Why Clay courts?

[Tenny]

I never played on real Clay court, not to mention a Grass court. So, for me, hardcourt is THE court(of course, biased opinion) but probably europeans and south americans would think differently. I just wonder what's the appeal (or reasons to play on it) of Clay court. Why there are many Clay courts in Florida?

It must be difficult to maintain.
Need to draw lines again and again.
Rain and flood can ruin it (not sure of this).
Ruin clothes.

Is it more fun to play on Clay? Or just different feel and people like it? Somehow easy to maintain? Why clay courts?

 

[ProStaffTour90]

I've only played on it once. It as blue but i don't know the actual name of it. I loved it, i just loved sliding into all my shots and it suited my game cos i had abit more time to prepare and the bounce was high.

It wrecked me socks though

(It also had metal pinned lines so they didn't have to keep lining them.)

 

[gifted_shotmaker]

IMO, clay is more fun to play on, but it is hardest to maintain probably. I mostly play on hard courts though. Hard courts are the best in training you for all surfaces I hear.In my area, we have only green clay, which is faster than red clay. I have played on indoor red clay before and also synthetic grass. To start off, red clay is the best surface for me because I love the movement, how the rallies go, and the way I play on it. Synthetic grass is the worst surface IMO and the easiest to maintain probably. Synthetic grass has very erratic bounces, skidding balls, tons of sand gets in your shoes, and difficult movement. The only pro to synthetic grass IMO is a lot of free points on your serve. I hope real grass is not as bad as synthetic. Hope this helps, Tenny.

 

[Honestlybad]

The reason clay is so popular is that it is very soft hence easy on your knees and hips compared to other surfaces. Additionally, on clay you skid to a stop which softens the impact on your joints. There are a lot of old knees in Florida so my guess is that's the reason it's so popular.

 

[dozu]

yup, ease on the joints is one big reasone to play on clay.... this is prolly not a biggie for young kids out there, but for the 30+ or 40+ this makes quite a difference.

style of play, some styles like S&V and chip/charge will suffer quite a bit on clay, so it forces you to develop other strategies, or achieve perfection if you still move forward all the time.

I belong to a club here that only charges $150 membership for the whole season.... if anyone around 4.5-5.0 nearby wants to give it a try, email me.

one thing, the lines can be nailed to the ground so they only need to be cleaned off.

 

[Baseline Basher]

I've only played on hard courts and a weird outdoor carpet court that had gotten blown over by a little sandstorm, so I don't know if it played more like clay or carpet, but it wasn't a whole lot different from a hard court.

My $0.02

 

[gifted_shotmaker]

I've only played on hard courts and a weird outdoor carpet court that had gotten blown over by a little sandstorm, so I don't know if it played more like clay or carpet, but it wasn't a whole lot different from a hard court.

My $0.02

The second court you speak of sounds like synthetic grass. How do you feel about the surface?

 

[Ronaldo]

Not only is Har-tru, green clay easy on your joints but on a hot day, the surface is bearable. Feet stay cool

 

[tennis-n-sc]

You don't see many clay courts above the Old Mason-Dixon due to the hard and lasting freezes. Clay court require a lot of water and should stay a moist all the time. When they freeze, they become unplayable and if they stay frozen, they can crack open, requiring major maintainence. They are usually found in the South and Southwest although I have heard of some indoor clay courts. If you continue to play tennis into your forties and fifties, you will come to love clay courts and likely move to where they are. They can add years to your tennis life.

 

[Jon Hampton]

Why there are many Clay courts in Florida?

Uh...old people? Florida is filled with them. If Florida were all hard courts, tennis would be far less popular because the people in Florida who play tennis are old, retired people with money to burn.

Rain and flood can ruin it

Acually, clay is more playable if it's wet (holds water better) and drys faster.

Why clay courts?

Because, Tenny, clay courts are SLOW and ralleys are LONG. For kids, this is great because even the most powerfully struck ball is rarely a winner. For adults with bad knees, legs, what have you, it's great for them. The people that don't like playing on clay courts are people that don't like it's bad bounces, slow gameplay, or sliding.

 

[Mies]

I honestly don't know why clay is so popular here in the Netherlands, but nearly every club with outdoor courts has claycourts. Second in popularity (outdoor, but far behind) would be synthetic grass. Indoor, it varies from carpet to hardcourt to painted concrete (which is hell apart from all the aces and serve winners I get).

Regards

 

[backcourt]

Actually Tennis n sc, there are alot of clay courts up here in New England, both red and hartru. I grew up playing on red clay at a private club in N.H. where the town had 5 or 6 public red clay courts. I currently play on public hartru courts just outside of Boston.

As stated above, for those of us over 40 clay is a lifesaver for your joints, spins react a little differently too, a well hit topspin flys, and a drop shot can really die. It is harder to put the ball away, so people who grow up as hardcourt bashers sometimes have a hard time adjusting and may not like it as well. At least not until they hit 40.

 

[tennis-n-sc]

Hey backcourt, thanks for the correction. I have never seen a clay court north of Dixie but I'm glad you have them. After a certain age, clay is king. And down here, we are not allowed to use the clay courts after a freeze. We do keep them pretty moist here to prevent the clay from blowing away so they freeze fairly quickly. Our frost line here is shallow, so we do get quick thaws.

 

[peter]

Hey backcourt, thanks for the correction. I have never seen a clay court north of Dixie but I'm glad you have them. After a certain age, clay is king. And down here, we are not allowed to use the clay courts after a freeze. We do keep them pretty moist here to prevent the clay from blowing away so they freeze fairly quickly. Our frost line here is shallow, so we do get quick thaws.

Then here's a shocker for you then - most of the outdoor courts here in Sweden (you know - the country up near the North Pole with the Alps, Polar Bears wearing Lederhosen - and last but not least - only blonde girls!) are red clay courts... And the courts actually do survive the winters

Depending on where in Sweden your located the outdoor season varies, but here in mid-south sweden our courts are normally open from may to september
or so (we actually played from 1 may to mid october last year - then limiting factor was the diminishing daylight at the end). The indoor season normally starts in september and ends at the end of may though so there is a bit of overlap.

The courts are of course unplayable when the frost hits, but it only takes a week or so of work in the spring to correct that.

 

[tennis-n-sc]

Peter, that is a shocker. I knew about the Polar Bears in Lederhosen and the blonde girls. But Alps in Sweden? LOL. Shame about the light, though. What does indoor time cost you in USD?

 

[Ash Doyle]

I would guess that clay is the predominant surface in Europe due to tradition. It is harder to maintain than a hardcourt, but not nearly as hard to maintain as a grass court.

 

[ProStaffTour90]

I reckon hard court is. by quite a margin.

 

[peter]

Peter, that is a shocker. I knew about the Polar Bears in Lederhosen and the blonde girls. But Alps in Sweden? LOL. Shame about the light, though. What does indoor time cost you in USD?

Indoor time is about $12-17/hour in my area.

I think it's more expensive and harder to find free hours in the Stockholm area (but luckily I don't live there).