UTR Power 6 - What Is It?

The College tennis season officially in full swing (pardon the pun!) with last weekend’s 10th annual Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Kickoff Weekend tournaments held across the country. The competition was fierce and the 2018 collegiate season is shaping up to be one to watch with new faces, new rivalries, and new team dynamics. Throughout the season, we’ll be showcasing some of the new players in Collegiate tennis in our “Freshman to Watch” series and keep you posted on exciting matches. But first, we want to share some insider info to help you understand how college coaches are setting up their team lineups. You may hear coaches, players, and commenters referencing the “Power 6”. No, it’s not the latest workout fad (although that sounds pretty intense)! The Power 6 is a metric created and developed by UTR to measure the strength of a College team. It is calculated by adding up the individual UTRs of the top-6 players on a team and then rounding the sum to the nearest integer. College coaches use the UTR Power 6 to compare team lineups and estimate how competitive the dual match will be. This also helps them with scheduling team matches for the season. Side note - A college team, of course, has more than six players on its roster, but only six players play in the singles lineup for each team in college tennis events. Why They Love it For Coaches: Coaches use UTR to analyze how their players will match up against their opponents in dual matches. Once coaches set the lineups and submit them for the event, the UTR Power 6 provides a comparison of the lineups and a feel for the level of competition to come during the event. For Players: Players can see how their skill level compares to their opponents and prepare for some tight matches. For Recruits: Recruits can see how their skill level compares to players on current college teams and where their best fit would be. This is what’s called the “UTR Fit” - if juniors look at their UTR then match it with each college’s Power 6 it can tell them where they may fit in. If they make the top 6 with their UTR, there is a good chance they will play. More on UTR Fit here. For Fans: Instead of predicting which players and teams will win or lose a match, the UTR Power 6 shows parity of skill between players and which matches will be tight. It can give a sense of the nature of the overall event (ie a close dual match, potential for an upset or blowout, etc) versus just a prediction of who will win. How to use it?

1. Go to MyUTR.com and search for Colleges

2. On a college profile click on a 3-dot menu and select compare 3. Search for a college team you'd like to compare the first team to 4. Both team's Power 6 will display on the screen and you can drag the players up and down or in and out of the lineup and see how the Power 6 changes Stay tuned for collegiate match updates, highlights and players to watch on MyUTR.com this season. You can check out the rating of your favorite collegiate players and schools by searching MyUTR.com database.