Tournament rules

Your paddle must appear on the USA Pickleball Approved Paddle List and comply with Rule 3.D, including the brand and model marking and the USA Pickleball Approved seal or text treatment (3.D.1).

Check your paddle before you travel: equipment.usapickleball.org/paddle-list

• If a non-approved paddle is discovered before the match, you change paddles with no penalty (18.A.1).
• If it is discovered during play, the match is forfeited (18.A.2, 22.I.5).
• Any player may ask the Head Referee or the Tournament Director to verify a paddle (24.D).

The approval standard changed: the PBCoR limit dropped to 0.43 on 1 November 2025, and several well-known models have been removed from the list since 2024. A paddle that was legal two seasons ago is not automatically legal today. Bring a second approved paddle if you have one.

The official ball of the tournament is the Franklin X-40, an approved ball under Rule 3.C. All courts are covered. Under 3.C.1 any approved ball may be used indoors or outdoors, and the Tournament Director selects the ball (16.G). We supply match balls.

Twelve divisions: men's, women's and mixed doubles at levels A, B and C, plus 50+.

• In doubles, the higher-rated player determines the skill division (15.A.3.b).
• In an age division, the younger player determines the age bracket (15.A.3.c).
• For 50+, your age on 31 December 2026 decides, so you are eligible all year if you turn 50 in 2026.
• You may play up in a higher division, never down in a lower one. The Tournament Director may move a team up if the level is clearly wrong.
• You may enter a maximum of two divisions.

Level guide, this tournament's own definition and not an official standard: C under DUPR 3.5, B DUPR 3.50–3.99, A DUPR 4.00 and above. If you have no DUPR rating, rate yourself honestly in the entry form. The desk reviews self-ratings and may reseed.

Pool play into a medal bracket.

• Pools of four teams, round robin inside each pool. A pool can be stretched to five teams if a division fills up.
• Pool matches, the Sunday Draw and the quarter-finals: one game to 15, win by two, with a golden point at 14-14, so a game can end 15-14 (game to 15 per 15.C.1, golden point is our announced event format).
• Semi-final, final and bronze match: best of three games to 11, win by two (15.C.1). Each game score is reported separately.
• Every team is guaranteed at least four matches, well above the two-match minimum in 15.F.
• Teams that do not advance from their pool enter the Sunday Draw, a separate bracket, so everyone plays through the weekend.

Friday late afternoon and evening: selected divisions play their first pool rounds on Friday 4 December between 4 and 8 pm. Check the published draw to see whether your division starts on Friday, and plan your arrival accordingly. The full draw and all match times are published on the schedule page.

Seeding uses the average of the two players' ratings and distributes seeds through the pools in a snake pattern, so the top two seeds never meet before the bracket. Eligibility for a division is set by the higher-rated player, seeding by the team average.

Applied in this exact order (15.B.4.a–f):

1. Head-to-head result
2. Total point differential across all pool games
3. Head-to-head point differential
4. Point differential against the next highest finisher
5. Total points scored

The chain never restarts once a tie has been broken, and differential criteria are never compared between pools of different sizes.

• 10 minutes between matches (21.G).
• 2 minutes between games in the same match (21.F.1).
• Timeouts: two per game to 11 or 15 (21.A).
• Medical timeout: one per match, maximum 15 minutes (21.C).
• Coaching is allowed only during timeouts and between games (20.G).
• Warm-up: 8 minutes before your first match of the day, 5 minutes before later matches. This is our event policy, there is no rulebook rule on warm-up.

You must be on court and ready within 10 minutes of your call time, or you forfeit the game. In a multi-game match, 15 minutes forfeits the match (18.F, 18.F.2). Check the schedule in your player account, courts run ahead as often as behind.

Pool matches are self-officiated. Players call the lines on their own side, and any ball that cannot be clearly called out is in (Section 8, 8.D, 8.E). Finals are refereed. All other matches, including semifinals and bronze medal matches, are self-officiated.

Rule interpretations may be appealed to the Head Referee (19.D). The Tournament Director's decision is final (16.O).

Either team enters the score in the player account. The opposing team then confirms it.

• Pool matches auto-confirm 30 minutes after submission if nobody disputes, with a reminder to the opposing team after 12 minutes.
• Medal matches auto-confirm after 10 minutes, with a reminder after 4 minutes.
• In the semi-final, final and bronze match you enter every game score, for example 11-9, 9-11, 11-7. The match result follows from the games.
• Disputed scores go straight to the tournament desk, and both teams are called in.
• Every submission, confirmation, correction and override is logged with time and user.

DUPR is optional and we do not upload results for you. Every confirmed match shows up in your player account with the game scores, ready to copy, so you can add it yourself in the DUPR app in about a minute. Add your DUPR ID in the entry form and we use it to seed the pools.

Section 22 of the rulebook governs conduct, and 16.P gives the Tournament Director authority to remove a player. In practice: no verbal abuse, no paddle throwing, no arguing with an opposing team's line call after the point is over. This is a family event with spectators, children and restaurant guests around the courts.

The courts are covered and lit, so rain does not stop play. In extreme heat the Tournament Director may shorten games to 7 points (15.C.2.d) and will announce any change to court conditions in writing (16.E).

Bring more water than you think you need. Guanacaste in December is dry and hot, and matches run back to back. There is water on site and Lotus & Lime is open through the weekend.

Every player signs a waiver at check-in. Entry must be paid before your first match.

Entry is USD 55 for your first division and USD 45 for a second, which adds matches only. The Friday and Saturday dinners are optional: USD 29 per seat per evening, sharing menu, booked and prepaid with your entry, first come first served and limited to 80 seats per evening. Payment by SINPE Móvil to +506 7198 1988 (Jarno Hottinen), PayPal to jarno@hottinen.com (add USD 5 per division to cover the fee), or bank transfer to Banco LAFISE Costa Rica, account CR60011400007914597212 (USD). Nothing is charged through the website.

Refunds: player withdrawals get a 50 percent refund through 30 November, none after that, and the same applies to booked dinner seats. You may transfer your place to another player until 1 December by telling the desk.

Everyone who registers accepts the version of these rules published at the time of entry. If we change something material before the tournament, we email every registered player and publish the change here with a date.

Questions: play@lotuslimetour.com, or Fernanda on WhatsApp at +506 6102 0603.