Hi,

If any of you play for your club in leagues, you will know where i'm coming from. There is at least ONE match that you play that is in the crappiest place possible. Like small roofs that scrape your head. I was just wondering where is the worst place you have played a match? I remember one game it was in this very small hall, and you couldn't lift at all!! There was a bar to my right and everytime you hit the roof it was a fault! I'll tell you, it was an experience and a half!!

Matt

I've played in gyms with low ceilings, gyms with basketball backboards hanging over the courts, gyms with light-colored walls (making it harder to see the shuttle), gyms with poor lighting or windows that let sun into your eyes when you look up at a certain area, gyms that are hot, or cold, or have courts with discontinuous lines or slick floors, but I especially dislike it when courts are close to walls.

Sometimes you have to block things out, or even alter your normal game to fit the conditions, and remember that the opponent has to deal with the same things. (That's where "home court" advantage and choice of side can be important.)

the crappiest place i have played in. the court (note singular) has a fairly new surface, the ceiling is high, the lighting is fine, there are no overhang basketball net, there is also a stage right next to the court so people can sit and rest.

the worse thing about this gym is that the athletic department that handles the gym is very hostile towards badminton players, they will try their best to get rid of us. we used to have two courts, but they repainted it and took one of them away; we used to have net posts, they took that away so we have to tie on the volleyball court poles; once in a while, they would decide to kick us out the gym so they can have basketball practice, even though they never used the badminton portion of the gym; and the stupidest they did was that they repainted the gym one summer, they had one volleyball court on one end, one basketball overlapping volleyball court on the middle, and then on badminton court on the other end. completely inefficient use of space. and further, the school's basketball team sucked and was probably one of the bottom of the league.

sometimes, the intangibles are the ones that matters.

The crappiest place that I ever play is at this high school gym. The ceiling is low which you cannot lift, the court is half a foot closed to the wall which you cannot swing your racquet to smash at the backcourt at all, the lightning is super bright like a sport light, and yeah, not to mention the basketball board sticking out and takes up 1/2 of the court.

Did I say the roof is too low that sometimes the shuttle will stuck in the roof and wont fall down? :mad:

Oh yeah, the gym is also hot in summer, cold in winter. :D

There are more crappy places where i've played, but one of them i will never forget!
It was about 10 years ago, for a competition match. The match was scheduled for the evening. First, we had a hard time to find the gym. After driving in circles a few times, we discovered the almost invisible little road that led us to the gym.
The place was pretty small, 3 courts in a row. It was kinda cold there, but for the rest it looked ok. Play was normal, till somewhere around 10.30 pm, when the last two matches where just about to start. It became colder, and while playing, the strange thing occured that the opponent's lines were sometimes hard to see. We finished the match, not really focussing on it.
Actually, after the match we chit-chatted a bit, and then, you could clearly see that some moisture was coming up, hanging like a cloud just above the floor.
Well, they said that this happened more often, as the place was rather old and not properly isolated, but yes even for them it was quite a lot moisture this time!

Originally posted by Yong
There are more crappy places where i've played, but one of them i will never forget!
It was about 10 years ago, for a competition match. The match was scheduled for the evening. First, we had a hard time to find the gym. After driving in circles a few times, we discovered the almost invisible little road that led us to the gym.
The place was pretty small, 3 courts in a row. It was kinda cold there, but for the rest it looked ok. Play was normal, till somewhere around 10.30 pm, when the last two matches where just about to start. It became colder, and while playing, the strange thing occured that the opponent's lines were sometimes hard to see. We finished the match, not really focussing on it.
Actually, after the match we chit-chatted a bit, and then, you could clearly see that some moisture was coming up, hanging like a cloud just above the floor.
Well, they said that this happened more often, as the place was rather old and not properly isolated, but yes even for them it was quite a lot moisture this time!

While I was reading all your postings, one by one, at the same time trying to think of the worst court I've played in when I read Yong's ..and then bingo! It came to me.. 2001 Division II Inter provincial round robin ties, held in Marlborough, south island of New Zealand. It was winter morning, we arrive at the court and started warming up and having hits..while doing some drills, couple of the more agile guys started to notice condensation on the surface of the court as the day starts to slowly warm up..our coach voiced his concerns about the conditions of the court, obviously with the players' safety in mind..but his concerns fell on deaf ears and we were told to get ready.

That morning, Canterbury (who I was playing for ) was up against Nelson, our arch rival. We were playing in their home turf. And the way the ties are played: 4 mens singles, 4 ladies singles, 2 mens doubles, 2 ladies doubles and 4 mix doubles, total = 16 games (if draw at 8 all, then countback on sets, and then points to determine the winner). There were 4 courts there..and we start off with the singles.. the no.4 and no.3 ladies, together with the no.4 and no.3 men will start first, followed by no.2 and no.1 ladies and no.2 and no.1 men...

