Find Your Game / Guide

Observe honestly. Practise purposefully.

1. Choose your perspective

Assess yourself, or assess one player with their permission. Use recent doubles games and several opponents where possible. Names are optional; initials are enough. Reset before assessing another person.

2. Rate repeatability, not potential

For each skill choose Not yet (0), In a drill (1), Sometimes in games (2), Usually in games (3), or Under pressure (4). Choose the highest description you can support consistently, not one exceptional shot. Not observed / unsure is excluded rather than scored as zero.

3. Consider tactical scenarios

Three illustrated scenarios ask about sensible default decisions. They are simplified examples, not universal rules. For observer assessment, ask the player to answer. Understanding a shot is not the same as executing it, so this score stays separate.

4. Interpret the overview carefully

The six areas show the average of their known skill responses. The overall band uses the mean of all known responses: below 1 is Finding your feet; below 2 is Building consistency; below 3 is Club-ready foundations; below 3.7 is Confident all-court play; otherwise Advanced skills reported. At least 10 of 12 known responses and evidence in every area are required. These are original Dinkerly v1 heuristics, not validated boundaries or precise measures of ability.

The lowest-scoring or unobserved areas become practice priorities. A strong average can hide a particular weakness: always read the individual areas and evidence notes.

5. Ratings are a separate measure

DUPR uses match results and a different model. We cannot convert this questionnaire into a DUPR rating. Its published broad bands are available in the overview as context only. Club labels differ too. Never use this assessment alone to admit, exclude or seed players. Confirm through supportive observed play.

Background reading: DUPR’s rating explanation and USA Pickleball skill-level guidance. Dinkerly’s questions and scoring are independently authored and are not endorsed by either organisation.

6. Save, reset and take it courtside

The current assessment saves in our database and is restored by a secure anonymous cookie. Keep cookies enabled and return in the same browser. You need a connection to load and save. If saving fails, keep the page open and retry. Reset replaces the working assessment; it does not delete purchased order snapshots. There is no cross-device account or public assessment link.

The optional paid PDF records your answers at purchase, includes practice priorities and a four-week tracker, and follows the same download terms as our other packs. The full on-screen assessment stays free.