Goodland Pickleball

Was visiting the city on a work trip and looking for an open-play session. Happy to have found Goodland. The courts were well-maintained and the other players were friendly. Had a great time. Hoping to come back next time I’m in town.

2 weeks ago

The club has a tendency to ban members who provide constructive feedback and suggestions. A few months ago, I was told that my access to Goodland facilities was revoked indefinitely. I understand that this was as a result of some constructive feedback that I and other members expressed in one of the WhatsApp groups. Here is what happened: I had asked in the WhatsApp group for a fourth person to join a Friday session so it would not get cancelled. Nobody signed up and the session was cancelled. Someone expressed surprise that we were not able to get four people to play in a session and other clubs in the area were completely full and had a waitlist. This prompted numerous members to share their opinion on why we thought other clubs had a larger attendance, and what Goodland could do better to attract more members and also improve the experience for current members. It seems that the feedback and suggestions were not well received by the management. Another member and I were removed from the WhatsApp group with no explanation. The next day I received an email saying that my access was revoked, my account was closed, and the sessions that I had signed up for were cancelled. I have never heard of any fitness or sports facility banning members for expressing their opinions in a respectful way or providing constructive feedback. Most places would take this as an opportunity to improve. Here are some examples of the feedback that was provided: 1) Consistency on the duration of open plays: Some sessions were 90 minutes while others were 120 minutes. Why have different durations if the cost is the same? Some sessions would go from 5:30 to 7:00 PM, but the court would be empty from 5:00 to 5:30 PM. Why not make the session start at 5:00 PM? 2) Feedback on the public announcement/monitoring system: The surveillance system that detects when people are using the courts without a reservation works great if there is no attendant at the front desk, ensuring people don’t just walk in and use the courts without paying, or continue playing after their reservation ends. But if there is an attendant at the front desk and the court is empty, it would be nice to be able to warm up while you wait to play, without the system telling you to get off the minute you set foot in the court. This is just not a nice experience for members. 3) Better DUPR management for intermediate sessions: The club had DUPR gated sessions for levels 3.25, 3.50, and 3.70 DUPR. Although these sessions are a great way to maintain a competitive environment, there were no DUPR gated sessions for players with less than 3.25 DUPR. This led to a lot of unbalanced levels in the intermediate and high intermediate sessions with a lot of beginners joining those sessions. I suggested adding DUPR gated sessions of 2.75 to 3.25 DUPR, to increase competitiveness for players with DUPR less than 3.25. I think it is good for beginner players to play with more advanced players in order to get better, perhaps having “All-Level Sessions” so members of all levels can play together. I am not sure if the management felt attacked by the feedback, or if they don’t tolerate feedback being provided on WhatsApp, where every other member can read it. Whatever the reason might be, I think it is an extreme way to retaliate by banning someone for this type of input, especially since there were numerous members participating in the discussion. This is not just my opinion, many members shared this sentiment once they found out what happened, and agreed that the feedback was constructive and shared in a respectful way.

a month ago

By far the best value for pickleball in the greater New York area - if you get the membership it pays for itself after 4 open plays in one month. Great community as well.

a month ago

Sad experience canceling my membership. When not getting what I expected out of my membership I chose to cancel. At cancelation, which can’t be done on the app, you have to email them. They charge you an additional full month under the guise of a 30 day cancelation notice policy. If I choose to cancel during a month I have paid for… why would I owe the following month? This “policy” is a wild money grab and out of principle I can’t support. I would have considered paying per use before this but now I will be going to one of the many other pickle ball courts in the area.

4 months ago

Great place to drop in and play some pickleball with friends! A little pricey through. One suggestion: You guys REALLY need to put some pads on the concrete walls behind the courts. There isn’t much room as it is to run and chase a ball back, and to be met with a literal concrete wall isn’t great. Buy some pads, slap em up there. It would probably also help with the sound a bit which just feels like you’re talking in a massive cave.

2 months ago