When I returned to tennis after my brief 28 year hiatus from competitive play, I had no intention of competing within the NTRP framework. My initial match play was through age-group open tournament tennis. Given my druthers, that is still by far my most preferred mode of play. I realize that I am very much in the minority with that preference.
As is inevitable in tournament play, I wound up losing a match that I probably shouldn’t have lost. As it turns out, standing flat footed at the net feeding balls to the umpire I gave birth to was not a terribly effective way to prepare for my own tournament matches. Who knew?
For the first time since I was still a kid, I desperately needed to do something to elevate my level of play. I was decidedly not interested in group lessons. I just needed a way to hit a bunch of balls in a semi-competitive environment. By casting about on the web pages of tennis centers in my area, I encountered the glorious concept of “Drop-In Drills” for the first time in my adult life.
My discovery and interest in drop-in-drills was initially stymied by the fact that many facilities listed drop-in drills by NTRP level. I had absolutely no idea what level was appropriate. Worse, I realized that I had no way of judging the strength of drills that were advertised without levels based guidance.
In “Tennis Ratings: The Numbers Game” I wrote about the fact that USTA NTRP Ratings Page currently contains a hyperlink that says “To find NTRP Rating information or to Self-Rate, click here” that navigates to a page where neither of those things can be found. I ran into that exact bad link when I was going through my own self-rating journey.
I finally settled on a Saturday morning drop in drill advertised as “NTRP 3.5+” that worked with my schedule. By then, I had managed to locate the NTRP playing characteristics table and the NTRP self rating tool. The NTRP self rating tool indicated that I could be as low as 3.0 given my age and lack of collegiate playing history. I figured that conservatively, I was at least 3.5. I didn’t want to get kicked out of a drill that was over my head.
I had a fabulous time at the drill. When it ended, the teaching pro asked me for my contact information to pass onto his wife so she could reach out to me about her ladies league teams. When I returned the following week, the full court press started to recruit me to a 9.0 mixed team that played out of that facility.
This is where my first external opinions on my playing level were received. I was encouraged to self-rate at 4.0. I pushed back on this a little bit, because I had a little more positive self image of my play by that point. It was pointed out to me that 4.0 was a full NTRP rating point above the 3.0 recommended by the USTA self rating tool.
What sealed it for me was being reminded that the tournament match that brought me to the steps of that tennis center was a loss against a 4.0. “You see?” I was told, “You’re a 4.0.” That, and the realization that at 4.0 I would be partnered with 5.0 guys that would probably run down most the lobs was enough convincing for me. I self rated at 4.0.
And so it began.
