Bumped up to 4.0 for the 3rd time...

[muelld]

When the ratings came out last November, I was bumped up from 3.5 to 4.0 for the 3rd time (all within a 7 year period). Both previous times, the computer moved me back to 3.5 (the first time after 3 seasons of limited play at 4.0, the second after just 1 season). I tend to have good success at 3.5 (particularly in seniors, where teams I was on made it to our Section championships twice).

But I have limited success playing against the more skilled and typically younger 4.0s. I guess I need to find a 3.75 league

This time, I collaborated with several other "barely 4.0s" to form our own team. We figure that way we can play as much as we want - unlike my previous experiences joining established 4.0 teams, and only getting limited play (deservedly, because I could not successfully contribute to a solid 4.0 team whose goal was to win the league).

I was wondering how many of you had this experience, and how you have dealt with your experience at the higher level of play.

Thanks!

[J011yroger]

Lots of clubs here field "A" teams and "B" teams, especially at levels lower than 4.5 where there are more players.

The A-Team has assorted ringers, scoundrels, and seasoned veterans who seek to win the league while the B-Team usually has everyone else of the rating, and some younger guys who want to play up as well.

The in between dilemma really gets younger guys who have doubles games which are much weaker than their singles games.

Since the strongest players on the team usually play singles a guy can be a good amount stronger than all the singles players at his level but a good amount weaker than the singles players at the next level. But due to his proportionally weak doubles game he can't play doubles at the higher level and finds himself out of a job.

J

[Cindysphinx]

Smart move to form your own team. I captain, and it is just a fact of life that weaker players are going to play less, maybe a lot less.

[dizzlmcwizzl]

I feel your pain ... right now I think I am in 4.0-4.5 purgatory. I was not challenged at 4.0, now that I am a 4.5, I am pretty sure I am not good enough for 4.5.

We used to have much more of that here. Players were frequently moving up one year and down the next. Some of it I think was due to players getting bumped and then "working" their way back down to the level where they think they belong.

Recently however, I do not think that is as true. Someone on the boards referred to this as "downwards stickiness" ... but I think the USTA has tweaked thier algoritym to make it harder to move down than it is to move up.

[NLBwell]

Depends on the section. Here, a lot of people were moved down. Other sections, not so. I wish I knew how they try to balance the strength of the sections.

[J_R_B]

Originally Posted by dizzlmcwizzl

I feel your pain ... right now I think I am in 4.0-4.5 purgatory. I was not challenged at 4.0, now that I am a 4.5, I am pretty sure I am not good enough for 4.5.

We used to have much more of that here. Players were frequently moving up one year and down the next. Some of it I think was due to players getting bumped and then "working" their way back down to the level where they think they belong.

Recently however, I do not think that is as true. Someone on the boards referred to this as "downwards stickiness" ... but I think the USTA has tweaked thier algoritym to make it harder to move down than it is to move up.

LOL. You're plenty good enough for 4.5. It's just that you'll be 10-10 instead of 25-2, but that's certainly not "not good enough".

[dizzlmcwizzl]

Originally Posted by J_R_B

LOL. You're plenty good enough for 4.5. It's just that you'll be 10-10 instead of 25-2, but that's certainly not "not good enough".

You are being very kind ... I appreciate it though.

I am sure I will be ok ... and I will likely have a decent season. Honestly I was tired of only having 4 or 5 competitive in a season. So I am truly looking forward to 4.5 this year.

However, since I have been recording and sharing lots of my match play videos I now realize just how far away I am from good enough for 4.5. It is amazing how much better I thought I was before I saw myself on video.

[maggmaster]

4.5 is a massive range my friend. I have played 4.5s and beat them in open tournaments and there are others that I cannot get a game off of. By the same token I got beaten this weekend by someone that moved down to 4.0 this year from 4.5.

[Angle Queen]

Originally Posted by muelld

This time, I collaborated with several other "barely 4.0s" to form our own team. We figure that way we can play as much as we want - unlike my previous experiences joining established 4.0 teams, and only getting limited play (deservedly, because I could not successfully contribute to a solid 4.0 team whose goal was to win the league).

I was wondering how many of you had this experience, and how you have dealt with your experience at the higher level of play.

Thanks!

Super smart to form your own team of similarly situated players. If you go into the season with the attitude that you'll probably lose a lot but get a lot of personal playing time and experience...you'll probably enjoy it, learn from it and, perhaps, even win more than you expect.

Last year, I was also on a team like that. We had 1/3 of players playing up, two more brand-new at-level folks, and an 18-yr old who self-rated "up" based on her skill set and modest HS results. We finished a very respectable better-than-middle-of-the-pack in a highly competitive league.

Why? Probably because the rest of the league knew (or thought ) we were bottom feeders and put out less than their best lineups. All of our losses were of the 2-3 variety and I think we were "in" most of those matches.

Good on you for creating your own "spot" to play and not complaining about the computer's whimsy.

[LeeD]

I wish I had your problem.
I found out the reason I wasn't asked to join AlbertPark's 4.0 team was that I didn't look like any 4.0 player. I look like a 5.0 player when I'm practicing.
Unfortunately, I actually play like a 3.5 lately.

[sureshs]

AlbertPark is a wise guy

[LeeD]

Yeah, they are the state 4.0 champions for 2011. Of the 12 guys on that team, I"ve never lost to 8 of them, lost every time to one, and don't recognize the other 3.

