Saturdays @ Leith Community Centre​​
Our Saturdays sessions in Leith Community Centre are our OG events. The centre is hidden away - take the stairs next to Lidl and walk all the way along to find us. We have four courts and the session times are 9am-10am, 10am-12pm and 12pm-2pm - this may vary from time to time if we are hosting events or longer sessions. The friendly and social vibe of Budminton means that everyone will find games to suit them. We often head out for some food in the local area. We encourage everyone to come along to this! Sometimes we run themed sessions instead of our general social sessions:
Wednesdays @ Meadowbank Sports Centre​​
Our Wednesday evening session at Meadowbank Sports Centre was created in March 2023 due to overwhelming demand on Saturdays. We have 8 courts in Hall 1 from 6pm-8pm and we run two social session - a social and a ladder. Read more about these below. As with Saturdays, we warmly welcome all abilities - we have a lot of beginners and intermediates who attend. Wednesday sessions are a great place to start if you're completely new to the sport because we have more space to dedicate some time to show you the basics. We can facilitate a dedicated court at the start of the session for this if requested. We'll still be on hand to help even if you arrive later. We often head for food after the session and you're welcome to join us​
​Unranked
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Social session
The staple of Budminton. All abilities are welcome - more advanced members are expected to tailor their play to make the game fun for all if playing beginner and improving members. Chat at the side and jump on when a court is vacated. If someone has been waiting longer than you, let them on first, but don't be too polite all session or you might never get a game!
Ladder session
A social vibe with a twist. Courts are divided into zones with queues and your game results determine which zone you play in next. Winning your matches should in theory grant you a tougher challenge in your next match. If you lose, no sweat! You'll have a better chance at winning as you move down a zone. The ladder currently runs occasionally in Meadowbank, Edinburgh.
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Be prepared when your racquet is in the top four of the queue - you won't have long to claim your racquet when a court becomes free before it's put to the back of the queue.
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If you win in the top section or lose in the bottom section, join the same queue again.
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The red zone above is a no waiting area. The hall is marked with a red and black line. For safety, all racquets must be placed within the black line and members must stay within the red line, away from the baseline of the courts.
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You cannot play with the same partner twice in a row. If you play with them in the next game, you should be on opposite sides of the net.
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If you want a break, remove your racquet from the queue. You need to join the same queue when you wish to play again.
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If the queues begin to look uneven, they'll usually sort themselves out in a few minutes. The session leader can move racquets to a different section if this doesn't happen. Only the session host should do this, please follow their instruction!
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If your racquet is the same as another, mark it in a way to distinguish between them.
How our ladder session works in Meadowbank
Advanced session
A high-level session not suitable for beginners and improving members. Members must first be verbally approved by one of the hosts before signing up for these sessions. Eligible members should be able to play all of the basic shots to a reasonable standard and have a good understanding of match tactics. Please respect the decision of the organiser when determining your level - if you are unhappy with the decision, you can earn your badge by challenging us to a game!
Coached session
This session usually runs alongside the advanced session in LCC. Mostly suitable for beginners and improving members but everyone can learn something. Those with advanced session approval are advised not to attend these sessions.​
Women's session
As it says on the tin, no men allowed!​​
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Since June 2026, we have run sporadic ranked sessions to provide some friendly competition. Each match you play will result in the gain or loss of ranking points and the app stores saves your total, known as your ELO. We will utilise established ELOs for our future Budminton League, a seasonal team event, and also to make some of our tournaments balanced in terms of skill level. Ranked sessions run using our rankings app SliceWin, on which you must be registered to participate. Although this is competitive, the Budminton Code of Conduct and ethos must be adhered to at all times. Sportsmanship and integrity are critical for the rankings and anyone not following these rules will not be able to participate.
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Download SliceWin on your phone and join our group, Budminton Ranked, here.​​ You must be on SliceWin and join any relevant session on this app before attending the session. If you aren't, you won't be included in the matchmaking and won't play! The hosts will have a lot on their plate and may not be able to assist you in the usual timely manner, so if you have problems with setting up, please get in touch before you arrive at the session.
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If you wish to leave early or have a break during a ranked session, you MUST tell the host so that they can remove/pause you from the schedule. Not doing this will invalidate the matches you are not present for, effectively penalising your fellow members. Strikes will be if you cause repeated disruptions in ranked sessions - three strikes and you will be suspended from ranked sessions for a period of time.​
Rounds session
In Rounds, which may also run as a social, unranked session, SliceWin generates the session schedule as timed rounds. The host will signal the end of each round, and your app will tell you if you're playing the next round or sitting out. Each round will last 11 minutes and with ideal numbers everyone will play the same number of games - you should be playing every second game. Once a game finishes in the ranked set up, a player from each pair should go to the host to register their score. Fun play can then resume until the round is over. In a social set up, the scores don't need to be registered.
