Tennis surfaces

vive le beau jeu !

vive le beau jeu !

Talk Tennis Guru
i was checking some player's activity... and i noticed that some (challenger) tournaments were played on outdoor carpet. as it was in ireland, and as i heard it happens (sometimes) that it's raining (a bit) there, i guess it's not like indoor carpet, but rather something like artificial grass... right ? :?
(could someone post a picture of it ?)

we all know the classical quatuor hard/grass/clay/carpet but this makes me wonder about the variety of possible tennis surfaces... which ones are official/allowed (or not) for pro-level tournaments ?
ex: a wooden court ?

of course pictures of diverse and original tennis surfaces will be welcome in this thread !!! ;)
for instance if you have a chocolate court, a marshmallow one, or something like this... :rolleyes:

PS: sorry... i know i already bored you with my quest of exotic tennis courts !
http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showthread.php?t=89456
 
ceejay said:
I'm not sure how much it'll help but Google found a company that make it. Looks like synthetic grass.

http://www.tigerturf.co.uk/Product-Groups/club_sport/tennis/default.aspx?id=166
Click to expand...
thx :)
yes it must be this :
TennisSmall3.jpg


i'm also remembering some courts made of (not sure about the english words !) "plastic paving pieces" when i was a kid... a bit sliding... and you could even feel discharges of static electricity (depending on the meteo) ! did anybody else experience that weird type of courts ?! :rolleyes: (i don't manage to find a picture)
 
vive le beau jeu ! said:
thx :)
yes it must be this :
TennisSmall3.jpg
Click to expand...

Which makes it seem to *be* synth grass. The 'developed in aus' link is a giveaway, we have so much synth grass here it makes me sick. That said, it's the surface at my club, so I just have to put up with the crappy stuff. Oh, oh, oh to have a surface that would take some more spin and make hitting big kickers truly worth it....

As for marshmallow, bring it on.... ;)
 
Watcher said:
They should have a tennis tournament played on a wooden floor, or rubble in lieu of clay!
Click to expand...
it's said to be incredibly fast... ;)
i'm looking for a picture of a real wooden court... but i didn't find it yet ! :neutral:

by the way... i'm finally doubting that my outdoor carpet (see post #1) is articial grass as i found a table listing all the surfaces of tennis courts in france : there is a line for carpet and a line for artificial grass, both having outdoor courts listed !
http://www.terrebattue.org/html/stats.php#class2
(Nb: read 400 instead of 4000 artificial outdoor courts !)
 
Dalles thermoplastiques

i'm also remembering some courts made of (not sure about the english words !) "plastic paving pieces" when i was a kid... a bit sliding... and you could even feel discharges of static electricity (depending on the meteo) ! did anybody else experience that weird type of courts ?! :rolleyes: (i don't manage to find a picture)
Click to expand...
YESSS... i (finally !!!) found it !!! :D

dalles.jpg

(it's called "dalles thermoplastiques" in french)
 
I played on synthetic grass. Its slowness could be compared to clay, but the ball bounces much much higher.
 
vive le beau jeu ! said:
i'm also remembering some courts made of (not sure about the english words !) "plastic paving pieces" when i was a kid... a bit sliding... and you could even feel discharges of static electricity (depending on the meteo) ! did anybody else experience that weird type of courts ?! :rolleyes: (i don't manage to find a picture)
Click to expand...

Yes, I played on that type of court surface as a junior as well. SportCourt makes the product now. http://www.sportcrt.com
 
vive le beau jeu ! said:
YESSS... i (finally !!!) found it !!! :D

dalles.jpg

(it's called "dalles thermoplastiques" in french)
Click to expand...

ah i played on a court like that, it sucked, more bad bounces than clay, and your feet feel very unstable.
 
vive le beau jeu ! said:
thx :)
yes it must be this :
TennisSmall3.jpg


i'm also remembering some courts made of (not sure about the english words !) "plastic paving pieces" when i was a kid... a bit sliding... and you could even feel discharges of static electricity (depending on the meteo) ! did anybody else experience that weird type of courts ?! :rolleyes: (i don't manage to find a picture)
Click to expand...

I have played on such a court a couple of times. It was laid out on top of the parking garage of a high-rise. It feels comfortable on your knees and drains water easily. But the bounce is very odd.
 
diegaa said:
I played on synthetic grass. Its slowness could be compared to clay, but the ball bounces much much higher.
Click to expand...
What???
Syn grass is just as slow as clay, and the ball bounce HIGHER!!!!????

