Doubles pickleball action in Denver with UTR Sports as players improve their UTR Pickleball Rating and stay away from sandbagging with UTR-P Rating

Sandbagging: What is it? How UTR Sports Prevents Sandbagging

Sandbagging. That’s exactly what you don’t want to see or hear about if you’re a tennis or pickleball player.

Sandbagging can leave players frustrated, discouraged, and less likely to want to experience more level-based play and work on their games.

"It's not fun," said Kentaro Hamaguchi (below), a Golden Ticket winner at the UTR Sports Macon Open Golden Ticket.

Kentaro Hamaguchi hits a backhand while improving his UTR Pickleball Rating with UTR Sports

What is sandbagging? What’s the definition of sandbagging? And how does UTR Sports prevent sandbagging with its Verified UTR Rating for tennis and Verified UTR Pickleball Rating?

Let’s explore this much-maligned and -mentioned term that, depending on your line of work, can have many different meanings.

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What does sandbagging mean?

In the context of UTR Sports, a global sports technology leader, sandbagging is when a player purposefully enters an event or tournament at a lower level with the intention to dominate. Players who sandbag are essentially trying to pad their ratings or dishonestly breeze past competition.

Sandbagging can ruin the competition for players on the opposite side of the net and damage the credibility of the tournament and the provider hosting the event.

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"Especially in the amateur side, you saw sandbagging a lot, which is a shame," said Rob Nunnery, pro pickleball player and UTR Sports Director of Pickleball Growth and Community Activation, of past years in pickleball.

"You saw players who were pretty good but dropped down to play a level or two below, just to get the Golden Ticket, just to get the national title. But what's the fun in winning a national title if you're playing beneath your skill level?"

Rob Nunnery plays pickleball and advocates against sandbagging as the UTR Pickleball Rating prevents that

Sandbagging: How UTR Sports prevents it

But here’s the good news: Sandbagging can’t happen with the UTR Rating (tennis) or the UTR Pickleball Rating.

Here’s how the Verified UTR Rating and the Verified UTR Pickleball Rating prevent sandbagging.

Verified UTR Rating Prevents Sandbagging

The Verified UTR Rating prevents sandbagging because the rating counts only match results from verified third-party event providers and tournament directors.

That list includes the U.S. Tennis Association (USTA), tournament matches, UTR Sports Flex Leagues, UTR Sports tournaments, sanctioned leagues, etc. Click here for the full list.

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Casual/practice matches and self-posted scores count toward your UTR Rating, not your Verified UTR Rating.

So say you go play with a friend who has a 10.45 UTR Rating, and you have a 5.43 UTR Rating. You "beat" your friend 6-0, 6-0 at your local park. That won’t count toward anyone’s Verified UTR Rating.

Chart explaining Verified UTR Ratings vs UTR Rating for tennis

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Verified UTR Pickleball Rating (UTR-P Rating) Prevents Sandbagging

The Verified UTR Pickleball Rating prevents sandbagging because it also treats verified results and unverified results differently. This is unlike other pickleball ratings.

For a Verified UTR-P Rating, only results from third-party sources, such as USA Pickleball or the Association of Pickleball Players, count for a player’s Verified UTR Pickleball Rating. This ensures that no sandbagging can take place.

Chart explaining Verified UTR Pickleball Ratings and UTR Pickleball Ratings

In other words, players cannot simply post scores against one another in order to boost one or many players' ratings. Conversely, players who play at a higher level cannot post scores in order to lower their rating, allowing them to sandbag in sanctioned-tournament play.

"Having a reliable, consistent rating that's accurate is incredibly important in pickleball, because it will prevent somebody from basically going down and stealing your national title or stealing your medal when they shouldn't be playing in that division," Nunnery said.

"With the UTR-P, I'm super stoked that we have a rating that is be very consistent, reliable, and prevents sandbagging."

Chart explaining UTR Pickleball Verified vs Unverified Results and how UTR Pickleball Rating prevents sandbagging

Players, more than anything, crave a reliable and accurate rating that promotes level-based play.

Jay Evans, pickleball player with UTR Pickleball Rating, hits a forehand at the UTR Sports Golden Ticket tournament in Macon, where sandbagging did not occur

"You ultimately want to be playing people as competitive and as close in level as possible," said Jay Evans (above), a tennis and pickleball player who also competed at the UTR Sports Macon Open Golden Ticket. "The accurate rating gives you a way to measure yourself against everybody."

So when you’re playing with UTR Sports and looking to improve your UTR Rating and/or UTR Pickleball Rating, rest assured: No sandbagging allowed!

Learn more about how UTR Sports prevents sandbagging with UTR Rating and UTR Pickleball Rating:

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