A pickleball player’s skill level or “rating” is determined by looking at physical and strategic abilities, namely control, consistency, and adaptability. Physically, this includes forehands, serves, dinks, volleys, etc. Strategically, this includes adaptive play styles, pace control, tactical placement, etc.

DUPR has become the top choice around the world and is a free, global rating system for players of all levels. DUPR stands for Dynamic Universal Pickleball Rating and is designed to be an accurate measure of a player’s skill level, regardless of age, gender, or location.

DUPR ratings range from 2.0-8.0. Below is a general guide of each level by skill summary.

To secure a rating, you need matches against your peers! Just one match can get you started, but a minimum of 6 matches are encouraged and 20 matches within a year’s timeframe give you a trusted rating.

To find a DUPR Rating session that’s powered by Pickleball.com, just login to Pickleball.com, click on “Leagues” and then search for a DUPR Rating Session.

For many sessions, you’ll even see our joint Pickleball.com/DUPR logo. And don’t forget to link your Pickleball.com and DUPR profiles for a seamless flow of match reporting to DUPR as soon as your matches finish. Instruction to link here.

2.0 Skill Rating
This player is just starting to play pickleball and has no other sports background. They have learned the rules of the game, can keep score and can demonstrate the basic fundamentals (forehand, backhand, serve and volley).

2.5 Skill Rating
This player knows the rules of the game and keep score throughout the game without trouble. They can hit a forehand and backhand with some direction, accurately get their serve in play and sustain a dink rally with like players of equal ability.

3.0 Skill Rating
Players at this level have no trouble with scoring and rules. They can hit all of the basic strokes with pace, direction and some consistency. They have learned to hit a 3rd shot drop, understand court positioning, and has started playing in leagues and tournaments.

3.5 Skill Rating
Becoming a 3.5 pickleball player means understanding the game better, the ability to create pace, spin and control to their shots, and can apply strategies. They consistently get the return of serve deep in the court, can dink and sustain medium length rallies and has a basic understanding of stacking. They have also learned to reset points and move quickly to NVZ (no-volley-zone / “Kitchen”) when the opportunity is there.

4.0 Skill Rating
As a 4.0, you’re an exceptional pickleball player, modeling consistent pace, depth and control of all fundamental shots. This player has developed spin and depth on their serve and can drop the ball from various areas of the court. They can sustain a dink rally with control, height and depth of shot and knows when and how to “put away” a shot. They can block and return fast volleys, uses stacking effectively, can identify opponent’s weaknesses and formulate a plan to attack and plays competitively in tournaments and leagues.

4.5 Skill Rating
At the 4.5 level, you have developed good skills in both verbal and nonverbal communication, as well as court positioning. This player consistently controls and places serves, return of serves and 3rd and 5th shots. They can setup put-away shots and execute with placement and control. This player can sustain a long volley battle, reset points on demand, develop changing strategies, has limited unforced errors and can effectively cover gaps in the court instinctively.

5.0 Skill Rating
This person is an incredible player who has mastered all of the basic fundamentals as well as specialty shots like the ATP and Erne. They have a high level accuracy, pace and spin they can use strategically. They have mastered the dink and drop from any part of the court, can block and reset hard volleys. They rarely make unforced errors, have great mobility, footwork and court position.

5.5+ Skill Rating
These players have achieved the pinnacle of success in pickleball. Players that start to surpass a 5.5 rating are now solely working on mastering advanced strategy and execution with consistency. They are typically playing in competitive tournaments and beating other highly ranked players/peers to test their skills.