do you go to the gym alone?

Discussion in 'General Forum' started by kwun, Sep 13, 2004.

  1. kwun

    kwun Administrator

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    do any of you head off to a open gym / club alone? i think a lot of ppl do.

    do you find it hard to find a partner if you go there by yourself?

    a lot of times, people go to the gym in pairs or in 4's. they tend to prefer to play together.

    however, i do notice that quite a lot of ppl go to the gym by themselves. i think if the players are good, then it is ok as they don't have problem finding a partner.

    however, if one is a beginner or low intermediate, it is usually much harder. usually beginner maybe new to the gym/club and not know too many people.

    like a few days ago, i was in the gym using 1/2 court warming up with Janet. another person came up standing at the court side. we thought she was waiting for her partner. but her partner never came. and then later on, two more guys came over asking her if she is using the court and then she let those two guys use the other half of the court and she left without playing.

    normally we'd have no problem playing with her, but we didn't know she didn't have a partner, and she does have to find a partner. i guess she was there just hoping someone would step in and play with her.
     
  2. martian

    martian New Member

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    I do most of my things alone

    it's not that hard to find a partner tho ;-)
     
  3. greenback

    greenback Regular Member

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    There are times I go alone. And those times that i do not have a partner, there are gym personnels who will play with me. I just need to tell them that I do not have a partner and they are willing to play with me.
    There are also times that I get to play with those who will just walk in without a partner, as a result i get to have additional friends to play with! :)
     
  4. cappy75

    cappy75 Regular Member

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    Kwun's story about the girl was very sad, but her situation could have been avoidable. I go to play alone all the time and it's not as bad if you are an experienced player. After doing that for a few years, I have developed a somewhat thick-skinned initiative and just plain out ask people for games. No point wasting time just standing on the court or waiting for invitation.

    After becoming a regular at a certain gym, the problem just solve by itself when I befriend people over time and generally play with players around my level.

    It's definitely tougher for newbies, but not impossible. The starting point of every game is just opening your mouth to ask.

    I alway favor an organised court rotation for gyms. Going into games either as a group or an individual, a good system will ensure that everybody (shy or not) can play.
     
    #4 cappy75, Sep 13, 2004
    Last edited: Sep 13, 2004
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  5. ants

    ants Regular Member

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    Well once a while i go gym alone... usually i end up not being alone in the gym or after the gym session.
     
  6. Mag

    Mag Moderator

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    Around here, drop-in fees hardly exist. You book a court for a certain number of hours. Most devoted players here belong to a club, with fixed playing sessions. My club rents five courts three evenings a week, 2 hours per (coached) session. Usually there are still unbooked courts after our sessions, so some of us just play on for another hour or two.
     
  7. badmad

    badmad Regular Member

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    most of the times, I help myself and go alone...

    it's been sometime since I joined my club and have befriended a lot of guys over there. So I don't find a lot of problem in mixing up with them.
    most of the time it so happens, I finish my game at one court and I join the game at next court... :cool:

    Sometimes, if my friends ask me, then we go together. In this case, I find myself in a bit of trouble coz we think that we should all play together at the same court and same time... and thats take a hell lot of time to coincide...
     
  8. Casper

    Casper Regular Member

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    I always go to the gym alone, just because I can get more done! But in terms of going to badminton club, I have to said most of the time I will go as a group. I've tried to go alone, but always end up practicing serve by myself. So, i only go when I can get a partner or i just want to practice my serve. It's bore sometime, but what can you do!:crying:
     
  9. Qidong

    Qidong Regular Member

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    I went to the gym alone most of the time. The first time, as crappy75 said, we need to be thick-skinned. There should be other people going to the gym alone, we can invite them to warm up, then play games. Sometimes I noticed people going in group of more than 4 always occupy the same court forever and never came out unless we asked Phu or her mom to kick them off the court. :mad:
     
  10. prophet

    prophet Regular Member

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    I think it can be intimidating for some players, especially newbies, to ask others to play with them. The newbie probably has a sense of what his/her level is at, and doesn't want to ask someone who's ability is way above them.

    I think also that many people are somewhat shy, and don't want to get embarassed by asking someone else to play. Its almost like asking someone out for a date! :D Agree with others that you need to be somewhat thick-skinned, but I've often found that most people are friendly and are willing to at least rally with you. For the beginners reading- this is a good first step!! Just ask someone to rally with you; you will know (or should know) just by their clears what level they are at and if it is too high for you, just thank them after a few moments and move on.