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To allow for fairer matchmaking, Rounds sessions will be split into two pools - AB and CD - with each pool having an proportionate distribution of courts to play on. As rankings develop, the pool you join will be determined by your ELO e.g. if B Grade is 1500+, a 1700 ELO player would join the AB pool and a 900 ELO player would join CD pool. As the rankings are still quite fresh and perhaps not reflective of true ranking, we ask that advanced and intermediate players join AB, and improving and beginner players join CD.
Swiss session
The format of Swiss is almost identical to Rounds but with a few differences. It will only be ranked, contain all players in one pool, and implement results-based matchmaking - you are more likely to be paired with people who have an similar number of wins as you in the session. SliceWin only matchmakes based on your session wins rather than all-time wins, so your first few games may be a little imbalanced. It is our hope that SliceWin develop a system that utilises your ELO over your session wins in the future to help minimise this outcome!​​
SliceWin Tutorial:
General Information
Preparation
By completing this checklist, you know you'll be ready to hit the courts running when you arrive:
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Read everything below and also our code of conduct and rules in the help section.
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Confirm your booking time, date, and location. Google Maps can show you where to go and your account should list the time and date of any bookings you've made.
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Bring appropriate sportswear. Nothing too dangly or loose-fitting that you may trip over, cleanish, non-marking indoor shoes with good grip to prevent injury. If you're someone who works up a good sweat a towel is a good optional.
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Have a racquet ready! You can add a racquet hire for £2 per session as you checkout if you don't have your own. You may be able to hire one at the session if you forget but availability is limited and this cannot be guaranteed. If you are unsure about racquets and don't have your own, we recommend hiring from us a few times before investing. If you have a great time and want to come back regularly, we can then advise you on comparable racquets to get.
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Bring some water! There are local shops and vending machines around. Hydration is important, especially in the warmer months!
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Get your remaining questions answered. Use our website chat, find us on Instagram, or email us at hello@budminton.co.uk. Once you've attended your first session, you can also join our WhatsApp.
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Booking
It's cheaper to book ahead and you'll be guaranteed a spot. If you show up unannounced, a £2.50 surcharge applies and you may not be admitted if the session is already full. You can book via the website or with the app. Using the app also enables you to join the waitlist if you missed your chance - this is strongly encouraged as spaces often become available closer to the session start time.
If something comes up and you can no longer make your session, please remember to cancel your booking to give others the opportunity to join in. If you do this at least 24 hours before the session starts, you'll be entitled to a refund/recredit. If the session starts within 24 hours, you'll need to get in touch with us to cancel you and you won't be entitled to a refund/recredit. Failure to do this will result in you being marked as a no-show. Booking privileges if you have three no-shows in three months, as you may be denying someone else the opportunity to attend.
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Fees
Budminton is tailored towards memberships - we offer great value for those who wish to attend regularly. Memberships start from as little as £6 per session. PAYG is £12.50 per session. If you have not booked into the session but show up, a £15 walk-up fee applies and a space in the session is not guaranteed.
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Racquet Hire is available for a fee of £2 and should be purchased as an add-on when you book. If you fail to do this we cannot guarantee that we'll have some available at the session.
Coupon use is monitored and any misuse as determined by the organiser may result in suspension or removal from the group.
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When you arrive
First-timers should speak to the session host for a quick welcome briefing before jumping on court. They'll help you check in, provide relevant information for the session, and make sure you have everything you need. You are welcome to request a quick demonstration of the rules and basic skills (host-dependent). This will occur in the first 10 minutes of a session so please arrive early if you would like to be part of this. If you come back, it's still very important that you check yourself in (not only from an admin/fire safety perspective) as doing so gives you a Bud Buck from our loyalty scheme. Bud Bucks can be spent on coupons for free sessions!
Once you're checked in and briefed, it's a case of chilling at the side, having a blether, and jumping on whenever you see a court freeing up. If others have been waiting longer, please let them on first. Back-to-back games are not permitted during busy sessions - please make sure you leave the court once your game has finished.​ We play doubles games to 21 and singles games are only permitted during quiet sessions where a court is not being used for more than 5 minutes. We use plastic shuttles but feel free to bring feathers of your own if you wish to use them.
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Guests
Those with an active monthly membership can bring guests for free (£5 for Silver members) with no sign up required - Platinum members can bring two free guests per month, and Gold members and Silver members one. This must approved and paid for in advance. Please do not bring in a guest without first getting approval as they will have to pay full price and may not be admitted if the session is full.
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Credits and Refunds
It's possible to easily reschedule your session as long as you do so 24 hours before the start time of the session. Those with monthly memberships can cancel to receive a session credit automatically, though will not be able to do this within 24 hours of the session starting. PAYG payments can be refunded as a coupon (for the full session value) or as cash (a £2 cancellation fee applies) by filling out the refund form in the help section. Refunds are not issued automatically and contacting the organiser within the appropriate timeframe is the responsibility of the member cancelling.