Fiend at Court Unplugged
A shockingly high number of tennis players can’t articulate the difference between the USTA and Universal Tennis. In fact, Universal Tennis sometimes doesn’t even ring a bell for players. Most tennis players have heard of the the Universal Tennis Rating (UTR) system and use that acronym as a stand in for Universal Tennis. For the sake of simplicity, I sometimes refer to Universal Tennis as UTR. When in Rome.
An early post on this site in 2020 examined the structural differences between the USTA and the organization that owns UTR. “Follow the Money: Organizational Behavior and COVID-19” was published last June. While the two organizations have very similar mission statements to build and promote tennis, there are significant differences between in their respective financial structure and culture.
How differences between the two ratings systems impacts player behavior and experience was recurring theme on this site over the past year. After revisiting those posts, I am taking another cut at crystalizing my thoughts. Put simply, the apples and oranges nature of the UTR and NTRP ratings system has a profound impact on player behavior.
On the surface, both organizations produce and maintain a numerical ratings systems for players. The USTA NTRP System is shrouded in secrecy. Precise numbers are never released. Ratings updates are issued only once per year and then only in groups and tiers. The lack of transparency with the NTRP system is a significant issue that leads to anger and confusion with the tennis “consumer.”
UTR, on the other hand, publishes updated ratings after every match. A player can always access their own UTR rating with high precision for free and can see approximate whole number rating for all other players. For a nominal annual fee, anyone can see the ratings for all players to a much higher precision. While the UTR algorithm is a secret, the ratings are public and visible at all times. That is much more transparent than the USTA NTRP system.
What drives that difference in transparency decisions by the organizations can be chalked up to the respective reward systems. A player’s UTR rating is the product that is offered to the tennis consumer. I have yet to encounter a player doesn’t want to improve their UTR rating. For the USTA, the NTRP rating determines whether a player will win or lose the majority of their matches. There are a high number of USTA players who desire a lower NTRP rating so they can win all the time.
USTA league and NTRP tournament play is structured primarily around extrinsic rewards. For leagues, the extrinsic reward is advancement of the team to post season play and nationals. It is prestigious and fun. In USTA NTRP tournaments the USTA has recently added advancement to NTRP Nationals as an incentive to entice players to participate. All of the player rankings systems as reflected by “points” for advancing in tournament play is an extrinsic system.
Those USTA NTRP extrinsic rewards exists at every tier of NTRP competition. Thus, there is incentive for players to attempt to manipulate their ratings into a tier where they have the greatest chance to reap those rewards. It has created a playing culture that has become the Achilles heel of building participation in USTA tennis.
In UTR tournaments, players compete for nothing other than competitive matches and (hopefully) a corresponding rise in their UTR rating. That is an intrinsic reward. UTR tournaments are populated by players who are simply seeking competitive matches with other players. The reward is matches that help the player develop into the best that they can be.
I am not saying that every player who competes in NTRP tennis a sandbagging bastard. However, those type of players and unsportsmanlike ratings behavior are prevalent. The resulting culture should prompt some serious soul searching at the USTA.
The invention of NTRP is credited with fueling an explosive growth in USTA membership and participation. Now that very same system has created and reinforced cultural issues within the playing community. I believe that negative playing experienced induced by and directly related to the NTRP system is a factor in declining USTA participation for Adults. At a minimum it should be studied.
Tennis appears to be on a course where tournament participation comes primarily through UTR tournaments. Currently the USTA enjoys a near monopoly on league and team based play. That situation could change in the future.
In related news, Universal Tennis sent out a mass email on January 25 last week announcing the launch of UTR Team Tennis.
