How many people here are rated 4.5 or higher?

tennisace said:

fco253 said:

Hey guys, I live outside USA, I know the rating system and what it means, but not how it really works.
Could one of you, who has the time and the patience, explain to me a couple of things?
-how is the ranking assigned/updated?
-You jump from 3.0 to 3.5 to 4.0, or you can be 3.2,3.7, etc.?
-The tourneys reunite players within which point difference?

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You hit for about 30 minutes with another player while a USTA certified teaching pro watches. Depending on what they see, they assign you a rating. The scale is only on a .5, so no such thing as a 3.2, 3.4. It also costs to be rated, and at least where I live (upstate NY) it's only offered a few times a year. Being rated isn't a requirement to play socially, but if you want to play on a USTA team, you must have a rating. You need to get rated at least once a year to play on a team, and if you're rated 3.0 you play on a team, and in a league of other 3.0 teams.

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I'm surprised they're still making you pay to get rated. Here in Virginia, and I'd thought for all USTA League play, you do what's called "self-rating" where basically you use their guidelines and figure out where you think you are. (http://www.usta.com/leagues/custom.sps?iType=931&icustompageid=6250) Your first season of play, you're considered "self-rated" and your scores are carefully monitored. For example, if you rate yourself as a 3.0 and then play #1 singles and are killing everybody 6-0, 6-0...you can bet another team will challenge your rating. That's a US$50 fee...for a USTA official to "test" the player. That fee is refunded if they find you've underestimated yourself...and all your scores are disqualified.

Obviously with that kind of system, there is some gamesmanship. For an adult re-entering competitive play, they often try to underestimate themselves so they can find success (or their form again...which is a somewhat legitimate concern). The captain I play for (who is also a level coordinator) won't stand for those shenanigans on her team and all of us are legitimate 3.0s partly because she rarely accepts a "self-rated" player due to the substantial risks involved. We usually lose some every year (up) but that's mostly due to the fact that we pay for year-round coaching and are always looking to improve our game.

USTA uses dynamic rating which, in theory, means they can adjust ratings over the course of the season but generally they only do that on specific request. Otherwise, the computer generates your scores twice a year. There's a mid-term grade...and you usually only appear on that list if you're in danger of losing your rating. The final ratings come out each fall.

They don't publish their rating formulas but the system has three general categories: "self-rated", normal and "benchmark" players. From the best we can figure out, you are compared to the "benchmark" players. If you beat them, it's a good bet you'll be moved up. If your matches with a benchmark player are tight, you'll probably stay where you are. If a benchmark player slaughters you...they're likely to move up...and/or you're likely to move down.

While I have heard of ratings not on the 0.5 point, it's rare and I've never seen it used around here.

Tournaments are either "rated" or "open". The rated tournaments strictly use NTRP ratings with no regard to age. "Open" tournaments sometimes have age categories but NTRP ratings are ignored. If the tournament is sanctioned, regardless of the type, your scores will count towards your rating.

tennisace said:

As far as some of the people on this board saying they're rated 5.0, 6.0 or higher - I guess it's possible, but most of the really really good players I know are rated no more then 4.5. Even the head pro at my club, who use to play on the women's tour about 15 years ago, or so, told me she's probably only a 5.0 now, since she's gotten older. And she's really really good.

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I'm with tennisace on this one...as least as far as adults are concerned. Some of the very best players in our area are only 4.5s and club pros would be 5.0s. On the other hand, I helped a local high school girls tennis team this past year and their #1 player was state and regionally ranked...got a scholarship to a small tier college...and I could still beat her consistently. Granted we only play one set at a time, but she was always the one tuckered out at the end.