Americano Padel Explained, and Why We Run One Every Week

An Americano in padel has nothing to do with coffee. I know. Roughly half the people who sign up for their first one are quietly hoping otherwise, and our canteen would happily take the business.

Americano padel is a social format where nobody keeps the same partner. You rotate every round, you play with and against everyone in the group, and the score that counts at the end is yours, not your team's. That is the whole idea in three lines. Everything below is detail.

We run them weekly. If you don't have three mates on speed dial, it is the best two hours you can spend on a padel court.

A group of 8, 12 or 16 players splits across the courts. Every round you get a new partner and new opponents, worked out on a draw sheet before anyone hits a ball.

Rounds are played to a fixed number of points instead of games and sets. Sixteen, 24 and 32 are the common ones. Every rally is worth a point. No deuce, no advantage, no standing around waiting for someone to hold serve.

When the two scores add up to the target, the round is done. If it finishes 15 to 9, you and your partner each write down 15 and the other two write down 9. You bank the points you and your partner scored in that game, and you both carry them in your total score.

Everything else is normal padel. Underarm serve, ball off the glass, and playing directly into the walls is still not allowed.

Take the standard version. Eight players, two courts, rounds to 24 points. Seven rounds partners you with every other player exactly once, and the most you could theoretically score is 168.

At the end we total your scores from every game, and that total is the ranking. Highest individual score wins, second highest comes second, and you can see where this goes.

The part people underestimate is what that scoring does to the evening. Because your points follow you and not your team, you can't hide behind a strong partner and you can't be sunk by a weak one. Over seven rounds it evens out into a fair read of how you actually played. I've kept score at plenty of these. The maths was always fine. My backhand, less so.

Same family, different personality. In an Americano the rotation is fixed before you start, so you already know who you're playing with in round five.

A Mexicano sets the pairings after every round based on the standings. First plays with fourth against second and third. Win, and your next round gets harder. It is the padel version of a school report, and it is honest to the point of rude about where you stand.

If you ask me, it comes down to how far apart the group is. Americano when the levels are close, which is exactly why we split ours into bronze, silver and gold. Everyone gets a fair game and the rotation does the rest. Mexicano when the range is wider, because pairing the top of the standings with the bottom every round is what keeps the matches even. And no, there is no Cappuccino format. I have checked.

This is the boring answer, but it's the right one. Seven short matches against seven different combinations will show you more about your game than a long session with your usual partner ever does.

You get put with someone clearly better than you, which is the fastest way to find out what you're missing. Then you get put with someone having the worst padel day of their life, which teaches you the other half of the sport: how to steady a rally instead of trying to end it.

That's the opinion I'll defend. Most players lose points because they were out of position before they hit the ball, not because their bandeja needs work. An Americano makes that obvious in about 20 minutes, because the problem keeps showing up no matter who is standing next to you.

So, some unhelpful business advice. If you've had two or three private lessons and you're wondering about booking a fourth, don't. Play an Americano first. Come back and tell your coach what kept going wrong, and that lesson will be worth three of the ones you skipped.

Four words will win you more points than any shot you own. Mine. Yours. Leave. Switch. A new partner every round means nobody can read your mind yet, so say them out loud.

Adjust to whoever you're with. If your partner is newer, play the simple ball down the middle and let the rally build. If they're better, cover your own side properly and stop drifting across to help. Nine times out of ten the help isn't help.

And stop trying to smash everything. If the ball is low, behind you or coming fast, hitting harder just sends it to the back fence sooner. Americano rounds are short. Two rash smashes is basically a round.

If you have genuinely never held a padel racket, this isn't your first session. You'd spend the evening chasing the ball with seven people waiting on you, which is no fun for anyone, you least of all. Do a 60-minute initiation class first, 200,000 IDR with a racket included, then come to the next one and enjoy it properly.

Same if the group's levels are miles apart. Two strong players and six beginners doesn't make a competition, it makes a very polite exhibition. That is the night for a Mexicano, or for joining the group that actually matches your level.

We run them weekly across our five covered courts, organised through level-based WhatsApp groups so you're playing with people around your standard. Ask at reception or message us and we'll put you in the right one.

An Americano is 200,000 IDR per player for the full two hours. That is not court hire, it is the whole session: every round, every partner, and somebody else keeping the scoresheet. We're open 7 AM to 10 PM, every day, and the roof means the wet season doesn't get a vote.

There's a Family Americano as well, parent and child on the same team, every 2nd Sunday of the month at 360,000 IDR per team. It is exactly as competitive as you would expect. The parents are the problem.

The recovery spa is free with every court booking, which after seven rounds stops feeling like a bonus. Sauna, steam room, ice bath, jacuzzi.

Come play one. Bring water, bring a pen if you're the type who likes keeping score, and if you turn up still wanting the other kind of Americano, the canteen is about 20 steps from court one.