    As for me, I just want to play, so I'll ask almost everyone around me if they want to play or if they have a partner. I won't be embarassed at all. I also like to tell players who have been hogging a court for a long time what the rules of the gym are (but that's a whole other topic!)

    A neat trick I use at Bintang (or other clubs with a queuing system or board) is to hang out around the board and ask others if they need a fourth person in their group. :p
     
  11. LazyBuddy

    LazyBuddy Regular Member

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    I think Kwun's story does remind me about some situation I've seen around various clubs. Sometimes, new comers might feel like being left alone, especially if they are not superior in skills. Many of them felt embarrassing to play with the members, and too shy to raise up their voice to draw attention.

    1. Players with good skills could be easily welcomed everywhere.

    2. Players with good popularity could be easily accepted by most places. I don't mean the "nasty" way, but have to say, handsome / good looking and talktive person could have a much easier task than the more ordinary folks.

    3. Well managed clubs (with designated management staff) tend to have less problems to welcome new comers. The staff will assign proper members to play with the new comers and try to make them feel more comfortable.

    4. Drop in / open reacration clubs (open to all public) might have a tough time to manage the "lonely wolf", as everyone is new to each other, and it might take some time to get ur own "social / game group".
     
  12. Pecheur

    Pecheur Regular Member

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    I hate people that quote a page of stuff to only add a word or two (one of my many pet gripes).

    In my case I go to the gym alone 90% of times but that's because I know a lot of badminton people so just about any club I drop into I'll know someone. But even if I don't, I kinda look like I know how to play so I can find a game fairly fast.

    I feel sorry for the guys who don't have any skills, girls don't have it as bad since at least the other girls will talk to them, or some guy will try to chat them up :p
     
  13. Joseph

    Joseph Regular Member

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    I go to the gym with a friend or two but I end up playing singles or doubles with someone else since my level and my friends' levels are completely different. I don't mind playing singles since I'm trying to work on it.
     
  14. jamesd20

    jamesd20 Moderator

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    I used tï½ï½ï¼Œã€€ï½‚ut ï½ï½“ ï½ï½ï½’t ï½ï½†ã€€ï½ã€€ï½ƒï½Œub I was a member of. You dont really get drop in places in UK. I think most people in the UK travel to their respective clubs on their own, but with the intention of meeting their fellow club members. Alternativley, non club members tend to book a court and go with some friends to play for an hour or so.

    Initially I thï½ï½•ï½‡ï½ˆï½” the threï½ï½„ wï½ï½“ ï½ï½Žï½‰ï½Žï½‡ã€€ï½—hether Yï½ï½•ã€€ï½‡ï½ã€€ï½”ï½ã€€ï½ï½’ï½ï½ƒï½”ice also used to do that as well, to pratice footwork and serving.
     
  15. badmad

    badmad Regular Member

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    jamesd20, did u try to write in chinese? :p

    so many unknown characters on this message...
     
  16. jamesd20

    jamesd20 Moderator

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    Haha, no just the coding is not quite right!
     
  17. david14700

    david14700 Regular Member

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    Alone

    I went to a new gym alone for the first time last week. It was a horrible experience.

    The club is split into two distinct groups - one of almost total beginners and one very advanced group of 5 guys, plus the coach. The coach played with me first and then tried to put me with the advanced players but they kept rotating the odd player so that they played continuously by themselves on the same court.

    The one time the odd player who was left out played with me, I beat him (even though I was playing with the weaker partner) and he just walked off after the last point without a word or shaking hands. During the game he acted like he was doing us all a great honor by playing us. He was such an a**hole!!

    I'm sure it's been said on this forum before, but some guys really think their badminton makes them special or something. They look down on beginners like some lower form of life. It's just so unecessary.
     
  18. BoboTheBadder

    BoboTheBadder Regular Member

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    Tell me about it. We have that problem with the club here. All the "advanced" people think too highly of themselves and are biased towards certain people so they allow very few people to play with them. The sad part is they just hog one of our three courts and don't allow anyone else to play there while there are 20 people waiting on the sides.
     
  19. smash_master

    smash_master Regular Member

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    well i dont really go alonr we usually go play in a large group or sometimes some of us get there early and we have a partner but i remember one time i went to play and nobody showed up for about an hour so i just played against some adults and well it was all good they also came alone looking for sombody to play with so yea its ok to go alonr but you just have to be like willing to play or ask other people if they want to play.
     
  20. MarkinJapan

    MarkinJapan Regular Member

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    I go at least once a week alone to practice serves and footwork. Usually for around 1 to 1 1/2 hours.
     

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