Skill Tiers
Your PaddleRank places you in one of seven tiers.
The ladder
| Tier | PaddleRank | |---|---| | Rally Rookie | 0 – 150 | | Net Dasher | 151 – 500 | | Volley Vibe | 501 – 1,000 | | Smash Spark | 1,001 – 2,000 | | Rally Riser | 2,001 – 3,500 | | Court Crusader | 3,501 – 6,000 | | Valiant | 6,001 – 20,000 |
Everyone starts at Rally Rookie and climbs by playing. There's no placement period and no self-assessment — your tier is earned entirely from games played.
The bands get wider as you climb
Rally Rookie spans 150 points. Valiant spans nearly 14,000.
That shape is intentional. Early tiers pass quickly, so a new player sees movement in their first few sessions rather than grinding invisibly. Later tiers are long, so reaching Court Crusader or Valiant means something.
It also means slowing down as you climb isn't a sign anything's wrong. The distance is genuinely longer.
What tiers actually do
They gate event registration. Organizers can set a PaddleRank range on an event to restrict who can register. If your rating is outside the range, you won't see the event.
This is the most practical consequence of your tier, and it cuts both ways: it protects beginner events from being farmed, and it keeps competitive events competitive. See Joining an Event or League.
They drive the opponent multiplier. Beating someone 1 or 2+ tiers above you earns a bonus. Your tier is what other players are measured against too.
They're how skill levels get displayed. Event skill ranges show as tier names — "Rally Rookie – Smash Spark" — rather than raw numbers, which is easier to read. An event with no range set shows as Open.
Demotion protection and inactivity
Two mechanisms affect tier movement over time:
Demotion Protection — cushions a drop out of a tier you've reached, so a bad run doesn't immediately undo it.
Inactivity Decay — ratings drift when you stop playing. A rating built two years ago and untouched since isn't a good description of you today, and decay keeps the ladder honest about who's currently active.
Playing regularly is enough to avoid decay entirely.
Tiers are separate from your plan
Easy to confuse, worth separating:
Skill tiers — Rally Rookie through Valiant. Earned by playing.
Subscription tiers — Rookie (free) and Champion (paid). Bought.
They share a word and nothing else. A Rally Rookie can be a Champion subscriber; a Valiant can be on the free plan. See Free vs. Champion.