Clay Court Tips

[lobman]

Have started a regular clay court doubles match with three buddies that is very serious (losers pay for lunch!). I haven't played on clay much so I would appreciate any and all tips from you dirt ballers out there. I know all those South American players slide into the ball but I'm not sure I can get the hang of that but anything else I need to be aware of will be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

[LeeD]

Clay. Heavy balls, slow bounce, bounces UP, you move sluggish so you need more small steps to stay in balance and not slip.
You cannot hit as many clean winners, so have to play longer, more strategic points.
Use heavy top to raise their strikepoint, then skid a low sidespin slice to lower the strikepoint, making the opposition constantly need to adjust.
That goes for serves too.
Hit behind your opponents, as they can get going full speed, but slippery footwork makes quick changes of direction difficult.

[fuzz nation]

Since it's easier to change direction on a hard court, we can often get away with starting to move one way or another in anticipation of an opponent's shot. Not the case on clay. Wait until the ball is on the way and then get after it. Since the clay surface will slow the ball down after it bounces, its easier to "wait" and run it down than on a hard court.

This isn't so helpful with volleys, but I've found that it's best to wait and move deliberately, even at the net. Guessing wrong is death!

Good point by Lee concerning serves, too. The surface slows the ball down, but spin gets better bite and can take more of a crazy bounce as spin rates increase. Use spin serves to force funky bounces and weaker returns. Smack a hard one here and there to keep them honest, but don't expect clay to help your cause when you want to blow your serves past the other guys.

[Will Wilson]

The other posts have identified all the different aspects nicely but I would like to add on to the footwork discussion. Hard court players tend to learn and rely on a very aggressive first step to move quickly to the ball. This is really not possible on clay as you tend to slip and go nowhere or slip slightly and not get a good jump on the ball.

I think it is really important on clay to always keep moving and flowing during the points so you don't have to rely on that aggressive first step.

I also think that you have to open the court up more on clay, using sharp cross court groundies.

[goran_ace]

Even on clay, doubles is going to be won at the net.