My first ever UTR singles tourney. What to expect?

[travlerajm]

Definitely a bummer to go out with injury, but I was enjoying competing.

My tournament instincts were definitely rusty. I felt I was slow to make the right strategic reads, from not being in tournament situations in a while.

In the first match against the laid-back counter-puncher, if I could play him again, I would have have stayed with strategy of playing his bh, even though it was his stronger wing. I could hang fine with him in the bh-to-bh rallies, but I was getting into trouble whenever I tried to attack his fh and he replied heavy to my fh. The fh-to-fh was killing me, because slice was totally ineffective against him and just made him more comfortable.

Last night’s opponent was more comfortable style for me to play against, but I still made regrettable tactical errors in the moment on highly leveraged points. This player was the opposite of the first guy, in that he was way stronger when I played passively, but easier to attack because he was less balanced, with stronger fh but weaker bh.

My regret was not attacking with aggressive mindset when I had set point, instead I let him be too comfortable. That’s not being mentally tournament tuned.

 

[Bambooman]

Prepping for my big QF match with pre-match papas fritas from the local Bacon burger franchise. There is some sort of special addictive salty seasoning in these that makes you feel chemically balanced afterward and less likely to cramp up in the balmy humid conditions.

I will need to be able to keep up with the counterpunching clay specialist kid with run-all-day legs.

That is called Monosodium Glutamate.

 

[travlerajm]

That is called Monosodium Glutamate.

That was probably my biggest tactical error yesterday — skipping the Bacon papas fritas.

 

[tennis3]

Stretching over a period of time will increase your flexibility. So you come to the court with a much better base level. This should be helpful. But stretching day of, just to loosen up, can only do so much. Which is not much. And I agree, it can easily be counterproductive if done "wrong".

This is just common sense and applies to anything. Stretching, resistance training, cardio as a long term lifestyle is healthy. But most people approach all of this with a bit too "modern" mindset for me. But whatever, it's really none of my business.

Eating "not unhealthy" just as a lifestyle is going to be very beneficial. I say "not unhealthy" as opposed to healthy. You don't need to go crazy. Basically, if you cook most things you eat, you'll be fine. So long as you understand that cooking isn't warming up packaged food at home. It's actually cooking.

 

[travlerajm]

Stretching over a period of time will increase your flexibility. So you come to the court with a much better base level. This should be helpful. But stretching day of, just to loosen up, can only do so much. Which is not much. And I agree, it can easily be counterproductive if done "wrong".

This is just common sense and applies to anything. Stretching, resistance training, cardio as a long term lifestyle is healthy. But most people approach all of this with a bit too "modern" mindset for me. But whatever, it's really none of my business.

Eating "not unhealthy" just as a lifestyle is going to be very beneficial. I say "not unhealthy" as opposed to healthy. You don't need to go crazy. Basically, if you cook most things you eat, you'll be fine. So long as you understand that cooking isn't warming up packaged food at home. It's actually cooking.

It’s gonna be a vino tinto night.

 

[J011yroger]

I went down 6-1, 6-1. The two games I won were by using serve-and-volley. I probably should have used the tactic more.

I wish I could find the advice I gave you earlier in the thread. Does anyone remember it?

J

 

[onehandbh]

I felt it seize up with a cramp in the moment it happened. Then felt like I couldn’t straighten my leg afterward due to the cramp.

Sounds similar to the hamstring injury I had. Was sprinting towards a dropshot when I suddenly cramped and then super sharp pain and onto the ground. Mine was a little above the knee area. By the next morning there was a ~4 inch patch of bleeding under the skin at the location of my injury. Looked kind of scary. Could even straighten my leg and could barely limp.

Looking back, my injury was my own fault. Had been going up and down stairs all day at a work site and didn't drink any water. Super dehydrated.

 

[travlerajm]

Sounds similar to the hamstring injury I had. Was sprinting towards a dropshot when I suddenly cramped and then super sharp pain and onto the ground. Mine was a little above the knee area. By the next morning there was a ~4 inch patch of bleeding under the skin at the location of my injury. Looked kind of scary. Could even straighten my leg and could barely limp.

