Playing surfaces

[lmanchur.]

Question....

wha'ts the differences in playing surfaces??... uh... I guess they'd be grass... cement.. and clay.

How does each affect a player's game, and what are advantages/disadvantages of each??

...or is there no real noticeable difference?

[NickHammy]

On grass, the ball skids, it doesn't bounce, making it a faster pace game. It is much softer than hard courts, thus making it easier on your feet.

On hard courts, the ball bounces more and slows the gameplay. And it is harder on your feet.

On clay, the bounces even more, and the gameplay is even slower. Many older people that play prefer clay.

[Marc]

Has anyone played on clay? I did a year or two ago and it was cool! It's not as "messy" as you'd think, makes it interesting to play on.

[NickHammy]

I play on it all the time. And yes Marc, it is a mess, it gets in your shoes and everything. They have them at the club I work at, they are expensive and they need lots of work on them.

[Clay]

The main advantages depend on what type of player you are. Quick players with strong groundshots like Agassi, Hewitt, and Kuerten want slower courts like clay so they can chase balls down and hit winners or wait fo their opponents to make errors on long points.

Players with big serves like faster courts like grass, because the ball skids and gives them a huge advantage when serving. It makes it easier to follow your serve to the net (because you get a weak return) and put away the volley.

Hard courts are always interesting because they play at different speeds. The general trend is to slow them down so that the points last longer. It might be a reason serve-and-volleyers have found less success recently. Then there is also carpet....

Marc--I play on clay pretty often, too and it is a mess. Especially if you fall. But it's cool when you learn to time your skids. It's a nice change of pace.

[lmanchur.]

Originally posted by NickHammy
On grass, the ball skids, it doesn't bounce, making it a faster pace game. It is much softer than hard courts, thus making it easier on your feet.

On hard courts, the ball bounces more and slows the gameplay. And it is harder on your feet.

On clay, the bounces even more, and the gameplay is even slower. Many older people that play prefer clay. ....if it bounces more on hard courts................... how does that slow down the game play??????? :confused:

[NickHammy]

Well, if it bounces more, then the players have more time to get too the ball, that's why players with fast serves like grass courts.

[FutureAggie04]

Ok...even though i am a very young and unexeprienced player i was always under the assumption that on different surfaces different balls are used. Can someone clear that one up for me? And if it is the case then wouldn't that help even out the pacing of the bounce a little bit?

[tennis4you]

You would have to realy alter a ball to the point where it is not a tennis ball anymore to get it to equal out on a certain surface. I have heard they can use different balls too, but I believe they use the same ball.

[NickHammy]

I think they use the same balls too, at least I do...

[tennis4you]

I use the same balls too. You will find balls that say they are made for a certain surface, but the Pro's don;t use them as far as I know. :)

Scott

[Brandon]

I've always been fascinated playing on a clay court. We have hard courts here and I don't really like em. Of course, I really wouldn't like grass, that would be waaaay too fast.