MasterLeague brings pickleballers' results together into unified leaderboards, calculating ladder points that are comparable even between players who have not played together.

This can't be done by traditional means. We achieve this using a formula to take into consideration the variables at play in different groups. The MasterLeague Points System considers each player's score, overall points won, win/loss record to date and the Player Skill Ratings of those on the same court, to determine current standings - without penalising players who can only participate intermittently, or even rarely.

Player sill ratings are based on DUPR (Dynamic Universal Pickleball Ratings), the official rating system of USA Pickleball. Initially, players provde a self-assessed skill level indicator for the purposes of court allocation for the first round of their first league fixture/"event", but this does not influence ladder points.

DUPR assigns a numerical rating to players based on match results, using an advanced algorithm that accounts for:MasterLeague match rules follow USA Pickleball rules unless stated otherwise. 

• Match Performance: Your performance vs. the expected score determines whether your rating goes up or down.

• Result Type: Club and Tournament Matches carry more weight than recreational ones.

• Match Count: The more matches you’ve played, the more stable your rating becomes.

Match Recency: Recent matches have a greater influence to reflect your current level of play.

The MasterLeague formula will yield points for any given round or match along a curve as illustrated by the below graph and benchmarks. The overall points formula above explains how these results are treated when calculating each player's current standings.

Overlapping points potential between stratified courts

Players are not boxed in by virtue of their court allocation. In fact, if they perform well on a lower-rated court they could earn more points than players struggling on a court above them.

Examples:

• A player who wins every game on a rotating-doubles court will earn about the same MasterLeague points as a player who wins two thirds as many points on a court with an average player skill rating that is 0.5 higher.

• A player who wins three out of four games on a court will earn about the same MasterLeague points as a player who wins half his games on a court with an average rating that is 0.5 higher.

However, this does not negate the need to put players in the correct (or most accurate) ranking order for the start of a MasterLeague session. The reason for this is twofold: 1) the rules and format can have unintended consequences for those who are put out of order, and 2) the higher the average player rating on court, the more MasterLeague points players will earn given the same total number of points won in the round.

Handicap system for fixed pairs ladders

We take the points forumula and apply it in such a way that it provides a competitive ladder for fixed pairs of players with various ratings - essentially a handicap system. This encourages pairs to be formed without too much concern about their average player rating and play being stifled.

Factoring in the average opponent rating:

• if one fixed pair is rated an average of 0.5 lower than their opponents on the Player Skill Ratings scale (say 3.5 and 4.0 respectively), they will earn about the same ladder points if they win two-thirds as many game points (e.g., 14-21).

• if one fixed pair is rated an average of 1.0 lower than their opponents on the Player Skill Ratings scale (say 3.5 and 4.5 respectively), they will earn about the same ladder points if they win one third as many game points (e.g., 7-21).

The following table shows some examples using typical game formats (first to 21, first to 15 and first to 11), and how many points out of those a pair will require in the match against opponents with the stated average DUPR rating, based on various MasterLeague Points targets listed in the first column. 

What happens in a local MasterLeague rotating-partners round

A typical doubles round will consist of five or six players on each court, rotating partners in a set sequence of combinations. Players are placed on each court according to the local club's discretion, usually according to DUPR rating but allowing for overriding factors. After completing the round, players are ranked in order of their total points won on that court, with the top and bottom players moving up or down a court if there is a second round immediately following.

Although it sounds simple, there are many factors that are taken into consideration. The minutiae of MasterLeague's format help with everything from handling late arrivals or injuries to syncronising round times and player points across different courts with different numbers of players.

While total points won determine player ranking on each court, turning these results into MasterLeague points involves additional calculations.

Even though players' points reflect their total number of wins & losses as well as their best rounds, the promotion/relegation nature of league fixtures means this difference should reach equilibrium over time, rather than constantly increasing or decreasing, as players move up or down to face games at a higher or lower level.

Origins of MasterLeague

MasterLeague is an expansion of Auckland's oldest pickleball league, which has been operating - and evolving - since 2021. As others clubs have adopted the league's format, we wanted the latest iteration to fairly compare results from different groups playing at different times and places - a unified ladder that anyone can climb.