Hard court/ Clay court - How to practice on both?

[ferreira]

I'm fortunate enough to have access to both clay and hard courts at my new club. Until 3 months ago, I had practiced/played on clay no more than 10 times in over 4 years of tennis. For the first 6 weeks I played only on clay, to which I had a pretty hard time adapting. Only now I feel comfortable, notwithstanding the hard time trying to develop S&V. I have played mostly on clay, but have been switching a lot lately. The thing is that I feel my game is being a little disrupted by the clay to hard to clay to hard... back and forth. Do you think there is logic to this reasoning? What would you suggest I do: one week/month/... on clay and the other on hard or is it actually better to play one day on clay, the other on hard?

[dozu]

last year I was a member of a clay club and had the same problem. The timing is quite different especially if it's red clay and the hard court is a fast one.

It's quite hard to adjust, just have to live with it..... and since I didn't play any competition, it was just a little annoying and that's all.

[Tomek]

I have the same problem. I prefer playing on clay, but have some trainings on hard courts too.

I like it for few reasons:
- on hard courts you can develope well attack, defence. On clay you have lots of situations with balance of power (when no one has advantage).
- on hard courts you can develope good net attacks, so you can easier finish your offensive points.
- clay courts teach you patience and treat your joints good
- on clay, you can use extreme topspin for your advantage.

and so, so on...
There are lots or pros and cons. Just get used to it. On clay you shouldn't have bigger problems with change. Hard courts are worse, because you have less time for hitting a ball and extreme grips are also not easy to use. Generally you should concentrate on fast preparation, flat balls, hitting in front of your body. Also go to the net whenever you have occasion!