Rating System

In the Berkeley Table Tennis Club we use our own rating system. The system was created by one of our players, Mike Labins, in order for us to be able to assign players to suitable round robin groups each Friday according to their table tennis skills.

The system is relatively simple: Each match is worth 16 points, plus or minus 4% of the initial ranking difference between the players. The winner always wins at least 2 points. The loser of the match receives 2 points for each game he wins, and those points are subtracted from the winner's 16 points. Here are some examples:

Player Ranking	Games Won	Games Lost	Ranking Points Difference
1100	3	2	-16
700	2	3	+16

For example, if a player ranked 1100 beats a player ranked 700 with a match score of 3 games to 2, the player ranked 1100 gets 2 points for the match win but ends up losing 2 points because of the game score (16 points for the win minus 16 points for the ranking difference, but a win is always worth at least 2 points).

UPDATE JAN 17 2025

We regularly adjust our club’s ratings so they stay in line with official USATT ratings. To do this, we compare our members’ club ratings with their USATT ratings and see if there’s any inflation (when our ratings are consistently higher). If the data shows we’re, say, 7% higher than the USATT scale, we reduce everyone’s score by that same 7%. This keeps everyone’s relative standing the same—nobody jumps ahead or falls behind compared to others—while bringing our overall ratings closer to the official USATT levels. We also make sure no score goes below 100, so there’s always a minimum.

This year we reduced everyone's rating by 7%