Court speed...grass? Fast?

[mtommer]

I had the opportunity to play on a grass court for the first time. Apparently the grass is similar to the "old" Wimbledon setup. I had always heard that grass was classified as a "fast" court. The thing is, it wasn't. The ball slowed down significantly after a bounce and bounced very low, or as I perceived it, nearly stopped in its tracks when compared to typical American hard courts. I definitely had fun playing on it, don't get me wrong but wow was it strange. Eventually I had to start hugging the baseline just to be able to hit "normal" rally balls. Every now and then the ball might slide a bit and the bounces could be unpredictable. For example, some balls hit higher bounced lower than comparatively mid height balls which is the opposite of what I'm used to on hard courts. The fastest "court" I've ever played on was a racquet ball court or gymnasium floor. On those, the balls just slides and is waaayyy quicker than a hard court. I was just totally surprised that grass was the opposite of everything I had heard or read about grass, mostly on this forum to be honest.

 

[Slicehand]

I think the higher the grass the slower, many hardcourts can be faster than high grass, the thing with grass is not really the speed, but the low bounce

 

[metsman]

in terms of just pure skid through the court carpet is the fastest surface. Grass rewards attacking play and net play the most though because of the low and harder to anticipate bounce, which makes trench warfare untenable, approach shots/volleys much more effective, and of course the bounce makes returning serves much harder. At least that was the idea.

 

[ChrisRF]

I never played on grass (but plan to do so at least once).

However, I had the same experience with carpet when I played there for the first time. I thought it would be fast, but it was very similar to clay, only that it was much harder to run on it. I think the carpet was just too thick, almost like a new one in the living room.

Until now I played at around 5 different locations with indoor carpet, and only one was at least remotely fast. But still not even close to an indoor location here in my town that has a tennis field on it but is usually used for handball. That is lightning-fast.

 

[bigbadboaz]

You're describing exactly what made those courts fast. There is no bounce, therefore balls can be put away with much greater ease and the "retreiving" element of the game is largely neutralized. Attacking tennis is incentivized and points are over much more quickly.

Maybe a different type of "fast" relative to how the ball moves, but definitely true for the pace of points and play.

 

[PMChambers]

There's a formula for court speed. It includes friction and speed and bounces before and after contact. The ball fired through the test zone has no spin. If you flat hit on grass it will lose less speed than HC generally. The speed loss will be less. The issue is no one hits flat any more. The angle of impact is closer to 60+ Deg due to topspin, a 3,500 rpm ball may pick up pace on an abrasive surface.
Most TTW members don't understand what court pace is and generally what's happening because they neither play high enough level, never been court side to pro match and never played on enough surfaces to understand the distinction. Hence Nadal hits moonballs, courts are all slower, players today aren't skilled enough to volley, etc.
Poly changed court speed more than any minor court surface coatings. I love poly but it's really changed the game and makes pre-2000 matches hard to appreciate without living it.
Wimbledon grass is now measured at Medium which seems about right. The AO grass was Med-Fast and old Wim and US was fast sometimes vFast. Grass varies. But unlike HC it can vary between courts on same row. Even ends change and a worn court will play different throughout the wear zone.

 

[mtommer]

.....It includes friction and speed and bounces before and after contact. The ball fired through the test zone has no spin. If you flat hit on grass it will lose less speed than HC generally. The speed loss will be less......

That would be interesting to see in person. I hit pretty flat compared to pros, I hit with plenty of pace and my balls were very low bouncing and travel distance after the bounce was significantly reduced. Obviously I've only played once but it was soooo different. I've played on clay and although there may be slight differences in courts they've all been generally similar. The same with hard courts. I t's hard for me to envision grass bucking that tendency.