Present at FIP ​​Promises Paris by WME, Coulter Wright, founder of World Padel Rating (WPR), came to present a system that aims to become the global benchmark for evaluating padel players. A former tennis player, entrepreneur, and club operator in North America, he returns to Padel Magazine on the birth of the WPR, its operation and its vision for the development of padel. 

 Padel Magazine Before talking about World Padel Rating, can you tell us your story with padel? 

 Coulter Wright:  Like many players in North America, I come from a tennis background. I discovered padel in 2017-2018 and was immediately hooked. We quickly started developing clubs, but we also identified a major problem: in padel, four people always share the court. If the skill levels are too different, no one really enjoys it.

At that time, there was no standard for objectively measuring players' skill levels. This is how the idea of ​​creating  World Padel Rating .

Coulter Wright (World Padel Rating): "Padel needed a universal language"

 How was World born? Padel Rating? 

We started working on the project in 2017-2018, then we signed a partnership with the American association, which has now become  USA Padel .

Our conviction was simple: to develop padel sustainably, players must be able to easily find partners of their level.

When you play with friends, skill level doesn't matter much. However, in a club, when you want to participate in a Round Robin, a league, or a tournament, you need to be able to offer balanced matches. That's precisely the role of the WPR.

 How did you build your system? 

Initially, we learned a great deal from the tournaments.

Each player who participated in a tournament received a first World Padel Rating. The more results we collected, the more accurate our system became.

Today, we manage all sanctioned tournaments in the USA Padel on our platform. This represents several hundred events each year, and this number continues to grow rapidly.

The more data we collect, the more reliable our assessment becomes. That's really the core of our technology.

 Many players confuse "ranking" and "rating". What is the difference? 

This is a crucial distinction.

Le  ranking This is your official ranking. You are number 5, number 10 or number 50 in a country.

Le  rating He, on the other hand, represents your true level of play.

Two players can have the exact same rating without having the same official ranking. This simply means they are capable of producing a balanced match.

Our system goes from  0 to 21 For example, a player ranked among the best in the United States usually has a rating between 17 and 18.

Our goal is not to replace official rankings, but to offer a common language allowing all players to know their true level.

 Why create a new system when clubs already have their own levels? 

Because today, each booking platform has its own system.

A player can be level 5 in one application, level 7 in another, and level 4 elsewhere.

We want to create a single standard.

Our ambition is to integrate World Padel Rating across all booking platforms so that a player maintains the same level, regardless of the club he plays for.

It's exactly like a common language understood by everyone.

 Does your system evolve as the matches progress? 

Yes, of course.

When you create your profile, you receive an initial rating accompanied by a  confidence index .

If this confidence level is low, it simply means that we do not yet have enough data about you.

But the more you play, the more the algorithm refines your skill level.

It's perfectly normal for a player to improve. Our system is specifically designed to constantly monitor this progress.

Coulter Wright (World Padel Rating): "Padel needed a universal language"

 Is it possible to get a rating without having played in a tournament? 

Yes.

Simply visit our website and answer a few questions.

You immediately get your first World Padel rating.

Of course, this comes with a low level of confidence since it is based on very little information.

Then, each match played allows the algorithm to gradually improve this evaluation.

Many players think they are better than they actually are…

(Laughs.)

I believe this is probably even more true in padel than in other sports.

Why? Because we're playing doubles.

It is always easier to think that it is your partner who made the mistakes.

This is precisely why an objective system is essential. Data doesn't lie. It allows us to offer the best possible matchups and provide a much more enjoyable gaming experience for everyone.

Franck Binisti

Franck Binisti discovered padel at the Club des Pyramides in 2009 in the Paris region. Since then, padel has been part of his life. You often see him touring France to cover major French padel events.

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