The Southlake Paddle Club Challenge Levels

Effective September 1st, 2022 the Southlake Paddle Club is moving from 2 challenge levels of play to 3.

We are changing the levels to;

Bronze

Silver

Gold

A player’s current challenge level should be determined using 2 criteria. It’s important for all members to understand that these 3 sets of criteria are guidelines and not absolutes. They are;

1) Performance of play at current challenge level

2) USA Pickleball Skill Rating

Performance of Play at Current Challenge Level:

SPC members must be objective and use criteria such as win/loss percentage, shot making ability, playing strategy, mobility, reaction time, power and comfort level to determine if they should sign up to play at the next level. Use this along with your DUPR to determine if a step up makes sense. If it does, you deserve it, go for it!

Conversely, if a player at his/her current challenge level isn’t winning the majority of the time and dominating his/her competition, then it makes sense for that player to continue to work on their skill set prior to making a step up. A player moving up to the next level should be in the top 10-20% of their current level.

If a player meets the criteria to move up and after a few attempts has a less than 50% win rate and is often behind his/her competition in the playing criteria listed here, that should also be an indication that the player should move down and work on their skill set.

It’s always fun to play players that are better than you and open play and cross over matches allows for this to happen, but we ask that you respect your fellow members playing at a higher challenge level and understand the impact you may have when playing at a level that could be significantly different. If you wouldn’t enter a tournament at a higher level, the same would apply to moving up to a higher challenge level in the club.

It can be difficult to be objective about your own abilities. We encourage you to ask other more experienced players or a member of SPC committee for feedback.

USA Pickleball Skill Rating

Bronze

Skills:

FOREHAND:
Ability to hit a medium paced shot. Lacks directional intent and consistency.

BACKHAND:
Avoids using a backhand. Lacks directional intent and consistency.

SERVE / RETURN:
Able to hit a medium paced shot. Lacks depth, direction, and consistency.

DINK:
Not able to consistently sustain a dink rally. Not yet developed the ability to control this shot. Has a tendency to speed up balls in the wrong position.

3RD SHOT:
Generally hits a medium paced ball with little direction. Hitting a higher percentage of drives than drops.

VOLLEY:
Able to hit a medium paced shot. Lacks direction/inconsistent.

STRATEGY:
Understands fundamentals. Is still learning proper court positioning. Knows the fundamental rules and can keep score and is considering playing in tournaments or just beginning to

Silver

Skills:

FOREHAND:
Improved stroke development with moderate level of shot control.

BACKHAND:
Learning stroke form and starting to develop consistency but will avoid if possible.

SERVE / RETURN:
Consistently gets serve/return in play with limited ability to control depth.

DINK:
Increased consistency, with limited ability to control height/depth. Sustains medium length rallies. Starting to understand variations of pace. Still trying to identify the proper ball to speed up.

3RD SHOT:
Developing the drop shot in a way to get to the net. Hitting less drives and more drops from the baseline or transition

VOLLEY:
Is able to volley medium paced shots thereby developing control.

STRATEGY:
Moves quickly towards the non-volley zone (NVZ) when opportunity is there. Acknowledges difference between hard game and soft game and is starting to vary own game during recreation and tournament play. Can sustain short rallies. Is learning proper court positioning. Basic knowledge of stacking and understands situations where it can be effective.

Gold

Skills:

FOREHAND:
Consistently hits with depth and control. Is still perfecting shot selection and timing.

BACKHAND:
Has improved stroke mechanics and has moderate success at hitting a backhand consistently.

SERVE / RETURN:
Places a high majority of serves/returns with varying depth and speed.

DINK:
Increased consistency with moderate ability to control height/depth. May end dink rally too soon due to lack of patience. Is beginning to understand difference between attackable balls and those that are not.

3RD SHOT:
Selectively mixing up soft shots with power shots/drives to create an advantage with more consistent results. Hitting a much higher percentage of drops than drives overall.

VOLLEY:
Able to volley a variety of shots at different speeds. Is developing consistency and control. Starting to understand the block/re-set volley.

STRATEGY:
Aware of partner’s position on the court and is able to move as a team. Demonstrates ability to change direction in an offensive manner. Demonstrates a broad knowledge of the rules of the game. Has a moderate number of unforced errors per game. Solid understanding of stacking and when and how it could be used in match play. Beginning to identify opponents weaknesses and attempts to formulate game plan to attack weaknesses. Beginning to seek out more competitive play.

The SPC Committee Can Help

If you have self evaluated using the 2 criteria above and still need help identifying your challenge play level, please contact an SPC Committee member for input. Our goal is for everyone to improve their game. Drilling, lessons, camps, watching professional pickleball and of course putting in the reps over a period of time will have a tremendous impact on your overall skill level. Those who put in the work outside of playing actual matches, tend to be higher skilled. Putting in the extra time and effort will pay big dividends!

If a member is consistently signing up for events at a higher level than their current skill level, based on the 2 criteria listed above, the committee reserves the right to ask that member to move back to the level they came from. We recognize this can be a sensitive subject. If and when we have to address this with a member, we commit to handling this with discretion and professionalism and we ask for the same in return. We have created Crossover Challenge play to allow for a mix of skill levels to play along side each other with the goal of lifting up those players who are getting close to making the move up.