Which surface do you prefer?

[will3689]

I had a match yesterday against i guy i previously beat pretty easily so expected an easy win. Last time we played at my club where it is pretty slow and the ball bounces up pretty high. I play with alot of topspin so this suits me perfectly. Anyways played at his club this time on a skiddy astroturf surface and the ball hardly bounced it just skidded through and i were constantly hitting it late. I still won but faced 4 match points on the way to victory! Cant believe how much difference the court can make!!

[Say Chi Sin Lo]

Skid-fast courts for sure.

[schmke]

I've only gotten to play on it once, but given the chance, I'd play on grass every day of the week. Short of that, give me a fast indoor hard court. Either suits my game very well.

[PhrygianDominant]

I am under 6 feet, don't serve well, and have ok movement. My groundstrokes are far better. I play best on clay.

[North]

I like to S&V and generally get to the net as often as possible. I don't like (playing or watching) long baseline rallies. I prefer VERY low bouncing fast skidding courts. So for me - grass or fast hard courts. Can't stand clay.

The court the OP describes sounds great to me.

[McLovin]

My playing style prefers fast hard courts.

My aging body prefers clay.

[will3689]

Pretty suprised that the majority so far likes faster courts! Guess it depends on your playing style. Am going to try to avoid playing at that club again to be honest cos the rallies were really short and we spent most the match picking balls up!

[mikeler]

Originally Posted by McLovin

My playing style prefers fast hard courts.

My aging body prefers clay.

Knees and lower back appreciate clay. Sliding into shots is much easier than stopping on a dime on a hard court.

[damazing]

I dislike everything about clay, the irregular bounces, the dead spots, the particles that get in your shoes (and your throat). My game is much better on a fast court.

[mikeler]

Originally Posted by damazing

I dislike everything about clay, the irregular bounces, the dead spots, the particles that get in your shoes (and your throat). My game is much better on a fast court.

Your throat? Never had that happen.

[hoot56]

Don't like the green rubico that much, the white strips make the ball bounce funny, grit gets in shoes and on the bottoms of bags. Interlocking plastic plays like hard courts except very slippery when wet, nubs will eat your hands and knees up if you fall, and the static electricity is shocking. never played on grass.

[J_R_B]

Originally Posted by McLovin

My playing style prefers fast hard courts.

My aging body prefers clay.

Me too. My game isn't well suited for clay/har-tru but my middle aged joints sure are.

[JRstriker12]

Give me an indoor fast to medium hard court any day. No wind, no sun in yor eye on the serve, and a well struck ball is rewarded.

I'm okay with hard-tru, it's fun to get out an hit on it every once in a while and it is easier on the body.

Only played on red clay for about 30 minutes and the court wasn't well groomed - can't really judge.

Our college courts were on astro-turf and did part time duty in a facility designed to convert to indoor soccer or football practice. It was ok, but the bounce was inconsistent due to the padding.

Hate the hard courts at a lot of high schools in my area which seem to be some sort of rubberized, padded surface over concrete. Ball just dies on that surface.

Never played on grass.

Worse courts I played on - a tie between hard-tru in a bubble (it was over watered, muddy, and like playing in a sauna) or my high school courts which looked like they put tennis balls under the surface every 5 feet.

[cak]

I've played on all of the above, and gotta say, I haven't met a surface I didn't like. I'd vote for grass, as my all time favorite, as I liked the serve and volley game it forced us into. And it was very easy on the joints. But I only played on true grass once. Maybe another day it wouldn't be as fun.

I do love having variety. With indoor and outdoor converging, this month I'm playing three different leagues on three different surfaces. Very cool.

[OrangePower]

Medium-fast hard court for me.

I'm an aggressive baseliner, so a slow court works against me. But a super fast court is not good either since I like the ball to sit up just a bit for me to take a big swing at

Never played on grass.
Only a few times on clay (not many clay courts in CA)

[Overdrive]

How about indoor carpet!

[dizzlmcwizzl]

If I was putting a court in my back yard I would put a hard tru court back there.

I have to say I think I would love grass but had never played on it.

I think my game is best suited for hard courts, but amazingly in my limited experience on hard-tru I have never lost ... something like 12-0.

[Clive Walker]

Learnt the game properly on Grass so I still love it, off bouces and all. I enjoy a hard court but have only played on one so am not sure how much they vary. Clay wise I quite enjoyed Har-Tru and have also played on an Artificial Clay at a club in the local league that to all visual inspections looks like a brown astro turf but certainly plays very slowly.

Most club league tennis around here is played on what is locally called artificial grass but is basically astro. I've also spent a lot of time playing on indoor carpet.

Overall I struggle to pick a favourite but I probably play best on the carpet- the skidding bounce and the fast courts seem to suit my game.

[gmatheis]

Originally Posted by McLovin

My playing style prefers fast hard courts.

My aging body prefers clay.

Couldn't agree more!

I also like the lack of bad bounces on hard, but I like the ball marks for making calls on clay.

[BMWprestigem3]

I like to play on hard and clay. I played on carpet for a few minutes and didn't like. But if I played on it longer I may get use to it. Never played on grass so I don't know how that feels to play on.