IPTPA ANNOUNCES NEW PROGRAM
A
CERTIFIED RATING
SPECIALISTS
few months ago, the IPTPA developed three simple guidelines for all clinic organizers who were using IPTPAcertified coaches and wished to have the endorsement of IPTPA. These guidelines are meant to maximize the instruction value offered to all participants.
1. Student to instructor ratio should be no more than 8:1.
2. All instructors should be IPTPA certified.
3. All player participants should be grouped in like-skilled groups.
IPTPA also developed clinic evaluation forms for participants to fill out in an effort to get feedback on the clinics’ organization and format. One issue that has been identified as a result of that evaluation process is the disconnect between a player’ s view of his / her skill level and the actual skill rating. Most of the participants who are suffering from that disconnect are NOT tournament players, so they do not have an USAPA rating. The vast majority are self-rated players who consistently overrate themselves. As a result, our efforts to develop likeskilled groups at IPTPA-endorsed clinics prior to the start of the clinic have suffered. Considerable movement of players from one group to the other occurs, creating an inefficient start to clinic activities but, more important, many players leave unhappy and confused because they believe they are higher rated players and were not placed in the correct group.
Players who lack tournament experience and an USAPA rating only have the experience of playing in their local group or club. Their view is marginalized because of their lack of exposure to other players. Oftentimes, a player in an advanced group at his / her local club misinterprets the current IFP Rating
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