Just saw this article with a listing. I wonder if anyone here is familiar with these courts, and how expensive it is to play on the red clay.
Good question. My question about the article you found is at those American Red Clay Court clubs is red clay (crushed brick) real or red colored Har-Tru?
At my club play on the outdoor hard and Har-Tru are not extra. Dues and indoor fees are another story.
Good questions to ask as red Har-Tru and red brick clay play differently. Red clay also clumps more and can be harder to maintain, which might mean higher costs to play (just speculating).
If you're looking for more of a red clay experience in the US, try to find Har-Tru that is irrigated. Our club has two HT courts with underground irrigation, which keeps them moist all of the time. Also, the amount of, or depth of material makes a difference. These courts have a good thick layer of material on the surface, and coupled with the irrigation, play soft and slow, closer to red clay. Dry Har-Tru with less surface material will play harder and faster (and kick up more dust).
All courts listed in this article are on the east coast, as I have previously indicated, clay courts in CA are few and far between, and this is basically true for the rest of the country...this is a reason why US players do not do well on clay--har-tru or red![]()
We need more clay; it's a great surface for tennis. It really is. . . despite what "park board" type people tell us.
I don't think "park board" types would deny it's a great surface. The issue is usually with cost, actual or perceived, of the courts and the cost of maintenance.
From what I've learned at our club, the initial cost of installation is higher for Har-Tru, but ongoing costs are actually lower with proper maintenance, which really isn't hard. As I said, many of the community swim and racket clubs here in the east have them and membership fees to these places are not high - no rich country club folks here, but middle-class suburbanites.
For a public park, hard courts are just more convenient - lower upfront costs and resurface and replace nets every few years as needed (or when they literally fall apart as we've all seen). No regular maintenance needed. I don't think I've seen "public" Har-Tru courts.
From what I've learned at our club, the initial cost of installation is higher for Har-Tru, but ongoing costs are actually lower with proper maintenance, which really isn't hard. As I said, many of the community swim and racket clubs here in the east have them and membership fees to these places are not high - no rich country club folks here, but middle-class suburbanites.
For a public park, hard courts are just more convenient - lower upfront costs and resurface and replace nets every few years as needed (or when they literally fall apart as we've all seen). No regular maintenance needed. I don't think I've seen "public" Har-Tru courts.
Good question. My question about the article you found is at those American Red Clay Court clubs is red clay (crushed brick) real or red colored Har-Tru?
At my club play on the outdoor hard and Har-Tru are not extra. Dues and indoor fees are another story.
I play at a public facility that has 12 Har-Tru courts and 5 hard courts. The hard courts barely get used though. There is another public facility about 3 miles away from my club that has 8 Har-Tru courts and 6 hard courts.
The only public Har Tru courts I have seen outside of FL. were at the Delaware Tennis Center.
http://www.destateparks.com/park/bellevue/delaware-tennis-center.asp
We were there several years ago but I notice that the link to the website is inactive so maybe they closed it.
They had a bunch of very nice Har Tru courts surrounded by big trees and historic buildings, very cool place.
Cool! Maybe they will become more common.
It's still there but is privately owned now. I've played in tournaments there and my wife has played league games there. Nice place.
Funny story about that place when it was Delaware Tennis Center. My girl had just turned 5 and we wanted to hit on Har Tru while visiting up there. The head pro was this tall skinny guy and he took a look at my kid and said, "don't waste your money hitting with her on these courts, just take her to the high school up the street".
I paid the fee, told him off a little, then he watched out his window while she smacked balls harder than 90% of the folks hitting there.
I guess in DE he hadn't seen what tennis kids can do down here at young ages.
Yeah, I think that was the old Tennis Director. It's now run by a nice couple and their daughter, who played college tennis, runs the junior camps. Seems to be an older crowd as far as membership.
The Coral Springs place use to be all red clay. The public complained it stained their socks and shoes so they took out all but one of them.
The Coral Springs place use to be all red clay. The public complained it stained their socks and shoes so they took out all but one of them.
There are 2 red clay courts at Lakewood Ranch Tennis Center outside of Sarasota. When we lived there we could play on them anytime we wanted. Everyone else played on the Har Trus, same deal, they said they stained their footwear too much!
Very true about the Har Trus. Most of them are very thin coatings and dry. They don't play anything like red clay.
I was in the middle of nowhere in NH, near Mt. Washington, and there was one REAL red clay court on the side of the road. It was perfectly manicured, the month was September... And I was wearing a suit... BUT, I had all of my stuff in the trunk, and absolutely nobody to hit with.... I was too stupid to not mark on a GPS where I was... I've searched on Google Earth for hours every once in a while... Still haven't found it.
