Club28 Badminton Philadelphia — Local services in Philadelphia

If there were other places I could play badminton in Philadelphia I would. I come with my own racket and birdies to play with. I rent their shoes but I’ll eventually get my own.

My issue with this place is that I always feel like an outsider because technically I am. There is a rule that if it gets crowded that you will play doubles matches with others or you can play half court so that every court is fully being used. But because this is a community, people don’t play by that rule sometimes. My friend and I asked to play half court yesterday (March 1st 2025) and the second we get on, before we could even play someone says “sorry our friends want to play with us.” This is from the same person that said we could play half court. Which isn’t fair because that’s not how it goes. We basically got kicked off before we even got to play. Badminton is an Asian dominated sport and I’m Black lol. So maybe I feel like an outsider for the fact that I stand out in the crowd. But even outside of that the few times I’ve been there, it’s like people just don’t want to play with me when it comes to having to share a court. Which is fine but don’t look at me dumb when I ask if I can join your court when you’re supposed to share if the courts are full.

Some people may not like this but the atmosphere and your experience really sometimes depends on whether people aren’t going to be weird to you. Like I get it’s a whole community but people will straight up ignore you so if you don’t say anything you will have wasted your time going because some of their people meaning their community don’t like to share.

Another thing that will happen is that people will simply switch courts which happened when my friend and I got kicked off the court and when I asked “is there another court open” this girl lied to me and said yes but people were playing on it. Like it’s so annoying. The staff is always different when I’m there so sometimes the rules are enforced but badminton as a whole is a sport based on having integrity. Which some people...

I had high hopes for Club28 Badminton Club in Philadelphia, but my experience left me seriously disappointed.

The courts themselves? Sure, they’re “professional,” but the space feels cramped. The back walls are way too close, so good luck playing any defensive shots without smashing into them. And the rotation system for open play is a mess—people were cutting in line, and no one seemed to enforce the rules. I ended up waiting forever just to get a few minutes of playtime. They did not clarify the rule, you have to bring shuttle boxes to claim a court. Some shitty attitude guy named Numkun claim he is the owner and was super rude to us. I dnt think he is the owner, probably the spoiled brat son of the owner. For $15 a session, I expected better organization and at least a welcoming atmosphere.

The facilities aren’t much to brag about either. The changing rooms are tiny, and the so-called “shower room” was out of order when I was there. The pro shop is overpriced—$10 for a basic shuttlecock? Come on. I get that it’s the only dedicated badminton spot in Philly, but that doesn’t excuse the lackluster service and chaotic setup. I won’t be rushing back...

Hate to be a difficult customer but I still got to say: stringing service is terrible and it does not take a professional to tell. I got mine done there before, but the last one is a nightmare. The tension was completely off. String felt like rubber band when I put my finger on the center of the racket. The string couldn't even line up straight because they were so loose. They re-did my racket but my original string was wasted. They don't have the same string I brought so I have to take one from different brand.

My folks had done their string there too and they also have issues include but not limit to: loose tension, twisted string, string protector out of place, wrong kind of string(asked for A string and got B string), etc.. The most common, long-lasting issue is the string overlapping on the side of the racket where they should be parallel(shown in pictures). The last one was not the most critical issue but it tells that THEY JUST DON'T TAKE IT...