Looking back, my injury was my own fault. Had been going up and down stairs all day at a work site and didn't drink any water. Super dehydrated.

Looking back, my injury was my own fault too. What was I thinking entering this tournament for 20-year-olds.

 

[onehandbh]

Looking back, my injury was my own fault too. What was I thinking entering this tournament for 20-year-olds.

UTR's website told you that 20 is too old. Drop down to the G2 ball tournaments.

 

[travlerajm]

For the first time ever, I now have a singles UTR with the blue check.

 

[FuzzyYellowBalls]

For the first time ever, I now have a singles UTR with the blue check.

Congratulations on battling it out with the youth and showing them, old guys can still battle. Looks like you need to work on the pickleball rating.

You are on your way to a solid 4.0 UTR singles rating.

It was interesting that your opponent who you really were going toe to toe with before that injury had an 8 UTR before your results were posted to UTR, then a 10 the next day before the results were posted, now a 9 while having just a 20% reliability rating.

Yours is hovering around a 4% reliability , so, like many in this tournament that UTR is going to do a jitterbug probably in the coming months.

Now, the 20% reliability rating 8-10-9 UTR you were hanging with ran into the buzzsaw girl of UTR 6 with a 100% reliability rating and lost in a close one, but funny enough that UTR 9 with the 20% gets to keep his UTR 9 while his 100% UTR 6 female opponent marches onward to the next round.

Imagine a 10 UTR boy losing to a 6 UTR girl, well, it sheds some light on how important the reliability rating is.

The good news is you encountered a 100% reliability rating player with 1 degree of separation, so we can assume your 100% UTR is around 5-7, probably 6, but who knows. That's a solid 4.0 rating.

I applaud you for jumping back into singles action and I wish you a very quick recovery.

 

[graycrait]

@travlerajm , a few years ago I typed my name into the UTR website and it surprised the heck out of me. I say some figure over 9 but below 10UTR. Upon closer examination a fellow from a few states away had the same name as I have. Did that stop me from having a little fun with my tennis peeps, No! I got a few short miles of laughs out of it for a day or two. Showing it to the D1 kids was fun, eliciting comments from them like, "No way you are in the 9's." "If you are UTR 9 then I must be 15."

 

[travlerajm]

Congratulations on battling it out with the youth and showing them, old guys can still battle. Looks like you need to work on the pickleball rating.

You are on your way to a solid 4.0 UTR singles rating.

It was interesting that your opponent who you really were going toe to toe with before that injury had an 8 UTR before your results were posted to UTR, then a 10 the next day before the results were posted, now a 9 while having just a 20% reliability rating.

Yours is hovering around a 4% reliability , so, like many in this tournament that UTR is going to do a jitterbug probably in the coming months.

Now, the 20% reliability rating 8-10-9 UTR you were hanging with ran into the buzzsaw girl of UTR 6 with a 100% reliability rating and lost in a close one, but funny enough that UTR 9 with the 20% gets to keep his UTR 9 while his 100% UTR 6 female opponent marches onward to the next round.

Imagine a 10 UTR boy losing to a 6 UTR girl, well, it sheds some light on how important the reliability rating is.

The good news is you encountered a 100% reliability rating player with 1 degree of separation, so we can assume your 100% UTR is around 5-7, probably 6, but who knows. That's a solid 4.0 rating.

I applaud you for jumping back into singles action and I wish you a very quick recovery.

Nice try. Since both supergirl and laid-back counterpuncher kid will be playing d2 level college matches in the states soon, their under-rated UTR’s will take a big leap upward. My UTR will get swept up in their wake.

 

[travlerajm]

Congratulations on battling it out with the youth and showing them, old guys can still battle. Looks like you need to work on the pickleball rating.

You are on your way to a solid 4.0 UTR singles rating.

It was interesting that your opponent who you really were going toe to toe with before that injury had an 8 UTR before your results were posted to UTR, then a 10 the next day before the results were posted, now a 9 while having just a 20% reliability rating.

