Understanding Pickleball Rankings: What You Need to Know

Pickleball is a fast-growing sport that is continuously growing. Because of this, knowing and understanding rankings and ratings is important.

Pickleball rating and ranking. These two can be confusing. A pickleball rating like DUPR Pickleball is a way to determine a player’s skill level. Pickleball ranking is a player’s standing in the sport. Let's elaborate more on pickleball rankings to give you a better understanding. 

What is Pickleball Ranking? 

Pickleball ranking is the current standing of a player, whether overall or in a certain competition. For example, Ben Johns is ranked number 1 overall in the men's division as a pickleball player and in the men’s doubles division in the PPATour.

Rankings are important not only to recognize who the best players are but also to help determine seedings and matchups in tournaments and leagues. This is also to ensure that pairings and opponents are fairly assigned. 

How is Pickleball Rankings Determined? 

Rankings are determined through tournament plays. In tournaments like the PPATour or Minto US Open Pickleball Championship, there's always a point system where players gain and accumulate points based on their match results. These accumulated points determine whether the player will go up or down the rankings. If you continuously win and gain points, your chances of going up are high. However, if another player has more points than you, they will most likely go higher.

Rankings are typically updated regularly to show the most recent scores and players' standings. 

Importance of Pickleball Rankings

Rankings are important in tournament seeding. This is to make sure that you are matched with other players of your skill level. High-ranked and top players don't usually play in the early rounds. They are saved for the last. 

High-ranked players often get recognized in the pickleball community (or even outside), which attracts sponsorships. Pickleball sponsors usually look for the top pickleball players to represent their brand. Examples of this are Ben Johns for JOOLA where a paddle is even made specifically for him, and Paddletek sponsors Anna Leigh Waters.

Reaching a high ranking can get players motivated and set goals for the future. Being recognized as one of the top pickleball players provides motivation and pride to keep going. 

via GIPHY

Tips on Improving Your Pickleball Ranking 

Joining tournaments is the key to ranking in pickleball. Compete regularly to accumulate more points to help you climb higher. 

Keep tabs on how you're doing on your games lately. Are there specific areas you need to focus on? Have you noticed your strengths and weaknesses? Keep practicing and improve yourself.

Use 101 Pickleball’s Zen Control, a pickleball paddle focused on control and accuracy to enhance your performance.

Different divisions have different rankings. For example, men's singles and doubles, women's singles and doubles, and mixed doubles all have different rankings. If you compete in doubles, your score will depend on both you and your partner.

Your ranking can fluctuate based on your performance. A few poor performances can significantly impact your ranking while good performances can help it go up.

Hopefully, you have a better understanding of pickleball rankings by now. It can be confusing at first, especially for beginners. Ratings and rankings can sometimes be confused with each other. Just remember that rating is your skill level while ranking is your standing based on tournament plays.