Follow this link to read the updated Match Play Log Instructions for Captains
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1fJr5_XEAb57nhEOW7Xd5-5owjx1oHxHb0rBI_dNvRkQ

We have had a few questions about matches where ratings did not appear to move but you played better (or worse) than system expectations.  Your rating is recalculated after every match and it does move fractionally but you do not see that level of detail unless the adjustment crosses the rounding factor.

For instance a rating of 49.3 may adjust to 49.1 after a match.  Both ratings round to 49 and that is what shows under “My Dashboard” in your rating badge.  But there is one signal that let’s you know your rating is changing.  Just under your rating, in the rating badge, is a slide with a tennis ball in the middle.  If a green arrow shows to the right of the tennis ball that means you played better than expectations in your last match.  If a red arrow shows to the left of the tennis ball that means you played worse than expectation and your rating moved fractionally higher.

It is a level of detail that does not matter much but for very detail oriented folks it does offer a rating trend.

The number one complaint I received last year at this time was the excessive movement of ratings after a match.

The number one complaint I am receiving this year is the lack of movement of ratings after a match. 

Higher confidence levels will begin to slow down the movement as the system gains in the number of matches to build a very good history.

“Official” means your CL is 90% or over.  Once you get close to 80% or more, the system makes smaller adjustments either way because it has a very good history of your playing level. 

People also ask why their rating didn’t move after a match.  Ratings are recalculated to multiple decimals after every match, but they are rounded to the nearest whole number.  It is possible for a player to have 9 tenths of a point of movement and not see a whole number rating change.  For instance: Player A is rated at 49.4 (49).  After a win the player gets the benefit of a 0.9 improvement in rating to 48.5 (49) which rounds to 49.

The biggest point we need to remember is the importance of the accumulation of matches.  Look at your last 5 or 6 matches.  Has your rating improved from 5 matches ago?  If you are improving a few tenths each match, you won’t see it weekly, but they all add up showing that you are playing better than the expectation of your rating, which means your rating will go down.

On the other hand, if your rating has become higher over the last 5 matches, you know that you have not been playing as well as the expectation for your rating and your rating will move higher. 

But the most important point of all is that we have 10 more matches this season in which we can play and have fun.  Focus on the Fun.

 

There is still a great deal of misunderstanding about what happens to a rating when a player has a bad match.  First of all, we all have bad matches and that is part of the game.  It always has been.  But let’s show an example of what the system does in subsequent matches after a person has a “bad match”.

Assume a person plays like a 45 rating, but a very bad match takes them to a 50 rating.
And let’s also assume the next match is against a team that is also rated at 45.

For the player rated at 50, the system expects much less from them than it does if they are rated 45.  It expects a result of approximately 4-6 and 3-6 or a 5 game difference.  Assuming the player actually plays like a 45 the final score will be 6-6  and 6-6 or no game difference.  That means the system will improve the rating for the person with a rating of 50  and move them a point or two back toward their actual playing ability.

BUT, if that person has a rating artificially set back to 45 after that bad match, then the system would expect the player to win at least as many games as the opposition.  So a 6-6  6-6 score would net the player ZERO movement.  And if they lost by a few games, their rating would get worse.

The system always moves the player toward their actual playing ability.  Resetting a rating after a bad match was never done in the old EVSTL system. It is not done in the USTA system and it really isn’t necessary in the Tencap system.  In the example above, a player can move back to their actual playing ability in just a few matches.

It works the opposite way as well.  If your opponent has a very bad day and you gain a “windfall” of a rating improvement, the system will move you back toward your actual playing ability and you will find your rating will get there much faster than you desire.

To: All Team Captains

Captain Procedures states:

6. Captains should designate borrowed players or play-up players as “substitutes” on the roster, and remove the “substitutes” following the match to maintain the team roster as accurate as possible unless certain players have the opportunity to play up often.

Please designate them as "substitutes" and not "player"

Are you having trouble logging into your Tencap account? 

There are a few basics and they are very simple:

• Be sure you are using the EVSTL site to log in.  It is:  EVSTL.Tencapsports.com 
  
• Your Log in ID is normally your email address.
• If you have forgotten your password, please use the "Forgot Your Password" feature on the Log In page and Tencap will email it to the email address on file.
• If the email address in Tencap is incorrect:
• Log into your account and use the "edit profile" and "Contact Information" and change it.  
• If you can't log into your account because the system will only send your password to an incorrect email address then contact your club Tencap coordinator with the correct email address.  They will get it corrected for you.
• An incorrect email will NOT stop you from logging into your account if you still have the password.
  
• If you already have a Tencap account, DO NOT TRY TO SET UP ANOTHER ACCOUNT.  If you set up another account, that will tie up your email address and you will not be able to use that email address on your EVSTL account.  It is a case of causing DOUBLE TROUBLE.

To view this document click here:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1F9roZ0VbjYsfhdoAw-_J1RC_9O0BaqFWJE6VgXa-Afw

Ivan Tomkins has written a wonderful guide to that may help many EVSTL members better understand how to use their computer for Tencap.  It is titled, "I Love Tennis but Computers Scare Me".  It is as informative as it is entertaining and we recommend it highly.

You can read it online here: 
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B3kMxZQrSck-bWxvU01YckM1cVk