Yours is hovering around a 4% reliability , so, like many in this tournament that UTR is going to do a jitterbug probably in the coming months.

Now, the 20% reliability rating 8-10-9 UTR you were hanging with ran into the buzzsaw girl of UTR 6 with a 100% reliability rating and lost in a close one, but funny enough that UTR 9 with the 20% gets to keep his UTR 9 while his 100% UTR 6 female opponent marches onward to the next round.

Imagine a 10 UTR boy losing to a 6 UTR girl, well, it sheds some light on how important the reliability rating is.

The good news is you encountered a 100% reliability rating player with 1 degree of separation, so we can assume your 100% UTR is around 5-7, probably 6, but who knows. That's a solid 4.0 rating.

I applaud you for jumping back into singles action and I wish you a very quick recovery.

To fact check your assertion of where my UTR will settle, I went and checked my WTN singles rating (my only other active singles only computer rating). It has updated to 12.9.
Plugging it into the WTN to UTR converter, it converts to UTR 11.62.

 

[tennis3]

It’s gonna be a vino tinto night.

How's the injury?

 

[travlerajm]

How's the injury?

I’m actually feeling more upbeat about it today than yesterday, because my range of motion has been recovering faster than I expected.

The last time I tore my hamstring 7 years ago, it was a 2-month injury, and it felt less severe in the moment than this time.

That time was during an 8.0 mixed usta league match. It was the rubber match for the team, and if I win the match, it would send our team to playoffs. If I retired, our team would be eliminated.

I finished out the match, hobbling around the court, and won (against a 4.0/4.0 team, so I didn’t need to do much).

But this time, when the injury happened, I couldn’t even stand up. I knew I was done.

I figured I wouldn’t even be able to step on a court for a month. But today I can actually walk without a limp! I think that the local lactic acid concentration from the cramp might have been limiting my range of motion, and now that it’s cleared up, the extent of the tear feels less severe than I first worried.

The club director offered me up a slot this evening with my nemesis guy. I told her I can’t run, but that maybe I can see if I can at least rally. Even if I’m not moving much and can’t play points, being on court would be a big win for my mental health.

 

[ptuanminh]

Tournaments sound like fun. I should start playing tournaments.

 

[tennis3]

The club director offered me up a slot this evening with my nemesis guy. I told her I can’t run, but that maybe I can see if I can at least rally. Even if I’m not moving much and can’t play points, being on court would be a big win for my mental health.

Glad to hear it's not as bad as you first thought

You know your own body best. I'm much more risk averse than you. When I have even the slightest injury, I shut it down until I'm 100% for several days or even weeks.

 

[travlerajm]

Not sure if others have first-hand experience recovering from cramp-tear combo injury vs standalone tear without cramp?

 

[travlerajm]

Glad to hear it's not as bad as you first thought

You know your own body best. I'm much more risk averse than you. When I have even the slightest injury, I shut it down until I'm 100% for several days or even weeks.

I think I already covered the rationale for my approach:

My first ever UTR singles tourney. What to expect?

This week will be my UTR singles debut. I entered both categories: Open Level co-ed 10.0-and-under co-ed

tt.tennis-warehouse.com

 

[FuzzyYellowBalls]

Nice try. Since both supergirl and laid-back counterpuncher kid will be playing d2 level college matches in the states soon, their under-rated UTR’s will take a big leap upward. My UTR will get swept up in their wake.

It's not a try, your real UTR is between 5 and 7. The girl who beat the guy you had a good match (before the injury) with is 100% a UTR 6. That's a specific 100% UTR number.

A vague statement that the players one or more are going to play D 2 tennis doesn't alter that. There are many many levels of D2 tennis.

Nothing to be ashamed of or need to reply to with WTN numbers. You're a solid 4 0.

Heal well and get some more UTR tourneys in to solidify that rating.

 

[travlerajm]

It's not a try, your real UTR is between 5 and 7. The girl who beat the guy you had a good match (before the injury) with is 100% a UTR 6. That's a specific 100% UTR number.

