How to play at the club
If you are planning to visit the club for the first time, you are very welcome to join us on a Friday evening at 7:30pm. Our nights are roughly organised by playing ability – Friday night is our most inclusive night for all, using plastic shuttles, and you will be able to chat to some of our members.
If you have significant experience in playing badminton, you may prefer to visit on a Sunday evening at 7:30pm. This is played with feathers and is aimed at a more advanced level (minimum level: ‘competitive player’, according to our playing standards table below).
In some cases we may be able to accomodate new members or visitors coming to alternative club nights according to the calendar below, but it is important that you contact us first – unfortunately you may not be permitted to play if you attend a night unsuitable for your playing ability. Contacting us first will help to prevent any uncomfortableness in this regard! These rules are to ensure fun games for all.
Visitors can attend the club for three (3) sessions before we ask you to decide on joining the club or not. Visitor fees are £5 for adults and students, or £2.50 for juniors. There is a £3 surcharge for feathers nights to cover the shuttles. We are unable to provide any equipment, so you must bring your own racket, and it is imperative that you bring clean, indoor, non-marking court shoes.
For information specifically for Juniors, including coaching and child welfare, please see the page on Junior Membership.
Membership fees
| Subscription Type | Description | Cost Per Month |
|---|---|---|
| Full Member | Over 18 | 26.50 |
| Day Member | Play up until 16:30 | 13.75 |
| Student Member | In full-time education, and under 24 | 13.00 |
| Junior Member | Under 18, but not enrolled in the Junior Club coaching sessions | 9.25 |
| Country Member | Play rarely due to residential location (averaging less than 2 sessions/month) | – |
| Student Country Member | Qualify for student member, but also play rarely due to residential location | – |
How to join the club
To join our club, please click the appropriate button above to visit Gocardless; our online subscription provider. Payments are taken on the 1st of every month.
For Country or Student Country memberships, please contact us directly and we will discuss your requirements.
Key information
Full or Student members can play at the badminton hall whenever they want, outside of planned sessions (see the court availability calendar). They may also attend any group sessions, subject to ability.
Day members may play at the badminton hall, as above, up until 16:30. They cannot attend evening group sessions.
A key is required to access the badminton hall outside of planned sessions – these can be bought by members in good standing for £5.
There is no facility to privately book courts outside of planned sessions – naturally members must share if the courts are full. Please see the byelaws for more information if needed.
Junior members under 18 are not generally permitted to play in the hall unsupervised, a parent or guardian must be present.
Club rules
Senior club information
APBC have a strong, active adult membership, from 18 – 80 playing at all levels. Most group sessions, where members can turn up and play with others, are during the evenings – but we do offer morning sessions during the week. Members can also play at the hall outside of planned sessions, whenever the courts are free – see the court availability page.
We have a range of evenings suited to different shuttles and standards of play, which can viewed to the right of the page along with suggested playing standard. This helps to ensure fair and fun games for everyone! You can find definitions of our playing standards below. The best way to find out, if unsure, is to come along to a Friday club session and play with our members who can advise you.
We use a tag board system to organise games on a club night – essentially each game is picked by the person who’s been sat off the longest, and they can only pick so far down the line of tags (which are ordered by most recently finished games) to try and ensure everyone gets equal playing time, and varied games. Doubles is the standard format.
Some nights may operate a slightly different tag system, this is to help with fairer games on nights which are focused around competitive play or team practice.
Playing standards
| Standard | Description |
|---|---|
| Beginner | Has never played before, or plays occasionally, and has little playing experience. Doesn’t know the rules well, and doesn’t know the court layout. |
| Improver | Knows rules and how to score, understands the court layout, can serve and sustain a short rally. Understands club playing rules (for example, the tag system). |
| Social Player | Knows how to play and can serve and sustain a rally. Is able to play both backhand and forehand shots. Can score and knows basic court positions as well as apply some tactics. Is fit enough to run around the court to reach shots. Regular social players will also know club playing rules (tag system, etc), and will likely know who most people are, so they can pick balanced games. |
| Competitive Player | A good standard of club player, and plays in one of the higher plastics teams, or is deemed good enough to play in a team (as may be determined by the committee). |
| Team Player | Is a nominated player in one of the teams at the following levels: any feathers team, MP3 and above, LP2 and above, or CP3 and above. |
| Advanced Player | Plays in a feathers team, or is a reserve for such a team, or plays at an equivalent standard (as may be determined by the committee) |
| Day | Sessions |
|---|---|
| Monday | Competitive (plastics) * |
| Tuesday | Advanced players (feathers) * |
| Wednesday | Team practice (plastics) * |
| Thursday | Advanced players (feathers) * |
| Friday | Improvers & social play (plastics) |
| Saturday | Hall usually available for members to play |
| Sunday | Social & competitive (feathers) |
* Please only attend these sessions if you’ve spoken to a committee member first – otherwise you may not be able to play.
| Day | Sessions |
|---|---|
| Monday am | Intermediate / Competitive (plastics) |
| Wednesday am | Intermediate / Competitive (plastics) |
We have five courts inside a large, heated hall with full-height ceiling. The floor uses a professional, tournament-grade covering supplied by Gerflor. The hall is single-use, so no confusing floor markings!
There are (slightly rudimentary) changing facilities, toilets, showers and a kitchen. We have ample seating set well back from the courts.
