Tennis
All you need to know about the Club
Courts
Bookings & Floodlights
Social Tennis
Get to know club members
Competitions
Annual Tournaments & Box Leagues
Teams
Competing with other clubs
We have eight all weather courts. All are Astroturf and six, are the latest generation “Tiger Turf”. Six are floodlit, four with the latest LED floodlights which save energy and give an outstanding illumination quality. Court 7 has no floodlights. Court 8 is a singles court.
Court booking
The courts are open to members seven days per week between 8:30 and 21:30 throughout the year, except when required for team matches, club nights, tournaments and coaching.
You can log in to the “Bookit” court booking system from the menu button or here.
You should have received a user ID , PIN and door entry fob when you joined. If not please contact our administrator.
The system can be used from a PC or mobile device and instructional videos are available below.
- Logging on / changing password
- Booking doubles tennis
- Booking singles tennis
- Adding funds to your account (for floodlights and visitor fees)
- Other menu functions
If you have any questions on how the system works or any other aspect of the club, please call or email our administrator Sally-Ann Shaw on 01564 400113 or admin@kdrc.info.
If you want to play in any of the leagues or competitions please make sure your share your contact details in Bookit so that other members can contact you. You do this using the “My Account” function from the Bookit main menu and checking the boxes next to the contact details you want to share.
Courts are bookable in 90 minutes slots, apart from court 8 (singles court) which has 60 minutes slots. Booking opens for each slot 7 days plus 30 minutes before the start time. You can book one court, or be named as a participant on any one day 7 days in advance. 48 hours in advance you can book any remaining slots.
Note that slot timings on Tuesdays start 30 minutes earlier to allow for the start of club night at 18:00.
All courts must be booked, and all players must be included on the booking. You can book a court with just one players name, but all four players (two on court 8, the singles court) must be included at least 24 hours before the booking is due to start. If you do not do this the court will be automatically cancelled and you will be notified by e-mail.
This is important both to support Covid-19 track and trace, but also because our support from the LTA depends on court usage.
Introducing a guest
If you want to introduce a guest, you will have to pay the £6 fee from your Bookit account (please see above training video and note that the minimum you can add per transaction is £12). £6 will be deducted from your account when the court is booked and will be refunded if the court is cancelled. Please remember that, even if playing with a guest, you will need to complete the booking as described above.
Fobbing in
All players must “fob in” by placing their fob on the reader at the clubhouse door when they arrive to play. The system will confirm it has registered you because your name will appear on the reader screen. Failure to fob in may result in a suspension of booking rights.
If you book a court and no longer need it, please cancel it as soon as possible to give other members the best chance to use it.
What to Wear
Coloured tennis kit is now an option for members to wear.
This includes socks and trainers providing the trainers are suitable tennis ones which have non marking soles.
Only tennis clothing will suffice: NO football, rugby, cricket or other sport, gym or leisure wear to be worn.
Although we have changed from the predominantly white rule to move the club forward, we do not wish to lose the appearance and appeal of the club. Please can all members therefore respect these rules and encourage your fellow members to do the same.
Floodlights
The floodlights are also controlled from the Bookit system. The cost is as before £3 per court per 45 minutes (equivalent to £4 per hour) for ALL courts including 5 and 6. Floodlights can be purchased in units of 5 minutes. Once floodlights are purchased they cannot be turned off or refunded so don’t purchase until you are sure of the weather. The system will only allow purchase on the day of the booking. If more than one player books floodlights, it is important that the floodlight slots are booked in sequential order. If there is a gap, the system assumes no lights and these cannot be booked after a later slot has been booked.
Note that for courts 1&2 the floodlights will take a few minutes to reach full brightness. Furthermore, when the lights go off the system will not allow them to turn on for ten minutes. You will still be charged for this time. Courts 3-6 being LED do not suffer these restrictions. Instructional videos are available:
New! Youth Social Tennis: Fridays 18:00-20:00 Starts 22nd September
Fridays 6pm-8pm. Green and yellow ball ages 10yrs+.
Free to members. £5 (cash only) non members.
For more details e-mail: Kimsubramanian@hotmail.com
Senior Social Tennis
There are two social tennis sessions a week (Saturday 2-5 p.m. and Tuesday 6-10 p.m.). These are for all senior members to turn up and mix in and floodlighting is provided free of charge. They are a great way to get to know people.
Social tennis guidelines
DO
- All matches are first to 6 games; sudden death deuce, receivers choice.
- No priority for mixed doubles or players just arriving; everyone should be prepared to wait their turn.
- Please respect the order of play; wherever possible at least 2 of you should change partners.
