USTA Benchmark ranking WITHOUT playoffs

[aurelius]

I'm not sure what to make of this...

The new rankings have created some confusion about benchmark players and that a player gets marked as a benchmark is they go to the post-season. However, I know two people who recently received a 3.5B rating with neither getting near a playoff and one never playing in a 3.5 league.

Here are the 2011 records of 2 people who become benchmark 3.5's as of the new rankings.

Player 1 - started the year a 2.5 self-rate. Not part of any team that advanced past the local league. 3.0 singles players he beat remain regular 3.0Cs:
W: 6-2, 7-5 #1 Singles 2.5
W: 6-4, 6-0 #1 Doubles 2.5
W: 6-0, 6-2 #1 Singles 2.5
W: 6-3, 6-3 #1 Doubles 3.0
L: 3-6, 7-5, 0-1 #1 Doubles 3.0
W: 6-3, 7-5 #1 Doubles 2.5
*** Got DQ'd from 2.5 league
W: 6-4, 6-1 #1 Singes 3.0
W: 6-7, 7-5, 1-0 #2 Singles 3.0
L: 2-6, 3-6 #1 Singles 3.0
L: 3-6, 7-5, 0-1 #2 Doubles Mixed 6.0

Player 2 - started the year a 3.0 self-rate. Not part of any team that advanced past the local league.
W: 6-0, 6-3 #2 Singles 3.5
W: 6-2, 6-2 #1 Singles 3.0
W: 6-2, 1-6, 1-0 #1 Singles 3.0
W 6-4, 6-3 #2 Singles 3.5
W 6-2, 6-4 #1 Singles 3.0
*** Got DQ's from 3.0 league
W 6-1, 6-4 #2 Singles 3.5
W 6-0, 6-3 #2 Singles 3.5
L: 2-6, 1-6 #2 Singles 3.5
L 6-3, 1-6, 0-1 #2 Singles 3.5

The players Player 2 beat also remained 3.0C or 3.5C after the new rankings. Plus of the 2 3.5 players that beat Player 2, one remained a 3.5C and one is now a 4.0B. But how can the player that beat player 2 remain a 3.5C while player 2 is now a 3.5B?

This pretty much shoots the benchmark=playoffs out the window as players can apparantly get benchmarked even if they never made the playoffs at that level and in the case of player 1 never even played a match at that level. Maybe it's something to do with self-rating. Thoughts?

 

[jonnyjack]

Getting dynamically disqualified gets you a benchmark rating as well.

 

[Lex]

I'm still confused too!!!

Our team made the 4.0 State playoffs and I got designated as a 4.0B after that. (We didn't do well as a team, I was just over 50% individually at State).

This season, our team lost in the finals to get to State (my partner and I were the only ones to win in the finals...2&3 at #2doubles).
I had one loss in the 4.0 league this past season.

I just got bumped to 4.5B.

How can I be a 4.5B if I haven't played 4.5 before and never made any "post season" at 4.5??

 

[J_R_B]

I'm still confused too!!!

Our team made the 4.0 State playoffs and I got designated as a 4.0B after that. (We didn't do well as a team, I was just over 50% individually at State).

This season, our team lost in the finals to get to State (my partner and I were the only ones to win in the finals...2&3 at #2doubles).
I had one loss in the 4.0 league this past season.

I just got bumped to 4.5B.

How can I be a 4.5B if I haven't played 4.5 before and never made any "post season" at 4.5??

You get a B if you make postseason, not necessarily at that level. You got the B designation because you made 4.0 postseason. B vs C just reflects which algorithm is used to get your dynamic rating. If you have postseason matches, then your matches were used in the normalization algorithm that ensures (or tries to) that 4.0 or 4.5 is the same across the country. C means you just played locally with no postseason so instead of using your dynamic rating in the normalization algorithm itself, the normalization for your district is applied to you.

 

[goober]

Getting dynamically disqualified gets you a benchmark rating as well.

^^^ This...

Benchmark Rating: The term "benchmark" will be used throughout these procedures. It means a player whose rating has been determined by the computer using a combination of the dynamic rating for a player and their match results and to whose record other records are compared, directly or indirectly, to derive ratings for a large number of players. Generally speaking, players who participate in USTA League Tennis National,
Section and Area Championships and disqualified players are benchmarks.

Any player who advances beyond the local league becomes a Benchmark player.Benchmark players are assigned a rating which is an average of their Final Dynamic Rating and their Match Ratings at the championship event to which they progressed.

 

[kylebarendrick]

People continue to think that a benchmark rating means you are at the top of your level. It doesn't. It just means you either played in the post season in the previous year or were DQ'd in the previous year.

 

[ian2]

People continue to think that a benchmark rating means you are at the top of your level. It doesn't. It just means you either played in the post season in the previous year or were DQ'd in the previous year.

You are absolutely correct but people will continue to think what they are thinking... "benchmark" was an unfortunate choice of word by the USTA/NTRP folks.

 

[Lex]

"Benchmark" has the implied meaning of "setting a standard".

 

[J_R_B]

"Benchmark" has the implied meaning of "setting a standard".

It does. It means you have the matches outside your local league to standardize ratings across districts/sections/nationally. "Set a standard" doesn't necessarily mean you are the best of the level, just that your dynamic rating is a benchmark to measure others against, regardless of whether it's 4.01 or 4.49.