Number your courts. Court 1 is the king court ; the highest court number is the bottom. Everyone starts spread across the courts. After each short game:
Whoever holds the king court when time is called wins the session.
Fixed partners. Sign up as a pair. Your pair moves up or down together. Simple, but partner quality decides your climb.
Rotating partners (recommended for social sessions). When a court finishes, the two winners split up: one moves up and keeps the higher-court side, one stays or moves depending on the variant. Prevents the same pair from camping the king court all night.
Good for: competitive weeknights, similar skill levels, groups that want a "winner" at the end of the session without running a bracket.
Skip it when: the skill range is wide (a 3.0 climbing into a court of 4.5s is a bad experience for everyone), or if the group is truly social and does not want a scoreboard.