What Does That Rating Number Mean?

[sabala]

2.0? 2.5? 3.0? 3.5? 4.0? 4.5? 5.0? 5.5?

A rating is a skill level. Each rating represents a range of skill level, not an exact level. There are 50 different levels within each rating. This means that not all players in one level have the same skills and are equally competitive on the courts.

Here is an example that applies to all skill levels:

Not all 3.5s are equal.

A 3.5 rating is any rating from 3.01 to 3.50. One 3.5 player may be a 3.49, about to move into 4.0 territory, another may have just come up from the 3.0 level and is a 3.01.

This also means that if a 3.5 player wins all his matches, he is not necessarily a 4.0. That 3.49 will probably beat a 3.01 and that does not make him a 4.0. He should beat weaker players. If he consistently beats other 3.49 players, he will most likely generate a higher rating. If he loses to other 3.49 players, his rating will drop, but it may not drop enough to put him into the 3.0 level.

http://www.ustanorcal.com/leagues/ratingtypes.htm


Came across this info from the USTA NorCal site. Hadn't seen it before but with all the discussions about what constitutes a true (insert ntrp# here) rating, thought I'd share, (just read through the "Play at Your Own Level thread, lol!).

 

[OrangePower]

Right. Not every person within a level is equal. And that's ok. You can think of USTA rating level as a way to break down the general population into categories that each represent a slice of the population. Almost like percentile categories in a standardized test like SAT, or ranges of credit score for evaluating credit applications. Within each slice, you're still going to get a lot of variation, but much less variation than across the whole population.

The whole purpose is to help keep matches as competitive as possible. Even though there is variation within each level, chances are that a match between people in the same level will be competitive, whereas chances are that a match between people in different levels will not be competitive. Of course there will be individual exceptions due to incorrect rating, rapid improvement, or just someone being on/off that day. But in general in my experience it does a pretty good job of providing decent matchups (assuming that people are playing in-level).

 

[goober]

http://www.ustanorcal.com/leagues/ratingtypes.htm


Came across this info from the USTA NorCal site. Hadn't seen it before but with all the discussions about what constitutes a true (insert ntrp# here) rating, thought I'd share, (just read through the "Play at Your Own Level thread, lol!).

Does anybody really buy the explanation that there are 50 levels within each NTRP rating. Seriously, a NTRP of 3.05 is not a distinctly different level of ability from 3.07. The number is a byproduct of the algorithm based on imperfect inputs: scores from matches. Scores can be manipulated by those "managing" their ratings and also can be affected by things not related to ability: injury, being sick, matchups against certain play styles.

 

[OrangePower]

Does anybody really buy the explanation that there are 50 levels within each NTRP rating. Seriously, a NTRP of 3.05 is not a distinctly different level of ability from 3.07. The number is a byproduct of the algorithm based on imperfect inputs: scores from matches. Scores can be manipulated by those "managing" their ratings and also can be affected by things not related to ability: injury, being sick, matchups against certain play styles.

Na, I think someone was being overly literal with that explanation and I agree that the algorithm is not accurate to that level of granularity.

But there is clearly enough variation within each level so that you can pretty reliably identify "weak", "average" and "strong" within level.

 

[struggle]

But there is clearly enough variation within each level so that you can pretty reliably identify "weak", "average" and "strong" within levell.

this^^^^^^ says it all.