MathGeek
Hall of Fame
Haven't actually been bumped down to 3.0 since I haven't played USTA in several years, but that's probably where I am based on wins and losses against others and the long, slow decline of age. I've been hoping to play on clay for some time, but I'm not willing to pay through the nose to do it, since hard courts are free, widely available close to my home and travel destinations, and clay court tend to be further away. I happened to be at a resort event and finally got my first opportunity this week. Observations:
Clay is much easier on my hips, back, and legs. Much less pain during and after play. Quicker recovery.
I'm a better player on clay. I adapted quickly and well to most of the differences in movement, and the funny bounces are more amenable to my short pushing strokes; whereas, players with longer more classic strokes were hitting more sitters and UEs. The slowness of the ball more than compensated for increased difficulty in moving around the court. Since I'm tall and tend to have a high strike zone anyway, higher bounces on incoming top spin shots worked to my advantage. The slow court also provided me the opportunity to run around my backhand and hit more forehand shots. Since I place my (flat to slice) forehand much better than my (flat to slice) backhand, I was hitting much more winners than usual. My opponents, who have slowed with age more than I have were struggling to get moving toward most of my shots and were troubled by my usual efforts to move opponents left and right, front and back.
Slices and drop shots were wonderfully effective. Lots of winners, and lots of set ups where my opponents were so far out of position that the next shot was a winner. At the same time, I gave up more winners than I usually do on drop shots and short balls that bounced twice before I could get them. Some of these were mental mistakes, expecting bounces to be like hard court and simply not moving forward enough to get them - probably my biggest area for improvement. My lob was horrible. Not sure if it was the wind or the bounce, but I was sending lots long and struggling to find the right range. Made a conscious effort to use more passing shots and avoid the lob.
My spinny, slicey serves were much more effective than the flat heat. And forget S&V and most other approaches to the net. Without a near perfect approach shot, opponents just have too much time for lobs or passing shots, and my first couple steps are much slower on clay. Clay doesn't slow down balls until they bounce. Hitting the lines produces bounces that are much harder to return.
I doubt I'll ever play on clay often enough to develop new tools, but I do think I can be more intentional and improve a lot from choosing which tools to use most often and which to use less.
Clay is much easier on my hips, back, and legs. Much less pain during and after play. Quicker recovery.
I'm a better player on clay. I adapted quickly and well to most of the differences in movement, and the funny bounces are more amenable to my short pushing strokes; whereas, players with longer more classic strokes were hitting more sitters and UEs. The slowness of the ball more than compensated for increased difficulty in moving around the court. Since I'm tall and tend to have a high strike zone anyway, higher bounces on incoming top spin shots worked to my advantage. The slow court also provided me the opportunity to run around my backhand and hit more forehand shots. Since I place my (flat to slice) forehand much better than my (flat to slice) backhand, I was hitting much more winners than usual. My opponents, who have slowed with age more than I have were struggling to get moving toward most of my shots and were troubled by my usual efforts to move opponents left and right, front and back.
Slices and drop shots were wonderfully effective. Lots of winners, and lots of set ups where my opponents were so far out of position that the next shot was a winner. At the same time, I gave up more winners than I usually do on drop shots and short balls that bounced twice before I could get them. Some of these were mental mistakes, expecting bounces to be like hard court and simply not moving forward enough to get them - probably my biggest area for improvement. My lob was horrible. Not sure if it was the wind or the bounce, but I was sending lots long and struggling to find the right range. Made a conscious effort to use more passing shots and avoid the lob.
My spinny, slicey serves were much more effective than the flat heat. And forget S&V and most other approaches to the net. Without a near perfect approach shot, opponents just have too much time for lobs or passing shots, and my first couple steps are much slower on clay. Clay doesn't slow down balls until they bounce. Hitting the lines produces bounces that are much harder to return.
I doubt I'll ever play on clay often enough to develop new tools, but I do think I can be more intentional and improve a lot from choosing which tools to use most often and which to use less.
