Nettla updates padel levels automatically from confirmed match results. A player's level changes about 1 hour after the result of their match is confirmed. The algorithm only runs for padel; tennis levels don't update automatically.
What the algorithm looks at
Win or loss.
How close or one-sided the score was.
The opponents' levels.
The partner's level.
The gap between the players' levels.
Feedback from the other players (see below).
When levels update
After the match, players report the score.
The opposing team has 4 hours to confirm or dispute it. If nobody responds, the score is confirmed automatically.
About 1 hour after the score is confirmed, each player's level updates.
Limits on each change
One match can move a level by at most 0.30 up or down.
A win always moves the level up by at least 0.05.
If some players in the match have no level yet, winners go up by 0.08 and losers go down by 0.05.
Player feedback
After confirming a score, players can rate each opponent and their partner as "As expected", "Higher" or "Lower".
Feedback is anonymous. Other players don't see what was chosen.
Feedback has a small effect (at most 0.05) and only counts when a player gets at least 2 ratings.
Results that don't change levels
Draws: the level stays the same. Only the Reliability % changes.
Matches recorded as retired or no-show.
Disputed scores that were never resolved.
League matches in a round where Scores affect players' levels is turned off.
Inactivity
If a padel player's level hasn't changed for 90 days, it drops by 0.10. It never drops below 1.00.
Reliability %
Each player has a Reliability % that shows how sure you can be that their level is accurate. It goes up with:
the number of matches they have played,
how recently they played,
how many matches they played in the last 90 days.
The lowest possible value is 20%. In the admin you see it as the player's level reliability on the Level tab.
Good to know
Unfinished matches count with half the usual impact. See "Does an unfinished match affect a player's level?".
Staff can set a level by hand at any time. See "How do I change a player's level?".