My 2 cents on drop-ins (not that I do a lot of it) but if you don't have someone to supervise, it will get abused. I think the best is to use numbered tags. Each drop in get a number tag and you put it up on the board. For folks wanting a rematch, they will have to wait until there is a free court (usually skipping) but still has to be controlled.
Yeah, I like their definition of heavy/medium players are those who plays more than 10 times A YEAR! So for those who plays weekly, you can consider yourself to be extra heavy hitters
I was thinking about giving numbers out to each pair and having the supervisor assign numbers to courts. Also playing around with a few ideas for a computerized system for drop in as well. Hopefully that will alleviate any concerns about drop ins.
Thats a great idea, was thinking the same thing. Hopefully the segregated nights will lead to more people of similar skill coming out because they know what to expect.
Any reason its so expensive in NYC? Other than real estate being at a premium. Kwun, I don't recall hearing from you on what makes a great drop in experience
at SBC, each member has membership card with picture id, drop-in card is issued to player with name and date. in order to play, player has to put the card on the so called play court board on the court number they're playing. when all courts are taken, there're so called wait board which has several squares where players place the cards on the board for next available court. each square has 4 slots to put the card on, player can place the card on any empty slot of the square. if 4 players want to play together, they have to wait till all 4 are available before placing the cards on the wait queue board. when a court become available, the players transfer the cards from wait board to play court board this is kind of self enforceable as players become familiar with the system, but still need supervising from time to time.
I'm a bit skeptical on this simply because I'm not sure that the drop in customer base is large enough for such fragmentation. Also, skill level is very subjective.
As with everything, it's all based on the situation. If you have less than a full house then you can relax on the rules quite a bit. But, when you have a situation where drop in is full then allowing groups of four to stick together causes problems. Sure you can just put the four who want to play together in the next spot but then what happens when a court opens up and you only have 1 - 3 players available for that court? Everyone ends up waiting for the next game to finish so that you can fill that court. Or worse, at Richmond Pro they would skip the incomplete group and have the group of 4 go on. What happens when you get multiple groups that want to play together? I think the bottom line should be if you want to attend a busy drop in session (typically Friday Nights for example) then you shouldn't have any expectation whatsoever of playing in a fixed group of 4 people. As far as couples go they don't really pose much of a problem.
To thunder.tw, how conveniently that you forgot to quote my other sentence: "I like to play with people who I know but I like meeting and playing with fresh faces as well and that's the benefit of drop in". I don't want to start an argument but don't you find your opinions to be too subjective? bad-vancouver suggested nights with different skill levels and you frown upon that. It seems you want drop ins to be a mixed skill level but the people who are allowed are single guys/girls who have to go by themselves because they can't bring a friend or two? Hey bad-vancouver I think a lot of people have brought up some type of board system with numbers/names. I agree that the drop in should be supervised to assist rotation between players and facilitate any rematches within a group of 4. I think all it takes is a staff to keep an eye on the board and encourage players not to stick with one another. I wouldn't mind trying out your partner idea (2 players staying together for the whole night) but it's still pretty fresh so might generate mixed reviews.
No my opinions are based on years of experience on the Vancouver Drop In scene. So you like to play with friends and you like to meet new people too, big deal so do I. When I want to mix it up a bit and meet new people I hit the drop ins. When I want to play with my consistent group, we book a court. Where have I mentioned anything about whose allowed and whose not allowed? I don't really care if you come with 1, 2, or 7 other people. The issue is when you come off the court you fill all of the next available slots. The minute your group starts manipulating the queue you are doing so at the expense of other players. As for skill level, the bottom line is that skill level for drop ins tend to cover a wide spectrum and you should be prepared for that. I don't know what you are talking about in terms of not being able to bring a friend or two. When I played drop in I came with anywhere from one other person to six other people. We would stick together as much as we could but when we came of the court, if there was a court slot with only one or two people signed up on the next available court we would break up our foursome and fill that space. We didn't skip over those spaces to sign up as a foursome on the next empty square. This isn't about breaking up groups of friends it's about being inclusive to players who aren't with a foursome. I didn't forget anything and there was no question of convenience. Just a question of relevance.
Nonsense, I didn't frown on it at all. I merely stated that I wasn't sure there is enough of a player base to support segregating drop in sessions by skill level. Second of all I questioned how you go about deciding who is at what skill level. Thirdly, one of the benefits of drop in is that it gives lower level players exposure to higher level players. Typically, Friday and Saturday evenings are popular drop in nights for example. So if you decide to have an 'advanced' only session during that period you are going to cut the attendance in half. That is a bad business decision and not great for the less advanced players who now have to find some other place to go for their Friday night badminton fix.
Easy there thunder we're all just fans of badminton here. I understand your point of view, there may be room for improvement on the current system. I do agree with you however, if a group that only wants to play amongst themselves, then they should rent their own court. I remember renting a court with several friends for a couple hours, when splitting the bill, it made badminton one of the most affordable indoor sports around. Anyways, we're working hard on a few ideas to make sure everyone goes home after a night of drop-in feeling they were treated fairly, like all good things, it takes time.
Hi Aquabeta, thanks for your input. I actually really like the idea of keeping pairs together. That way it encourages a lot more people to give drop in a try since they can at least partner with somebody they know for the duration of the night. It will also lead to a good amount of competition for the pair for the night. I think what thunder.tw is getting at is the abuse of the drop-ins where a large group uses their superical numbers to continuously book court after court for their group without having to stop play to allow others who have been waiting patiently. Hope to see you there @ Badminton Vancouver drop ins.
I'm intersted in the partner idea as well. I'd bring my friend (who is about the same level as me) and play a few games on drop-in nights. It's the only way we'll get better at playing doubles (since we suck so much ).
Hey bad-vancouver, will you guys be allowing NON-MARKING basketball shoes with colored soles? Like these ones? http://www.badmintoncentral.com/for...s-your-badminton-shoes!?p=1765366#post1765366 http://www.badmintoncentral.com/for...s-your-badminton-shoes!?p=1765258#post1765258
I like the idea of a pairs mixer night where you stay with your partner and play others. From my experience, Smash/Yumo has the worst drop in system with the names on the board and you mark down which court you're on, no one ever uses (cause no one understands it)it and people always play longer than they should. I think after the renos they just gave up entirely with any system at all. Richmond Pro's board system works if the staff if on top of it. The old racquet on peg board system seems to always work best at C1 and C2, but again, the problem is always lack of enforcement from the employees. Sure if you play 20 minutes when allowed 15 min max it's not a big deal, but sometimes you get those db's that play for a good half an hour before getting off.
Also, it's important to set out the rules for drop in, ie/ 15 minutes, or 15 pt service, or 2 - 21 pt rallies
Hi Iori, If you want to wear your colourful non marking basketball shoes to play badminton, I'm more than happy to have you