[SwankPeRFection]

Winning is nice, but if all you do is constantly win at 3.5, then you're a 4.0 player. It's as simple as that. Nothing is worse than knowing a player should be in a higher tier than the level that they're at, but for some reason they're ranked lower due to an appeal, loophole, or in this case limited play.

My suggestion, if you were amazing at 3.5 doubles and really good at 3.5 singles and got bumped to 4.0 but are losing your *** at 4.0 singles against the faster/younger guys, then play more 4.0 doubles and win there. If your older, the higher the ranking you go, the better sometimes it is to have a partner if mobility or a slight weakness is in your game. Find a strong 4.0 partner and play some competitive 4.0 tennis instead of wanting to stay at 3.5 just so you can win and make sectionals all the time.

[Ronaldo]

Hope you can accept a losing season as a team. Have over 50 4.0 players at this club. Even the C team has too many players for anyone to play every week.

[ronray43]

We simply put together a team of bottom feeder 4.0s. Having said that, even though we had plenty of playing time (7-10 matches per player), getting our behinds whacked every week did get old after a while. But, it was nice not having any pressure to win.

Like you, I'm waiting for the 3.75 league to start . . . !!

[Ronaldo]

Originally Posted by ronray43

We simply put together a team of bottom feeder 4.0s. Having said that, even though we had plenty of playing time (7-10 matches per player), getting our behinds whacked every week did get old after a while. But, it was nice not having any pressure to win.

Like you, I'm waiting for the 3.75 league to start . . . !!

Any thoughts of just blowing up the whole season to get rated down again? Our singles player got lucky and bumped down agin.

[TennisCJC]

I think USTA needs more levels. 3.5, 4.0, and 4.5 are probably 90% of the USTA levels with the vast majority of those being in the 3.5 and 4.0 levels. They need about 5 or 6 levels that include 90% of the players - like 3.25, 3.5, 3.75, 4.0, 4.25 and 4.5. Then the really bad or really good 10% would be 3.0 or lower or 5.0 or higher.

I play in ALTA in Atlanta and they have too many level C1, C2... thru C8, B1 thru B8, A1 thru A8, and AA1, AA2, and AA3. That's 27 levels which is a bit extreme.

But, USTA needs more levels in the middle groups where 90% of the players reside.

[Ronaldo]

Originally Posted by TennisCJC

I think USTA needs more levels. 3.5, 4.0, and 4.5 are probably 90% of the USTA levels with the vast majority of those being in the 3.5 and 4.0 levels. They need about 5 or 6 levels that include 90% of the players - like 3.25, 3.5, 3.75, 4.0, 4.25 and 4.5. Then the really bad or really good 10% would be 3.0 or lower or 5.0 or higher.

I play in ALTA in Atlanta and they have too many level C1, C2... thru C8, B1 thru B8, A1 thru A8, and AA1, AA2, and AA3. That's 27 levels which is a bit extreme.

But, USTA needs more levels in the middle groups where 90% of the players reside.

Level play may get muddled a bit when a team is allowed to add two players of a higher level to their team.

[LuckyR]

Originally Posted by muelld

When the ratings came out last November, I was bumped up from 3.5 to 4.0 for the 3rd time (all within a 7 year period). Both previous times, the computer moved me back to 3.5 (the first time after 3 seasons of limited play at 4.0, the second after just 1 season). I tend to have good success at 3.5 (particularly in seniors, where teams I was on made it to our Section championships twice).

But I have limited success playing against the more skilled and typically younger 4.0s. I guess I need to find a 3.75 league

This time, I collaborated with several other "barely 4.0s" to form our own team. We figure that way we can play as much as we want - unlike my previous experiences joining established 4.0 teams, and only getting limited play (deservedly, because I could not successfully contribute to a solid 4.0 team whose goal was to win the league).

I was wondering how many of you had this experience, and how you have dealt with your experience at the higher level of play.

Thanks!

Not an uncommon situation to be in. You don't mention your age, but it seems to me that you would do better to be better or worse than where you happen to be, convenience-wise.

If you are not elderly and willing/motivated to work on your game, many if not most would find it easy to bump their game smack dab into the heart of the 4.0 ranking.

OTOH if you are unmotivated and elderly, you will likely solve your own problem by doing nothing in particular as your game sinks into the 3.5 realm.

[SweetH2O]

Originally Posted by TennisCJC

I think USTA needs more levels. 3.5, 4.0, and 4.5 are probably 90% of the USTA levels with the vast majority of those being in the 3.5 and 4.0 levels. They need about 5 or 6 levels that include 90% of the players - like 3.25, 3.5, 3.75, 4.0, 4.25 and 4.5. Then the really bad or really good 10% would be 3.0 or lower or 5.0 or higher.

I play in ALTA in Atlanta and they have too many level C1, C2... thru C8, B1 thru B8, A1 thru A8, and AA1, AA2, and AA3. That's 27 levels which is a bit extreme.

But, USTA needs more levels in the middle groups where 90% of the players reside.

Since you play in Atlanta, then the USTA leagues here have what you are looking for. There are 3.0low, 3.5low, 4.0low and 4.5low leagues that are restricted to players in the bottom half of their respective ratings. I like it a lot because it makes for more competitive matches. It also makes it easier for a team to make a jump to the next level as a group when 2-3 of its players get bumped up.