Playtomic vs LTA vs MATCHi: Padel Level Conversion
Quick Answer: No official conversion exists between padel level scales. Playtomic runs 0-7 from results, the LTA runs 1.0-7.0 from self-selected statements, and MATCHi runs 1-10 self-assessed. Any conversion chart, including this one, is an approximation anchored on what each operator says its bands mean.
You are a 3.2 on one app, a 5 on another, and your club has you in the Tuesday intermediate group. All three can be correct, and no governing body has ever published a way to turn one into the others.
That is the single most important fact on this page, so it goes first and in plain words: there is no official conversion. Not between Playtomic and the LTA, not between Playtomic and MATCHi, not from either to a club's letters. Every chart you find online is somebody's estimate. This one is too. What it has going for it is that each row is anchored on the operators' own published descriptions rather than on arithmetic, and that it tells you where it is weakest.
Why conversion is hard, in three sentences
The scales measure different things. Playtomic's number is seeded by a questionnaire and then driven by competitive results, so it is a measurement of performance. The LTA's padel rating is a statement you agree with, and MATCHi's is a level you type in yourself, so both are declarations of ability.
A measurement and a declaration do not translate cleanly, and they fail in a predictable direction: self-declared numbers read high. If you assess yourself and nobody ever corrects it, the correction never happens.
The map
Read across the row that matches what you can actually do, not the row containing your favorite number.
| What you can do on court | Playtomic 0-7 | LTA 1.0-7.0 | MATCHi 1-10 | Club shorthand |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Never held a padel racket | under 1 | 1.0 | 1 | Absolute beginner |
| Rallies end quickly; the glass is a hazard | 1.0-2.4 | 2.0-2.5 | 2-3 | Beginner / D |
| Uses the walls on purpose; lobs deliberately; errors come from choices | 2.5-3.4 | 3.0-3.5 | 4-5 | Intermediate / C |
| Controls the net; chooses the bandeja and knows why; moves as a pair | 3.5-4.4 | 4.0-4.5 | 6-7 | Strong intermediate / B |
| Consistent, tactical, competes locally | 4.5-5.4 | 5.0 | 8 | Advanced / A |
| Nationally ranked | 5.5-6.0 | 5.5 | 9 | Competition |
| Professional | 6.0-7.0 | 6.0-7.0 | 10 | Professional |
Where each column comes from:
- Playtomic publishes band labels and descriptions: 2.5-3.4 is "Intermediate," described as "players with more developed skills and a basic understanding of tactics"; 3.5-4.4 is "Intermediate High"; 4.5-5.4 is "Intermediate Advanced" (The Playtomic Levels & Algorithm, updated 16 July 2026).
- LTA publishes the statement behind each single rating value, not each range. 3.0 is "I am pretty consistent and can use tactics like playing off the wall"; 3.5 is "I lack technique but do have some control on the court. Competent tennis and squash players who are new to padel come under this category"; 4.0 is "quite controlled on the court, can cover it well, and have a basic understanding of padel tactics"; 5.0 is "an experienced tournament player" (What is my padel rating?). That 3.5 row is the weakest join in the whole table: it is a side entrance for racket-sport converts rather than a step above 3.0, so any row of the map that spans 3.0-3.5 is spanning two different kinds of claim.
- MATCHi confirms the scale and its nature: "Levels are self-assessed, and when you set yours you'll see a description of each step." Levels "run from 1-10 for all sports and markets," with padel in Denmark the single exception on 1-7 (Levels for players).
- Club shorthand has no publisher. Letters vary by club and sometimes by night. Ask the coach.
Two warnings about that table. Any chart written before 2026 that maps "MATCHi 3-4" onto a Playtomic level is describing MATCHi's old scale, not the current one — check the scale before you trust the row. And a 0-7 and a 1.0-7.0 scale sharing a top number does not make them the same ruler; they stretch the middle differently, which is exactly where everyone plays.
