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12:17 pm
February 15, 2011
Apologies if this is the wrong place to post this but I couldn't find anywhere it really fits or whether it should be on this site at all.
I play at a club with 4 courts and the standard is massively varied.
The problem is trying to maximise everyone's enjoyment without having too many mis-matched games and keeping it social.
Also, it seems unfair on the guy who runs it having to sort all the games out as he plays as well and has countless evenings spoiled by having to juggle all the names around.
We have a board system of sorts but it's almost always awkward when we have 12 or 16 players turn up and the games end at different times.
I don't think “seeding” the games is a good idea as we have a few guys with delusions of adequacy and we've already lost some of the medium standard players due to them wanting to play all night with the higher standards and not at all with some of the newer guys.
Interestingly, not one of the top people has complained but that may be because we play at more competitive clubs as well as this one.
There has been talk of a “top court” system whereby the winners of games gradually move up leading to some good games towards the end of the evening but I don't fully understand how it works.
Has anyone had this problem and overcome it ?
Thanks for reading
Simon
7:09 pm
March 2, 2010
Simon, what I'm about to explain has little to do with a sportsclub in particular, but more with running an organisation (whatever the scale) in general:
whatever system you work out, propose this to your people and ask their opinion. Even if they have none, they have to write something down, and then you take the “highest common factorr” (how much you would like, you cannot do well for everybody). This way you show your people you care about their opinion, that you search for a way outn abd you give everyone a way to express his/her look at things (or maybe comup with a bright idea). It will prevent (a bit) people leaving the club out of frustration.
Since you're lmited in courts, you probably play mostly doubles, right ? I think you'll need a good mix of good players playing good oponents, and then they mix with the ones who would like to play strong opposition (because probably not everybody will be keen on this). This is a bit the case in our club, we hardly never play singles. And since I'm a real sissy in singles, this way I'll never get any better.
Publish the outcome !
CHeers, ED
12:32 pm
February 15, 2011
Great advice Ed, thanks for replying.
Unfortunately we have people in the club who seem intent on getting rid of our weak members no matter what we suggest.
I don't actually run the club but as one of the guys who plays at a higher standard I'm always asked my opinion.
I had 2 suggestions, one was to let different people sort out the games each week and get opinions on how each group worked for everyone.
The problem with this was taking some control away from the guy who runs it, the other that 1 or 2 “bad” weeks could result in losing members.
The other, a bit vindictive on my part, was to dedicate one court to coaching anyone who wanted to raise their standard or practise something in particular.
If I suggest this I'm going to make a point of picking faults in the whining members who think they are too good for the rest and the pitfalls are obvious.
Thanks for the advice
Simon
12:29 pm
February 15, 2011
We have 4 “groups” of players.
The first is a mix of purely social, enthusiastic beginners and relatively new players.
Then you have the guys who can play a bit but just want to do some exercise and have some decent games.
The third is the same as above but take it a little more seriously.
These guys are the problem, they think they are good enough to play at the standard of the fourth group and believe they are too good for the first group.
The fourth is a mix of very experienced, ex county/league and current league players. This group all play at other clubs too so we aren't that bothered that every game isn't pushing us and we tend to give advice when asked and help everyone else in the club.
The problem is the third group who will juggle names on the current peg system to make sure they have good good games but at the cost of a lot of mis-matched games for the rest of the guys.
This has lead to people leaving the club and as we have to pay for 4 courts, whether we use them or not, it gets expensive when numbers dwindle and eventually this can only result in the club folding.
I hope this doesn't sound like I'm whining about the problem, I just thought I'd ask in case anyone had a similar problem and found a solution.
I've only been using this site a little while and everyone has been really helpful and there's an absolute wealth of experience here.
My apologies if this is an inappropriate subject and thanks to Ed, we're currently sorting through a way of asking each member their opinions and seeing how we go from there.
Unfortunately the timing couldn't be worse as there's a lot of big football matches on this month and we can't seem to find a night when everyone is able to make it.
Thanks again for taking the time to read this.
Simon
10:44 am
October 25, 2010
Simon said:
We have 4 “groups” of players.
The first is a mix of purely social, enthusiastic beginners and relatively new players.
Then you have the guys who can play a bit but just want to do some exercise and have some decent games.
The third is the same as above but take it a little more seriously.
These guys are the problem, they think they are good enough to play at the standard of the fourth group and believe they are too good for the first group.
The fourth is a mix of very experienced, ex county/league and current league players. This group all play at other clubs too so we aren't that bothered that every game isn't pushing us and we tend to give advice when asked and help everyone else in the club.
The problem is the third group who will juggle names on the current peg system to make sure they have good good games but at the cost of a lot of mis-matched games for the rest of the guys.
This has lead to people leaving the club and as we have to pay for 4 courts, whether we use them or not, it gets expensive when numbers dwindle and eventually this can only result in the club folding.
same at one of the clubs I play at m8, not sure what the solution is,
the one who think they're better than they are, maybe try to play 100% against them, and they may begin to understand the gulf in skill a little more, and then may be a little more open to seperation towards the end of the night, where stronger players should be able to make sure they get atleast one game where they are all tested.
For what its worth, the problem you're experiencing is commong across the land 🙂
9:22 pm
February 15, 2011
It's a nightmare!
It seems to me that too many players go to club with a personal agenda based on what they can get rather than what they can give. And yet, the more you give, the more you get. Let me explain.
In any club there is a middle section of players that aren't going to get any better because they're not interested. Over time they'll actually get progressively worse.
Sat both sides of these players are the up-and-coming novices and the advanced players who continually push to get better.
In many respects, the more you give to the novices the better. Why?
1) they improve faster
2) it won't take long before they're knocking on the door of a team place, pushing the middle players hard for a chance.
3) competition is good
4) these players may become the nucleus of your lower teams very soon.
5) they also stay and pay, therefore keeping the club going
I've seen all sorts of systems in clubs. Everybody is entitled to a few games at their and higher level in a good clubnight. The worst players are always fighting to win a point never mind a game.
At the end of the day, it's up to all players in clubs to remember what it was like when they first joined the club. You have to start at the bottom as a beginner and work your way up.
The worst offenders in clubs are those that are intent on making sure they keep their place by any means necessary. They don't want to play with lower standard players because they don't want them to get better. However, they are first to complain when there aren't enough good players in the club to keep the team up.
Club politics is a nasty business. And I thought we all joined a club to have fun and learn to play badminton.
Paul
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