The Digital Pegboard
Advanced Automation & Ranking
Why Digital Pegboard?
The Digital Pegboard isn't just about organizing games—it's about transforming your club culture. By combining automated matchmaking with sophisticated ranking, you create an environment where every player is engaged, motivated, and improving. Members can track their progress over time, see how they stack up against peers, and celebrate their achievements. Meanwhile, club administrators gain powerful insights into attendance patterns, player performance, and session engagement, making it easier to plan events, select teams, and grade players accurately for competitions.
Player Engagement
Rankings drive motivation and friendly competition
Performance Tracking
See progression and skill development over time
Session Analytics
Attendance tracking and detailed session statistics
Data-Driven Decisions
Team selection and grading based on real performance
Automated Club Sessions
Our digital pegboard system transforms how your club operates. It eliminates the friction of manual selection while ensuring every game is fair and balanced.
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Wait-Time Intelligence
The system tracks exactly how long each player has been waiting, prioritizing those who need a game next without sacrificing quality.
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Balanced Matchmaking
Using the Elo-based ranking system, the engine proposes games where partners and opponents are evenly matched for a competitive experience.
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Format Enforcement
Automatically handles Men's, Ladies', and Mixed doubles requirements while allowing "funnies" and open games when requested by admins.
"The session-end view provides a summary of all games played, tracking wins, losses, and ranking shifts in real-time."
Full Admin Control
Run sessions your way with complete flexibility and control.
Automated or Manual Selection
Toggle between AI-powered auto-selection for balanced games or manual mode where the player at the front picks the match.
Competition Night Mode
Boost rating changes for special tournament nights to drive extra competitiveness and excitement.
Disable Ranking Adjustments
Turn off rating changes for friendly play or practice sessions. Games still count, but rankings stay frozen.
Choose How You Want to Run It
Every club is different. Whether you prefer full automation, manual control, or something in between, the Digital Pegboard adapts to your needs. Change settings on the fly — no complicated setup required.
Sophisticated Elo Ranking
A score-based system that rewards performance, not just winning.
Unlike traditional win/loss systems, our ranking algorithm considers game scores, opponent strength, and provides separate ratings for Level Doubles, Mixed Doubles, and Singles — ensuring accurate skill assessment across all formats.
Why This System is Perfect for Clubs
Fair Matchmaking
Balanced games keep everyone engaged, from beginners to experts
Motivates Improvement
Clear progression tracking encourages players to develop their skills
Transparent & Simple
Members understand exactly how ratings work, no black boxes
Key Principles
Fair Competition: Beating stronger opponents earns more points.
Score Matters: Close losses to strong opponents can still gain you points.
Win Bonus: Winning provides an automatic 20% performance bonus.
Always Gain: You always gain at least +1 point for any win.
The K-Factor Explained
The K-factor determines how much your rating can change per game. Our system uses a fixed K-factor of 24 for all players.
Benefits of Fixed K=24:
- • Same rules for everyone
- • Predictable rating changes
- • No experience-level complexity
K-Factor
24
Win Bonus
20%
Rating Change Scale
With K=24, here's how much ratings typically change based on game outcomes:
| Game Type | Expected Win % | Typical Rating Δ |
|---|---|---|
| Major upset win | 10% | +14 to +18 |
| Moderate upset | 30% | +8 to +12 |
| Even match win | 50% | +4 to +6 |
| Expected win | 80% | +2 to +4 |
| Close loss to stronger | 20% | +4 to +8 |
| Expected loss | 20% | 0 to -2 |
Format-Specific Rankings
Each player maintains separate ratings for different game formats because skill levels vary across play styles.
Level Doubles
Same-gender doubles play (Men's or Ladies')
Mixed Doubles
Mixed-gender doubles play
Singles
One-on-one competition
Ranking Pools: Flexible Organization
Rankings can be organized by ranking pools to support clubs with different skill levels across sessions.
✓ Global Pool (Default)
All sessions share one ranking system — ideal for most clubs.
rankingPool: "club-wide"
✓ Session-Specific Pools
Isolated rankings for different skill levels (e.g., beginner vs advanced nights).
rankingPool: "competitive-pool"
Smart Inheritance: When you join a new pool, you start with your club-wide rating — ensuring a smooth transition.
Key Features at a Glance
Fair & Transparent
Clear calculations, no hidden algorithms
Rewards Performance
Score matters, not just win/loss
20% Win Bonus
Winning provides significant advantage
Always Gain on Wins
Minimum +1 point for any victory
Upset Rewards
Beating stronger opponents = big gains
Close Loss Protection
Narrow defeats to strong players = gain points
Discourages Sandbagging
Minimal gains (+1) against weak opponents
Format-Specific
Separate ratings for level/mixed/singles
Simple K-Factor
Fixed K=24 for all players
Rating Ranges (Guideline)
All players start at 500 rating by default (intermediate level)
Frequently Asked Questions
Everything you need to know about the system.
Can I lose points even if I win?
No! With our minimum +1 rule, you always gain at least 1 point for any win. However, you'll only gain +1 if you barely beat much weaker opponents.
Can I gain points even if I lose?
Yes! If you lose narrowly to much stronger opponents, you've exceeded expectations and will gain points. For example, losing 19-21 to players rated 700 points higher can earn you +11 points.
Why do I only get +1 point when I beat weaker players?
Because you're expected to win easily. The system encourages you to play against equal or stronger opponents where you can earn much more (+5 to +20 points).
Doesn't the +1 minimum allow people to game the system?
Not really. While you could beat 10 weak opponents for +10 points total, you could instead beat 2 equal opponents for +14 points total. It's much more efficient to seek competitive matches.
What if we don't record scores, just winners?
The system falls back to simple win/loss (1.0 or 0.0 performance) with the 20% win bonus still applied. You'll still get fair ratings, but score-based adjustments are more accurate.
Do ratings carry across different sessions?
By default, yes! All sessions share the same "club-wide" ranking pool. However, clubs can create separate ranking pools for sessions with significantly different skill levels (e.g., beginner vs advanced sessions). When you join a new pool, you start with your club-wide rating.
Why separate ratings for Level Doubles, Mixed Doubles, and Singles?
Players often perform differently across formats. Separate ratings ensure fairer matchmaking and more accurate skill assessment for each type of game.
What are ranking pools and when should I use them?
Ranking pools allow you to isolate rankings for specific sessions or groups of sessions. Use separate pools when you have sessions with vastly different skill levels (e.g., "Beginners Only" and "Elite Players"). Most clubs should stick with the default "club-wide" pool for all sessions.
What happens if ratings inflate over time?
The system is mostly zero-sum (one player's gain = another's loss), but the +1 minimum can cause slight inflation. If needed, admins can run seasonal normalization to gently adjust all ratings back toward 1000.