A vague statement that the players one or more are going to play D 2 tennis doesn't alter that. There are many many levels of D2 tennis.

Nothing to be ashamed of or need to reply to with WTN numbers.

Heal well and get some more UTR tourneys in to solidify that rating.

My real UTR is what it is. Yesterday I was a G2. Today I’m a 9.36. Let’s see what tomorrow brings.

 

[FuzzyYellowBalls]

My real UTR is what it is. Yesterday I was a G2. Today I’m a 9.36. Let’s see what tomorrow brings.

As I explained, with a 4% reliability, that percentage is there to let people know the number is not reliable.

That's why the guy you were playing when the injury happened is still a UTR 10 20% reliability and the girl who beat him is still a UTR 6 100% reliabiltiy.

Unless you think it's common for a UTR 10 to lose to a UTR 6, it's not.

Your UTR will continue to gyrate and be unreliable until you get 10 or so matches at least. Of course I explained that to you a few times in your other threads .

 

[travlerajm]

Paraguay Kyrgios is still sporting his G2 rating, which, to spoil the joke, is a transitional rating, meaning UTR formula spits out a rating with less than 10% reliability.

He lost 2 and 4 to laid-back counterpuncher kid. Then he lost 2 and 2 to a UTR 10 in the open draw.

His closest result was winning 7-6 in third a retired player who once reached a slam final at the AO, lost badly 0 and 2 to right-handed Rafa kid who I played on Wednesday night. To complete the circle.

 

[FuzzyYellowBalls]

His closest result was winning 7-6 in third a retired player who once reached a slam final at the AO, lost badly 0 and 2 to right-handed Rafa kid who I played on Wednesday night. To complete the circle.

Do you mean "Fernando Gonzalez" ?

 

[jmnk]

Yours is hovering around a 4% reliability , so, like many in this tournament that UTR is going to do a jitterbug probably in the coming months.

Now, the 20% reliability rating 8-10-9 UTR you were hanging with ran into the buzzsaw girl of UTR 6 with a 100% reliability rating and lost in a close one, but funny enough that UTR 9 with the 20% gets to keep his UTR 9 while his 100% UTR 6 female opponent marches onward to the next round.

Imagine a 10 UTR boy losing to a 6 UTR girl, well, it sheds some light on how important the reliability rating is.

The good news is you encountered a 100% reliability rating player with 1 degree of separation, so we can assume your 100% UTR is around 5-7, probably 6, but who knows. That's a solid 4.0 rating.

It's even better than the above. We have four players, OP played two of them, and one player has 100% reliable ranking. And results actually make a lot of sense.
player X beat player Y 62 62, and player X beat OP 61 61
player Y beat player Z 62 36 76
player Z beat OP 75 (retired)

from the above we can deduct that the players are, in the best-to-worse order:
player X
Player Y
player Z
OP

player Y has 100% reliable UTR ranking of 6.7. Y and Z had a close match with Z winning. Z and OP had a close match with Z winning. Y got 2 more games off of X than OP did. That all makes sense - if you disregard UTR of players with unreliable numbers. And suggests that OP is about 6.3 or so. Which is a pretty solid ranking.

 

[travlerajm]

You guys are now really exhausting a lot of posting energy to come up with reasons why my UTR should be a lot lower than UTR says it is.

And back when UTR said my doubles UTR was low (due to the partner rating adjustment missing) before it drifted back up, you guys were exhausting lots of posting energy to justify why my UTR was perfectly accurate then.

Hmm.

 

[jmnk]

I also think that those Paraguay kids/coaches discovered a holy grail of UTR ranking management. If you look at many of those players with ~7-8-9 UTR rankings you will notice that while they may have quite a few matches a majority of those matches (like 85% of them if not more) are losses. But these are losses against players that have way higher UTR rankings (like 8 losing to 10.5). In those losses they pick up a game here, two games there - which gives them UTR in 7-8 range.

