Self-interest is not inherently wrong. It is a natural human trait that can drive personal growth, help individuals set and achieve goals, and ensure that personal needs are met. When balanced with empathy, cooperation, and consideration for others, self-interest can be beneficial to society.
On the other hand, intentionally breaking rules to act in self-interest can lead to negative consequences. That includes things like damaged relationships, loss of trust, legal repercussions, and harm to others. While pursuing personal objectives is important, it’s crucial to do so within ethical boundaries.
To be clear, this post does not endorse breaking any rules. Nor should any of these ideas be interpreted as encouragement to cross moral limits. Rather, it advocates for developing a deep understanding of the rules to leverage them for the greatest personal benefit.
As a non-tennis contextual example, I think everyone should pay all the taxes that they owe. On the other hand, no one should ever be expected to pay more than what is actually due. Developing a deep understanding of the rules and regulations reflected in the tax codes is a critical aspect of making the determination of what is right and fair.
The existence of self-rated players in USTA NTRP League is one area in which the needs of people with oppositional self-interests collide. For any given player, those on the team they are joining generally want the initial rating to be as low as possible, while the other teams will likely believe that higher levels are appropriate. The self-rating process is extremely challenging to regulate. While I think the USTA should require a binding attestation for questions of fact when self-rating, beyond that, there really isn’t a way to eliminate subjective determinations. People will wiggle where there is wiggle room.
In a perfect world, players who lie about collegiate playing experience in a self-rating assessment would be disqualified. However, I generally also believe that the rest of the USTA ecosystem should be more accepting and welcoming of new players who were acting in good faith when selecting their initial level. I do not think of self-rating as hacking the system. Nevertheless, at least to me, a captain who routinely restocks a team with dubious self-rated players is likely not acting in good faith.
This brings us to the primary topic of the day: hacking the tournament ranking point system. The decision to compete in a tennis tournament is a complex personal tradeoff between cost, energy, social capital, and time. No matter how much a person loves tennis, it simply isn’t possible to enter every tournament that comes around. Players can —and should— hack the system to identify when and where to play to maximize their opportunity to “win” ranking points.
Consequently, tournament tennis players who are pursuing an elevated ranking must optimize their play. I have previously written about two incentive mechanisms the USTA uses in the Adult tournament ecosystem to encourage that. Selection of players for the NTRP National Championships creates a rankings point race. It incentivizes players to compete in tournaments to accumulate the ranking points needed to qualify for participation in that exclusive event. In USTA Texas, the Simply the Best Adult Masters Championships create the same effect at the Sectional level.
Observing how tournament players effectively (and frequently ineffectively) engage with the ranking point framework is fascinating. Hacking any system involves a deep understanding of the rules. Quite frankly, I am astonished at the number of tennis tournament players who don’t bother to take that fundamental step. To be fair, my perceptions may be skewed since people tend to come to me when they have an issue. Complaining about the players who have leveraged their understanding of the rules and how the ranking system works to garner more points is misguided. Don’t hate the player. Hate the game… or, in this case, the system.
The USTA tournament ranking point system is a crucible for exploring interactions between self-interested people with opposing needs. Those who clearly understand the rules pertaining to the incentives that have been placed before them have a clear advantage over those who do not. The official USTA advocacy for knowing and following the rules is essential in tennis. However, leveraging that insight to create a competitive advantage is also important.
To exacerbate the situation, the tournament ranking rules for USTA adult tournaments has recently been highly dynamic. For example, the selection of players for the NTRP National Championships has changed a few times as this new initiative has matured. In short, the way things were done in prior years is not a binding precedent for the next. To pour gasoline on that fire, the tournament framework continues to work through some flaws and misaligned incentives that have influenced player selection. It is a rich set of topics for future posts.
The headline of this post implied that it would contain advice for hacking the ranking point system. While that fundamentally will be highly dynamic based on tournaments that are accessible to players, there are some general rules of thumb.
Under the USTA’s current tiered tournament framework, it usually doesn’t make sense for a player who is pursuing rankings points to play any tournaments below Level 5. In fact, there is now an argument to be made that players should concentrate their efforts only on Level 4 tournaments. It is important to emphasize that those statements are made strictly within a rankings point context. Lower-level tournaments can still provide opportunities for competitive match play and fun. People should certainly consider playing lower-tier tournaments for that reason.
Additionally, from a strict ranking point perspective, players should seek to find the highest-level tournaments with the weakest competition. While there is tremendous variance, smaller numbers on the entry list sometimes indicate that the field isn’t strong. However, that isn’t always the case. Using player WTN numbers to assess competition is a useful tool for those prioritizing their play strictly for the purpose of pursuing ranking points.
The NTRP National Championship tournament simultaneously demonstrates the evolving nature of qualification for that tournament, as well as how some players have hacked the system to their benefit. In the first year of the NTRP National Championships, qualification was based strictly on tournament performance within each Section. In the subsequent year, some players read the rules and inherently understood that tournaments from any Section could be used to bolster their rankings points. Those who identified, played, and performed well in higher rankings points events out of Section enjoyed an advantage over players who remained within their geographic boundaries.
Some players were caught flat-footed and lacked awareness of the existence or the impact of the selection rule changes. However, the announcement was available to all players. Those who embraced the hacker mentality and recognized that being selective about their play enjoyed an advantage. Competing in high-level tournaments out of Section against weaker competition doesn’t break any rules.
Players can —and should— embrace a thorough understanding of the rules and recognize the importance of self-interested actions balanced with integrity. It is not wrong for tennis players to maximize the benefits of the rules and incentives placed before them.
On the other hand, it is imperative that the rules and incentives be arranged to encourage fair, equitable, and sportsmanlike behavior. At the same time, the rules have to encourage engagement and participation in the sport. That is where we turn our attention to tomorrow.
Throughout 2024, I am publishing a series of essays imaging how to apply the principles in ‘Designing Your Life: How to Build a Well-Lived, Joyful Life‘ (<- sponsored link), which is a non-tennis book that I have come to believe that everyone should read.
A chronological summary of all posts on this topic is available on the Designing Your Tennis Life summary page.
