why do they like clay so much in spain?
- Thread starter wasta
- Start date
ericsson
Hall of Fame
If you ever play on clay then you will understand why...
It's an incredible surface to play ,very soft and avoid knee problems and such.It is not about money,in fact clay courts are much more expensive to mantain than hardcourt.But here in spain there are a lot lot more hardcourts than claycourt,it's only that in high level tennis clubs they have claycourt,but it's no so common,here in seville there are about 3 hardcourts for each claycourt you can find.
kOaMaster
Hall of Fame
because is much healthier to play on clay?
I think most european outdoor courts are clay, if they can afford it ("professional tennis"). clay court is more expensive...
and spain is a country with a lot of sun and many tennis courts
but I can even tell you here in switzerland, if you played outdoor it's 90% clay. federer grew up on clay too.
I think most european outdoor courts are clay, if they can afford it ("professional tennis"). clay court is more expensive...
and spain is a country with a lot of sun and many tennis courts
but I can even tell you here in switzerland, if you played outdoor it's 90% clay. federer grew up on clay too.
velkov
Rookie
just try and you will understand :twisted:
D
Deleted member 21996
Guest
let me expose the stupidity of your prejudice filled question by explaining you that building and maintaining a clay court is much more expensive than a cement one...
plus it's an amazing surface to play( even if it's not my favourite..).
THESEXPISTOL
Hall of Fame
Try to play 3 or 4 hours a day in clay during a month and the same time in cement..
By that time, you knees will speak for yourself.
I like HC more, but clay is good for practice.
By that time, you knees will speak for yourself.
I like HC more, but clay is good for practice.
MarcRosset1992
Rookie
Plastic/rubber tap is the most common method to mark lines. If it is properly done and the courts are well mainitained, there should not be too many bounces. The upmarket alternative is to paint the lines (that is what they do at the FO) but that requires more maintenance.
borg number one
Legend
Playing on clay courts, as well as hard courts, truly adds different dimensions to your game, such as increased stamina, consistency, retrieving skills, point construction, and ability to "adjust quickly" as balls don't always bounce so true. In addition, you learn to hit balls that are very high in your strike zone, and learn to in effect to "jump up" a little to reach for hig bouncing balls on both the forehand/backhand side. It's great training for your tennis game and tests your game/mettle in many ways. If one thinks clay court tennis is somehow not REAL tennis shows a lack of understanding as to the overall Game.
Many of the same things are true as to grass court tennis. It's different and also very vital to the Game. We need all the surfaces: indoors, hard courts, clay courts, and grass courts. The variety of surfaces is just one of the things that makes Tennis a beautiful and complex Sport.
Just look at the success of Spanish players in the Game today and you have great evidence of the many benefits of playing and being tested on Clay Courts.
Many of the same things are true as to grass court tennis. It's different and also very vital to the Game. We need all the surfaces: indoors, hard courts, clay courts, and grass courts. The variety of surfaces is just one of the things that makes Tennis a beautiful and complex Sport.
Just look at the success of Spanish players in the Game today and you have great evidence of the many benefits of playing and being tested on Clay Courts.
wasta
Banned
yeah such as verdasco the fiasco not winning a game in the masters cup and nadal playing with grandmas knees losing every game
borg number one
Legend
Wasta, how much have you played on Clay? Plus, you might want to also look into (besides just the Spaniish players who are playing for the Davis Cup this year) guys like Federer, Del Potro, Murray, and Djokovic, all of whom have trained SIGNIFICANTLY growing up and today on Clay Courts. You can't be a truly well-rounded player without doing so. Show me a tennis player that has played very little on Clay if at all on Clay and I'll show you a player without a complete Tennis Game.
spacediver
Hall of Fame
wow only one of you actually answered the question. The question wasn't "why is clay good?"
the question was "why do spaniards enjoy clay more so than other countries?"
the question was "why do spaniards enjoy clay more so than other countries?"
borg number one
Legend
I think it's because of two main reasons, spacediver and wasta:
1. Good training with less impact on the body and 2. creates a more complete Game for top players, especially for baseline tennis that dominates Tennis today.
There are also other less "utilitarian" benefits for tennis players, such as Clay Court tennis being just plain "fun" and the fact that playing on a variety of surfaces can keep the Game more interesting to you.
More countries should take their lead on this issue, but as other posters have already mentioned, Clay Courts are more expensive and are more difficult to maintain in great condition. Yet, they are a great idea for "top flight" tennis academies and private tennis clubs.
1. Good training with less impact on the body and 2. creates a more complete Game for top players, especially for baseline tennis that dominates Tennis today.
There are also other less "utilitarian" benefits for tennis players, such as Clay Court tennis being just plain "fun" and the fact that playing on a variety of surfaces can keep the Game more interesting to you.
More countries should take their lead on this issue, but as other posters have already mentioned, Clay Courts are more expensive and are more difficult to maintain in great condition. Yet, they are a great idea for "top flight" tennis academies and private tennis clubs.
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spacediver
Hall of Fame
but do you think there's a reason that spain is "leading the pack" here? I mean it might just be due to some historical quirk, but it also might be for some tangible reason.
i.e. why is it that spain recognizes these benefits more than other countries?
i.e. why is it that spain recognizes these benefits more than other countries?
