Dude, nobody has ever taught me anything about tennis. I've never had a tennis lesson in my life. The way I learned was just practicing by hitting against the wall, and experimenting a lot, learning from my mistakes. Just because I can't tell grip size from a mile away doesn't mean I don't know how to play.
Here's what a 4.5 player is according to USTA:
Tell me what part in that description you think I can't do.
Dude, I hate to be the one to burst your bubble, and no offense intended here, but you’re probably a 3.0, if not a 2.5.
The “characteristics” that USTA publishes are very confusing and disingenuous, imo, because they cause just this type of gross misunderstanding.
Your correct “rating” is simply a handicap number, if you want to call it that (kind of like in golf), that merely indicates your ability level in terms of your ability to win matches against other rated players.
In other words, your correct rating is the same as the computer rating of someone that you play more-or-less evenly with.
A computer rating gets set from the computer comparing, at the end of each year, everyone in league play to everyone else (either directly or indirectly) in accordance with all of the match results that year in the USTA NTRP leagues and tournaments.
USTA has a booklet called the
NTRP Guidebook that you might want to read.
Here are a couple of salient points that the guidebook mentions:
Q. Can the NTRP be successful as a self-rating-only program?
A. A self-rating can be accurate. But it is important to remember that
there is no substitute for match results as a measure of playing
ability. Even when the NTRP is used as a self-rating-only program,
a tennis professional can assist players through the process. In any
competitive program, it will become obvious from match results
when players have rated themselves inaccurately.
Q. Must players qualify on all points of all preceding NTRP descriptions
before placing themselves in a particular category?
A. No. The rating categories are generalizations about skill levels. They
should place themselves in the category that most closely matches
their playing skill level. The ultimate test is in match play results.
Remember:
• The rating categories are generalizations about skill level.
• You may find that you actually play above or below the category that
best describes your skill level, depending on your competitive ability.
• Your self-rating is not meant to be static; rather it may be adjusted as
your match play demonstrates the need for reclassification.
• There is no substitute for match results as a measure of playing ability.
Play somebody in your area that has a computer rating and see how you do.
When you find somebody you play against more-or-less evenly (i.e., you don’t know for sure ahead of time who will win each time), you’ll know your correct level.
EDIT: Oh, and your strings are dead and need to be replaced.