Drop in vs. rental

Discussion in 'Canada West' started by fortissimo, Aug 13, 2007.

  1. fortissimo

    fortissimo New Member

    Joined:
    Aug 12, 2007
    Messages:
    2
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    Richmond
    I am not very familiar with the process and I wonder if any of you could help. I tried doing a search but came up with more "other" answers than the basic stuff I want. I also couldn't find an FAQ around so I hope I am not violating forum rules on my first post here.

    My question is what does "drop in" mean? I have been to community centre many years ago and noticed that it meant you don't have choice in the court, or the people you play with, or which court you play on etc, and that was called "drop in". So is this the same in private commercial courts nowadays? Because I prefer more privacy and freedom, so I am thinking that this might not be for me, but I just want to make sure as there is a price difference, especially there is only 2 of us who will be playing (compared to a court rental).

    In particular, I did some search and read a few threads and apparently different places have different rotation rules, and they are set by the place. So if you don't know what the rotation rule is, you don't know if you will like it or not.

    And if rental is really the way to go, any suggestions as to which place is recommended for Richmond? I haven't played regularly for a long time now so I don't really care about "competition grade" stuff nowadays (which I might care in the old days when I played more), and my friend is just a casual player. So price is more of a factor in this case.

    I read also the websites of all 3 companies in Richmond, and they all assume we know what "drop in" means and there are no FAQ about it.

    Sorry for the novice question. I have played badminton for quite a long time in the past (not in this country though), but I am unfamiliar with the processes locally. I used to go play with friends who already booked courts for a season at some Vancouver community centre so I never had to worry about the details.

    Thanks for any basic info that you can add to this.
     
  2. cappy75

    cappy75 Regular Member

    Joined:
    Sep 21, 2002
    Messages:
    3,502
    Likes Received:
    26
    Occupation:
    Depot Support Representative
    Location:
    Burnaby, BC, Canada
    You want court rental? Richmond Pro has loads to spare. However, it only make sense if you're in a group of four or more to spread the cost of rental. Drop-in is basically paying a fee to join the rest of the 'drop-in' crowds for doubles, singles only if there's not enough players. It's really simple. Why don't you call them up if you want more clarification? I am sure they'll be more than happy to assist you.
     
  3. fortissimo

    fortissimo New Member

    Joined:
    Aug 12, 2007
    Messages:
    2
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    Richmond
    Thanks for the reply.

    I think the basics are simple and I understand that much. But what if there are more players than courts? So that would come to a rotation scheme right? And by what rule is the rotation based on? So may be I am thinking more than it's necessary.

    I'll try to call them up and see if they could answer, but after reading the thread about an incident of poor customer experience at ClearOne I thought it might be easier to get some answers here as many seem to be frequent goers here.

    Or we'll try drop in and see if it'll work out. My experience (long time ago) at a local community centre on drop in left me with bad taste (I was going with some coworkers but they were already in pairs, so I had to double with someone I never met, as I haven't played for a long time, plus I was nervous, I played poorly, missing many hits, this stranger rolled her eyes, mumbled some stuff, and generally was very annoying. After that I thought I didn't have to suffer this from any strangers anymore! So now you know why I have to ask and find out how it's like in private courts these days, I am not being paranoid for no reason here; once hurt twice shy.)

    Thanks.

    (P.S. That was South Arm Community Centre and it was more than 10 years ago).
     
  4. Tsuioku

    Tsuioku Regular Member

    Joined:
    Nov 22, 2005
    Messages:
    148
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    Vancouver, BC
    Every place has their own methodologies for how drop-in works. Some that I've seen are:
    1. 15 minute global rotation - Staff keeps time and makes everyone rotate every 15 minutes.
    2. Single court rotation - Two groups occupy a court and they set their own rotation schemes ie 15 mins each group, rotate every game etc.
    3. Sign-up list - More of an honour system here. A group plays one game or 15-min rally then leave the court. The next group on the list then goes up.

    While it's often not a written rule, when there are a lot of people, you should play doubles or half-court singles. Most places limit the number of drop-ins to 2 x 4 x # of courts so if you go to a popular place, you may want to go in early to register. Some are just there for the profit and don't care about the number of people there are. I generally avoid places like the latter.


    Economically, if there aren't a lot of people, drop-in is the way to go. I'd recommend going as a group of 4 or going with someone you are comfortable playing doubles with though.
    Rental, while most likely more costly, the court is yours for as long as you booked it. What you decide to do with your time is up to you.
     
    #4 Tsuioku, Aug 13, 2007
    Last edited: Aug 13, 2007

Share This Page