Info on Court Schedules, Play Levels & Testing
Reference Documents:
Testing for IPTPA Official Play Level Ratings -registration closing date extended to May 22
BACKGROUND
As you know, PTS allows you to indicate your playing level. Unfortunately this has resulted in many players changing their ratings to sign up for Competitive levels they may not be (skill-wise) ready for. It typically takes years to progress by a half point rating unless you are constantly practicing by doing drills to improve all aspects of your game. Changing your level to fit different sessions is not working and we are overloaded with complaints. We will try to change the schedule to provide more Recreational/Social sessions with more appropriate level ranges so most people will not feel the need to over-rate themselves.
If you are not sure of your rating because you do not have a sanctioned tournament rating or a certified rater rating, then please refer to the IPTPA references for each level. We will trial some unofficial self-rating sessions so that you can test yourself on various aspects of the game, but not all. Click on this link for full details of our certified rating session planned for May 27. If you want a club rating, then you can request it and know it is not our preferred method, but we believe it is more consistent than the many opinions offered by various players, clubs, and unsanctioned tournaments.
We need help with performing these ratings, so if you have certified pickleball coaching training and/or a reasonable amount of certified tournament experience and are interested in volunteering to provide assistance with player ratings, please contact: ratings@deltapickleball.org. We currently have many requests for rating and have responded to some, but many will take a longer time. Some people are convinced they know better than our internal rating. We see how this happens as there are many different views on rating in clubs all over North America. Please get rated if you don’t agree with us; we are happy to have less work and spend less time on individual concerns rather than club improvements.
As we move forward this season we have a few requests:
- Complaints without solutions are not helpful. If you have suggestions on how to improve DPA, please email them to the appropriate directors
- If you are a court host, please discuss concerns and get answers from your supporting director.
- Do not call or text directors to complain about the directors and how the club is run. They are volunteers doing their best to balance the needs of all players.
- If you disagree with one of our volunteer raters, an appropriate question is “What do I need to do to improve?” not arguing about their best judgement. Focus more on improving your pickleball and enjoying this wonderful game. Most people in DPA do this and we appreciate it.