Fair and Competitive Play: Grouping players by similar ability ensures that games are appropriately challenging, leading to longer rallies, closer scores, and more engaging play for everyone involved. Without ratings, significant skill mismatches can lead to frustrating blowouts or uncompetitive games.

Skill Development and Improvement: Skill levels provide a clear roadmap for progress. Knowing your rating helps you identify specific strengths and weaknesses, allowing for targeted practice and the setting of realistic goals. Playing with people slightly better than you (but not vastly superior) offers the optimal challenge to improve your game faster.

Organized Play and Events: Most structured events, such as leagues, round robins, and tournaments, rely on skill ratings to create balanced divisions and brackets. An accurate rating is often a prerequisite for entry, ensuring participants compete against appropriately skilled opponents and preventing "sandbagging" (intentionally playing below one's actual level for easy wins).

Finding Suitable Partners and Games: Rating systems help players connect with others of similar ability through platforms like DUPR and Pickleheads. This removes the guesswork from finding compatible playing partners in open play sessions or new locations.