d-quik
Hall of Fame
...transitioning from clay to hard court gameplay, for a natural clay courter, is the most demanding on the body
yes so far, since i have started watching tennis the "kings of clay" title has been endowed to kuerten, ferrero, coria, nadal, in that order
kuerten had a promising career shortened by injury, ferrero lost it all after that long gueling season and the injuries that came with, coria's tiny body could not take it either, and now nadal, the epitome durability, physical endurance, and stamina has to miss two of the three second most important events after grand slams (they being TMC, davis cup final ties, and olympics which nadal won the gold).
i am very sure that nadal will indeed have a successful 2009 season when he returns, and am still very sure of his chances of staying in the top 3 (this is mathematically in his favour, big time. the gap is large enough).
but he played a lot of matches this year. what does this tell us about clay court tennis and it's style of play in the modern world? does it relate?
clay is supposed to be a soft surface (not unlike grass), undemanding on the body's "hard" parts (ie. bone, tendon, ligaments) but very demanding on the soft part, the muscles, and stamina. the hittig may or may not be harder than the hitting that happens on hard and grass courts, but the hitting is the heaviest. clay has harder groundstrokes, grass favours harder serves but points are supposed to be shorter, and hard courts and effectively the fastest surface now. even though ball velocity (not forward speed) is the fastest on clay (fastest in terms of physics), the ball bounces lowest on grass (fastest in terms of gameplay), hard courts retain that deadly balance between a not-so high bounce and retaining a lethal dose of forward directional velocity.
so naturally, as a clay courter, playing on a hard court allows you to play aggresively. the ball comes at you faster, you run faster, you stop quicker, accelerate more violently, there is no sliding on hard courts like the red clay, the bounce is more predictable and you can take more chances. yeah you also have to be on your toes on grass, but the points are shorter AND the surface is still pretty soft (barring slippage, when a career ending ankle injury can happen). short-distance explosive acceleration is the most important attribute on hard courts, more than other surfaces.
this transition is deadly, at the current competitive level.
yes so far, since i have started watching tennis the "kings of clay" title has been endowed to kuerten, ferrero, coria, nadal, in that order
kuerten had a promising career shortened by injury, ferrero lost it all after that long gueling season and the injuries that came with, coria's tiny body could not take it either, and now nadal, the epitome durability, physical endurance, and stamina has to miss two of the three second most important events after grand slams (they being TMC, davis cup final ties, and olympics which nadal won the gold).
i am very sure that nadal will indeed have a successful 2009 season when he returns, and am still very sure of his chances of staying in the top 3 (this is mathematically in his favour, big time. the gap is large enough).
but he played a lot of matches this year. what does this tell us about clay court tennis and it's style of play in the modern world? does it relate?
clay is supposed to be a soft surface (not unlike grass), undemanding on the body's "hard" parts (ie. bone, tendon, ligaments) but very demanding on the soft part, the muscles, and stamina. the hittig may or may not be harder than the hitting that happens on hard and grass courts, but the hitting is the heaviest. clay has harder groundstrokes, grass favours harder serves but points are supposed to be shorter, and hard courts and effectively the fastest surface now. even though ball velocity (not forward speed) is the fastest on clay (fastest in terms of physics), the ball bounces lowest on grass (fastest in terms of gameplay), hard courts retain that deadly balance between a not-so high bounce and retaining a lethal dose of forward directional velocity.
so naturally, as a clay courter, playing on a hard court allows you to play aggresively. the ball comes at you faster, you run faster, you stop quicker, accelerate more violently, there is no sliding on hard courts like the red clay, the bounce is more predictable and you can take more chances. yeah you also have to be on your toes on grass, but the points are shorter AND the surface is still pretty soft (barring slippage, when a career ending ankle injury can happen). short-distance explosive acceleration is the most important attribute on hard courts, more than other surfaces.
this transition is deadly, at the current competitive level.