That doesn't make sense!!! That cannot be!!
Then why do they call it synthetic GRASS? it should be called synthetic sand :(
 
I played indoor tennis on a basketball court, adapted.
Wooden floatant floor, and barnished. High bouncings, and FAST as hell.

I played on hardcourts before, but nothing compared to this wooden surface :)
 
I remember Lendl was forced to play Davis Cup on wood in I think Paraguay although I may have that wrong. He lost at least one rubber on it, blamed it for losing his eye for the ball for a long time after and possibly quit DC from that point if my memory is correct.
 
jaggy said:
I remember Lendl was forced to play Davis Cup on wood in I think Paraguay although I may have that wrong. He lost at least one rubber on it, blamed it for losing his eye for the ball for a long time after and possibly quit DC from that point if my memory is correct.
Click to expand...
obviously you're right... at least for the surface ! but he played later... ;)

you meant this one, i suppose...
http://www.daviscup.com/ties/tie.asp?tie=10005205
World Group 1983
1st Round
Asuncion, Paraguay
04 March - 06 March 1983
Surface: Carpet (Wood) - Indoors
Click to expand...
 
vive le beau jeu ! said:
YESSS... i (finally !!!) found it !!! :D

dalles.jpg

(it's called "dalles thermoplastiques" in french)
Click to expand...
that is my favourite surface, its the only indoor facility in my area and im undefeated on it. it plays really really fast
 
Andres Guazzelli said:
What???
Syn grass is just as slow as clay, and the ball bounce HIGHER!!!!????

That doesn't make sense!!! That cannot be!!
Then why do they call it synthetic GRASS? it should be called synthetic sand
Click to expand...
i was also surprised but i think it depends on the type of synthetic grass :


IO_18965_staticarticle.JPG

- this one is ranked among the slow surfaces
http://www.limontasport.com/sport/pagine_newgrass/newgrass_tennis_eng.htm
Nb: i see that they also made the vatican's sport center !
http://www.limontasport.com/sport/news/new01_eng.htm
maybe they will organise an ecumenical inter-religious soccer tournament ?!


IO_18966_staticarticle.JPG

- this one is ranked among the medium surfaces
http://www.edel.nu/grass/index.php5?content=20&active=4&activetab=undefined


IO_18967_staticarticle.JPG

- this one is ranked among the fast surfaces
http://www.tigerturf.co.uk/Product-Groups/club_sport/tennis/default.aspx?id=166


so you've got the choice !
 
The tigerturf website says it's actually outdoors carpet, not syn grass.
There's a syn grass court here in Mar del Plata. I've been told it has a low bounce, and skids a lot, but less than real grass.

I should check that out.
 
Andres Guazzelli said:
The tigerturf website says it's actually outdoors carpet, not syn grass.
Click to expand...
strange... as it's listed as artificial grass (surface code C) in the ITF nomenclature :
http://www.itftennis.com/technical/equipment/courts/courtlist.asp

Nb: on the other hand, this one seems to really work as an outdoor carpet :
http://www.tarkett-sports.com/html/uk/tennis_accueil.php?PHPSESSID=5bf7fe00ac5fddf2ad74004472d4e8ed
86599649443579FC4B98CD.jpg
1010332834372368504E2B.gif

Andres Guazzelli said:
There's a syn grass court here in Mar del Plata. I've been told it has a low bounce, and skids a lot, but less than real grass.

I should check that out.
Click to expand...
there are obviously plenty of surfaces to try !
me i would like to try the real grass... on one of the 6(!) grass courts that we have in the whole country ! ;)
 
Those courts are astroturf - very popular in Ireland, but for some reason they always refer to it as carpet, rather than astro; it's pretty confusing. You see them quite a bit in the UK as well, but not as extensively.

IMO astro is one of the worst surfaces to play tennis - tends to be pretty slow and low, inconsistent bounces, esp once the court gets played in and/or it has a ton of sand dumped on it (to prevent slipping?).

I read that they used to play on wooden courts in Russia quite a bit - I imagine that just involves painting some lines in the school gymnasium, so why not?? Those courts are supposed to be ridiculously fast.

I've played on artificial clay, which really is a carpet with granules of clay (artificial?) scattered into the weave. You'd get a nasty rugburn falling on that stuff...
 
cork ?!