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http://brettonwoods.com/activities/more_summer_fun/tennis_overview
Mount Washington Resort has red clay.
From what I've learned at our club, the initial cost of installation is higher for Har-Tru, but ongoing costs are actually lower with proper maintenance, which really isn't hard. As I said, many of the community swim and racket clubs here in the east have them and membership fees to these places are not high - no rich country club folks here, but middle-class suburbanites.
For a public park, hard courts are just more convenient - lower upfront costs and resurface and replace nets every few years as needed (or when they literally fall apart as we've all seen). No regular maintenance needed. I don't think I've seen "public" Har-Tru courts.
danny, the red clay is totally different than Har Tru. Red clay makes your legs burn, red clay makes the balls heavy. Its the mental and physical toughness developed from kids playing interclubs against grown men, on red clay, week after week. Playing match after match with your legs burning and lifting heavy balls over and over again develops a level of toughness.
Its like when you hear of NFL legends who trained by running in sand.
The advantage they would have at the French and any other clays is only a small part of it. The rest is the toughness required to train and play tournaments on the red clay as juniors.
Its not the only factor. But if you had 2 equally talented kids, one raised on hards and one raised on red clay, I would bet on the red clay guy.
danny, the red clay is totally different than Har Tru. Red clay makes your legs burn, red clay makes the balls heavy. Its the mental and physical toughness developed from kids playing interclubs against grown men, on red clay, week after week. Playing match after match with your legs burning and lifting heavy balls over and over again develops a level of toughness.
Its like when you hear of NFL legends who trained by running in sand.
The advantage they would have at the French and any other clays is only a small part of it. The rest is the toughness required to train and play tournaments on the red clay as juniors.
Its not the only factor. But if you had 2 equally talented kids, one raised on hards and one raised on red clay, I would bet on the red clay guy.
iTUSA Academy just opened a new facility near Phoenix and my son and I got to be among the first to play on their red clay. They have red, HarTru, hard, and a grass court to be completed in the spring.
We are no strangers to red clay as we often play in Germany in the summers while visiting family. Also played a lot of HarTru when we recently lived back east. Red is certainly stickier than HT, which does make the balls heavy, but I've played courts on both surfaces that are prepared very differently. iTUSA's red clay, for example, has less "surface" than those I've played in Germany - almost as if there is a hard court under it and some clay on top. I think they are still working on the court. The German courts are thicker and softer. The HT at our club near Philly had a lot of surface and was irrigated from underneath, so it was always moist and thick as opposed to some HT that gets watered twice a day by hand and plays dry and fast. Just an obvious observation that court build and prep makes a significant difference in how they play.
Oh, and red clay stains everything!![]()
iTUSA Academy just opened a new facility near Phoenix and my son and I got to be among the first to play on their red clay. They have red, HarTru, hard, and a grass court to be completed in the spring.
We are no strangers to red clay as we often play in Germany in the summers while visiting family. Also played a lot of HarTru when we recently lived back east. Red is certainly stickier than HT, which does make the balls heavy, but I've played courts on both surfaces that are prepared very differently. iTUSA's red clay, for example, has less "surface" than those I've played in Germany - almost as if there is a hard court under it and some clay on top. I think they are still working on the court. The German courts are thicker and softer. The HT at our club near Philly had a lot of surface and was irrigated from underneath, so it was always moist and thick as opposed to some HT that gets watered twice a day by hand and plays dry and fast. Just an obvious observation that court build and prep makes a significant difference in how they play.
Oh, and red clay stains everything!![]()
Just saw this article with a listing. I wonder if anyone here is familiar with these courts, and how expensive it is to play on the red clay.
http://www.gulfcoasttennisclub.comAlmost forgot about the gulf shores tennis club in gulf shores Alabama with 4 indoor European red clay courts. I believe it's semi private.
I was in the middle of nowhere in NH, near Mt. Washington, and there was one REAL red clay court on the side of the road. It was perfectly manicured, the month was September... And I was wearing a suit... BUT, I had all of my stuff in the trunk, and absolutely nobody to hit with.... I was too stupid to not mark on a GPS where I was... I've searched on Google Earth for hours every once in a while... Still haven't found it.
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The courts at Diversey tennis center in chicago have har tru courts- cost is $18 / hour for a court.Anyone familiar with courts in Illinois with Har-tru?