Does anyone have experience managing their own private grass court?
- Thread starter DonPepe
- Start date
S&V-not_dead_yet
Talk Tennis Guru
Get in touch with Jeff Jacklich [sp?] of goldballhunting.com: several episodes had him talking about his experiences with running some grass courts at a club.
Or maybe the guys at Top Tennis Training as they seem to play on grass occasionally [although I don't know if they have any experience maintaining a grass court].
Cashman
Hall of Fame
I am part of a small club that maintains two grass courts.
If you want to have a good court, be prepared to do a lot (repeat: a lot) of work. We mow every couple of days and roll once a week. Every time we want to play, the courts need to be raked and the lines need to be chalked. Once a year we scarify the courts and top-dress with a couple of tonnes of soil. Then there is constant watering, fertilising, overseeding, repair work, dealing with weeds and pests.
We have a part-time green keeper, a couple of dedicated committee members who visit the courts once a week, and two working bees a year. We own a dethatcher, a seed spreader, a vacuum mulcher, a chalker and a couple of reel mowers. Since we live in a pretty hot/dry area, we also have a couple of bores in case of water restrictions.
If you have access to the equipment and lots of free labour, a grass court is pretty cheap. If not, you may find yourself with a pretty badly maintained lawn that is very frustrating to play on.
If you want to have a good court, be prepared to do a lot (repeat: a lot) of work. We mow every couple of days and roll once a week. Every time we want to play, the courts need to be raked and the lines need to be chalked. Once a year we scarify the courts and top-dress with a couple of tonnes of soil. Then there is constant watering, fertilising, overseeding, repair work, dealing with weeds and pests.
We have a part-time green keeper, a couple of dedicated committee members who visit the courts once a week, and two working bees a year. We own a dethatcher, a seed spreader, a vacuum mulcher, a chalker and a couple of reel mowers. Since we live in a pretty hot/dry area, we also have a couple of bores in case of water restrictions.
If you have access to the equipment and lots of free labour, a grass court is pretty cheap. If not, you may find yourself with a pretty badly maintained lawn that is very frustrating to play on.
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DonPepe
Rookie
Thanks , will scratch that idea , Claytech it is!
Frankc
Hall of Fame
You are one lucky guy to have a group that dedicated... I have heard that good grass is great on the joints, but hard on the back, in general. Physical health wise, is good grass a great way to go?
tennis tom
Legend
It's the best!
tennis tom
Legend
Cashman
Hall of Fame
I find it awesome, I feel better after five sets on grass than I do after three on hard court.
Players who are new to grass often wake up the next day with a sore back, but the more you play the better you get at using your knees to get down low. If you’re using correct form you shouldn’t be putting too much strain on your back.
Jack the Hack
Hall of Fame
I don't partake in the good grass, but it's legal to buy where I live. "Great on the joints..."
Anyway, there is no doubt playing on grass or clay is much less jolting to your hips, knees, and ankles. However, depending on how hard you play, it can stretch your muscles a bit more when dealing with the funky bounces and the slipping and sliding on those two surfaces. I suppose that is where the back pain comes in, but I felt it more in the hamstrings and quads.
Maintenance of grass is by far the hardest if you want a smooth, consistant surface. As @Cashman was describing, it takes a lot of work to have it perfect, and not a lot of neglect for it to turn into a choppy cow pasture.
I grew up playing on gritty hard courts that were a reddish orange color that looked like Roland Garros clay. I learned to play a very spinny baseline game that I always imagined would translate well to clay. However, in my experience actually playing on clay later in life, I found that my movement is hindered (because I never learned to slide like the top clay courters do, and end up unsure of my footing when pushing off), and both my serve and groundies are less effective because of the slow court speed. On the other hand, I have played just a few times on grass, but found my game matches up well there. Even though there is a lower bounce, it puts a premium on shot making, boosts my service results, and was just much funner overall with the shorter points. I have only played 1 tournament on grass (and the courts were pretty choppy), but I won the doubles event for my age group, which might be the most prestigious title I've ever won (albeit, most of the credit goes to my doubles partner, who was randomly assigned to me, but turned out to be a 5.5 rated player and the #1 seed in the singles bracket).
Cashman
Hall of Fame
Yeah it is a great little club. About 50 members, with about 30 regulars. We only play on the courts twice a week.
The eastern court gets more sun, so it tends to have higher and more consistent bounce - although it does have a tree root running under one of the service boxes that can cause some unpredictability.
Yeah it is a great little club. About 50 members, with about 30 regulars. We only play on the courts twice a week.
The eastern court gets more sun, so it tends to have higher and more consistent bounce - although it does have a tree root running under one of the service boxes that can cause some unpredictability.
That's awesome. Just curious, how much do you each pay into it to keep it going?
graycrait
Legend
@DonPepe ,
www.alliowalawntennisclub.com
Talk to this fella, plenty of stories about him and his court around the web. Knows some of the grounds people at Wimbledon as well. Really a nice guy. I've been to his place a couple of times. Normally starts working on the court in late March to prep for the season.