The Pusher Terminator said:
I heard of a surface made from cork!
Click to expand...
that's an original one !

this one would be made of cork... and is outdoor ! :shock:
http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g297972-d304850-r5763990-Kismet_Hotel-Kusadasi.html
Images-g297972-d304850-b1500631S-Kismet_Hotel_Tennis_Court-Kismet_Hotel-Kusadasi.jpg



i also found this...
http://jcgi.pathfinder.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,839258,00.html
Philadelphia's three-year-old Downtown Tennis Club costs $1,000 to join and $360 a year in dues, but the onetime icehouse provides players with a processed cork court (similar to grass, but a good bit slower and more springy), spectators with a 50-ft.-long, glass-enclosed lounge, and both with the prestige of a former Davis Cup star, Vic Seixas, for vice president. Boston's clubs, all private, afford all manner of excellent courts, ranging from the green composition (at the Brookline Country Club) to cork (Longwood) to clay (Dedham Country and Polo Club). The best setup of all: the three composition courts, sheltered by a translucent, plastic Quonset hood, opened last fall at Harvard.
Click to expand...
 
I cantell you, synthetic grass (also known as AstroTurf in the UK) is fast and the ball bounces low. It is in fact similar to real grass. I like it a lot.

It can be made slower, like many other indoor surfaces, by varying the degree of sand put on it. But intrinsically, it is a fast surface.
 
Whoever came up with that thermoplastic surface should be shot, it has to be the most horrible playing surface ever made. Nothing fun about it.
 
I have played on several types of outdoor "artificial grass" and/or astroturf. One type was very fast and the other had sand sprinkled into it and was slower. I have also played on indoor wood courts and it was funny how fast it was.

About the only surface I've heard about in use that I have never played on is compacted cow dung which is popular in India.
 
austro said:
I cantell you, synthetic grass (also known as AstroTurf in the UK) is fast and the ball bounces low. It is in fact similar to real grass. I like it a lot.

It can be made slower, like many other indoor surfaces, by varying the degree of sand put on it. But intrinsically, it is a fast surface.
Click to expand...

Yes we have a lot of Synthetic grass courts in Australia and the bounce certainly is lower than clay and hardcourt. Just met a 14yr boy out from Austraia for a holiday and he couldn't believe how fast the synthetic grass was ! Just as well he didn't play when it's wet !:) He tells me indoor carpet surfaces in his homeland are much slower than Australian synthetic grass.
 
heycal said:
Um, are you aware that this article about the courts in Philadelphia, etc., appears to have been written in 1965? Don't know what the heck it's doing on that website...
Click to expand...
you're right, i didn't notice that !
(you obviously can come back to 1923 in the news archives on that site)
1965, it's not that far... but i wonder what these courts became. could anybody go there and check ?! ;)
 
superstition said:
Wood is ridiculously fast.
Click to expand...

Not sure if it is still operational, but the surface used to be wood at the Armory in Manhattan. Great court. I personally prefer a medium to fast clay court...or a slower grass court. But the wood floor was a great experience.

Dirt, cow-dung, shale, seashells, eggshells(?), the aforementioned sand-filled plastic grass. Cool, diverse game.

Sidenote: I wonder about grass sometimes. So they've got the hearty rye now, that holds up better and produces a more uniform and higher bounce. I wonder if a Kentucky bluegrass would work. It certainly would look great on TV. More blue. And what about those grasses that look almost reddish? Well, if I were building a backyard court, I'd look into a bluish-green, slow, firm grass that suits an attacking/all-court game.
 
slice bh compliment said:
Not sure if it is still operational, but the surface used to be wood at the Armory in Manhattan. Great court. I personally prefer a medium to fast clay court...or a slower grass court. But the wood floor was a great experience.
Click to expand...

They just re-opened the Armory after closing for a year to remodel. I've visited, but haven't had a chance to play there yet. (Never saw it pre-renovation.) Most of the courts are now "premier", a sort of soft hard court (www.premiercourt.com) with the US Open color scheme, and a couple are um, I don't know what the hell they are -- they are cream colored, and gym-floorish... The place is funky and very cool looking, with weird mutli-level wrap-around seating/bleachers.
 
Last edited:
Andres Guazzelli said:
What???
Syn grass is just as slow as clay, and the ball bounce HIGHER!!!!????

