01
Club nights
Six courts on a Wednesday from 7:30pm, with mixed doubles rotated by Alun off the board, then tea on the bench. If you can keep a rally going, you will fit in here.
Pay and play is £6 a night.
Haverfordwest, since 1987
Your first night is free.
Badminton at Sir Thomas Picton, from never held a racket to playing in the league. We lend the racket. Choose your level and see which courts are yours.
Juniors, 8 to 11Tomorrow, 9am to 10am, Main hall, £4
Each court is 13.4 m by 6.1 m, drawn to scale. Yellow courts are in use: 3 of them for this session.
How the club works
First session free
Rackets lent, no joining fee
Every level, every week
Never played to league standard
DBS-checked junior coaches
Named welfare officer on the junior page
Run by its members
A committee, a kitty and a teapot
The club
Six ways on to the court.
02
Beginners’ nights
Eight weeks of Tuesdays with Eleri, starting from how to hold the racket. Two courts, a small group, and nobody watching. Rackets lent. By week eight, you will be ready for a Wednesday.
First session free, and then £5 a night.
03
League teams
Two men’s teams, one ladies’ and one mixed, playing home and away, from September to April. Team practice is on Thursday. If you want to play to win, ask Eleri to have a look at you.
Membership, plus a £4 match fee home or away.
04
Junior section
Coaching and games on Saturday mornings, in two groups, for ages 8 to 16. Coaches are DBS-checked and qualified, with a named welfare officer, and parents are welcome to stay and watch.
£4 a session.
05
Coaching
Eleri holds a Level 2 coaching badge and has played county. Book an hour for one person, or two to four, to sort out that backhand or to get ready for the league.
£28 an hour for one person.
06
Racket restringing
Alun has strung club rackets for thirty years, on a proper machine. Hand it in on a Wednesday and pick it up on Friday, at the tension you want, or the tension he recommends.
£14 with a standard string, and £18 with a better one.
Tuesdays
Last played in plimsolls?
Tuesday from 6:30pm is for you. Two side courts, at most twelve people, nobody watching, and Eleri starting from how to hold the racket.
Week five is your first proper game. By week eight, you will know the rules better than most people on a Wednesday, and you can come up when you are ready, or stay exactly where you are.
How the beginners’ course worksHow it runs
A club, not a business.
You will always get a game
Turn up and put your name on the board. Alun rotates the courts every fifteen minutes or so, so that nobody sits out for long, and nobody gets stuck with the same three people all night.
Beginners are welcome here
Tuesdays are for people who have not picked up a racket since school. We lend the racket, we show you the grip, and we do not expect you to know what a fault is.
Juniors are looked after
Our junior coaches are DBS-checked and qualified, we have a named welfare officer, and parents are welcome to stay and watch. The details are on the junior page, and we are happy to go through them.
It is cheap on purpose
Pay and play is £6 a night. Membership brings it down to £3, and pays for itself by the fifth session or so. We are not out to make money: any surplus goes on shuttles and a new net.
- 1987the year the club started, on two courts and a borrowed net
- 6 courtsin the main hall on a Wednesday, when we have the lot
- 4 teamsin the west Wales league: two men’s, one ladies’, one mixed
- 13.4 mthe length of a court, which is further than it looks at 9pm
After
The bench is half the point.
The urn goes on at nine. People with nothing in common apart from a bad backhand sit on a wooden bench and argue about whose fault that was. Three weddings have come out of it, and at least one business.
Membership is £54 a year, and a night drops from £6 to £3. It pays for itself at 18 nights. Any surplus goes on shuttles and a new net.
Pay and play or join?Reviews
Losing happily, to a retired vicar.
I was 58 and had not held a racket since school. Eleri spent ten minutes on how to hold the thing and did not laugh. By Christmas I had moved up to Wednesdays, where I lose to a retired vicar every week and could not be happier.
I moved here for work and knew nobody. Turned up on a Wednesday. Alun put my name on the board, and I have been to three weddings of people I met on that bench.
We came fifth out of six last season, and I have rarely been so pleased about it. The practice on Thursday is hard, but Eleri really does make you better, and the suppers away at the other clubs are worth the drive.
Questions people ask
What does it cost?
Pay and play is £6 a night, with your first session free. Membership is £54 a year, which brings a night down to £3, and it pays for itself after 18 nights. Put in your nights and we will tell you which is cheaper.
I have not played since school. Is that all right?
It is what Tuesdays are for. Bring flat shoes, and we will lend you the rest.
Do I need my own racket?
No. We lend them. When you want your own, ask Alun, who will talk you out of the expensive one.
Can I come on my own?
Almost everybody does. Your name goes on the board, and someone will find you a game.
Do you have a junior section?
Yes, on Saturday mornings for ages 8 to 16. DBS-checked coaches, and a named welfare officer. See the junior page.
How do I join a team?
Come on a Wednesday and ask Eleri to have a look at you. There is no trial as such, and she will tell you honestly.
Your first night is free.
Bring flat indoor shoes. We lend the racket, and Alun puts your name on the board.