8 players, 2 courts, 7 rounds
Over the seven rounds you share a side with each of the other seven once and line up against each of them twice. VISU calls this the classic Americano, and it is the only one of the three grids that balances perfectly.
| Round | Court 1 | Court 2 |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1+4 v 2+5 | 3+8 v 6+7 |
| 2 | 1+3 v 5+7 | 2+6 v 4+8 |
| 3 | 1+8 v 3+4 | 2+7 v 5+6 |
| 4 | 1+5 v 6+8 | 2+4 v 3+7 |
| 5 | 1+6 v 2+3 | 4+7 v 5+8 |
| 6 | 1+7 v 4+6 | 2+8 v 3+5 |
| 7 | 1+2 v 7+8 | 3+6 v 4+5 |
12 players, 3 courts, 6 rounds
The complete rotation for 12 takes 11 rounds, as VISU's generator notes. This grid stops at six. Partners never repeat, and no two players meet as opponents more than twice: 7 of the 66 possible pairings meet twice, the rest once or not at all.
| Round | Court 1 | Court 2 | Court 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1+10 v 5+7 | 2+3 v 8+11 | 4+9 v 6+12 |
| 2 | 1+2 v 4+11 | 3+9 v 6+10 | 5+8 v 7+12 |
| 3 | 1+8 v 9+10 | 2+5 v 3+6 | 4+12 v 7+11 |
| 4 | 1+7 v 2+6 | 3+10 v 11+12 | 4+5 v 8+9 |
| 5 | 1+6 v 8+12 | 2+4 v 5+10 | 3+11 v 7+9 |
| 6 | 1+4 v 3+5 | 2+7 v 9+12 | 6+8 v 10+11 |
16 players, 4 courts, 7 rounds
All 16 players mix across all four courts, so you meet far more people than if you split into two groups of eight. Nobody partners the same person twice, and only three pairs of players face each other twice.
| Round | Court 1 | Court 2 | Court 3 | Court 4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1+4 v 3+9 | 2+8 v 11+13 | 5+10 v 14+15 | 6+7 v 12+16 |
| 2 | 1+12 v 10+11 | 2+7 v 6+9 | 3+8 v 14+16 | 4+13 v 5+15 |
| 3 | 1+6 v 8+15 | 2+4 v 10+12 | 3+7 v 5+13 | 9+14 v 11+16 |
| 4 | 1+9 v 6+12 | 2+10 v 5+8 | 3+16 v 4+15 | 7+13 v 11+14 |
| 5 | 1+15 v 2+14 | 3+13 v 9+10 | 4+6 v 7+11 | 5+12 v 8+16 |
| 6 | 1+2 v 4+7 | 3+15 v 8+11 | 5+14 v 9+12 | 6+16 v 10+13 |
| 7 | 1+11 v 5+16 | 2+6 v 3+14 | 4+12 v 8+13 | 7+9 v 10+15 |
Organising a festive one? Our Christmas padel social run sheet adds a timetable, a score sheet and some daft house rules.
Running a Mexicano with a pen and paper
No app needed. Here's the routine between rounds.
- Round one: use round one of the grid above, or draw names from a hat.
- Add up: each player's running total goes on the sheet.
- Rank: highest total first. If two players are level, VISU's generator breaks the tie on points difference (points won minus points lost), then on matches won.
- Pair: ranks 1 to 4 go on court 1 as 1+4 v 2+3. Ranks 5 to 8 go on court 2 as 5+8 v 6+7. Carry on down.
- Play, then repeat.
Some tools pair 1+3 v 2+4 instead. VISU's generator does. Either works, just agree before you start. One tip: give one person the job of adding up, and have them do it while the next round warms up. It stops the whole thing running late.
How to find an Americano or Mexicano near you
On Playtomic, club socials like these are listed as tournaments (a Mexicano at one club is filed under that label), so that's where to look. According to Playtomic's own help pages:
- Open the app, go to Home, tap Compete, then tap the filters icon in the top left.
- Set Activity Type to Tournament, then your sport, location and distance. Dates go one at a time.
- Turn on Tournaments I Can Play. It hides events that don't match your gender and level.
- Set Enrollment Type to Single if you're coming without a partner. That's the whole point of an Americano.
- Already have a favourite club? Open its profile and tap the Competitions tab.
One thing worth knowing: if a tournament doesn't reach its minimum number of players by the deadline, Playtomic cancels it and refunds everyone who paid online. So a quiet listing isn't money wasted.
Not every club uses Playtomic. If yours books through MATCHi, Padel Mates or its own app, look on the club's page for events, and check its Instagram too. Our booking apps guide shows which app each of 53 UK clubs uses. And if it's your first social, have a quick read of our beginner tips and the padel rules before you go. Nobody minds a beginner. People mind someone who doesn't know where to stand on the serve.
After the last round
I've met some amazing people through padel, and a few of them are now really close friends. At a social, that part tends to start once the leaderboard is read out, someone disputes a score, and half the group heads to the bar.
That's what the Padel & Pints tee was made for. It's 100% cotton at 305 g/m², cut oversized (size down if you want a regular fit), and £48. If your weekly social wants matching tees, every £48 heavyweight tee is in the 2 for £90 range, applied automatically at checkout. Clothing is made to order, so allow 7 to 10 working days in the UK.
FAQ
Do I need a partner to sign up for an Americano? No. You enter on your own and the rotation gives you a new partner every round. On Playtomic, choose Single when you join, if the club has set the event up that way.
How many points is each game in an Americano? Whatever the organiser picks. Padel Browser says 16, 21 or 24 are common, and some tools offer 32. Shorter slots suit 16. Every rally counts as a point, so there's no deuce.
Which is better for a group with mixed levels, Americano or Mexicano? Mexicano. After the first round the leaderboard pairs similar levels together, so the strongest players stop flattening everyone else. An Americano works best when the group is roughly level.
How is a tie broken at the end? Agree it before you start. VISU's generator uses points won first, then points difference, then matches won, which is a fair default for any social.
