UTR Rising !!! I have finally conquered the algo

[travlerajm]

So I had a miserable UTR flex singles season last year, as my aging 50+ body began to betray me.

I had to retire while leading in several matches, and had to stop running all-out for balls with full intensity in others. I was a first-set-winning maestro, but too fragile in the legs to survive a full match without an Achilles, hamstring, groin, or hip issue surfacing before I get to the finish line.

But my most recent opponent was an 18-year-old 6’3” physical specimen with elite athleticism and court coverage but unpolished game. The kind of player whose rating will likely rise 3 UTR units by the time he can legally drink alcohol.

I won the first set like always before my broken-down underconditioned body said no mas like always.

Then I went inactive for the past 6 months. Meanwhile, my youthful springy-legged most recent opponent is rising fast.

Now I can just sit back between my PT appointments and watch my UTR rating keep creeping skyward over the rest of the year.

 

[5sets]

Interesting, my UTR tends to go downhill because I never retire even went hurt. I should probably retire even if I’m a set and a break up but I always stick it out and see if i can just dump the second set and muster the 10 point breaker I’ll win. Not saying you’re not justified but it seems retiring is what a lot of juniors do to manage their UTR. My dNTRP suffers as well with this stick it out mentality. Oh well just the way I am I guess.

 

[Rosstour]

So I'm not the only one who kicks the crap out of the kids in the first set, then loses the second 6-4 and then the tiebreaker by a few points? lol

 

[ey039524]

Haha, love this strategy. Keep playing the young guns on the rise.

 

[travlerajm]

So I'm not the only one who kicks the crap out of the kids in the first set, then loses the second 6-4 and then the tiebreaker by a few points? lol

Annoying trend yes.

 

[Rosstour]

Annoying trend yes.

I kicked the habit this year. Felt really good. I wish you luck managing it

 

[travlerajm]

I kicked the habit this year. Felt really good. I wish you luck managing it

Enjoy your resurgence. My late 40s was up and down but saw some of the best tennis of my life. Not sure whether I still have one last surge left or not.

 

[Rosstour]

Enjoy your resurgence. My late 40s was up and down but saw some of the best tennis of my life. Not sure whether I still have one last surge left or not.

Hope so for your sake. Get lighter, unless you're already there.

 

[Moon Shooter]

I want to read the numbers. When was the match played and what was your typical utr before the match?

 

[travlerajm]

I want to read the numbers. When was the match played and what was your typical utr before the match?

We were both mid 7.x about same UTR at time of match 6 months ago. Since then, both of us went mostly inactive.

But my UTR decayed during my inactive period, until I was a 6.x.

My opponent’s UTR increased during his inactive period. He is currently an 8.x.


Then he played a couple matches recently, so my UTR started climbing again.

 

[Rosstour]

Mine has gone up like .12 since my last recorded result lol

 

[travlerajm]

Mine has gone up like .12 since my last recorded result lol

Keep playing those up-and-comer kids.

 

[schmke]

Mine has gone up like .12 since my last recorded result lol

Mine varies that much on a day to day basis when I and recent opponents haven't played a match.

 

[johnmccabe]

My UTR crashed from 7.2 to 1.98 over couple of days recently. Neither of those numbers are correct.

 

[ErrorMachine]

What do you think of fast four? I like to play 3/5 sets, fast four during practice. Maybe you could create a fast 4 league or a 8/10 game pro set league.

 

[ChaelAZ]

So much text!
Not enough video!

 

[travlerajm]

After several idle months of being 100% reliability UTR 6, I am officially once again 100% reliability UTR 7.

 

[Shaolin]

@travlerajm It seems you are learning secrets from UTR Master Brooksby.

Soon you’ll be world #1.

 

[travlerajm]

Soon you’ll be world #1.

Sneak Attack is alive and well.

 

[travlerajm]

And now that I’m a 100% 7 singles and a UTR 8 in doubles again, I feel like a new man. My PT must be working.

