Trying out new and exciting courts!

[riffrizzle]

Up until a week ago I'd only ever played on synthetic grass courts. It's kind of unusual I guess because the Australian Open is hard court, but at least in NSW I have only ever come across synthetic grass.

Anyway our uni put a blue hard court in and I've played on it twice this week. I am a fan! My feet feel more connected to the ground, more sure of their positioning, and as a result my balance is heaps better. At the same time I feel more "springy" on the court too, because the court has less give in it than the synthetic grass. The ball bounces high and fast and feels really clean and crisp to hit around the court. The ball and the lines are super easy to see and I don't have to deal with sand getting in my socks and shoes. All in all I am really looking forward to playing on it again!

I've noticed that all the new courts being built in Sydney seem to be hard court, but that doesn't change the fact that the vast majority of courts still around in my area are synth grass. I was wondering what the main type of courts in your area is? And if anyone can describe what it's like playing on clay (or carpet!!), because I've never played on those either. Man I'd love too though!

 

[apor]

syn grass sounds interesting. here in delaware (usa east coast) we have mainly hard courts. we have many public and school courts around here.
there are is a school in my area that has cusioned hard courts, but i'm not sure which type.
and of course we have har-tru green clay courts as well ($$$). i don't know of any grass courts, and if there are any around here, i'll probably never get to play on them.

 

[JRstriker12]

I've played on:
Hard Courts
Hard-Tru
Red Clay
Astro Turf (LOL).

 

[Cindysphinx]

Here, all outdoor public courts, school courts and indoor public courts are hard court. Most are old green ones, but a few are the new blue ones. Trouble is, those are so popular that it's hard to get on them.

The private courts are about 50/50 hard v. har-tru, I would guess. I think a lot of the clubs are moving toward har-tru.

I've always wondered what the economics are . . .

 

[apor]

oh looky, after 50 posts i can finally edit them... yay!

edit: sorry off topic woohoo!

 

[OrangePower]

I'm in the SF Bay Area... all the courts around here are hard. In fact I've never played on anything else. I'm kinda curious to try clay and grass (when I'm on vacation somewhere), but I'm also thinking that I'll probably injure myself the first time I do so, since I'd be trying to move as if I'm on a hard court...

 

[doom]

Tennis Australia has this rebate scheme where if you build 2 Hard courts, they will pay to build a third one, which is why a lot of tennis centers in Sydney are building hard courts now. They're doing this to try and get rid of those synthetic grass courts which are the worst things ever.

Which uni do you go to? If you go over to Sydney uni they have some pretty good lawn tennis courts if you feel like trying them out.

Also in edgecliff at White City tennis courts they have lawn, clay and hard courts if you wanna try out clay

 

[AutoXer]

Mostly hardcourts here. I did play on clay during my vacation and now I really don't like playing on hardcourts any longer.

 

[Casey10s]

syn grass sounds interesting. here in delaware (usa east coast) we have mainly hard courts. we have many public and school courts around here.
there are is a school in my area that has cusioned hard courts, but i'm not sure which type.
and of course we have har-tru green clay courts as well ($$$). i don't know of any grass courts, and if there are any around here, i'll probably never get to play on them.

There are 3 places in Philly that have grass courts - Germantown, Merion, and Philadelphia Cricket Clubs. Each one has at least 20 grass courts. You won't be able to get into Merion unless you know a member. For the other 2, you may be able to finangle a way to get in. Definitely will be different than any other courts you have played on. I like to play on grass courts but I have friends who really didn't like them. Depends on your style and your mental approach. You will definitely get a lot of strange bounces but you have to realize that your opponent is getting them also.

 

[Blade0324]

Virtually all H/C here in my area. I have played on Hau-Tru and red clay as well, only once on grass and that was enough. I really like both clay and H/C so I'll stick with those.

 

[riffrizzle]

Tennis Australia has this rebate scheme where if you build 2 Hard courts, they will pay to build a third one, which is why a lot of tennis centers in Sydney are building hard courts now. They're doing this to try and get rid of those synthetic grass courts which are the worst things ever.

Which uni do you go to? If you go over to Sydney uni they have some pretty good lawn tennis courts if you feel like trying them out.

Also in edgecliff at White City tennis courts they have lawn, clay and hard courts if you wanna try out clay

Yep Usyd. Passed by those lawn courts a million times. You have to pay a membership fee for the privilege of paying to use the court though. Most of the time the nets aren't set up either.

I checked out White City. Jesus that's a lot of courts. Thanks for that, heading straight there after exams.

You sound local. Have you heard of the challenge ladder? Looking to join come mid November: http://www.thechallengeladder.com/index.php?action=home

 

[MrCLEAN]

99% hardcourt around here. You can find some har-tru if you look hard enough. Texas

 

[jserve]

In the Seattle area, I have only seen hard courts and nothing else. I also worked in Tucson AZ as a tennis pro and it was all hard courts there as well.

 

[riffrizzle]

That's the impression I got from you American players - all hard courts. I'm not new to tennis, I captained a team for 3 years as a junior (1 SF, 1 F, 1 W - tooting my own horn!), but we only ever ever played on synthetic grass. It's only been since the start of this year that I've started following the international tennis circuit, and that's when I realised that synth grass isn't really used by any tournament, anywhere, for anything!

I love your hard courts send more over!

 

[doom]

Yep Usyd. Passed by those lawn courts a million times. You have to pay a membership fee for the privilege of paying to use the court though. Most of the time the nets aren't set up either.

I checked out White City. Jesus that's a lot of courts. Thanks for that, heading straight there after exams.

You sound local. Have you heard of the challenge ladder? Looking to join come mid November: http://www.thechallengeladder.com/index.php?action=home

Hey I haven't heard of the ladder thing, but just had a look and it looks pretty interesting. Some pretty good players on that list like Gollan and Massih....

 

[riffrizzle]

Small world met, I've met Robbie G. Looks like Andy Murray haha.

Me and 3 mates are joining it once uni exams are over in the middle of the month. The people running it have their **** together and are really seeing it through.

 

[riffrizzle]

small world man* ... how'd i spell met...

 

[doom]

Yeah man small world. I played Alex Gollan a few times years ago at junior tournaments. I dont really know him, but he was a really solid player.

There was a tournament played on those grass courts at syd uni a few weeks ago, looks like there were some pretty good players there. Stasiak is ranked about 600 in the world or something like that I think.

http://tournaments.tennis.com.au/sport/draw.aspx?id=1B5BF4C8-7F22-40F0-939C-ABEC30DA0A3C&draw=2

 

[riffrizzle]

Haha my bad I was talking about Robbie Gollan. Alex Gollan must be in the top 10 because I can't see him on the ladder (I havn't signed up yet so the top 10 are blocked from view).

 

[zapvor]

There are 3 places in Philly that have grass courts - Germantown, Merion, and Philadelphia Cricket Clubs. Each one has at least 20 grass courts. You won't be able to get into Merion unless you know a member. For the other 2, you may be able to finangle a way to get in. Definitely will be different than any other courts you have played on. I like to play on grass courts but I have friends who really didn't like them. Depends on your style and your mental approach. You will definitely get a lot of strange bounces but you have to realize that your opponent is getting them also.

one of the clubs there has the annual tournment on grass thats open to anyone isnt it?