How Do I Get a Pickleball Player Rating?

A question often asked by players is how to obtain a player rating.  Why does it matter? It matters because in many tournaments you need to know which division to enter. 

Tournament Divisions  If you are familiar with tournament structures, or if you are new, each division is usually defined with a number which is a player rating.  For example mens 3.0 , mens 3.5 , mens 4.0 etc. , means that you enter the division based on your player rating.  However there are two player rating numbers, a four digit and a two digit.

UTPR  UTPR stands for USAPA Tournament Player Rating.  There is a four digit number and a two digit number.  Basically the four digit number such as 2.499 is based on your tournament results.  It then corresponds to a two digit number which in this case would translate to be 2.0 (since it is between 2.0 and 2.499).  Both numbers can be found in your USAPA member account.  Here is a conversion chart below. 

• 2 Digit: Your two digit number is used for Tournament Registration.
• 4 Digit: Your four digit number is for Tournament Seeding.

Your ratings will be shown in your member account and looks like this:

Notice that there are three 2 digit ratings and three 4 digit ratings.  These are for Doubles (D) Mixed (M) and Singles (S). When you sign up for a tournament you will see them shown as example:  2.0D / 2.5M / 2.5S. 

Where Can I Find My Skill Rating?  You skill ratings will be found in your USAPA.org member account.  If you are a new member and have not played in a tournament yet then you will begin with a 2.0 rating.

As of the writing of this article on 7/8/19 we have determined that there is an issue with the 2.0 initial rating.  There is a chicken-and-egg problem.  With a 2.0 rating you cannot play in a USAPA Sanctioned Tournament (such as our Wolfe Tournament) because all USAPA Sanctioned Tournaments start at the 2.5 rating.  We believe the USAPA will fix this issue, possibly by changing the initial rating to a 2.5 but that remains to be seen. In the mean time each tournament has a director and you can contact the director and ask if you can regsiter and they can place you in a 2.5 or higher division.  Therefore if you are a new USAPA member and have a 2.0 just contact the tournament director for assistance.

How Do My Ratings Change?  Per the USAPA:  "..all USAPA member players that have participated in either a sanctioned or non-sanctioned tournament using PickleballTournaments software will automatically get an initial USAPA Tournament Player Rating in each of the event categories played."  As you can see there are two requirements:

1. you must be a USAPA member, and
2. you must participate in a tournament that uses the PickleballTournaments software to run the tournament.
   

Where Can I Find a Tournament?  Many tournaments list on the Pickleball Tournaments website (see the list here).  The fastest way to find a tournament is by State.

Types of Tournaments  Some Tournaments are USAPA sanctioned which is done with Tiers and each Tier has different requirements.  The tiers effect multiple tournament features, for example whether matches have referees.

As an example our Wolfe Tournament is USAPA sanctioned and uses PickleballTournaments software so you can obtain a rating change at this tournament based on your play, register for the 2019 Wolfe Pickleball Tournament and find out more here.

USAPA & IFP For reference know that there is the USAPA (United States of America Pickleball Association) and the International Federation of Pickleball (IFP).  USAPA will often defer to the IFP so there is no overlap to worry about.  The USAPA is for those in the United States and the IFP has multiple countries as members such as the USAPA, so you can play when on travel and if the countries are members of the IFP then sanctioned tournaments should have the same rules.

We hope this is helpful and better explains ratings information.

Additional information can be found on the USAPA Tournament Player Ratings FAQ here