DUPR Integration, Integrity, and Info: Your Questions Answered

How is DUPR planning to integrate with other platforms? Will matches be entered retroactively or only for matches going forward?

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Answer: Many platforms, events, and leagues integrate with DUPR to make it simple for all your results to count toward your rating. In most cases, matches recorded on third-party platforms, events, or leagues on or after integrating with DUPR will count towards players’ ratings. Some systems will also submit match results that occurred before the integration with DUPR to count towards players’ ratings. For more details, we recommend speaking directly with your event/league organizer or contacting our support team. 

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Note - DUPR’s rating system places more weight on your most recent results, and as time passes, your past results have less of an impact on your rating. To read more about this, please visit our Rating FAQ page here. 

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Are DUPR ratings affected by playing different game types like doubles and mixed doubles, or self-reported matches vs. tournament matches?

Answer: The weight of any match is determined by the method of score submission: self-reported scores will have a lower weight on your DUPR-rating than a score submitted by a tournament organizer/club. The game type (same-gender doubles, mixed doubles, singles, etc.) does not affect the weight of the match. DUPR provides both your singles and doubles rating, and matches played in those formats against players of all genders and ages are factored into the rating. What makes DUPR unique is that it provides a unifying language and standard for pickleball players across age and gender to evaluate their skill level on the same scale. Every match affects your rating, regardless of who you are playing with and against. 

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How does DUPR compare to other rating systems, and what changes are being made to improve its effectiveness?

Answer: DUPR is the most accurate and reliable global pickleball rating system, trusted by leagues, clubs, tournaments and players around the world. As the pickleball community grows larger and more results are entered into our system, our dedicated team of data scientists are hard at work making improvements and updates to the system to ensure that DUPR is providing the most accurate and reliable assessment of level. Here are the key things to know about the rating: 

1. All players regardless of age, gender or geographic location are evaluated across the same 2.000 - 8.000 scale. 
2. A player can have a singles and doubles DUPR rating, with all singles play (against all ages and genders) counting towards the singles rating and all doubles play (including mixed and gendered doubles) counting towards their doubles rating. 
3. DUPR takes into account results from leagues, tournaments, clubs and even self-posted scores to provide an accurate, reliable and real-time assessment of your score. 
4. Every time a new result is submitted, it is instantly factored into your DUPR rating 

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Here’s what the rating evaluates: 

1. Points Matter. Was this a tight match or a blowout? DUPR now evaluates the closeness of the match, so a score of 11-0 will have a bigger impact on your rating than a close match of 11-9 against that same opponent
2. Recency Matters. A match you played today will impact your rating more than a match you played six months ago.
3. Total Match Count Matters. If you've played in a lot of matches, your rating will fluctuate less compared to a player with a lower match count.
4. Every Match Matters (even against unrated players). Every match counts towards your rating, even if you are playing against someone who is unrated or new to DUPR.

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For more on the rating, please visit our rating FAQs or read this deepdive from Scott Mendelssohn, DUPR’s Head of Analytics. 

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How is DUPR preventing players from manipulating their ratings? 

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Answer: DUPR enforces our (Community Guidelines) for all players, which states that players may not manipulate ratings, results, or data in any manner. Players who violate these guidelines are restricted or suspended from the platform accordingly. 

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Based on our analysis, the vast majority of the DUPR community operates with integrity, and this personal integrity is what connects all players, keeping our rating accurate and valuable to everyone. Of course, as in life, there are instances where players have tried to game the system, and our team works hard behind the scenes to identify and prevent these bad actors from impacting our system. We are constantly improving our methodologies and performing checks on our data to identify behavior that violates our Community Guidelines. 

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You can report any violations by emailing support@mydupr.com.

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What measures are being taken to address the concerns about sandbagging?

Answer: Sandbagging, or deliberately playing below one’s actual ability, is unfortunately a problem that exists across many sports, including pickleball. Sandbagging in pickleball will occur when a player purposefully plays below their true level so they have a chance to play in a future event against players they believe they can beat. Sandbagging has no place in DUPR’s community, and our rating system actively works to identify and flag sandbagging to event organizers and tournament directors. 

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Sandbagging occurs more frequently in events where organizers are not checking players’ DUPR ratings and are instead relying on self-ratings. We encourage players to join DUPR clubs and play in level-based tournaments that are organized using DUPR which makes it much more difficult for sandbagging to occur. 

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Why do recreational matches count towards my DUPR? Aren’t they less accurate and easily rigged?

Answer: In order to provide a full view of your skill level, DUPR looks at results across all types of play, including self-posted scores. There are many players who do not compete in competitive leagues or tournaments, and by accepting self-posted scores, we are able to make the community more inclusive and accessible for pickleball players everywhere to have a DUPR rating. Whether it’s a recreational match or a tournament match, all scores provide valuable data points to accurately assess a player’s skill level. 

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For players who also participate in club or tournament events, scores from self-posted matches carry less weight than those from the club or tournament events. We are constantly monitoring our data to make sure that it maintains the quality dictated by our Community Guidelines. 

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Still curious on more FAQS and how the algo plays with your rating? Visit our latest Algo FAQS Here.

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