The point is that due to how UTR (or NRTP) works you do not need to win. You just need to win some games. And if you do that (which is not really that uncommon when playing against someone vastly superior due to the superior player being just plain bored) playing against someone way higher your ranking will be unreasonable inflated. That is a better method of getting high ranking than playing unbalanced mixed (hint hint )

 

[FuzzyYellowBalls]

You guys are now really exhausting a lot of posting energy to come up with reasons why my UTR should be a lot lower than UTR says it is.

And back when UTR said my doubles UTR was low (due to the partner rating adjustment missing) before it drifted back up, you guys were exhausting lots of posting energy to justify why my UTR was perfectly accurate then.

Hmm.

I'm trying to get G.O.A.T. status on the boards. But, really, are you day drinking or did you think a former AO finalist was playing in your tournament?

 

[jmnk]

You guys are now really exhausting a lot of posting energy to come up with reasons why my UTR should be a lot lower than UTR says it is.

And back when UTR said my doubles UTR was low (due to the partner rating adjustment missing) before it drifted back up, you guys were exhausting lots of posting energy to justify why my UTR was perfectly accurate then.

Hmm.

the point we are trying to show is that UTR number _on its own without looking at its reliability_ is, well, unreliable. It's not that it is 'bad' or 'wrong'. it is unreliable. And you know that, but just fail to mention it.

it is no different than throwing the dice 10 times and getting #6 seven times, and #2 three times. It happened, no one can say it's 'wrong'. But because of the number tries being so low it is _unreliable_ and it would be wrong to think that the similar will happen over thousands of tries. Obviously over thousands of throws you will get a distribution where each number is being thrown 1/6 of the time.

 

[travlerajm]

I'm trying to get G.O.A.T. status on the boards. But, really, are you day drinking or did you think a former AO finalist was playing in your tournament?

I just assumed that Gonzo had let himself go a little.

 

[travlerajm]

We seem to have some posters pretty heavily invested with proving that my UTR should be lower than UTR says it is. I’m getting tired of fake emojis.

 

[FuzzyYellowBalls]

We seem to have some posters pretty heavily invested with proving that my UTR should be lower than UTR says it is. I’m getting tired of fake emojis.

Just helping you understand it, you did create the thread "my UTR is going to Hell" which seemed to be a call for action to help explain your UTR. Wasn't it?

 

[travlerajm]

Just helping you understand it, you did create the thread "my UTR is going to Hell" which seemed to be a call for action to help explain your UTR. Wasn't it?

What would I do without you guys?

 

[FuzzyYellowBalls]

What would I do without you guys?

Heal up my friend, you need a few more singles matches under your belt.

 

[travlerajm]

btw. I was sitting next to supergirl’s hot mom on Monday night while watching her get frustrated in losing to laid-back counterpuncher kid. I asked her why her results were so poor last year. If I understood her correctly, she said she was injured and playing zurda. So I guess that’s how a UTR 6 beats a UTR 10.

 

[tennis3]

If I understood her correctly, she said she was injured and playing zurda.

Rafa is also injured and playing zurda

 

[travlerajm]

Rafa is also injured and playing zurda

I am also an an injured person who plays tennis.

 

[tennis3]

To complete the circle.

I am also an an injured person who plays tennis.

Vamos!

 

[travlerajm]

My singles UTR took a hit today. Dropped 4 points from UTR 9 to a UTR 5 overnight, but got some good rest while the computer did the deed.

Will it bounce back mañana?

 

[tennis3]

UTR deducts 4 points for torn hamstrings. Part of the algorithm

 

[jdawgg]

Never saw someone with as much of a vendetta against UTR as Trav.

Must be annoying when you only play mixed doubles.

 

[travlerajm]

Never saw someone with as much of a vendetta against UTR as Trav.

Must be annoying when you only play mixed doubles.

I like the concept of UTR. Just wish they’d fix the utterly flawed algorithm instead of being in denial.

Poor Carlos has a 3.44 doubles UTR because he made mistake of entering a pro am.

 

[travlerajm]

A soft shout-out to my up-and-coming WTA racquet client for getting a quality win over a UTR 12.x today.

