How padel and tennis clubs manage court bookings and memberships

Padel and tennis clubs manage court bookings with a short list of rules that the booking system enforces: how far ahead each type of player can book, what a court costs at peak and off-peak times, how many bookings someone can hold at once, what guests pay and when a late cancellation is charged. Memberships decide which of those rules apply to whom, so the membership structure and the booking rules need to be designed together.

Demand makes this more pressing for padel venues. In May 2026 the LTA reported 1,000,000 adults and juniors playing padel in Britain, on 1,825 courts across 551 venues. Its figure for the end of 2025 was 860,000 people who had played at least once in the previous year, more than double the 2024 count. When evening courts sell out, members notice quickly if the rules are unclear or applied unevenly.

What rules does a court booking system need?

Most court booking problems come back to a rule nobody wrote down. Before you configure anything, agree:

• How long a slot is (60 minutes, 90 minutes or a choice of both) and when slots start, so bookings line up without leaving 30-minute gaps nobody can use
• How many days ahead each membership tier, and non-members, can book
• How many future bookings one person can hold, and how many of those can be at peak times
• When a cancellation stops being free, and what a late cancellation or no-show costs
• Whether every player has to be named, which matters when members and non-members pay different rates

Publish the rules where players book. A rule the booking system enforces is one the front desk does not have to defend at 6pm on a Tuesday.

In Tiquo, each court is a bookable resource connected to a service, and a booking can only be made when the court is free. Booking limits are set on the service: minimum and maximum advance booking, a cancellation deadline, buffers between bookings and whether staff must approve a booking. The service also sets the duration and how often start times appear, so slots line up without gaps.

How should a club set peak and off-peak court prices?

Peak time is usually weekday evenings and weekends, when people who work office hours can play. Off-peak pricing is the main tool for filling daytime courts, and the discount has to be large enough for people with free daytime hours to notice.

Padel is mostly played as doubles, so think about the price per player. Say a padel court costs £40 for 90 minutes off-peak and £56 at peak. Split four ways, that is £10 or £14 a player, which is the number most players will compare with other venues. At the desk, Tiquo's POS can split a bill into equal shares or custom amounts, so each player can pay their own share.

Floodlights add cost on outdoor courts in winter. Clubs either build lighting into the evening price or add a lighting charge to bookings after dark. A separate charge is fairer to summer players but harder to explain, so if you use one, include it in the price shown before checkout. In Tiquo, a service can have several pricing levels, and pricing seasons switch the level for a date range, such as a winter rate with lighting included.

How do booking windows work for different membership tiers?

Booking windows give members priority without shutting anyone out. Full members see courts first, cheaper tiers later and non-members last. An example structure looks like this, though the numbers are yours to set:

Watch for bookings that cross a boundary. If an off-peak member books a court at 4pm that runs past the start of peak time, decide in advance whether the system allows it or charges the difference.

In Tiquo, each membership plan has its own price, billing interval and permissions, and members can carry a digital membership card in Apple Wallet or Google Wallet. Scanning the card at the desk shows staff the player's profile and whether their membership is still active.

How do coaching, leagues and recurring bookings fit in?

Coaches need courts blocked for lessons and squads, usually as recurring bookings for a term. Agree how many courts coaching can take at peak times, because a full coaching programme can crowd out members who just want to play. When a session is cancelled, release the court promptly so it goes back on sale.

Leagues and box leagues create matches that must be played within a window. Some clubs reserve specific courts for league play, while others let players book through the normal system and report the result. Team bookings for club fixtures are easiest to enter at the start of the season, before members fill the calendar.

Cancelling a booking in Tiquo releases the court for other players, and the booking flow can send the player a cancellation email, as well as the confirmation and reminder they received when they booked.

How should clubs handle guests and guest fees?

Guests are a natural source of new members, so make it easy for members to bring them and keep a record. Charge a guest fee per visit or include a few guest passes in each membership, record which member brought which guest, and set a limit on how often the same guest can play before you invite them to join.

How Tiquo handles court bookings and memberships

Tiquo manages courts, pitches, lanes and other shared spaces as bookable resources with live availability. Players book and pay through a booking flow embedded on your website or on a hosted page, and the customer portal shows their upcoming bookings, receipts and membership status. The sports and activity venues page has the full overview.

A service can require full payment or a deposit when the court is booked. Each booking sits on an order, so a can of balls or a drink after the match can go on the same bill. A group with several sites sets up services and booking limits for each location, while customer profiles and reporting cover the whole organisation.

For more on structuring the tiers themselves, see how to price membership tiers, and for the fees around them, our guide to joining fees and annual subscriptions.