TENNIS LADDER RULES

1. Positions on the ladder following completion of a match change as follows:
   a. If the winner has the higher position, there is no change.
   b. If the winner has the lower position, he or she takes over the higher
      position.  The loser and all others below the winner move down one
      position.  The calculation is based on the positions of the two players
      when the match is recorded, not those at the time the challenge is made.
      It's not unusual to find the positions of the players have changed during
      that interval; please observe good sportsmanship and play your match even
      if you find your respective positions have changed.  The calculations are
      made each Tuesday at noon, regardless of holidays, so make sure you get
      your weekend results in before then.

2. You may challenge anyone that you feel would be a good match of tennis.  A
   good rule of thumb is a maximum of 20 positions, unless you are unable to
   arrange a match within that range.

3. A player who is challenged must agree to a match with the challenger if the
   challenger is within a fair range to be played no later than two weeks after
   the challenge is made unless:
   a. The challenged player already has at least two other matches to play.
   b. The challenged player is unable to play due to injury, vacation, etc.
   c. The two parties cannot mutually agree on a date and time of a match.

4. Each player is expected to play at least one match every 4 week interval,
   otherwise HE or SHE will be dropped FIVE positions.  The number one player
   is exempted from this requirement.  This requirement is also waived before
   June and after August when weather conditions make it more difficult to
   arrange matches.

5. Each player brings a new can of balls and one can is used for the match;
   winner keeps unopened can and loser keeps the used can.

6. Play 2 out of 3 sets.  If the set goes to 6-6, play a 12-point tie-breaker
   (first to win more than 6 points and lead by at least 2 points).
   Alternatively, you may play a pro set where the player who wins 10 games and
   leads by 2 wins the match; if the pro set goes to 10-10, play the 12-point
   tie-breaker.  If the match cannot be completed due to weather or other
   reasons, the player leading at that point shall be considered winner; if
   the match is tied at that point, the challenger shall be considered loser.

7. It is the responsibility of the winner of the match to report the score,
   regardless of whether any change in positions occurs.  If the winner cannot
   report the score, make sure the loser does so; this helps ensure both
   players remain active and not lose their positions due to inactivity.

8. 
   from the previous reason
8. Ladder positions at the end of the season will be retained at the beginning
   of the next season.  But returning players who sign up after the first
   ladder has been made will be added at the bottom of the ladder along
   with new players.

		TENNIS COMPUTER RANKING RULES

Along with the ladder, a computer ranking system will also be used to gauge the
strength of each player by taking into account won/lost records, as well as the
strength of the opponents played.  The system tends to favor people who play a
lot: if you don't play, you won't improve your ranking!  Note that the ladder
is entirely independent of the computer ranking; all challenge play on the
ladder still proceed as stated in the ladder rules above.  The rules for
determining the rankings are listed below:

1. At the beginning of the season, each player receives (100-rank#) points,
   where rank# is the ranking in the first ladder.  So, player #1 gets 99,
   player #2 gets 98, etc.  Thereafter, the rank# is determined by the computer
   as described below.

2. Players who join after the first week are placed in the middle of the
   rankings, with no initial points.  The initial rank# is used solely for
   purposes of computing points as described next, and their rank# is not shown
   in the listing until they have played a match.

3. For each match, the winner gains points worth (100-rank# of opponent), and
   the loser loses points worth the lower of the rank#'s of the 2 players.  So,
   if player #2 defeats player #15, player #2 gains 85 points, and player #15
   loses 15 points; if the result were reversed (an "upset"), player #2 loses
   15 points, and player #15 gains 98 points.

4. Each player gets 1 bonus point for each match played.

5. After each match, the rank# of each player is recalculated based on the
   total number of points.

The 100 in rules 1 and 3 is based on an assumed max number of players.