April 21, 2025
“You are what your record says you are.”
That’s one of my favorite all-time quotes and it was said by NFL Hall of Fame Coach Bill Parcells. The two-time Super Bowl winner was discussing football records, although the line can be applied to all sports.
In pickleball, are you what your record says you are? Does your DUPR accurately reflect your playing level?
DUPR, for the uninitiated, stands for “Dynamic Universal Pickleball Rating,” as immodestly named in 2021 by its founder, Steve Kuhn, who also started Major League Pickleball. DUPR is the official rating system for the sport, designed to provide an objective and standardized measure of a player's skill level. Also immodestly, DUPR calls itself, “The World’s Most Accurate Pickleball Rating.”
But countless players and instructors say DUPR is inaccurate and unfair, because their “official” rating is far below their actual playing level.
DUPR uses a proprietary algorithm to analyze match results. The system calculates a player's rating based on three primary factors:
• Match Result: Whether you won or lost.
• Score Differential: How close the match was. Winning a game 11-0 carries more weight for your rating than winning 11-9.
• Opponent/Partner Strength: The algorithm accounts for the established ratings of your opponents and your partner, adjusting your rating gain or loss accordingly.
DUPR provides a single number that follows you regardless of where you play, whether in a local recreational or club league or sanctioned tournament.
Organizers, clubs, and tournament directors use DUPR to seed players into appropriate skill brackets, aimed at insuring that matches are competitive and balanced. Because it is “dynamic,” your rating updates as you log more match results.
The DUPR powers-that-be recognize the system needs fixing and are in the midst of doing a “reset.” They realized this even before I wrote a piece last August about a teenager who was able to enter into the DUPR records dozens of fake results involving several high-level players. This lowered the DUPR’s of the good players. More on the DUPR Reset later.
First, some thoughts from players and an instructor on the current DUPR system.
Gary Link, 62, Certified pickleball instructor, Greenville, South Carolina. DUPR: 4.50.
“I worked closely with the NTRP rating system for tennis and the reason it worked well is that players were required to use it. It improved significantly because any algorithm needs a ton of data.
“Players compete in two to three tournaments and their DUPR doesn't meet their expectations so they're not satisfied. The more data the better the algorithm.
“I had an instructor attend my certification workshop and he didn't receive the certification level he wanted because his playing skills and DUPR didn't meet the 4.5 minimum requirement. I monitored him for six months. He had an awesome win-loss record but his average opponent was 3.8. I then requested he play 4.5 rated players. He played three tournaments at 4.5 with a record of 4-6. He wanted a 4.5 DUPR rating. The sample size is too small based on the DUPR rating of the players he played against.
“There's a multitude of variables to reach a more accurate rating and it's not as easy as it seems on paper.
“In short, players need to play more to flush out their weaknesses and there needs to be verification clinics to establish a baseline. And the verification clinics need to be three hours. No 30-minute clinics.”
Jason Nesbitt, 33, Perth Australia. DUPR: 3.48
“I don’t believe my level is accurate. I would say my level is closer to 4.0.
My DUPR reliability ring is only 15% accurate as I choose not to play DUPR rated matches as the majority of the players in my city have a 3.0 or below rating. There are less than 30 people in my city of Perth Western Australia with a DUPR of 4.0 or higher.
“I’ve seen sometimes where a 2.0-3.0 or a 3.0-3.5 rated competition has players who are better than that category and end up blowing every opponent out the water.
“I think we also put too much weight on our DUPR and it shouldn't be what defines us as players. Sometimes I play and I make simple 3.0 mistakes and then other days I feel like I could compete well with 5.0.”
Todd Boynton, 57, Greenfield, Massachusetts. DUPR: 3.41.
“I fully believe in the benefits of a well-functioning rating system, and I also fully believe that. DUPR is none of that. I think I’m a 3.7, but nobody verifies when I beat them.”
Katie Rando, 46, Johannesburg, South Africa. DUPR: 3.90.
“I’m a 3.9 on DUPR and I have conflicting feelings about it because of where I live in the world.
In South Africa, we are in a DUPR bubble and it’s a little low for the region because I competed in California and my DUPR went down big time. Most people here have pretty inflated DUPRs compared to the US. I am from Southern California and last summer I had to enter a tournament at 4.0 level because I was a 4.1 at the time. I explained to the organizers that my DUPR was artificially too high and they told me sandbagging wouldn’t be allowed, so I had to play 4.0. No problem. I had a lot of fun and the games were all super long and challenging, but ultimately I got my butt kicked. So I think my current 3.9 rating is slightly low for Africa and slightly high for Southern California.”
