4BAGR has a built in automatic handicapping system. The way it works is simple, handicaps are automatically re-calculated after every score submission based on average score - e.g: if on average a team scores 17 points per game, their handicap will be 4 (17 subtracted from 21).

Setting up Handicaps

Setting your league to make use of handicaps is quite simple when setting up your league or editing it:

1. Navigate to the league settings screen (Create league Screen if this is your initial setup)
2. Toward the bottom of the settings, there's a button to 'Allow Handicaps' - Make sure it's selected
3. You'll now see a setting to 'Cap' the handicap at a maximum amount. Handicaps for your league will not go higher than the amount that you set this at.
4. Click 'Update Settings'

Now that handicaps are implemented, you can generate your schedule and begin league. Handicaps will automatically show up in the standings and on match score cards.

How to use handicaps

The Handicaps are merely a suggestion and can be used any way the organizer wishes. Normally with the 4BAGR handicapping system the team with the higher handicap starts out their game with the difference in handicap on the scoreboard. e.g: Team 1 has a handicap of 6 and Team 2 has a handicap of 2. Team 1 will start each game of the match with 4 points and Team 2 will start with 0.

The recommended strategy for setting up handicaps is to run the first week of league as if everyone has a handicap of 0 (even though the handicaps will be calculated as soon as scores are submitted). This will help the handicaps get settled in to a fair number before using them.

Editing Handicaps

There's times where the organizer might feel a need to edit a handicap for a team or 'Lock' a teams handicap so that it's no longer automatically updated. This can also be used when starting a new league and you'd like to keep teams at the handicap that they had from the previous league. The process is simple:

1. Navigate to the 'Standings' tab within the league
2. Select the team you'd like to update from the standings
3. From here you can set their handicap or lock it

Locking a handicap means that team's handicap will no longer update automatically and be 'Locked' into place. If you lock a team's handicap at 5, they will always have a 5 handicap until you unlock it or update it manually. If you update a handicap but do not lock it, that team will have that handicap until their next score is submitted and it will be re-calculated as usual.