About Us
The All Iowa Lawn Tennis Club (AILTC) is one of a very few places in the entire United States where the public can enjoy playing on a grass court. And it's the only world-class, perennial ryegrass tennis court modeled after the most famous tennis court in the world -- Wimbledon's Centre Court...
www.alliowalawntennisclub.com
Talk to this fella, plenty of stories about him and his court around the web. Knows some of the grounds people at Wimbledon as well. Really a nice guy. I've been to his place a couple of times. Normally starts working on the court in late March to prep for the season.
Cashman
Hall of Fame
Membership fees are approx. $80 USD a year and match fees are $15 USD (which generally gets you 5 sets). There is also an informal expectation that members contribute 10-20hrs of labour a year.
We've talked about bumping up the membership and bringing down the match fees, but there is plenty of demand for playing slots so it's never been necessary. Low membership means people don't feel committed to playing every week, which is nice in terms of ensuring social and competitive variety. It's also good for people like me, who want the freedom to play elsewhere.
The good thing about grass is that while labour requirements are high, the material costs are low. If you maintain it well, a few hundred dollars a year for soil and seed (and some chemicals) will get you a court that lasts essentially forever. None of this expensive resurfacing every decade that my local synthetic club goes through. Our club still plays on the original grass laid down 100+ years ago.
Turbo-87
G.O.A.T.
He is a very nice guy. A friend of mine played there last summer and he couldn't get over how nice the courts were and how affable the owners were.@DonPepe ,
About Us
The All Iowa Lawn Tennis Club (AILTC) is one of a very few places in the entire United States where the public can enjoy playing on a grass court. And it's the only world-class, perennial ryegrass tennis court modeled after the most famous tennis court in the world -- Wimbledon's Centre Court...
Talk to this fella, plenty of stories about him and his court around the web. Knows some of the grounds people at Wimbledon as well. Really a nice guy. I've been to his place a couple of times. Normally starts working on the court in late March to prep for the season.
DonPepe
Rookie
Do I need to use a special mower? A riding mower wont suffice? I saw a youtube video , a guy in Idaho has a grass court he said spent $4k to start it and works on it twice a week for hours. Video shows him using a roller, and the tennis coach from Boise State playing on it with him. Mentions worms is a problem.
Cashman
Hall of Fame
You will want a reel mower. Most backyard lawn mowers are rotary mowers, which lack the necessary precision to cut grass short enough for a good tennis court.
At a minimum you want something that can cut grass with accuracy to between 8-20mm (the shorter the better). We have two specialised tennis/croquet mowers that are capable of cutting grass as short as 2mm.
DonPepe
Rookie
OK .... this may work. I have landscapers that can come and treat the court lawn 2-3 times a month , and I can do it bi weekly.
Cashman
Hall of Fame
I would caution against entrusting a grass court to landscapers unless they employ a qualified greenskeeper
They don’t need to have direct experience with tennis courts, but they should be familiar with the general needs of high-precision sporting turf (golf greens, cricket pitches, croquet courts, bowling greens, that sort of thing).
Anyone can make a patch of grass look nice, but without careful preparation you can easily end up with a cow paddock that has unplayable bounce.
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Georgepeppard007
Semi-Pro
I played on this private grass court and it is beautiful:
toby55555
Hall of Fame
I've been member of several clubs with grass courts and frankly despite having full time groundsmen none of them had a really true bounce. My boarding school did a better job and I did have the pleasure of playing an Old Boys match at Queens where the courts are just perfection. If I was laying a private court I'd go for anything but grass, too much hassle.
Georgepeppard007
Semi-Pro
The owner made that Youtube video. You can probably contact him via that video on how to make and maintain a grass court.
By the way, he is north of 65 years old and beat me 6-0, 6-1 on grass. The ball bounces so low that I couldn't time it to hit the ball. Also, he was at the net immediately, whereas I am not good at net play.
Cashman
Hall of Fame
Some degree of variable bounce is part of the charm of playing on a natural surface like grass. It is just another playing condition that you need to manage.
IMO Wimbledon got a lot more boring during the 90s when they brought in high-tech greenskeeping that virtually eliminated variable bounce. It really reduced the incentive to get to net.
It is a fine line though - too much variability and the court is unplayable.
Yeah it is a great little club. About 50 members, with about 30 regulars. We only play on the courts twice a week.
The eastern court gets more sun, so it tends to have higher and more consistent bounce - although it does have a tree root running under one of the service boxes that can cause some unpredictability.
Looks a lot more work than any other grass courts I'd played on with over hanging trees > debris need to be cleared everyday!
Cashman
Hall of Fame
It’s worth it for the shade
Drob
Hall of Fame
That is one cool question. Best of luck, truly. Sounds great.
