SQUASHLEVELS UPDATES – 8 MARCH 2024
Following feedback and observations of how the new grading list system is working in real-time since the launch on 31 January, we have been exploring solutions with SquashLevels to improve how some Level changes are being calculated.
SquashLevels have been able to come up with solutions which will require adjustments to be made to player Levels and the grading bands, which will be pushed through into the live system and MySquash over the next 24 hours. We feel it's important to get this right early on while players are still learning the new grading system rather than having a big change mid-season, and we are committed to continuing to monitor the system and conduct a full review at the end of the year again.
With the grading band changes, it may appear the bands have increased in size however this is due to the stretching out of the range of levels across all players, and we are continuing to keep the grade distribution as similar as possible to last year with the exception of reducing the bottleneck at Men's C Grade previously implemented. There are also more logical 'percentage improvement' steps between each half grade that players can target to move up.
Based on this, we estimate around 30% of players will increase by half a grade from their current grade in MySquash. We will share new grading bands on Monday once the changes have settled.
The three main areas we have focused on improving are,
• The significant Level changes some players are finding in their first match back of the season (+/- greater than 10%).
• Fast-improving players such as juniors not moving through the grades quick enough.
• New Zealand Levels being generally low overall compared to overseas.
SquashLevels have been working diligently to update the algorithm to improve these. The changes will,
• Limit the amount of movement from a player’s first match back after an extended period of time to +/- 10%. Players will however still notice a more significant change after a break because the system is attempting to find their new current playing level quicker.
• Reduce the dampening placed on matches which was capping the increase for players, allowing improving players to move quicker through the grades. This will mean slightly more fluctuations for all players in each match.
• Most players will notice an increase in their Level, which is requiring us to adjust the grading bands.