Dilettante
Hall of Fame
Not really. Good grass grows only in part of Northern Spain. BTW grass not growing is obviously not an issue, as there are awful loads of golf courses all across the country, not to mention football fields (i.e. here in Valencia -where you can safely say it won't never rain more than five times a year- you won't find a freaking tennis grasscourt but you won't go far without getting to a golf course or a grass football field, or just a piece of grass for dogs and kids to run across everywhere... but not a single tennis grasscourt!!). It's just tennis academies prefer building clay courts and train on those.
borg number one
Legend
Interesting information as to Clay Court Tennis in different countries:
http://www.clayfricktennis.org/ClayWorld.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clay_court
See wiki excerpt:
Red clay
"Almost all red "clay" courts are made not of natural clay but of crushed brick that is packed to make the court. The crushed brick is then covered with a topping of other crushed particles. This type of surface does not absorb water easily and is the most common in Europe and South America. True natural clay courts are rare because they take two to three days to dry."
I'm sure that in the countries that have more Clay Courts, there are historical reasons. Red Clay Courts require the kind of "ground up bricks" that are used to produce them. So, it's possible that such "material" was commonly available in countries like Spain, France, and Argentina decades ago and to this day. Plus, it's likely that France and Spain share a lot of "common tennis knowledge" due to their shared histories overall as two nations.
See an article on why "the cool kids" play on Clay:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203771904574177702269085642.html
http://www.clayfricktennis.org/ClayWorld.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clay_court
See wiki excerpt:
Red clay
"Almost all red "clay" courts are made not of natural clay but of crushed brick that is packed to make the court. The crushed brick is then covered with a topping of other crushed particles. This type of surface does not absorb water easily and is the most common in Europe and South America. True natural clay courts are rare because they take two to three days to dry."
I'm sure that in the countries that have more Clay Courts, there are historical reasons. Red Clay Courts require the kind of "ground up bricks" that are used to produce them. So, it's possible that such "material" was commonly available in countries like Spain, France, and Argentina decades ago and to this day. Plus, it's likely that France and Spain share a lot of "common tennis knowledge" due to their shared histories overall as two nations.
See an article on why "the cool kids" play on Clay:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203771904574177702269085642.html
I grew up in Europe where people indeed only played on clay courts. In my home town we have had like 4 clay courts, and next to those there were two hard (cement) courts. There was a fee to play on clay courts, the cement ones were free. Yet people would still be waiting to play on clay rather than play immediately, and for free, on cement courts. Later city built two additional cement courts in a different location. These quickly grew patches on grass here and there, I've never seen anyone playing on them.
While clay courts are indeed better for your knees I think the main reason is that it is considered 'not cool' to be playing on anything but clay courts. Maybe it has changed since (that was like maybe 20 years ago), maybe not.
While clay courts are indeed better for your knees I think the main reason is that it is considered 'not cool' to be playing on anything but clay courts. Maybe it has changed since (that was like maybe 20 years ago), maybe not.
THESEXPISTOL
Hall of Fame
If you knew a **** about spanish tennis you would know that Verdasco grew up in Madrid playing in HARDCOURTS!
wasta
Banned
how come he sucks at it then
Xenakis
Hall of Fame
Thanks for the info Marc, figured the pro comps like FO might do something different. The clay courts I have played on were not well maintained so the plastic/rubber lines issue was probably worse than is should have been as you suggested.
THESEXPISTOL
Hall of Fame
Well.. If 'to suck' in your opinion is to be in top8 of the world..
I wouldn't mind to suck at tennis for the rest of my life.
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RelentlessAttack
Hall of Fame
TheMusicLover
G.O.A.T.
Clay is by far the dominant surface about everywhere in Europe, except perhaps in the far North where it's quite often too cold to play in the outside - hence the rather numerous good indoor HC players coming from over there.
Grass is, unfortunately, too expensive to maintain. Alas.
Grass is, unfortunately, too expensive to maintain. Alas.
ClubHoUno
Banned
TennisLurker
Professional
In Argentina (where I live) over 90% of the courts are clay courts.
Tennis is very popular, I think you don't have to walk more than 15 blocks to find a tennis court which will almost always be a clay court.
Tennis is very popular, I think you don't have to walk more than 15 blocks to find a tennis court which will almost always be a clay court.
RelentlessAttack
Hall of Fame
I wish it was more sustainable, I love grass but can only play on it when i got to the UK...
TennisLurker
Professional
In Argentina there are no grass courts at all, when the argentine team had to play davis cup against australia on grass, they used a badmington grass court to practice.
ClubHoUno
Banned
Most tennis courts in Europe are red Euro clay because:
1. They are more comfortable to play on - you avoid a lot of injuries, you normally get from playing on hard courts
2. We have a lot of rain - especially in the Northern part of Europe, and Red Euro clay is still very much playable in rain, you can even play in heavy rain, just be careful not to slip on the lines.
Hard courts are actually dangerous to play on during rain.
3. It's better to learn tennis for a rookie on red clay, because he learns to master high bouncing balls, and the balls don't travel as fast, so it's easier to adjust to yout strokes, but when you get better, you also need to learn to adjust to weird bounces, from where the red clay is uneven and when balls hit the lines.
1. They are more comfortable to play on - you avoid a lot of injuries, you normally get from playing on hard courts
2. We have a lot of rain - especially in the Northern part of Europe, and Red Euro clay is still very much playable in rain, you can even play in heavy rain, just be careful not to slip on the lines.
Hard courts are actually dangerous to play on during rain.
3. It's better to learn tennis for a rookie on red clay, because he learns to master high bouncing balls, and the balls don't travel as fast, so it's easier to adjust to yout strokes, but when you get better, you also need to learn to adjust to weird bounces, from where the red clay is uneven and when balls hit the lines.
D
Deleted member 22147
Guest
Standing at the baseline all day, hitting heavy top spin groundstrokes is not my idea of a "complete game".
D
Deleted member 21996
Guest
not as bad as you at logical reasoning!
now, about avoiding serious factual incoherences in your OP, you are a master...
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