Virgin Active Chiswick Riverside
One court,
three spots,
one link
You book a padel court. You need three more people. The group chat fills with messages, half of them go unread, and by Thursday you still don't know whether it's happening.
Padel Mix replaces that with a link. You share it once. People tap it and take a spot. Everyone can see who's in.
How it goes
- Book your court in the Virgin Active app, the way you always do. Nothing changes here.
- Forward the confirmation email to bookings@padelmix.club. The court, date and time are read straight out of it, so there's nothing to type.
- It goes up straight away. The court appears on the homepage, where any member can see it and take a spot, and you get a link back at the same time.
- Drop the link in the group chat. It shows the court, the time and how many spots are open before anyone taps it.
- Or keep it to your own group. One tap makes the booking private: it comes off the homepage and only the people you send the link to can take a spot. Useful when you've already got most of the four sorted. One tap puts it back.
- Three people take a spot. You get an email each time. When it's four, it's done.
Two courts, eight players
Two of you book Courts 2 and 3 for the same slot, which sit next to each other, and forward both confirmations. Either one of you then links them, and out comes a single link titled Americano with both courts and both hosts on it.
Eight play instead of four, and it doesn't matter which court anyone joins, because everyone rotates. Six spots to fill between the two of you.
Both bookings stay separate at the club. You each keep your own court and your own job of cancelling it if it doesn't come together.
The rules it follows
The person who books the court plays. That's the club's rule, so you're counted as the first of the four and there are three spots to fill rather than four.
A court has to be cancelled more than 24 hours ahead. If yours is still short at that point, you get an email so you can cancel in time rather than losing it. Public bookings inside that window that lose a player show at the top of the homepage, because those are the ones that genuinely need someone.
Filling it yourself
You don't have to wait for people to tap the link. From your own court you can put any member in a spot, and they'll be emailed to say so.
For anyone who isn't on Padel Mix and isn't going to be, type their name and they go straight into a seat. Nothing for them to sign up to. That's also how under-18s play: accounts are for members aged 18 or over, since an account shares a WhatsApp number with the other players.
You can also take someone off, or hand their spot to someone else. Everyone affected gets an email with your contact details, so nobody is left guessing.
When it's full
Join the waiting list. If anyone drops out, the spot goes to whoever has waited longest, automatically, and they're emailed to say so. Nothing to accept, and they can drop out as normal if it no longer suits.
Everyone can see how many are waiting, which is the point: if three people are queueing, dropping out costs the others nothing.
If plans change
Anyone can drop out from the court page. You'll be told, and they'll be sent your contact details and the link so they can find their own replacement. If you need to cancel the whole thing, everyone who had a spot gets an email with your email address and WhatsApp number.
If you can't make it but the others still want to play, you can hand the court to one of them. Before the 24-hour deadline that usually means one of you cancels at the club and the other rebooks the slot. Inside it, the booking stays in your name and only who runs it here changes.
Every court can be added to a calendar, Google, Apple or Outlook, with a reminder two hours before and a link back in case the line-up changes.
Signing up
Your email address, name and WhatsApp number. No password, just a link emailed to you each time. Use the address on your Virgin Active membership so the courts you forward in land under your name.
Your name shows on any court you join. Your number is shown only to the other three players in that court. Nothing goes anywhere else, and the details are here.
Who made it
Adrian Melrose, a member, built it and gave it to the members of the club. It has been so frustrating waiting for Virgin to do anything about this, and Spond hasn't been the answer either. It isn't a business, nothing is charged, and there's nothing to install.
Adrian is keen to hear any feedback and wants to develop this with any features you think are missing. So please drop him a line at mail@adrianmelrose.com with any questions, comments, bugs or feature requests.