Los Angeles Area USTA League Coordinator

 FAQ's for NTRP (very informative)

How Dynamic Ratings are calculated for a specific match (quite interesting)

Ratings are constantly re-calculated whenever a match is played, to ensure fair playing, and at the end of each year, all players' new ratings are published. There is an interesting animated presentation of how year-end ratings are calculated at this link: NTRP ratings help

You will be asked to fill out a questionnaire when you register for a team to determine your starting rating. The rating is based on your playing experience, age, and general physical ability. If you provide false information (or neglect to disclose that you won your division in college!), and your rating is found to be too low, you may be disqualified and all matches you played in that season will be defaulted, possibly changing your team's standings in the league.

Before filling out this questionnaire, check out this NTRP chart for an estimate of your rating. If you are taking lessons, playing lots of tennis, improving steadily, you may be considered higher than you think. 

This document explains the process, and lists the actual questions to be answered.

This link shows the self-rate process:  Self Rating demo

Many of us who never played in high school or college, but have been playing a while may get an initial rating of 2.0. We do not recognize this at all (2.5 is considered an absolute beginner.) You must change your rating immediately to something more in line with your team's level. 

For instance, if you're playing on a 3.5 team, and you have been playing for several years, and are in fairly good shape, even if you're not that young, you should change the 2.0 to 3.5.

Refer to the NTRP chart for descriptions of skills at the different levels to confirm your rating.

Team Captains often sign their players up for various reasons. They should NOT fill out the self-rate questions, however, unless they are asking their player for the answers to EACH question. Consider the potential problems for your team, as described below.

There have been cases where captains (and even players) fail to answer the questions completely, or truthfully, (such as not saying they played on a college tennis team) and they receive a rating that is lower than it should be. Here is what happens when a player's rating is too low:

• A self-rated player may be found to be under-rated after NTRP calculations look at their record against other players, taking into account their opponent's playing history and (in doubles) their partner.
  
• There is a "three-strikes" rule, which causes the player's rating to be increased. This can happen during the regular season, or at Playoffs and Sectionals. Nobody knows when a player receives two strikes; a notice is only sent upon reaching that third strike.
• A self-rated player is subject to filing of a grievance by opposing teams, which can also cause their rating to be increased.
• If a 3.5 player is playing on a  4.0 team, and his rating is increased to 4.0, there is no disqualification.
• If a 3.5 player is playing on a 3.5 team, however, and his rating is increased to 4.0, the player is disqualified, and all of their matches become defaults. This could change the team's standings, and the player may no longer play for that team.