Just what the world needs, another acronym!
Say it slowly, out loud: “DUPR.” It sounds like a self-satisfied, post Bacchanalian banquet belch. But for those uninitiated to pickleball nation, DUPR is an important, perhaps inevitable, step in the maturation of the sport. According to an article in Desert Sun, DUPR stands for Dynamic Universal Pickleball Rating and was developed in 2021 by Steve Kuhn, founder of Major League Pickleball. His idea was to create the most accurate global rating system for the sport. DUPR was long overdue; its advent eliminates the frustration of not knowing where one places in the pantheon of pickleball aficionados.
The complicated system takes into account age, gender, how many points a match is won or lost by against an opposing team's combined DUPR rating, and the type of match played: men only, women only or mixed doubles.
As noted in previous articles, pickleball is a social sport, enjoyed by an estimated five million enthusiasts of all ages and skill levels all across the country. But don’t equate social play with lack of competitive spirit. To the contrary, most pickleball players compete to win, and without a reasonable way to gauge ones playing level finding skill-appropriate matches can be frustrating.
This is where DUPR will help. The Landings Club’s own Charlie Bradford has taken the lead in introducing DUPR to our rapidly growing pickleball population. According to Charlie, “The DUPR rating system makes a lot of sense. Now, instead of self-rating, a player enters his or her scores, and through the wizardry of algorithms eventually receives an accurate rating.”
At a recent DUPR open play night, John Berger shared that he thinks it’s helpful to understand what level we are, so we can compete with players are the same level. Jody Paine suggests that “The DUPR ratings should make league matches fairer and competitive by bringing more players with the same ratings together.”
The Landings Club currently has over 110 active DUPR rated pickleball players. Going forward, the more players establishing a DUPR rating, the easier it will be to create competitive league matches. Further, it will take the guesswork out of registering for tournaments including Special Pops. So, while the relative newness of the DUPR rating system makes it seem confusing, as more players, clubs and tournaments turn to the system it will solve many of the existing ratings issues.
Tuesday nights, until the league starts on September 20th, are DUPR Open Nights. Anyone can come out whether you have a DUPR rating or not. Charlie Bradford is there to guide you through the process of enrolling in the system.