Ratings & rankings

A single skill number that moves with your results — like a chess Elo, not the NTRP scale. Everyone starts around 1200. Win and it climbs; lose and it dips. There's no fixed ceiling — it's a relative number that places you against the other players you actually meet on TFL, not an absolute grade.

New players start at the 1200 baseline; a handful of rated matches is usually enough to settle near your true level.

Your rating moves when the winner reports the scoreof a rated match — the opponent's confirm step is a safety net, and if a dispute is upheld the rating change is reversed. The size of the move depends on the result and on the gap between the two ratings:

• Beat someone higher-rated → bigger jump up.
• Beat someone roughly your level → small jump up.
• Lose to someone lower-rated → bigger drop.
• Lose close to someone higher → barely any change.
• Winning decisively counts a little more than squeaking through — the score margin feeds in set by set.

Only rated matchesmove ratings — a casual (unrated) match is recorded in your history but never touches your number. Doubles results are scored to the partnership: the team's result moves both partners together. See Matches & scoring for how reporting and confirming works.

Because the raw number only makes sense in context, we translate it into a class from A (the top band) down to F. It's a percentile, computed within each zone and within your own competition category — players of your gender and age group. A junior girl is never ranked into a class against adult men.

• A — top of the zone's category.
• B / C — strong, competitive regulars.
• D / E / F — developing and newer players.

The exact cut-offs are configurable (by default the top 5% of a category is A, the next 5% B, and so on), and a letter only appears once a zone has enough rated players in your category — around ten. Until then you'll see just the raw rating.

We rate and rank you per zone— your home ZIP, the cities you play in, the counties you've opted into. Each zone has its own ladder and its own A–F cut-offs, so a strong league player in a small town can be an A and #1 in their county while sitting at C and #28 in the state.

Heads-up: a zone needs at least a handful of active players for the ranking to be meaningful. If you're the only person playing in your zone, the dashboard suggests widening it or inviting a friend.

Some tournaments set a minimum skill level for entry (Beginner → Intermediate → Advanced → Tournament). You qualify with your self-rated skill level, or automatically once your earned rating clears the equivalent bar — so winning a few close matches can open the next division to you. There are no upper caps: the floor keeps fields competitive, it never locks stronger players out of weaker events.