 

[Moon Shooter]

It seems many people here don't understand why their UTR might change when they haven't played a match. It is not how i would do it, but there is some logic to it.

 

[schmke]

It seems many people here don't understand why their UTR might change when they haven't played a match. It is not how i would do it, but there is some logic to it.

The issue isn't that it can and does change, but how much and how frequently it changes. Mine has fluctuated several tenths each and every day covering a full range of 0.5 over the span of a week surprisingly often. All this over a span of days when I and my opponents are not having any new matches recorded.

 

[Moon Shooter]

We were both mid 7.x about same UTR at time of match 6 months ago. Since then, both of us went mostly inactive.

But my UTR decayed during my inactive period, until I was a 6.x.

My opponent’s UTR increased during his inactive period. He is currently an 8.x.


Then he played a couple matches recently, so my UTR started climbing again.

So on the whole your rating went down after playing him.

 

[Moon Shooter]

The issue isn't that it can and does change, but how much and how frequently it changes. Mine has fluctuated several tenths each and every day covering a full range of 0.5 over the span of a week surprisingly often. All this over a span of days when I and my opponents are not having any new matches recorded.

I agree this is a problem. Even if this fluctuation brings about a more accurate rating (a big if) it destroys the value of the rating system in other ways. For example, setting a goal to hit a certain rating seems unsatisfying when just one day your rating jumps and hits a number and the next day it is back down.

I tend to think this whole system is a flex for their computer systems to say look at all the computing we can do in one day, rather then really trying to get an accurate and useful rating. Yet it does seem to work for college and high school players right? (I really don't know for sure but the complaints i heard from dads here didn't seem well founded)

 

[GrassCourtFan]

I suspect it works fine for their main target audience - advanced juniors. They say it needs 30 matches/year from you, so my guess is that if someone plays 30 matches/year, and most of their opponents also play 30 matches/year, then on the whole the rating system is accurate, AND due to all this recalculation and dynamic stuff is also very responsive.

The lie is calling it universal. It is decidedly mediocre for a population where many players play 3-10 rated matches a year, with 2-3 not uncommon, including gaps of many months of inactivity.

 

[schmke]

I suspect it works fine for their main target audience - advanced juniors. They say it needs 30 matches/year from you, so my guess is that if someone plays 30 matches/year, and most of their opponents also play 30 matches/year, then on the whole the rating system is accurate, AND due to all this recalculation and dynamic stuff is also very responsive.

The lie is calling it universal. It is decidedly mediocre for a population where many players play 3-10 rated matches a year, with 2-3 not uncommon, including gaps of many months of inactivity.

FWIW, I typically play 30-40 matches a year. Right now UTR actually has me with 47 played in the past year. Of course, as luck would have it since I posted mine fluctuates, mine was unchanged from yesterday to today! Someone's watching ... Of course my partners and opponents all changed since yesterday, one opponent a full 0.82! I expect a big change for me tomorrow when the result of that change makes it way to me.

Of course, last year when I was monitoring daily I had 40+ matches on record and at one point and had a sequence of consecutive days going -0.31, +0.14, +0.03, -0.02, +0.13, 0.00, -0.25, +0.22, all while not playing a match.

 

[Rosstour]

This thread inspired me to look at my rating and it continues to go up. Hilarious. I'm gonna go back over 5 soon

 

[travlerajm]

So on the whole your rating went down after playing him.

The UTR computer is closely watching my rehab curve.

 

[mpnv1990]

UTR is a very accurate rating system IMO. I used it to determine who to recruit for my mixed doubles team.

 

[travlerajm]

UTR is a very accurate rating system IMO. I used it to determine who to recruit for my mixed doubles team.

Last week my UTR doubles rating based on usta mixed was 5.x 100% reliability. This week I’ve been promoted to UTR 8.x. Which of these ratings do you trust?