Guidelines for Seeding

Principles

Seeding is an art ― supported by information.  The pertinent USTA Regulation (1.G.4.) reads, in part, as follows:

"Factors to consider in seeding.  Seedings merely represent the Committee's subjective ratings of the various players' chances of winning the tournament.  These ratings shall be justified by a reasonable amount of factual evidence.  The Committee shall consider all available evidence, including, but not limited to, rankings, current records, types of surface and particularly head-to-head encounters.  Two outstanding doubles players playing together for the first time should be considered for a place on the seeded list.

"Common errors in seeding.  Illustrative of some common errors in seeding are:  "He's ranked No. 1, so he must be seeded No. 1';  'She won the tournament last year so she must be seeded No. 1 this year'; 'Since this is his first year as a senior and he has no record in senior play, he can't be seeded or he can't be seeded any higher than five.'"

The beauty of computerization is that standings and detailed player records are available soon after the conclusion of tournaments.  Standings alone, however, can be misleading as it's not unusual for a superior player to play infrequently while lesser players accumulate many points by frequent play.   For example, in the the 2005 Final Rankings dominating players like King Van Nostrand and Fred Kovaleski are ranked 7 and 6 respectively in their divisions.

To sum up, it's essential to evaluate the strength of opposition rather than relying on the points earned.  For example, a close loss to a strong player could weigh more heavily than a win over a lesser player.

General Approach

The best approach is to use standings merely as a starting point.  Then "drill down" to individual player records to review specific wins and losses (without regard to points).  Following are tips for better seeding that apply regardless of the level of your tournament:

• Give consideration to players "moving up" from a younger age category;
• Don't overlook strong players who haven't played in recent years as they're still worthy of consideration — even without a current record;
• "Eligible" players appear as the default, but "ineligibles" (those who've not played enough nationals) should also be considered;
• Doubles standings are prepared both for teams (preferable) and individuals (use ― with judgment ― for teams without a record);
• Use the National 12 Month Rolling Standings List for all tournaments lest relevant out-of-section results be overlooked.
• Designate one seed for every four entrants; designate four number 5 seeds rather than 5 through 8, eight 9's, etc.

Number and Placement of Seeds

USTA regulations provide that draws of 48-128 should have exactly 16 seeds.  Draws of 24-47 should have exactly 8 seeds and draws of 12-23 exactly four.  Draws with fewer than 12 players should have 2 seeds.

Singles events conducted under ITF regulations (all Category I's and eight specific Category II's) must adhere to their (different) rules:  up to 16 seeds for draws of 49+, up to 12 seeds for draws of 33-48, up to 8 seeds for draws of 25-32, up to 6 seeds for draws of 17-24, up to 4 seeds for draws of 9-16 and up to 2 seeds for draws of 8 or fewer.

TDM will place seeds in accordance with USTA regulations.  For ITF-sanctioned singles events, a special TDM attribute must be enabled:  use the Events/Event Properties/Draw Information tab in TDM and place a check mark in the box for "ITF Draw" for each affected event.

Specifics

Here's how to find any player's record using this web site:

• Click here to display the current National Standings;
• Select the appropriate division and use the 12 Month Rolling Standings List;
• Click on the player/team name to view their complete record;
• Review records for ineligible players as well (switch from eligible using the Show dropdown in the upper left);

Outside Review

• Consult your Circuit Chair who is knowledgeable and available for advice;
• Discuss the seeds with some of the stronger players before posting them;
• Post the seeds at least three days before the draw (designate them in TDM and then do File Upload);
• Conduct a post-tournament review to consider how seeding might have been improved (to prepare for the next event).

Advance posting defuses complaints by providing players an opportunity to point out oversights.