EVERY POINT IS MEANINGFUL
The match ends when one team cannot catch the other team on points.
The Handicap Cup has been structured throughout the whole Three existing Division on the basis that if the top team in Div One had to play the lowest ranked team in the bottom Div they would need to keep the team to two games of 25-7. Therefore the bottom team would have 14 points, Times this by the 10 matches and they would have 140 points in total without the handicap per match. Add the 360 handicap and the bottom team would be on 500 points making everything fair!
The rest of the handicaps for the other teams have now been proportionally been worked out.
THE BASIS FOR CHANGING THE HANDICAP CUP STRUCTURE
For years now teams and individual players have berated the handicap system and there will always be the sceptics who after losing say the system doesn’t work. Did they lose because of the system or did they not play so well or was their opponent superior on the night, whatever it is I am hopeful that the overall system will be more of a better team handicap as ever single point is worth something to the overall total points of the team.
We all know the best handicap structure would be to work out the individual player’s handicap for every opponent they are playing, but this does not allow for them having a poor night. This would be very time consuming as every possibility of one player playing another would have to be worked out, and, unless someone could spare the time to work it out this should be the next best method. It is based on the team’s average. In the past the difference in league positions might have been a difference of about 3 point per position, but if the team above you were far superior this would not have been fair
At the half way stage of the season every team has played all the other teams once and therefore working the team average handicap is much fairer. To start working out the handicap each division has been allocated a handicap of 120, Consequently the top of Div One would give the top of Div Two a 120 handicap and the top of Div Three a 240 handicap. A formula is then use to work out all the other team handicaps and I hope you understand that this should be a fairer structure for all teams as the new structure would give a 'Team effort' not an individual effort as EVERY POINT is meaningful.
The match consists of 9 games of singles and one doubles as in the league matches. The match ends when one team cannot be caught. If the game finishes with both teams on the identical amount of points then the lowest ranked team will get to serve one more point.
Please give this method a fair try and I would appreciate any feedback, or, if anyone could devise and formulate a better system please let me know or forever hold your peace!
Good luck to you all.
Russ Keith
(Match Secretary)