Manipulation of the USTA NTRP rating system may be rooted as a perception problem. Unfortunately, perception can manifest reality. In Tennis Ratings: NTRP Horror Stories, I made the statement that NTRP rating manipulation and abuse is not as rampant as players believe to be the case. I want to pull on that thread a little more today.
I have had the good fortune of playing on league teams that have made it to sectionals from time to time. As players and captains survey the competition at the team sectional championship, there is a general sense of “Wow, these teams are way better than the teams in my local leagues.”
I believe that perception to be generally true and there is an easy and obvious explanation. The teams at sectionals are better than the teams in your local league because they won their own local leagues. They are better than the teams in their own local leagues, too. For that matter, if you are on a team at sectionals there is a very good chance that your team is better than the teams in your own local leagues as well.
I have played on one team that made it to the USTA National League Championships. The Fiend at Court spousal unit has also captained a team that made it there as well. From direct and anecdotal accounts, the same thought pattern prevails. The teams at nationals are way better than the teams in your local section because they won their sectional championship.
So far, there isn’t a problem with that general observation or perception. Unfortunately the next thought is a step down a very slippery slope. “Gee these teams have a lot of players that are playing above their rated NTRP level.” This is probably also a true statement.
If this is accompanied by the idea “these teams sandbagged their ratings to get here” it is way to easy to follow that up with “therefore, we need to do the same thing to compete at this level.” In other words, “I believe that other teams are cheating, therefore it is OK for me do do the same.” Spoiler alert: it is not.
There are undoubtedly scoundrels at sectionals and nationals, but as I stated earlier I don’t think it is as widespread as generally believed. At the lower NTRP levels many players who are new to the game will show significant improvement over a season. By the time nationals rolls around, they probably are playing above the level that they were when the league was started. That phenomenon is something that should be celebrated.
Even at the higher NTRP levels where player improvement is less dramatic and harder to achieve, the teams that are playing championship events are really talented and have the luxury of going with the “hot hand” or the players on their roster that are playing really well at the time. Just because a team is good does not mean that there was NTRP ratings manipulation or abuse to get there.
I had a really good time with my team at nationals. It was so much fun. I enjoyed the prestige of finally making it there as well. Nationals and, to a lesser extent, Sectionals, are an incentive created by the USTA. Tomorrow I will continue on this path by examining the patterns of behavior enticed by those incentives.
In the meantime, the world would be a better place if we could all collectively tweak our response to seeing players at our NTRP level playing exceptionally well. The thought pattern should be centered on what can be done to elevate our own level of play rather than how to fill a roster with ringers.
