DUPR info
Let's get our DUPR on!
Thanks for dropping in to learn more about DUPR and plans for my DUPR club.
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About me: I'm Elizabeth Somers, a 4.0 tournament player who started playing in Aug 2020, and recently became a PPR certified pickleball instructor. I'm one of the founders of the Monday and Wednesday night open play at HCC, I started the Tampa Pickleball Meetup group with over 1350 members now and I'm a league Captain. I love pickleball and bringing people together to spread the passion for the game. This venture looks to continue that by using the DUPR rating system to help people find players and games that are at their same skill level - which allows for more competitive and fun outings on the court!
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First – a little history about ratings. Pickleball has had limited ways to assess the skill level of recreational players. The most popular method has been the UTPR (USAPA Tournament Player Rating). It is the 2 point rating scale for non-professional players based on a 1.-5.0 (3.0, 3.5. 4.0, etc.) scale that most of us are accustomed to hearing and seeing. Yet a common question I hear, is “how do I know my rating?” A UTPR rating is established by tournament play, by an evaluation by a pro, or by self-evaluation based on specific skills guidelines. But, as you may have experienced, a self-rated 3.5 player can be very different from court to court.
Along comes DUPR - a rating system for any pickleball player that systematically assigns a rating to players based on historical data from your actual game play. You do not have to play in a tournament (although there are DUPR tournaments) and you do not have to be formally rated by a pro. The data compiled from every entry into an app is analyzed based on age, gender, game score to establish individual ratings. DUPR is intended to take the guessing out of ratings and level the playing field.
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You can read more about DUPR and their FAQ's on their website, mydupr.com.
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Why get a DUPR rating? If you're interested in playing local tournaments, more and more are turning to DUPR to accurately place you in skill levels. There are some tournaments where you must have a DUPR rating to play. For those just playing recreationally, it is still a good way to gauge where you rank.
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How to get DUPR? Go to your mobile app store for iOS or Android and download the DUPR app. Its logo is a blue background with DUPR in white letters.
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Once you sign in and create your account, you will see at the bottom of your screen the ability to search for clubs. Enter "play some pickleball" and you'll see my club name at the top. Click that and join. I will need to authorize it from a laptop, so it won't happen immediately, but I will get to it within a day.
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The app contains "events" in the lower right which are usually local tournaments you can peruse. These are different from the events I will be helping you create (more on that below).
Why join my DUPR club? First, it's free, so why not? The next reason is convenience. As a club owner, I am able to enter all the scores from our DUPR round robin rather than each team entering them and waiting for them to be validated by the opponent. Also, the scores entered by a club are weighted a bit more heavily than those entered by individual players.
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Now for the good stuff! Below, I have highlighted three scenarios. See which you one fits your need and reach out.
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If you are not yet in DUPR and want to be:
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What will I need from you?
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1) Reach out to me to help me plan your event. The "event" is a 7-game round robin played with 8 people on 2 courts which will fit into the 2-hour reservation window at HCC. We will need at least 1, preferably 2, currently DUPR-rated players under 3.8 to help score the provisional rating. I can help with that.
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2) Reserve 2 courts at HCC - It would be best if two of the players are members so they can snag a court 7 days out.
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3) We will use my TeamReach group to coordinate. Everyone will download the app and I will provide the code to join. I will create an event on the calendar tab and ask for the chosen players to join that event. If more players in that range are needed, I will ask for additional players within a .7 range of your expected score to join that event. It will be capped at 8 and have a waitlist.
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4) On the day of the game, I will provide a round-robin sheet where everyone rotates to play with everyone else. The scores from the games will be entered by me into DUPR. DUPR's data updates on Tuesday, so you should have your new provisional rating the Tuesday after the scores are entered.
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If you are already in DUPR *BUT* your score is not where you feel it should be:
This could be due to you being new in DUPR or your score may be stale from you not having any recent game scores documented.
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What will I need from you?
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1) Reach out to me about where you are and where you're looking to be. I will direct you to download the TeamReach app if you don't have it already and I will provide the code to join my DUPR group.
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2) At minimum, reserve 1 court. You will need to invite 3 other players to assist you in getting your score where you feel it should properly be. Ideally, this would be within .5 to .7 of where you currently are in DUPR. I can assist with this if needed.
If you have a larger group you normally play with and you want more players, then obtain 2 courts and 7 other people total to complete a 7-game round robin which will fit into the 2-hour reservation window at HCC. Ideally, it will be best if all are DUPR rated already, but if we have a few people of similar skill wanting to get DUPR rated, that would be welcome as well.
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3) I will create an event on the calendar tab of TeamReach. The "event" is the 7-game round robin mentioned above. If you already have the players you want, great. We will ensure they RSVP for that event. If not, or if you have some, but not all, I will ask for players within a .7 range of your DUPR score to fill the remaining spots on that event. It will be capped at 8 and have a waitlist.
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4) On the day of the game, I will provide a round-robin sheet where everyone rotates to play with everyone else. The scores from the games will be entered by me into DUPR. DUPR's data updates on Tuesday, so you should have your provisional rating the Tuesday after the scores are entered.
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If you are already in DUPR and want to play games with people of similar skill:
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This is for folks wanting to use DUPR to the fullest and find games that are challenging and fun with people in their same general level. This also helps freshen up your score in DUPR.
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What will I need from you?
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1) Reach out to me about your ideas for the event. The "event" is a 7-game round robin played with 8 people on 2 courts which will fit into the 2-hour reservation window at HCC. I will direct you to download the TeamReach app if you don't have it already and I will provide the code to join my DUPR group.
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2) Reserve 2 courts at HCC. I can likely assist if needed.
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3) We will work to get 8 players of similar skill together on 2 courts to play a 7-game round robin which will fit into the 2-hour reservation window at HCC. Ideally, it will be best if all are DUPR rated already, but if we have a few people of similar skill wanting to get DUPR rated, that would be welcome as well.
4) I will create an event on the calendar tab of TeamReach. If you already have the players you want, great. We will ensure they RSVP for that event. If not, or if you have some, but not all, I will ask for players within a .5 or so range of your DUPR score to fill the remaining spots on that event. It will be capped at 8 and have a waitlist.
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5) On the day of the game, I will provide a round-robin sheet where everyone rotates to play with everyone else. The scores from the games will be entered by me into DUPR. DUPR's data updates on Tuesday, so you should have your provisional rating the Tuesday after the scores are entered.
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Questions? Click to email me at elizabeth@playsomepickleball.com