That doesn't make sense!!! That cannot be!!
Then why do they call it synthetic GRASS? it should be called synthetic sand :(
Click to expand...


i havent seen your post before.
i assure u it is the way I told u. its a hard surface with a "rug" of syn grass and the high bounce is given by the hard surface underneath it. And of course, the slowness is because of the rug. i dindt like it that much at first, but i got used to it.
 
vive le beau jeu ! said:
i found this very interesting link on the ITF website, where they have a list of classified court surfaces :
yes yes i know... i'm one of these maniacs of classifications ! :rolleyes:
http://www.itftennis.com/technical/equipment/courts/courtlist.asp
Click to expand...
Great find. Thanks! Cleared up a few things.

One thing I've noticed on the ATPtour.com website in the Player Activity area, they're not real good about delineating the surface. Don't call out the AO as Rebound Ace (or the run-up tournaments). And I think they call some of the indoor events hard when they're possibly carpets.
 
vive le beau jeu ! said:
i found this very interesting link on the ITF website, where they have a list of classified court surfaces :
yes yes i know... i'm one of these maniacs of classifications ! :rolleyes:
http://www.itftennis.com/technical/equipment/courts/courtlist.asp
IO_6220_staticarticle.JPG
Click to expand...

This is an interesting website, but I found this graph hard to follow, and the list of courts speeds on the website not very helpful in determining, say, how fast the US Open courts are in relation to other surfaces, and where the Roland Garros courts fit into the mix. (BTW, what is the funny name they have for that particular surface again?)

For instance, I THINK the US Open courts are Deco Turf II, which is listed as a medium fast surface on this website. But how fast is it compared to rebound ace, and what brand of rebound ace? Plus, they also mention on the Deco turf website how you can alter a deco turf court to make it faster or slower depending on preference. So are the US Open courts still medium speed, or slow medium, or fast medium, or fast, or what?

In short, I found it hard to compare and contrast specific court surface speeds, even given all that data.
 
Omni court

ShcMad said:
I'm no expert in court surfaces, but I googled "Omni court" and came up with this:

An omni court is a synthetic grass surface that is popular for its years of low maintenance combined with its softness which is easy on the legs and body. The court is essentially a synthetic carpet or turf permanently placed over an asphalt surface. Sand is then applied over the surface. The bounces tend to be lower and faster, much like a natural grass court.

omni%20court.jpg
Click to expand...
(quoted from another thread, but it fits well in the discussion !)
 
vive le beau jeu ! said:
i was checking some player's activity... and i noticed that some (challenger) tournaments were played on outdoor carpet. as it was in ireland, and as i heard it happens (sometimes) that it's raining (a bit) there, i guess it's not like indoor carpet, but rather something like artificial grass... right ? :?
(could someone post a picture of it ?)

we all know the classical quatuor hard/grass/clay/carpet but this makes me wonder about the variety of possible tennis surfaces... which ones are official/allowed (or not) for pro-level tournaments ?
ex: a wooden court ?

of course pictures of diverse and original tennis surfaces will be welcome in this thread !!! ;)
for instance if you have a chocolate court, a marshmallow one, or something like this... :rolleyes:

PS: sorry... i know i already bored you with my quest of exotic tennis courts !
http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showthread.php?t=89456
Click to expand...

Thud and blunder said:
Those courts are astroturf - very popular in Ireland, but for some reason they always refer to it as carpet, rather than astro; it's pretty confusing. You see them quite a bit in the UK as well, but not as extensively.

IMO astro is one of the worst surfaces to play tennis - tends to be pretty slow and low, inconsistent bounces, esp once the court gets played in and/or it has a ton of sand dumped on it (to prevent slipping?).

I read that they used to play on wooden courts in Russia quite a bit - I imagine that just involves painting some lines in the school gymnasium, so why not?? Those courts are supposed to be ridiculously fast.

I've played on artificial clay, which really is a carpet with granules of clay (artificial?) scattered into the weave. You'd get a nasty rugburn falling on that stuff...
Click to expand...

No, I think I know the ones he's talking about. It's some sort of weird outdoor carpet. My friend played on it and says it's quite weird and the heat affects it a lot as it expands or something.

I'm not sure how many there are here but these ones are in west Cork.
And in case people think I'm talking about cork courts I'm not. Cork is a place in south Ireland.
 
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