UTR Sports x APP Pickleball

The UTR Pickleball Rating (UTR-P), by UTR Sports, is the official rating of APP and the APP Tour! APP players already have a UTR Pickleball Rating and profile setup with UTR Sports, so getting started is FREE and easy.

Features

Why APP chose the UTR Pickleball Rating
  • UTR Sports has over a decade of experience in building world-class comprehensive global ratings
  • No sandbagging allowed! Unlike other ratings, you cannot manipulate the Verified UTR-P Rating as it only takes in results from organized play according to verified rules
  • Easy to use, quick to get a fully reliable, and simple to understand
  • More granular and more real-time, the UTR-P Rating has a strong connected pool of results updating every 24 hours
  • UTR Pickleball Rating is fully integrated into the most comprehensive and best-in-breed event, tournament, and league software
  • Effective at all skill levels, from beginner to professional
Events

Find APP Tournaments & Leagues

Ready to play? Register for events including collegiate, leagues, and even Doubles Dink for Cancer charitable events, and enjoy better level-based play using the UTR-P rating.

Jan 15
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Jan 19

APP Fort Lauderdale Open

Jan 16
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Jan 18

2025 APP Next Gen II Las Vegas

Feb 5
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Feb 9

2025 APP Vlasic Classic – Daytona Beach

Feb 13
|
Feb 16

2025 APP Next Gen San Antonio

Feb 26
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Mar 2

2025 APP Sacramento Open

Jun 19
|
Jun 21

2025 APP Next Gen II St. Louis

Jul 17
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Jul 20

2025 APP Next Gen Kansas City

Oct 30
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Nov 2

2025 APP Next Gen Dallas

Nov 20
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Nov 22

2025 APP Next Gen II Houston

Dec 5
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Dec 7

2025 APP Next Gen Fort Lauderdale

Pickleball UTR-P Rating Journey: 
0 Matches (P1 Estimated)
1+ Matches (2 Projected)
7+ Matches (4.1 100% Reliable)

Your rating is recalculated every 24 hours
how it works

What is the UTR Pickleball Rating?

The UTR Pickleball Rating (UTR-P Rating) is for players of all ages at all levels. Players with match results see a rating on a numeric scale of 1.0-10.0.

Players without enough match results receive a provisional rating (P1-P5) in minutes. The rating algorithm provides separate ratings for singles and doubles, and verified and unverified. It updates every 24 hours to provide more accuracy than any other system globally.

Learn More

APP & UTR Sports Partnership

UTR Sports is the APP's official and exclusive ratings partner, providing deep experience of sports rating systems and analysis to all levels of APP players and events — from elite professionals, amateurs and recreational players, to Next Gen, seniors, and super seniors. UTR Sports is also the technology, software, rating/rankings partner of USA Pickleball, the national governing body of pickleball in the U.S., their tournaments, leagues, and recreational activities.

Learn more about how UTR Sports, APP, and USA Pickleball are partnering together for pickleball’s future.

READ & WATCH

APP, UTR Sports, USAP: United for Pickleball's Future

FAQs

Why should I be confident in the UTR-P rating?

From the makers of the world’s most accurate rating system with patented technology, UTR Sports’ capabilities in algorithm development and data science is a strength no other organization in the sport has come close to matching. UTR Sports monitors the rating continuously and refines the analytics around the algorithm to watch for edge cases, inflation, and fraud. We measure our accuracy against pickleball pro points rankings and have statistically significant advantages in predicting winners.

Where can I find tournaments to compete in?

Players can search and find pickleball events around the world by visiting the USA Pickleball and UTR Sports websites at usapickleball.org and utrsports.net. Players can also use the UTR Sports mobile apps on iOS and Android. There are several different types of events including USA Pickleball tournaments, APP tournaments, UTR Sports Flex Leagues, as well as the UTR Sports Pickleball Amateur Series, which includes two Golden Ticket Qualifier events!

Does UTR Sports support any of the large-scale tours?

In addition to being the rating standard of USA Pickleball, UTR Sports and the UTR-P Rating is also the official rating of the APP (Association of Pickleball Players). This includes the APP Tour, APP Next Gen, and all other APP pickleball play.

What if I already have a UTR Rating for tennis?

If you already have a UTR Rating for tennis, get your UTR-P Rating for pickleball by clicking here.

I play pickleball. How do I get my rating?

All players can get a FREE UTR-P Rating within minutes. If you're new to UTR Sports, click here.

Who has a UTR-P Rating?

More than 100,000 players around the globe, including all APP and USA Pickleball players, already have a FREE rating on the UTR Sports platform. Click here to log in or sign up for a free account, to claim your profile, and get rated.

I don’t think my rating is accurate. Can I appeal it?

The UTR-P rating algorithm runs daily and is fully automated - it is a probability-driven, dynamic algorithm that is constantly taking in and optimizing on match results. Ratings cannot be changed through an appeal process. The algorithm will continue to improve, evolve, and strengthen over time to provide you the most accurate rating.

How does the UTR-P Rating solve for sandbagging?

The UTR-P Rating is built on large volumes of high-quality score data. The algorithm does not factor in self-reported results for its verified ratings, and players must be close enough in level for the match to count (ie. if ratings differ by 1.0 or more, it will almost certainly be a blowout). Players with fully reliable verified ratings are not impacted by playing against players with partially reliable ratings.

What is an Estimated or Provisional UTR-P?

If you see a P1-P5, then it is an estimate of the player’s eventual rating based on self-reported answers to our pickleball questionnaire. The different categories are P1 - Beginner; P2 - Social/Casual; P3 - Intermediate; P4 - Advanced; P5 - Expert/Pro.