If you would rather convert one value than read a whole grid, the padel level converter is this map made interactive: pick your system and your number, get the equivalents across the other scales with the caveat that belongs to each row, and the same "no official conversion exists" warning attached where it matters. And if you do not have a number to convert yet, start at the padel level test instead — converting a level you invented five minutes ago only launders the guess.
Reading each scale honestly
Playtomic (0-7, results-driven). The most correctable of the three, because it is updated after every competitive match against expectation and damped by a reliability percentage. It is also the one people distrust most, because it moves without asking. If you want to know exactly what moves it, Playtomic level explained documents the mechanism from the help center.
LTA (1.0-7.0, self-selected statements). Clean and unusually honest about being a self-assessment. Note that the LTA runs two different padel numbers: the rating, which is the statement scale above, and the rankings, which are tournament points — "a ranking is made up of the best 6 results within the previous 52 weeks" (how padel rankings are calculated). People quote one and mean the other constantly. LTA tennis ratings are a separate system again.
MATCHi (1-10, self-assessed). Set by you, per sport, visible on your public profile, and used to filter which activities you get shown. Because nothing corrects it, it drifts in whichever direction your self-image does. The 1-10 range also makes it look more precise than it is: ten steps of self-assessment is not more accurate than seven, it is just longer.
Club letters. Frequently the most accurate assessment available, because a coach has watched you play for a year and an algorithm has read four scorelines.
What to do instead of converting
Converting exists to solve one practical problem: getting into the right session at a club that uses a scale you do not have. For that, do not convert the number — convert the description. Tell them what you can do: "I use the walls, I can lob deliberately, I lose the net once I've taken it." Any coach will place you correctly in one sentence, and better than a decimal would.
If you are placing yourself from scratch, work through the observable markers in the honest self-assessment, then read your answer against the bands in 2.5 vs 3.0 vs 3.5. Hold whatever you land on as a half-unit range, because that is genuinely how precisely anyone knows.
And if the reason you want to convert is to settle an argument inside your own group — who is actually the best of the four of you — no conversion will do it. Cross-scale comparison is a translation problem; your argument is a measurement problem, and the only evidence that settles it is your own results.
Which is the one thing Rivals does. Its rating is crew-local: built from your group's own matches, margin-aware so a 7-5 and a 6-0 are different evidence, and explained in one sentence per change. It deliberately has no global scale to convert to, because a number nobody outside the crew can see is a number nobody needs to defend. For getting into a club session you still want a platform level — that is the job this article is about doing properly. Free covers one crew of four with nothing inside it metered.
Use the map above to book the right session. Then let the scoreline decide the rest.
FAQ
Is there an official conversion between Playtomic and LTA padel levels?
No. Neither the LTA nor Playtomic publishes a mapping between their scales, and no federation publishes one either. The scales are built differently — Playtomic's is driven by match results, the LTA's is a self-selected statement — so any conversion is an approximation useful for choosing a session and nothing more.
Can I transfer my Playtomic level to MATCHi?
No. There is no data transfer between the platforms. MATCHi levels are self-assessed and set by you in your profile, so you simply choose the step whose description matches how you play. Do not paste your Playtomic number across: the scales are different lengths and MATCHi's now runs 1 to 10.
What is MATCHi's padel level scale?
Levels run from 1 to 10 for all sports and markets, with padel in Denmark the single exception at 1 to 7. They are self-assessed, set per sport in your profile, and visible to other players and to venues where you are a customer.
My club uses letters instead of numbers. How do those map?
There is no standard. Letters like A to D are local shorthand, defined by that club and sometimes by that night. As a rough guide, D tends to mean beginner, C the intermediate middle, B strong intermediate and A the club's competitive players — but the only reliable move is to describe what you can do and let the coach place you.
Which padel level system is most accurate?
They are accurate at different jobs. A results-driven level like Playtomic's is best at predicting whether a match will be close. A self-assessed level like MATCHi's or the LTA's is best at getting you into an appropriate session. Neither is designed to rank a fixed group of friends against each other, which needs results from that group.