Ian Cohen, 64, Ramat Gan, Israel. DUPR: 3.50
“I think for now [my DUPR] is quite accurate. We have played in quite a few tournaments and have seldom come across people who play way better than their DUPR suggests.
“What’s frustrating is people who think the are so much better than their DUPRs. I think it’s a good system for comparing people’s skill levels. It’s not perfect but pretty good.”
Jeff Vander Kolk, 42, Hudsonville, MI. DUPR: 3.989.
“DUPR ratings are dynamic and so they have peaks and valleys and right now my DUPR is definitely in a “valley”! DUPR ratings describe a player’s results, so they don’t necessarily reflect a player’s actual ability or even their skill level. DUPR serves the very important purpose of creating a “floor” for tournament registration. Yes, I have played against players who are much stronger than their DUPR would indicate, but I don’t think anyone is really “at-fault.” DUPR ratings are “dynamic” so they are going to go up and down. Years ago my UTPR (USA Pickleball Tournament Player Rating) was 4.96, and I’m a much better player now. My DUPR was 4.6+ for a while and now I’m down to 3.98.”
Now, about the “DUPR Reset.” It started on March 16th and runs through May 17th. If you are not happy with your DUPR, you can change it. For a fee. It will cost you $34.99, and as DUPR notes on its website, “All sales are final.” You would need to complete a minimum of eight matches with two different partners during the Reset window (for doubles), or eight matches against two different opponents (for singles). More details here.
I think a majority of pickleball players do not care what their DUPR is. They play because they love the sport, the exercise they get, the social interaction. I also think many casual rec players don’t even know what their DUPR is, much less what DUPR stands for.
Hopefully, for those who do care, the DUPR Reset will go a long way towards greater accuracy. And maybe someday, Bill Parcells’ quote, “You are what your record says you are,” will apply to pickleball players.
Thoughts of the week, not all pickleball
· “The Pickleball 4 Slam” that was broadcast live on ESPN on April 15th was great for the sport. Tennis legends Andre Agassi and James Blake beat Anna Leigh Waters and Genie Bouchard to claim the $1 million dollar prize. That’s besides the point. To have pickleball broadcast on ESPN in prime time was a major step towards legitimacy for the sport. I have seen a few negative comments about the matches on social media. To me, anyone who understands pickleball’s current status realizes the event was a win-win for the game. Events like this will bring in even more new players who think the sport looks fun and want to try it, and, potentially, more companies who want to invest in pickleball products, and more advertisements. Less tangibly but significantly, being on network television in prime time is a move towards increased credibility. And another positive step towards pickleball becoming an Olympic sport.
· While pickleball is not an Olympic sport, breakdancing is. Ridiculous.
· This recent headline in a story in The New York Times is a sign of the times: “For some NFL draft prospects, joining the league now means a pay cut from college football.” Personally, I don’t think college players should be paid. They are already receiving a scholarship. That’s worth about $200,000 at a four-year private school and $125,000 over four years at a public university. I think getting a free education is enough.
· The average age of pickleball players continues to get younger. A recent note in the “Pickleheads” newsletter, citing research from the Association of Pickleball Professionals, stated that the average age of avid players is 34.8. More than 70% of avid players are between the ages of 18 and 44; 40% are between 25 and 34; and 18% are between 18 and 24. Additionally, since August 2022 there has been an 86% growth in players aged 35-44.
· I’m happy more young people are playing, but from what I have often seen from many of them is a lot more banging and much less dinking. Some matches with virtually no dinking. I have also seen, and been part of, matches in which young bangers get beat by old guys because the young ones don’t how how to dink.
· My Mets are off to a shockingly bad start that as of this writing includes an 11-game losing streak. However, I still wear my Mets cap while playing pickleball. My license plate holder says, “Let’s Go Mets” on it, and I will leave it on. I despise fair weather fans. You know, those who jump on a team’s bandwagon when the club is winning or get off during lean times. It’s early in the season and I disliked most of the Mets off-season moves, but I never expected this.
My wife thinks the decal on my car is too big, like my obsession with pickleball.-
· I have a decal on my car saying, “Pickleball Junkie.” My wife thinks it’s obnoxiously large. It did look smaller on Amazon. But hey, the decal is accurate, unlike many DUPR’s.
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