Is Reliable or Projected associated with recreational or competition play?

A social or recreational player may have a fully reliable numeric rating if they have played enough verified matches for the algorithm to have full confidence in the number being a highly accurate indication of a player’s true skill level.

A Projected rating is merely an indication that the player does not yet have enough scores submitted in order to determine an accurate numerical rating. It will disappear after scores are counted on approximately 4-6 matches.

What does it mean for a rating to be Projected?

When you see “Projected” then it means there are not yet enough results to have complete confidence in the rating, but there are enough results to display a projection. Approximately 4-6 results are needed before a rating becomes fully reliable.

What does it mean for a rating to be Reliable?

When you see “Reliable” along with the player’s UTR-P Rating, there are enough results provided to have confidence in the rating being an accurate indication of a player’s true skill level. 

Is the UTR-P Rating for singles or doubles?

Both! UTR-P Ratings are separate for singles and doubles. Partners are not averaged. UTR Sports considers each doubles game as two individual games which allows for connection across genders and more accuracy.

Will my rating go up if I win? Or down if I lose?

Not necessarily. In order to provide the most accurate rating, the UTR-P algorithm calculates your rating based on your performance vs. the expected outcome of a game. For example, if you are victorious over a lower-rated player, but only by a slim margin, your rating may not increase.

How does the UTR-P Rating compare to the UTPR (USA Pickleball Tournament PlayerRatings) and other ratings like DUPR?

The UTR-P Rating is free for players and unlike other rating systems, UTR Sports has no plans to ever charge for their ratings.

The rating systems are very different in terms of their approaches and how the ratings are calculated. The UTR-P is an ageless, genderless, and borderless scale from 1.0-10.0, updating every 24 hours. The UTPR is a tournament-only rating system for the United States on a scale from 1.0 to 6.0.

The UTR-P Rating has several advantages over the other rating systems. One key element is that UTR-P separates self-reported scores from organized/verified match results. This unique feature provides reliability to competitive play and helps drastically reduce sandbagging.

Also, the UTR-P rating has a strong and fast-growing pool of connected players, which provides for an accurate global rating. The UTR-P Rating is also more accurate than points-based ranking systems. It is several percentage points more accurate than today’s pro points-based rankings.

Can a player enter any division of a non-Nationals USA Pickleball event regardless of UTR-P Rating?

Using the UTR Sports platform, event organizers have flexibility for how open or restricted  divisions are set up. It will be up to the organizer’s discretion, and it is possible to have open divisions where players may be placed into groups within a division using their rating as a guide to ensure level-based play.

USA Pickleball membership verification is integrated into the UTR Sports platform.

I have a Golden Ticket for the 2024 Biofreeze USA Pickleball National Championships. What skill division will I be playing?

Transitioning from the smaller UTPR 1.0-6.0 scale that included limited USA tournaments to the global UTR-P scale of 1.0-10.0 has resulted in players’ ratings naturally moving up and changing as they continue to compete.

The 10-point scale is nearly twice as large as the UTPR 6.0-point scale, so it's expected for players to experience rating movement in this transition. Players may have a higher rating spread from their partners as well.

What will happen to UTPR (USA Pickleball Tournament Player Ratings)?

With the USA Pickleball and UTR Sports partnership, USA Pickleball is sunsetting all UTPR ratings and using the UTR-P Rating. Learn more. 

What does it mean that UTR-P will now be the USA Pickleball’s standard rating and ranking?

USA Pickleball and UTR Sports have entered into a landmark partnership to connect, grow, and unite the pickleball community. Part of that partnership is establishing the UTR-P Rating as the new standard rating for the sport.

For USA Pickleball Nationals, why am I not in the same division any longer with my partner?

Every team can play with their partners. All teams are required to play in the division of the highest-rated partner in doubles or mixed doubles.

Your opponents are moving up as well, so there is no reason to worry that the level of play or competition will be significantly higher if you register in a higher division. You can view more of this movement by looking at your and/or your opponents’ ratings on the UTR Sports website.

Why has my rating changed so much in the transition from UTPR to UTR-P?

Transitioning from a smaller 1.0-6.0 scale UTPR that included limited USA tournaments to the global UTR-P scale of 1.0-10.0, results in players’ ratings naturally moving up and changing as they continue to compete.

The 10-point scale is nearly twice as large as the UTPR 6.0-point scale, so it is normal and expected for our rating to see more movement for players. In turn, players can have a higher rating spread from their partners.

What is the UTR Pickleball Rating (UTR-P)?

Equipped with over a decade of expertise as the creator of the gold-standard UTR Rating for tennis, UTR Sports offers the most accurate and reliable global rating for pickleball.

The UTR Pickleball Rating (UTR-P) is designed to rate every kind of player, whether you're swinging your first paddle or smashing through pro-level tournaments. The UTR-P includes both provisional and numerical ratings for singles and doubles players.

Players without match results logged will receive a provisional rating (P1-P5) based on a questionnaire. After one match, the player will receive a projected rating, and after seven matches, the rating automatically converts to a reliable decimal rating on a scale of 1.0 - 10.0 (from beginner to expert/pro).

What matches count towards the UTR-P Rating, and what is verified vs. unverified?

Results are either verified or unverified scores depending on whether the match or tournament was organized and played according to UTR Sports’ verified rules, or the match or tournament was a player organized/social/recreational, for which scores are unverified.

All USA Pickleball-owned events, all APP events, and all UTR Sports events are verified events. The UTR-P algorithm takes into account up to 60 of your most recent matches.

A verified UTR-P Rating is indicated by a checkmark badge on a player’s profile. Ratings will dynamically move up and down as new results are factored in.