About

Seeding Matters

In beach volleyball, fair and accurate seeding is crucial for maintaining a competitive balance in tournaments. Unlike other systems that may prioritize overall tournament finishes or other external factors, TruVolley focuses on the individual performance of players, ensuring that every match is a true test of skill. This system levels the playing field by providing an objective measure of player ability, regardless of their background or the tournaments they participate in. Accurate seeding not only enhances the competitive experience but also increases fairness, as players and teams are matched according to their true skill levels.

Fairness and Transparency

One of the core motivations behind TruVolley is to create a transparent and fair rating system. By basing ratings solely on head-to-head matches and individual performance, the system eliminates biases that may arise from external factors like tournament prize money or the number of participants. This approach ensures that players are judged purely on their skill and performance, making the rating system an honest reflection of a player's abilities. Additionally, the system's transparency helps players understand how their ratings are calculated and how they can improve, fostering a more engaging and competitive environment.

Encouraging Growth and Development

TruVolley is designed to encourage players to compete against a wide range of opponents, which is essential for growth and development. The system rewards players for challenging themselves against higher-rated opponents, providing a clear path for improvement. This motivates players to participate more actively, knowing that their efforts are directly reflected in their ratings. By promoting continuous improvement and competition, TruVolley contributes to the overall development of the sport, helping players reach their full potential.

FAQ

What is TruVolley?

TruVolley is the most accurate and expansive Elo-based beach volleyball rating system in the world. Ratings are based on who you play and how much you beat them by, not by overall tournament finish. Every match contributes to your rating, and the impact on your rating depends on the skill level of your opponents. For example, if a 12.00-rated player defeats an 8.00-rated player, the gain is minimal since the outcome was expected. Conversely, if the lower-rated player wins, they gain significantly, while the higher-rated player's rating decreases.

Where is the data from?

The match data that goes into the TruVolley ratings happens automatically every night. Every international tournament, college match, or amateur match is included in the ratings. TruVolley is a VolleyballLife company, but remains an independent rating system so that all can use it. We are working on including more data from around the world and more organizations in America as well.

Are these ratings better than FIVB/AVP?

TruVolley ratings are derived solely from head-to-head matches, independent of tournament results. This system naturally accounts for the strength of competition, unlike FIVB/AVP systems that base points on tournament factors like prize money. Since 2002, TruVolley has shown to be approximately 4% more accurate than AVP and 5% more accurate than FIVB at the professional level, and about 9% more accurate at the amateur level in head-to-head comparisons.

Why individual ratings?

Individual ratings accommodate the frequent partner switches in beach volleyball. While top teams often remain together, lower-rated players frequently change partners, which the rating system accurately reflects. Over time, partners who consistently play together will see their ratings converge.

Why do partners have different ratings?

Ratings can differ because they account for each player's entire career, including matches played with different partners. As partners play more together, their ratings may converge, but significant differences can persist due to their individual histories.

What do I do if I have two ratings?

We may not have your profile mapped yet. With almost 100,000 players in the rating system, this can happen frequently. Please reach out and we will get it corrected as soon as possible!

In-depth Explanation

Rating & Confidence

TruVolley uses a modified Glicko algorithm to rate players, with two main components:

Rating: A numeric value representing a player's skill, ranging from 0 to 14. Most players fall between 2-8, with pros above 10 and top players exceeding 12.
Confidence: Indicates the certainty of the system about a player's rating. At 100% confidence, the rating is stable, while lower confidence leads to faster rating changes.

Next, we get to the match by match updating that the algorithm is based upon. The following are the main points considered in each match that happens:

How Matches Affect Ratings

Expected Result: The system calculates an expected result for each match based on player ratings, adjusting for confidence levels. When the team’s average ratings are the same, that implies a 50% win probability for each team. If a team has an average rating of 1 point higher than the other team (and all confidence is 100%), that implies a 75% win probability for that team, and 25% for the other team. A team rated 2 points higher (with all confidence at 100%) has a 95% win probability.
Actual Match Result: Based on the score of the match and the points scored by each team, the actual match result is calculated. Winning teams get a 66.67% match result for a win in 3 sets, and anywhere from 75-100% win credit for a win in 1 or 2 sets. Forfeits reward 0% win credit to the forfeit team but do not adjust ratings for the winning team.
Match Value: The difference between expected and actual results determines the impact on ratings. It's possible to win a match but lose rating points if the victory was less decisive than the system expected.

Key System Features

Maximum and Minumum Rating Deviation: These settings control the rate at which ratings stabilize as confidence increases.
Initial Rating: Players are initialized based on their peers' ratings in their first tournament.
Rating Decay: Inactivity leads to a gradual decay in ratings, ensuring active players are accurately represented.
Seeding Rating: To ensure fairness, players with less than 100% confidence have points subtracted from their rating when seeding. This adjustment is linear and the same across all skills.

The system is designed to maintain fairness and accuracy, with regular upsets expected as a natural part of competitive play.