Frequenty Asked Questions
Why do some players move up the ladder if they have not played
There are a couple of reasons for this situation:
1. Players ahead of them dropped out of the ladder
2. PLayers ahead of them lost and dropped down
The computer then does the sorting by RankOverride, and their placement after the sort then becomes their new rank. Rank overrides are done manually to try to place players in a group more at their level. So far we have had to do very few of them.
…and yes, players who do not play maintain their rank number. That policy was changed from previous policies of subtracting ranks from players who did not show. That was done because of the city restrictions on playing spot availability. We did the best we could with only 5 courts available in 2 time slots. We could then accommodate 50 players of the 80+ that are registered for the ladder. It was felt best to not punish players who could not play through no fault of their own.
This is not the first time I explain this, and I am sure not the last.
The purpose of the ladder is to have people play with others at their level. When I ask for suggestions and comments I expect people who believe they are not in the right position on the ladder to come forward, make a case for where they should be, either up or down, and we do our best to satisfy them through the overrides.
The aim of the ladder was never to finish at the very top.
The following was a reply to a player’s concern about placements after a Ladder night.
On the website (tab is Show all results or results for a date)
I printed out the details for the week of the 12th and the week of the 19th. I then looked at X’s placement.
On the 12th, she had a ranking of 49. On looking at the 19th, I noticed a new player had been inserted, Y, ahead of her in the 20th spot. This was an override setting to place him with his peers. So that would put her in the 50th spot. XX was ahead of her but lost, which put her behind X. So that would put her in the 49th spot. She won her group and got 3 points added to her rank. This put her ahead of XXX who went down, putting X now at the 48th spot. YY also did not do so well and went down, putting him behind X and moving X to the 47th spot. There are now 46 people ahead of X, so her rank is now 47.
I am sure a similar analysis can be made for all your other concerns. If I am wrong, please let me know.
Imagine trying to do this by hand… The system is good and fair.
How do I remove my registration from an event (including Ladder)
Go back where you registered, there is a way to unregister there.
Sometimes there are waiting lists, your prompt deregistration is very much appreciated.
The Travel field in my profile
The Travel field in your profile is used during schedule preparation to accommodate special requests and people travelling together.
You can change your profile by clicking on the Account tab and choosing profile data.
The adjustment based on the Travel field is made manually.
The person preparing the schedule uses the computer generated schedule as a base. All players are then sorted by their Travel field.
If the Travel field is identical for 2 or more players and they are in different time slots, an attempt is made to switch groups between time slots so that groups with the same Travel field are in the same time slot.
You can also indicate a preferred time slot. Just indicate the time of the slot in the travel field. For instance, to play in the first time slot, enter 6:00PM. Do not forget to change that back to what is was before, after you have played. Please do not abuse this feature, it creates a bit more work for the person preparing the schedule.
Once all “possible” switches are made, switches at the individual level are considered. Individuals in 2 different time slots may be moved between groups if those individual are at relatively the same rank.
Once the groups have been determined it is possible to change the order of players within the group. A temporary change is made to the ranks and the players are ordered within the group by rank.
Of course, there is a limit to these accommodations. We do our best but sometimes requests will not be able to be fulfilled.
I am a new member, now what?
This is what was mentioned to a new member when they asked.
She is a beginner and did not know how to go about playing. She had a couple of lessons from the city and was rated a 2.0+
I took her through the website, had her read the instructions about playing on the front page. Then, I introduced her to the ladder and showed her the scramble and party events.
She is a tennis player, I think she will be a nice addition to the club.
I suggested she go to Walmart and get herself a $50 ish paddle.