- If necessary, wait a few minutes for another group to complete their match to ensure mixing in.
- If there is a surfeit of either ladies or men; a same sex match is perfectly acceptable.
- If you stay out of your turn (eg: tea break, rest, toilet) you go to the back of the queue.
- Occasionally a player may feel the group is too strong for them; Only in such a case are they permitted to wait out and may then play in the next group of 4.
- If playing prior to social, complete your match in time for the social session.
DON’T
- Manipulate your availability to avoid certain players – social is about mixing in.
- Play any non-social (eg: Box League) matches during social sessions.
Sudden death deuces are the rule to try and make the length of games shorter and more consistent. This helps to reduce the waiting required to mix in and play with different people.
Full Code of Conduct details can be found on the Policies page.
Social fours and tournaments
The weekday social organiser arranges social fours throughout the week and also a program of friendly matches with other local clubs on Tuesdays. Please contact them if you are interested in playing.
The weekend social organiser arranges a number of social matches with local clubs. Please contact them if you are interested in playing.
Box Leagues
Throughout the year there are singles and mixed doubles “Box league” competitions. The mixed doubles is long established, the singles (which is open to ladies and men) league started in 2023. We have recently also had a men’s doubles box league and will look to revive this if these is sufficient interest. We would be happy also to have a ladies doubles box league if there is sufficient interest.
If you are interesed in playing in the mixed doubles league please contact Roque Santana-Vaz santanavaz@gmail.com
If you are interested in the singles league please contact Paul Wheaver paulwheaveruk@gmail.com
If you are interested in the mens doubles league please contact Doug Gibson comms@kdrc.info
Annual Tournaments
During the summer the club Annual Tournaments take place. There are open and handicapped events in both singles and doubles, men’s ladies and mixed.
The handicap events are a great opportunity to play against better players with the odds rather more even. This requires a lot of matches to be played so normal court bookings and the Tuesday social session are suspended during this period.
Finals day is a big event in the club calendar. The bar is always busy and you will see some great matches so put it in your diary.
Tournament Rules, Match Etiquette and Handicapping Rules can be found on the Policy Rules & Guidance page.
Two mixed doubles round robin competitions are held immediately after the Annual Tournaments with finals played in early October: Robin Scott for members over 45 and Cooper Pontifex for those 45 and under.
In addition there are a number of one day tournaments held throughout the year. For all these tournaments watch the notice boards for sign up sheets. They will also be advised by e-mail.
Spring Tournament
Fun tournament to kick off the summer season, usually held shortly after the clocks go forward
Generation Tournament
This event is held on a Sunday afternoon. Seniors and Juniors may enter as a same sex or mixed doubles pair, but there must be at least 20 years between partners.
President’s Tournament
Once a year the Club President hosts a round robin mixed doubles tournament and provides afternoon tea.
Ladies Tournament
Each year ladies are invited to play doubles tennis and enjoy lunch at the Club. This is a round robin competition and there is a draw for partners.
End of season tournament
Fun tournament held generally in October.
The club runs several men’s, ladies and mixed teams in the Birmingham, Warwickshire and Coventry area leagues. Match practice sessions are held late winter/early spring for players interested in being considered.
If you are interested in playing team tennis please contact the men’s captain, or ladies captain.
The club currently runs 10 teams in the summer Birmingham area, Metropolitan and Coventry area leagues alongside mixed teams during the summer and winter.
Summer Season
Men currently have three adult teams playing in the Birmingham Leagues, one in the Coventry league and a junior development team in the Metropolitan League.
Ladies currently have three adult teams playing in three Birmingham Leagues and one in the Coventry League plus a junior development team in the Metropolitan League.
We also have two mixed teams playing in the Metropolitan League.
Winter Season
Men play in the Warwickshire Men’s Veterans League – they were winners of this league in 2016, 2017 and 2018.
Ladies play in two competitions during the winter – the Warwickshire Ladies Veterans League and the Helen Cole Ladies Doubles Winter League.
We have also recently joined the Metropolitan Super Mixed League. This is a new competition where the matches consist of a men’s doubles, a ladies doubles and two mixed doubles rubbers.
In 2024 we also plan to enter the Metropolitan Spring League. In this competion teams can consist of any mix of men and ladies.
You can find our how our teams are getting on at www.mydivision.com (select Birmingham Area League, Coventry and District Lawn Tennis League or Metropolitan Summer League as desired).
Warwickshire LTA also runs knock-out competition for singles and doubles so if you are interested in playing within the county or region then entry into these along with full details of all competitions available can be found at www.lta.org.uk (select Warwickshire Club Players Championship).
