- You are setting initial levels not current levels: Consider the players level for their first matches in the system
- Accuracy is key: The initial levels set the foundation for ongoing ratings, so it’s important to get them as accurate as possible.
- Use anchors to correct inaccuracies: Automatic initial levels are usually accurate, but your insight helps where the maths doesn’t tell the full story.
- Don’t anchor everyone: If all levels seem systematically off, contact us.
- Anchored initial levels don’t move: Once set, anchor initial levels remain fixed, providing stability.
- Automatic initial levels adjust: Initial levels not set as anchors will be adjusted by the algorithm to best fit the results over the player's first few matches
- Influence over time: The further back in time the initial level is set, the less influence it will have on the current level. The relationship between the starting level and current level is stronger for players with more recent data.
- Review player connections before anchoring: Anchoring a player will affect all connected players: teammates, opponents, opponents’ teammates etc.
- Comparing players: If one team is twice as good as their opponents then they would be expected to win sets 6-1 on average. With Levels that is also 2:1 such as 2000 vs 1000. For Playtomic that's a difference of about 0.65 and Court22 a difference of about 1.12.
See How are Levels calculated FAQ for more details.
See How do we set initial levels FAQ for more details.