How categories are calculated
A player's category is generated by Pickleball Promax from tournament results and the method on this page.
Pickleball Promax is an independent community project. The category is not an official federation rating,
a national ranking, a DUPR rating, a certification or an endorsement, and players don't choose their own.
The five categories
Beginner→
Novice→
Intermediate→
Advance→
Pro
The rule
You are placed at the level of the division you entered. A podium finish (1st, 2nd or 3rd) moves you one category up from there for 6 months after the tournament. After that you are back at the level you entered, until your next podium. Your category is the highest one that any of your results gives you.
| Result | Category it gives |
|---|---|
| Played in a Beginner division | Beginner |
| 1st, 2nd or 3rd in a Beginner division | Novice |
| Played in a Novice division | Novice |
| 1st, 2nd or 3rd in a Novice division | Intermediate |
| 1st, 2nd or 3rd in an Intermediate division | Advance |
| 1st, 2nd or 3rd in an Advance division | Pro |
| Played in a Pro division | Pro |
Details
- Which tournaments count: any tournament an admin has checked against a public source (results post, bracket, registration list or news report). A tournament's level (club, regional, national, international) is set by the admin.
- Which results count: approved results only. Results waiting for review don't count. Results from junior or age-limited divisions are never shown or counted.
- How the division level is read: from the division's name ("Beginner", "Novice", "Intermediate", "Advance"/"Advanced"/"Elite", "Pro"). When the name gives no level, for example "Men's Doubles" or an "Open" division that anyone can enter, the tournament's level is used instead: club = Beginner, regional = Novice, national = Intermediate, international = Advance.
- How many results are needed: one. The level of the divisions you entered never lowers your category. Only a podium promotion ends, 6 months after its tournament, so a category can step back down by one level if you haven't podiumed since.
- Wins and losses: only the final placement counts. A podium moves you up one category for 6 months. Losing a match, or finishing outside the top 3, never lowers a category.
- Old results: the division you entered always counts. A podium's one-category promotion lasts 6 months from the tournament date, counted day by day. A result with no tournament date keeps its promotion until a date is added. If you think your category is out of date, ask for a review.
- Ties: when several results give the same highest category, the explanation on the player page quotes the most recent one. The category is the same either way.
- Missing data: no placement recorded means "participant". A player with no results yet has no result-based category. For a player submitted with a start date but no results, a rough placeholder is used: under 6 months = Beginner, 6–11 months = Novice, 1 year or more = Intermediate.
- Corrections: when a result is corrected, removed or anonymized, the category is recalculated straight away.
- When it's recalculated: every time a page is shown. Nothing is stored or typed in by hand.
What "checked" means
An admin compared the tournament result with its public source when it was added. That confirms the result appears in the source. It doesn't mean any federation, organizer or DUPR recognizes the category. If a result or name is wrong, please report it.