REALLY slanted courts.....

[Brian11785]

So last night, I played a flex league away match on the weirdest court. The Verandah Club in Dallas has two courts that are literally six inches (maybe more) higher at the baselines than at the net. My opponent/host said the idea was that they did it for drainage (their was a drainage grate under the net.

The effect was that, at the baseline, you could hit the ball as flat as you wanted because (a) you were already almost a foot higher than you would be if you were playing on a flat court--almost as if the net were almost a foot lower--and (b) because of the slope of the court, the ball bounces up right in a good high strike zone.

It was actually really fun to play on. Your opponent would hit a great, flat (seemingly point-ending) shot, but, because the of the slope of the court, you are able to run down the high-bouncing ball.

I've never played on a grass or clay court, but this felt like I was playing a different game entirely.

Anyone else have a similar experience of playing on a...non-traditional surface?

 

[LeeD]

Sounds better than my old courts at the RoseGarden in Berkeley.
There, courts 2 and 3, SW (southwest) corner is 18"-24" lower than the opposiing side, so any ball hit there is a potential winner.
Erosion.

 

[Brian11785]

Sounds better than my old courts at the RoseGarden in Berkeley.
There, courts 2 and 3, SW (southwest) corner is 18"-24" lower than the opposiing side, so any ball hit there is a potential winner.
Erosion.

I didn't measure it, but the slope may have been that steep on this court. I noticed it immediately, and I am usually the last to realize an uneven court.

But at least the sides were basically symmetrical where I played.

 

[Bdarb]

There are clay courts I play on sometimes. The tape on the t is off to the left on one side making it a bigger zone if you are serving up the middle. The illusion was enough to throw me off. Couldn't serve up the middle to save my life even with the extended box.

 

[chollyred]

Two seasons ago, I played and ALTA match at some subdivision courts. There were two courts next to the swimming pool. The pool level was probably 5 feet or so below the court level. The courts sloped toward the pool. Any loose balls would roll all the way to the fence on the pool side. I have no idea how many degrees it sloped, but it made keeping your balance on serves a real challenge. The guys playing on the court nearest the pool were often playing "lets" from balls rolling across their court.

It really was a Home Court Advantage! I think we had better players, but still lost 4-1.

Really odd, but the balls wouldn't bounce either (may have just been a bad can).

 

[SeriousSummer]

I went to high school at a small town in a resort area in northern Michigan, and the only public courts had only about two feet of cement behind the baseline, followed by another two feet of gravel and then the fence.

A friend and I played there all the time and learned to stand on the baseline and half-volley any deep ball--if you backed up to play it your racket hit the fence on the back swing. You almost had to serve and volley because it was so difficult to play from the backcourt.

My friend also perfected an extremely high topspin lob that he loved to hit against players unfamiliar with the court. It would land roughly halfway between the service and baselines, take a big bounce and when someone backed up to hit an overhead, they would run into the fence and watch disgustedly as the ball hit about their head without any room to swing at it.

We beat much better players (usually on vacation from Chicago or Detroit) on that court all the time.

 

[OrangePower]

I've played on courts that are slanted evenly from one end to the other, so basically one side is uphill and the other is downhill. It's almost like playing into/with a strong wind, but not quite.

 

[struggle]

played away HS match(s) in the 80's on old asphalt as the school basically just fenced off some of the parking lot and threw up some nets and lines painted with a road painting machine.

fairly flat at least, with cracks. always knew to wear the old shoes.

 

[Brian11785]

played away HS match(s) in the 80's on old asphalt as the school basically just fenced off some of the parking lot and threw up some nets and lines painted with a road painting machine.

fairly flat at least, with cracks. always knew to wear the old shoes.

The courts where my cousin played HS tennis (and where I have hit with him) were on this type of court. It actually wasn't bad. Aside from the harshness of the surface. You always know when a serve up the T was an on the line because the line was a crack.

 

[West Coast Ace]

OP, good thread.

...weirdest court...

That's crazy.

I've played on courts that are slanted evenly from one end to the other, so basically one side is uphill and the other is downhill. It's almost like playing into/with a strong wind, but not quite.

Do people who serve big/flat going downhill have trouble getting serves to not go long?

There's a set of courts in a park near me that has a gentle roll going the length of the court (also dangerously slick behind the baseline and no wind screens); played there once, never again. Another place where after resurfacing the courts, one side is way too close to the fence - a good slice serve to the corner of the box will get to the side fence before the returner can get to it if he's too deep.

 

[OrangePower]

Do people who serve big/flat going downhill have trouble getting serves to not go long?

Yes, but of the ones that go in, a large % are service winners, since they bounce low and fast.

 

[bcart1991]

There's a local high school whose courts slope downward 5-6 inches from the net to the baselines, so the net is effectively 6-8" higher than it should be.

 

[NLBwell]

Played against a team in high school whose courts were a fenced-off parking lot. The courts had a chain-link fence net that wasn't very close to the right height. It sloped from one end down to the other. It wasn't very noticeable until the service line of the downward side where the height rolled off steeply. By the back fence it felt like the bottom of the net was about at your waist-height.

 

[struggle]

There's a local high school whose courts slope downward 5-6 inches from the net to the baselines, so the net is effectively 6-8" higher than it should be.

unless you serve and volley!!

 

[Drew_a_blank]

I've played on courts that are slanted evenly from one end to the other, so basically one side is uphill and the other is downhill. It's almost like playing into/with a strong wind, but not quite.

When I played high school, one of the schools in our league had courts just like that. I had the same feeling playing there, kind of like playing with wind, but not quite.

 

[tdhawks]

I played in a tournament this weekend and this was the case. 3 sets of 3 courts, and all of them were slanted. Asked the tournament director and he said to help with the rain run off. It was very distracting.