The league draw is based upon each player’s AGTTA rating. Every player who participates in league has a AGTTA rating. New players will be assigned an initial rating to begin play.
A player’s Rating is used to seed players into a group of three to five players with similar ratings. A player’s rating is adjusted after each league session based upon his/her performance. This is how a player advances groups, by defeating players until his/her rating qualifies him/her to be seeded into a higher group. Conversely a player will be seeded into a lower group if by losing matches his/her rating declines. The higher rated the opponent the greater the increase or decrease in the rating adjustment from that match. Note that the mix of players in any given league session will effect the group a player is seeded into.
Another factor in the AGTTA League is the automatic promotion of a group winner. Any player who wins his/her group the previous week will automatically be seeded into the next higher group the following league session. If, because of the player mix in the next session, the group winner would be seeded higher than third in a group then he/she will automatically be promoted up to a group where their rating seeds them no higher than third. The League Manager may recognize discrepancies in the draw and attempt to make a best-effort adjustment if time allows. Note that a player must attend the next chronological session in order to receive this benefit, it is not carried forward to whatever session the player next chooses to attend. Also note that group winners in the last session of a league will not be seeded into a higher table at the start of the next league.
AGTTA ratings use the USATT ratings adjustment chart (see “USA Table Tennis Rating Chart” at http://www.usatt.org/ratings/ratingsprocess.html) to adjust player’s ratings following each league session. A player’s rating at the beginning of a session is used to calculate adjustments for that session (ratings are not dynamically adjusted after each match). The AGTTA group match sheets display the rating adjustment in the lower lines of each match box.
In an effort to keep AGTTA & USATT ratings aligned the League Manager adjusts AGTTA ratings at the start of each 10 session league. Any player who has participated in a USATT tournament since the start of the last league and whose USATT rating is higher than their AGTTA rating will receive an adjustment of their AGTTA rating up to their USATT rating. This adjustment takes effect in the first session of the next AGTTA league. This adjustment is only made at the beginning of a new league.