What regular activities do you have?

• Walking tennis (See coaching tab)
• Group coaching (See coaching tab)
• Individual coaching (See coaching tab)
• Junior Summer Camp (See coaching tab)
• Drills (See coaching tab)
• Tennis Cardio (See coaching tab)
• Social sessions (See below)
• Box Leagues (See competition tab)
• Championship (Junior and Adult) (See competition tab)
• County Summer league teams (See competition tab)
• Local Winter league teams (See competition tab)
• Over 60s league teams (See competition tab)
• Junior County Leagues (See competition tab)

How do I access the courts?

You should get the code for the gate locks via email when you join or renew.  The code is changed at least annually.  Please do not share it with anybody unless you are sure that they are a member.  Please remember to re-lock the gates when you leave.  If you are at a social and all players leave the top courts please, at that moment, lock the upper gate as it is often forgotten. 

Safety

If you are concerned about playing for any reason, for example snow, ice or rain, you should not play.  It is up to you to make an assessment before playing or when you arive.  This applies to socials, matches and drills.  If during a game you find it too slippery or there is another safety issue you should stop playing and report it to a committee member where necessary.

Are there special procedures for the Clay Courts?

Yes, please drag the courts and clean the lines after use.  The mats are marked UP. If it has been raining, or the clay is clumping, then don't drag the courts but still clean the lines.

Please hang the mats up by the strings after dragging.  Hanging the mats by the mats themselves will damage the mats. They cost over £500 each.  Please don't damage them by hanging them by the plastic.

Remember to clean your feet every time you go from the clay to the upper courts.  Not a cursory clean but ensure that you have no clay attached.  If you don't, you will clog the corner of court 3.  This will cause water not to drain and will incur the club in a professional cleaning cost. Be prepared to have a committee ask if you have cleaned your feet sufficiently.

Please remember to leave sufficient time at the end of your session to do the cleaning.  The members after you should be able to start at their booked time and not wait for you to finish cleaning.

How do I book a court and what does it cost?

Once a member, you can book a court using ClubSpark for free.  See the Booking tab at the top left.  You can also use the Booker App. It doesnt cost to book a court, though we have had to introduce a £3 charge for using the lights after certain times (pay at time of booking).  Please ensure that you can book using the website first then move on to the app if you wish.

If you are a parent booking for your member child, you should log in yourself then click on your name at the top right change to your clilds name and then book. See Booking a court for a junior.

If you have registered to use ClubSpark using your LTA username instead of your clubspark email you should login using the "Login via LTA" on the right and not the login via email on the left.  If you choose the wrong one you will get "access denied" when trying to make a booking.

What are the court booking priorities?

The team captains and coaches can book in advance of the other members. Members can book up to two weeks ahead.  Once members have booked, their bookings can only be cancelled for maintenance or in exceptional circumstances by the booking administrator (not team captains or coaches).

Team captains need to remember to select “them as member” or “them as administrator” when making bookings and mark them as competition, where relevant.

Lights

The cost of lighting is now £3 per hour from dusk.  You need to pay this when you book the court - which is now compulsary after dusk.  If you are playing earlier and need lights then just use tokens to get you to around the time that you need to pay.  There is currently no charge for this. Please do not waste electricity.  It is not possible for members to turn off the lights though coaches and members who are committee members can.

If you cancel the booking before it starts you will get a refund - though it could take a few days. After the time of the booking there is no refund.

Light are not charged for team matches but are for team practice and the box league matches.

How do I cancel a booking?

You can cancel a booking using the same method used as making the booking.  Please cancel a booking if you cannot make it as it will free up time for another member.

If you cancel the booking before it starts you will get a refund - though it could take a few days.

Can I book a court or hire the courts if I am not a member?

Unfortunately, court booking is only available to members.

Can I play as a guest of a member casually or at a social session?

Yes, you can play as a guest of a member up to three times in a year upon payment of a guest fee of £3 per guest.You can add a guest to your booking and this costs £2.70 if done online.  This can be done by the member when booking the court and MUST be done in advance. If attending a social session, please ask your sponsoring member to send a message in advance to guestrequest@chalfordtennisclub.net with you name and intended session.

Can a non member receive coaching or take part in the coach-led drills or cardio tennis?

Yes, a non member can receive coaching or take part in the coach-led drills or cardio tennis, upon payment of a supplement to the coaches, which is passed to the club.

Can a non member take part in the social sessions?

Generally not unless they are a guest of a member taking part in the social session and then upon payment of a supplement by bank transfer in ADVANCE. If you are thinking of joining you can try out a session by arranging this with us in advance at enquiries@chalfordtennisclub.net.  We will let members know you are coming, to look out for you and make you welcome.

Which social tennis session should I go to?

We have 4 free member social sessions. On Friday at 10am it is more social and less competitive. Sunday at 10am is slightly more competitive.  Wednesday at 7pm is the most competitive.  Monday at 7pm is for women of various levels.  For all socials you need to be sufficiently skilled to play a game, serving and returning a ball.  You do not need to be a great player.  If you are a complete beginner, you should get some coaching before coming to a social.

There is no age restriction for the social sessions though it will mainly be adults and you should be able to play a reasonable game against them.

Do you supply balls for the social sessions?

We supply balls for the socials.  These are usually once-used balls from the team matches. They will rarely be new but will be sufficient for social tennis.  If you spot a really bad ball in the balls please don't complain or hit it into the field.  Instead, helpfully, put it in the bad ball bin on court or in the hut.

The social balls in the blue bag are solely for officiaL socials and no other purpose.  You cannot use them if you forget yours, are having an informal social, are playing in the championship or box leagues or doing team practice. 

There are practice balls in the hut in the metal baskgets.  These have been donated by Bjorn.  You are free to use them but please bring them back.

Do I need to book, or bring a partner to, the social tennis sessions?

There is no need to book and no need to bring a partner.  We all swap around at the sessions (see below).

What is the protocol at the social sessions?

Please try to arrive on time, though still come if you are late.  Also, you might choose to come an hour after start as someone may wish to leave.

We generally play doubles.  If there are odd numbers we may also play some singles or "American" (3 players) or a game of 5, where one member sits out each game in rotation.  We generally play 7 games and then swap unless we have an odd number of players then it is 5 so people are not playing 5s or 3s for too long (unless they want to).  It can also be 5 games then rotate if people are playing singles who didn’t quite want to. If odd numbers, then volunteer to play a 3 or 5 once if you can.  Also, volunteer to play on the upper courts for some matches and not remain solely on the clay courts unless you have a medical reason for doing so.  If you are late please do some warm up for yourself if possible as there is no obligation for members playing to stop playing to give you time to warm up.