Anyway, our no.4 man was playing his heart out against a better player (based on the ranking) but he was playing out of his skin...LITERALLY! He fell like the total of 8 times, slipped, skidded, slid and tumble to a bloody knee and elbow (grating), the moist from the court was just incredible..it's weird..u can't really see it coming out (like Yong's description) but you can sure feel it..so basically our guy lost, but kudos to him for somehow miraculously able to survive the match alive without any broken body parts. Everyone watching that were nervous as hell going into their matches..no further accidents because no one was willing to take that extra step to retrieve the shuttle..well, no one was that dedicated (or that 'stupid' in some ppl's definition) until...you've guessed it...yours truly..I have a good reason though..I was playing the no.1 ladies singles against this girl that has tried unsuccessfully for the past 2 years to beat me and I wasn't going to change that too soon. So I basically went for my shots, it was like watching Swan Lake, I skated and piroutted, okey, okey..so I was as graceful as a hippo doing the salsa....but I was doing well, slipped a few times, but nothing major..but then..half way through the second set (I won the first one) I was leading 9-6, the opponent hits a shot to the back and so I had to quickly go backwards..and BANG!!! As I kind of 'reverse' back to hit the shot in my Forehand corner, my right leg slipped and I went into a front split and my royal bottom made contact with the damp floor. If you've heard the commotion I made, you would think my bum was the size of Europe! Anyway..I got up..limping and went on to win 11-7..but just as well, coz after that, my butt was numb and I pulled my hamstrings..so I wasn't doing too good :( .

That's not the worst accident. Later on, in the no.2 men's singles, their player, who was a good player, but a clumsy mover on court, tried to change direction on court and ended up twisting his ankle in the most disgusting manner, if you can see the accident in slow motion, you would have seen that as he switched direction, his ankle twisted unnaturally..almost 180 degrees! So the guy broke his ankle, fell and as they picked him up, you could see his foot dangling loosely around his leg...*gulp* it was really gross! (our team won 10-6) but that the victory was the last thing on everyone's mind as we headed back home :(

So that court in Marlborough is the worst one I've ever played! :(

Adelina, her ankle's no.1 enemy! :p

I think the coaches and officials were irresponsible for allowing their players to play under such potentially dangerous condition - slippery floor from condensation moisture. They could have used volunteers and dry towels to wipe the floor before each match. The people responsible for the tournament were lucky that they were not being sued.

Wow Adelina, that is quite a story. I'm still shivering. Too bad they neglected your coach's concernings.

I'm also glad that unlike your experience, we finished playing before moisture transformed the court in a complete iceskate stadium.
Strange thing was that during our search for the gym, the only sportfacility we saw all the time was a iceskake stadium. Maybe the badminton gym was their substitute facility for skating. :D

Originally posted by cooler
I think the coaches and officials were irresponsible for allowing their players to play under such potentially dangerous condition - slippery floor from condensation moisture. They could have used volunteers and dry towels to wipe the floor before each match. The people responsible for the tournament were lucky that they were not being sued.

You're right cooler. I think the attitude is very poor from the coaches. They see injuries like this as part and parcel of the game..We did try drying the floors from time to time, but to no avail, condensation keep rising onto the surface of the floor :(

Also, you guys probably don't know this, but in NZ, u can't sue someone for causing you personal injury because any personal injury suffered from sports is covered by a government scheme for accidents and injuries, called the ACC Scheme..where they will pay for 70% of your medical treatment..but in exchange, you are not allowed to sue someone for negligently causing you personal injury :( a law introduced to deal with the numerous claims for damages by ppl injured, and ppl don't get immediate treatment due to having to wait for ages for their case to be heard by a judge (judicial red tape). In that sense, it was good, but not very effective in cases where the injury is severe..:(

So basically, you just try your best not to get injured :)

*sigh* If only I practice what I preach :(

A

I played in a hall with a very low ceiling, a very dusty concrete floor (nice and easy on the knees!), where the courts had about a foot of space at the back before you hit the wall. So when I was playing (I only played there once, so I wasn't used to it!, well thats my excuse), if a shot was hit to the rearcourt, I would see the wall out of the corner of my eye and automatically think that the shuttle must be out. So I would leave it, only for it to land about 2 feet in!!

To top it all off, the showers weren't heated either!!


I've also heard a story from my brother, who plays in the south of England. He once played in a car park! The hall was built in a car park, and the floor was the same tarmac as the car park with lines painted on it. Not recommended!

Yong, you sure is a good ghost story teller. :D

Originally posted by Nic
Yong, you sure is a good ghost story teller. :D

:eek:
Yes Nic, you're right, when i was a little boy, i always listened to those story's on the radio at sundaymorning 7.00 am. On camping vacations, my family liked to hear those story's from me.
But er... ghosts are not my special :D

Sunday morning at 7am? I thought they normally up in the midnight?

Probably, but my parents sure wouldn't let me listen at that time. So i had to do it with the 'light' version.

Luckley-Oakley School, Wokingham, Berks (UK). Floor was like an ice rink and shuttle visibilty was like looking fo a UFO !

Wet floors would have to be the worst. That's a safety hazard! Here in the US, if someone was injured playing under those conditions, they could sue everyone who had anything to do with the operation of the facility, and any coaches who permitted play, and rightfully so because that is so blatantly irresponsible.

Originally posted by Nic
Yong, you sure is a good ghost story teller. :D

A haunted gym? Did you see the ghost of a badminton player doing endless drills?;)