Exciting news! I have created a DUPR “club” for Gwinnett Pickleball Club and am partnering with DUPR as the official ratings system for the club, to help provide meaningful ratings for our players.  

The Short Version

The Dynamic Universal Pickleball Rating (DUPR) is the most accurate global rating system in the sport, because it incorporates more games, from more players, and has a brilliant algorithm that runs it.  Whether you think you need a rating or not right now, I think you need to sign-up and get your DUPR started! You're going to see more local activities that rely on this, so if you want to join the fun, sign up today!

Download the DUPR app in the Apple App Store or the Google Play Store to get started.


The Long Version

Below you’ll find lots more info. If you agree that we need to improve our rating system in pickleball, I would be grateful if you could take a few minutes to read through this and see if you agree that DUPR is the solution. 

Thanks!

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Why do we need new ratings?

Let’s face it; ratings in pickleball are a mess right now. Unless someone plays tournaments regularly, they tend to have no clue what level they would play at. So when folks register for a  league or their first tournament, they have no idea what level to register for. 


I believe one of the best things I can do to help grow the competitive side of our sport is to help players get a meaningful rating? So that they can play in tournaments with similarly skilled players and have more fun. 


If you’re a recreational player with no interest in leagues and tournaments, I think you can still benefit from having a rating so that when you travel you can go visit a new park and have a sense of what skill layer of player you’re looking to play with. 


What is DUPR?

The Dynamic Universal Pickleball Rating (DUPR) is a system that rates players’ skill. One of the awesome things about it is that it rates you independently of age, gender, or mixed/gendered doubles play.  As a player, you aren’t a better or worse player depending on the gender of your partner. And our sport is so social; we play with players of all ages when we go to the park. So our rating should be independent of age, too.


DUPR a looks at the rating of each team and has an expected outcome based on this. If you do better than expected, your rating goes up; if you don’t do as well, your rating goes down. So you can lose a game and still have your rating go up, or win a game and have your rating go down. 


If I played Ben Johns, I would lose; clearly. But if I managed to lose 9-11, my rating should go up, because nobody would predict me getting 2 points off him, let alone 9.

What does it cost?

$0, zip, zilch.  Many of you already have a DUPR from playing in a tournament on pickleballtournaments.com but don’t realize the rating exists.  Below you’ll see info on how to “claim” that profile, or create a new one.

How do I get rated?

See this page for more details.

What will our club use DUPR for?

We will use a player’s DUPR to organize play by skill level. While we won’t do this immediately, I could see having two ladder leagues, one for beginner & intermediate players, and one for more advanced players. If we have a round robin tournament, we could seed players based on their DUPR. Or maybe we would sometimes have an open play session that is only open to players with a DUPR above or below a certain level.

Please know that this is not intended to be divisive or exclusive! It is intended to help everyone play games that are competitive and well matched by skill. While social open play can be lots of fun, sometimes we want to play hard and not get beat-up by a better player, or walk all over a newer player.

Do points scored in a match affect ratings?

Yes! When you know your score is being entered into DUPR, fight for every point and every game because they all count; not just wins or losses like traditional ranking systems.

What if I’m unrated and I play against other unrated players?

That’s okay! Those scores will retroactively count once you or the other players play against someone who does have a DUPR. This is called “connectivity” and it’s a beautiful thing that improves accuracy of our ratings by having a broad base of players & scores.  Open play is a great place to play with other players who are rated, to help get a solid rating for yourself.

Upcoming DUPR Events

Before we schedule any events, we need to develop a deeper pool of DUPR rated players in Gwinnett.  To do that, I’m going to be available at Open Play on Tuesday nights to help players get signed-up and play their first rated games.

If you’re interested in joining the fun, please create your account and load the app on your phone. I’ll help you from there!

After we have more players onboard, we’ll host tournaments where players are seeded by their DUPR. We’ll probably do mostly round robin tournaments, since people seem to really enjoy those. But DUPR is publishing a new format called a Waterfall where players play 4 matches, regardless of their win/loss record. The first tournament like this is coming up next month, so I’ll be watching closely.

Download the App

Please download the app so you can claim your DUPR.

If you've already played in a tournament on PickleballTournaments.com, you may have an account waiting for you to claim. 

From the sign up page, search for your name, location, and age to claim your existing account, or create a new one if needed.


Join Gwinnett Pickleball Club on DUPR

Once you have an account, tap the "Clubs" icon in the top bar, then search for “Gwinnett” to find us. Tap on our page and select "Join Club." Super easy!

Learn more or register here: https://mydupr.com

Please don’t hesitate to reach out to me, or support@mydupr.com with any questions. 


Game on!