Live Scoring Tablet Setup Guide for Martial Arts Judges

Live scoring lives or dies on the tablet setup. Get it right and your judges focus on the fight. Get it wrong and you spend the day rebooting tablets. The good news: all you need is internet and a browser. Here is the exact setup we recommend for any taekwondo or martial arts club running tablet-based scoring.

Pick the right device

You do not need expensive tablets. The bar is simple: a screen big enough to read at arm's length, a battery that lasts a full day, and a modern web browser. Anything in current everyday use will do — premium tablets, mid-range tablets, budget tablets, or old tablets you already own. The scoring software runs in the browser, so the device choice is about ergonomics and battery life, not specs.

You need one tablet per ring per scoring role. For a 4-ring competition with one scorer per ring, that is 4 tablets — plus 1 spare.

Network setup — the most important section

The number one reason live scoring goes wrong on the day is venue Wi-Fi. School halls have flaky Wi-Fi, sports centres have congested Wi-Fi, church halls often have no Wi-Fi. Do not rely on the venue's network.

Bring your own. The reliable setup:

• One dedicated mobile hotspot router — do not tether from a phone, the phone will lock during the day
• A SIM with at least 5GB of data on a network that has good signal at the venue — check on a recce visit if you can
• Pair every tablet to that hotspot before you leave home. Do not configure on the morning of the event

Total cost: roughly £60 router + £15 SIM = £75 of zero-stress connectivity.

Browser, login and kiosk mode

Open the device's web browser. Pre-login each tablet on the morning. Most browsers have an 'Add to Home Screen' option that gives you a fullscreen app-like icon for the scoring page — so judges cannot accidentally browse away during a match.

If you want true kiosk mode (judges absolutely cannot leave the page), most tablets have a built-in guided-access mode in their accessibility settings, and there are free third-party kiosk apps in every app store. Either takes about five minutes to set up.

On-the-day fallback plan

Even with the best setup, things go wrong. The fallback plan:

1. Spare tablet, pre-configured, in your bag. If a tablet dies, you swap in 30 seconds.
2. Spare hotspot battery. Hotspots die 7 hours in, especially in winter.
3. Paper score sheets in a folder. You will probably not need them, but having them means you can score one fight on paper if a ring loses connectivity for 90 seconds.
4. A second SIM on a different network. UK sports halls vary wildly — having a backup SIM on a different operator costs £5 and saves the day.

How TKD Manager handles tablets

Taekwondo Competition Manager runs entirely in the browser, so any tablet in current everyday use works. All you need is internet and a browser. There is a dedicated ring scorer view that strips the UI down to the bare minimum a judge needs: fighter names, score buttons, timer. Coaches and audience get separate read-only views on bigger screens.

Prefer to talk it through? Call or text +44 7546 289 419 — UK working hours. Or email tkd@webmatter.co.uk.