Kinda disappointed with Ace so far. Went to a Friday night dropin and it was quite poorly organized; a lot of ppl stayed on the courts w/o rotating and there wasn't a board or anything to write down names. The website also suggests they have a Sunday morning dropin (as the hours say 9am-11pm and morning dropin is daily) but when my friends and I got there the ppl working there said they didn't have any such thing. They also kept us locked out until 9:10am even though they clearly knew there was no dropin and there was only classes for children going on.
the place is new n stuff..but its like a freezer inside..no good also the lights are too low...they'd better fix that
Actually the lights are poorly placed and that it essentially blinds your vision that you cannot see the shuttle temporaily when the bird is landing on your back side of the court when an opponent clears. The lights should of been better, or at best to IBF standards. People have also been complaining that the courts have too much grip to them which could cause an injury. This is because the player is unable to move as effectively because the shoe is glued more into the court than it should be. The lighting should be definatley better than this, otherwise I'm staying with RPro and or C1/2.
Not defending them or anything, but the lights are fine... it's just that the ceiling is black which causes too much of a contrast for the eyes between the lights and the ceiling when tracking the bird during a clear. The court surface being sticky is due it being new... after a few months of more people playing on it will help to wear it in a bit.
Visor, I have to disagree with you on that - there is a lot of players who complained including myself about the lighting. Lets put it this way - there are players who are exploting this problem in singles... would not exactly say fair play for both sides. The floor being new, that non-sense because I've been to C1 when they had new floors, it was not that sticky to how the ACE floors are.
The only problem I think is the space between the courts, it's kinda too close... If the players on the court beside you are not careful, they'd be hitting birds into the next court... I don't really find problems with the grippy floor myself though...
Try rotating and pivoting, with your one or both of your feet planted on the floor - you will see what I am referring to.
Was just there last night... A few complaints: 1. Space between courts are too narrow as you noted. Almost as bad as courts in an elementary school gym. An extra 1 foot would be better. And don't ever book the end courts, as they're so close to the concrete wall as to make it unsafe for your racket to play. 2. Poor lighting revisited. Too low, and needing baffles on the lights to reduce side glare. Also needs black drop cloth baffles from the ceiling separating the two halves of the place, to eliminate glare from the lights of the other side of the gym. 3. Poor ventilation. Despite an outside temp of 15C yesterday evening, it felt like 25C inside there. Very stuffy and hot when playing. I can't imagine how hot it'll be when it's 30C outside in the summer. Somehow, RichPro and VRC are better designed in these areas. 4. Court surface slightly stickier than RichPro, but I'm attributing it to it being new. Maybe I don't have a problem with it as my shoes may not have the best grip.
Was at Ace last night. Few improvements already. They've installed a black drop cloth all along the middle of the seating area and changing rooms. So it's much easier on the eyes. Not sure if it's me, but seems like they raised the lights a bit. Ventilation was good as well, as Ace kept the front and rear door open.
One problem still needs to be dealt is with the gap distance between one court to the next. It is a bit too close and could cause injuries.
http://www.acebadmintoncentre.com/Images/AceLeftBanner2.jpg <- This pic is from the banner from their website. From here, you can see where player(s) could get injured.
Yes, the courts are WAY too close. I've tried accidentally running into the court next to mine. Dangerous! Someone WILL eventually get hurt. They just need to remove one court from each side of the facility, to make extra room. From a business stand-point, I see why they maximized court-area. Still expensive to rent courts nonetheless!
Yes, when I was there last time, we had 2 incidents of players from adjacent courts stepping into ours, not to mention mutlitple times when their birds end up in our court thus stopping our play. Fortunately, no one was crashed into. An extra 4-6 inches gap would've helped immensely.