 

[jdawgg]

I like the concept of UTR. Just wish they’d fix the utterly flawed algorithm instead of being in denial.

Poor Carlos has a 3.44 doubles UTR because he made mistake of entering a pro am.

I haven't seen any evidence of a flawed algorithm, anecdotes don't count. I think if UTR didn't post any kind of rating until people had 100% reliability, then there wouldn't be many complaints. Maybe still some if you play mixed, haha.

 

[travlerajm]

I haven't seen any evidence of a flawed algorithm, anecdotes don't count. I think if UTR didn't post any kind of rating until people had 100% reliability, then there wouldn't be many complaints. Maybe still some if you play mixed, haha.

It’s more than anecdote. The formula for calculating a doubles match rating omits the partner strength adjustment in calculating opponent strength (even tho UTR claims it’s there). So you end up with unsolvable results. My doubles rating is jumping around between UTR 6 and UTR 9, despite UTR claiming 5 matches is all you need to get a reliable rating. The reason it jumps around is because the algorithm can’t find a solution, so it flips alternating between compromising the system by bumping up UTR 2 players to UTR 4, and bumping down UTR 9 players to UTR 7. In either case, half the results (either the mixed ones or the same-gender ones) make no sense, so it has to flip and try again. If they would simply fix the formula so that it could accommodate players of wide level disparity playing together, it would be stable.

It’s easy to prove this by looking at all the players who play only mixed 8.0 or 9.0 as part of 4.5M/3.5f teams, or 5.0m/4.0f teams.

 

[ServeBot]

My singles UTR took a hit today. Dropped 4 points from UTR 9 to a UTR 5 overnight, but got some good rest while the computer did the deed.

Will it bounce back mañana?

Confirmed 5 UTR!

 

[travlerajm]

UTR ratings update, because why not?

Paraguay JLo: still G1

Supergirl: still 6.xx (got double-bageled by UTR 11)

Pink thermos girl: still 6.xx (20%)

Laid-back counterpuncher kid: upgraded to UTR 9.xx (20%) plays 10-and-under final this afternoon.

Paraguay Kyrgios: upgraded to 8.xx (10%)

Right-handed Rafa college kid: downgraded to 8.xx (50%)

Explosive-hitting 10-and-under finalist: upgraded to 8.xx (90%)

10-and-under draw Gonzo: 7.xx

Fuerza Libre draw Gonzo: 12.0

Old Injured Guy: 7.51 (10%)

 

[travlerajm]

I watched the finals for both categories last night, scheduled deliberately at the same time.

The laid-back counterpuncher kid I lost to in the QF won pretty easily vs the explosive-hitting UTR 8.x.

The kid played a masterpiece of pusher tennis. The explosive hitter kid had really impressive explosiveness and reliability on his forehand and serve. Great American twist that really jumped sideways. You would think he was a solid 5.0 ntrp if you watched him play against anyone else. But his fatal flaw that keeps him from being better than a UTR 8 is that he’s not comfortable taking balls out of the air.

Counterpuncher kid used explosive kid’s reluctance to come forward against him, by slicing and moonballing him into submission. I was proud of him. I used to play just like him, but not when I was 18yo, but when I was in my late 40s. I was a kamakaze serve-and-volley guy in high school, but re-invented myself as a defensive player later. Now age 50, my legs are probably too fragile to execute that strategy for a whole tourney anymore.

In the Fuerza Libre final, two Davis Cupper UTR 12s beat up on each other, slugging it out. They both had exactly the same style, pummeling big clay forehands back and forth. Mixing in a few slices and 2hb. If one guy wasn’t shorter than the other with dreadlocks pinned atop his head, they would have been hard to tell apart, with their strokes so similar. I found that match boring.

It was much more interesting to watch the pure offense-versus-defense battle on the other court.
Explosive kid had a run where he started red-lining and making winners into the corners, forcing a tiebreak. But I told the person watching next to me, that defense kid will win 2nd set 6-2 (after explosive kid went up 1-0), as I was pretty sure that defense kid was well within his comfort zone, while explosive kid would come back to earth.