CSPA Adopts

Updated: April 13, 2023

​

​

The CSPA board of directors has chosen the Dynamic Universal Pickleball Rating (DUPR*)  to help facilitate registration  and placement for some of the CSPA competitions, classes and clinics.  Members use of DUPR is optional.  CSPA will  request a DUPR rating and report match results to DUPR for a limited number of designated sessions, such as the Competitive DUPR Round Robins and some CSPA tournaments.

​

Why is CSPA using DUPR?

​

The board decided to adopt DUPR as CSPA’s official rating system to address some of the challenges posed by other rating systems. Among the benefits that prompted this decision were that DUPR ratings do not cost the player anything, ratings change throughout the playing season as players’ skills develop, a single “bad day” doesn’t impact a player’s rating for an entire season, and ratings are consistent from one club to another as well as from one day to another.

 

Why is CSPA scheduling sessions where all scores are reported to DUPR?

​

DUPR is designed to rate players according to how well they perform in competitive play – that is, DUPR assumes that players are trying to win the game and compares the final score of the game to the score that would be predicted for those players. Players who consistently beat the predicted score will see their rating increase, while those who consistently fall under the predicted score will see their ratings decrease. Consequently, everyone needs to agree that scores will be reported (or not) before play commences. To help players establish and maintain a DUPR rating, whether to measure their own progress as a player or to be placed correctly into competitive tournaments, CSPA has devoted a small fraction of playing time to DUPR competitive play.

 

Why is DUPR competitive play divided by ratings?

​

We have heard consistently from members that they enjoy competitive matches with long points and close scores – just as they also enjoy social play with a wide variety of skill levels. For a few hours a week, DUPR round robin play is established for specific bands of ratings to encourage this close competition. Importantly, this also ensures that matches are included in each player’s rating; if two players on the court have widely differing ratings, DUPR can’t accurately predict what the outcome would be and therefore the match score is ignored. That’s right – if a 2.75 player beats a 4.0 player 11-2, it doesn’t help their rating at all! But by consistently winning matches against players ranked 2.5 to 3.0, that player will see their rating rise.

 

How were the rating divisions chosen for DUPR Round Robin?

​

Although traditional rating systems use 0.5 or 0.25 increments, the reality is that skill levels don’t jump that dramatically from one day to the next; we progress along a full spectrum of skill levels. Furthermore, like most clubs, CSPA has a lot of intermediate players – and more uniquely, we have strong growth in new players. Rather than focusing on even numbers, we divided our play into groups that are competitively close and divide active players into somewhat even-sized groups to maximize everyone’s opportunity to play rather than be waitlisted. We may adjust the ratings ranges over time to accommodate as many players as possible in our time slots.

 

Why don’t the ratings on Playtime Scheduler match the DUPR divisions for Round Robin?

 

Playtime Scheduler doesn’t offer much flexibility in how we set up sessions; if we want a session for advanced novice to intermediate players (2.9 to 3.4), we can’t choose that for display on Playtime Scheduler’s calendar view. Instead, we have to pick something close (e.g. 2.75 to 3.5) and include the exact numbers in the description. We’re hoping that Playtime Scheduler allows us to present information more clearly in future versions. For now, just double-check the description at the top of each scheduled event to confirm the audience for each time slot.

​

How to sign up for DUPR

​

DUPR is free and anyone can have a rating.  You may already have a DUPR profile, if you've played in a tournament.  Additionally,  most CSPA members will likely have a DUPR profile already created. To claim your profile or create a new  DUPR profile, go to https://mydupr.com or by downloading the iOS or Android App.

​

​