The Most Important Facts To Know When Playing Tennis On Clay Tennis Courts

If you’re an avid tennis player, perhaps you’ve enjoyed the privilege of playing on red clay courts. This is an old surface with a deep rooted history of tradition that dates back to the origins of the sport in parts of Europe like Spain and France.

While these courts are common in other parts of the world, they’re far more rare in America. Still, they do exist, and you should consider yourself lucky if you have the opportunity to play a match on this surface.

If you’ve never played on red clay courts before, I’d like to share a few pieces of knowledge that you may find informative about them.

First of all, the most effective strategy on this surface has always been one from the baseline. Players traditionally rely on powerful ground strokes as a means of winning their matches.

If you’re a serve and volleyer or a net player, the impact of your game will most likely take a hit. Unfortunately, players with this strategy don’t seem to fare as well on clay.

Why is this the case? Well, it all has to do with the surface that the matches are being played on. You see, clay is a thick surface and one that slows the ball down as a result.

Unlike hard courts, you’ll seldom see the ball skipping off the surface and bouncing up at an increased speed. In fact, you’ll see just the opposite.

The ball will bounce higher, giving opponents that much more time to get to the ball during the course of a point. As a result, some of the longest tennis matches in history have been matches played on clay.

If you’ve ever watched the French Open, you’ve probably noticed that the points are much longer here than at other tournaments, and this is why. While it’s fun to watch, as a player you’ll need some great endurance in order to succeed.

Those with the gift of speed will do really well on clay. Look at professionals like Rafael Nadal, for example. The slowness of the surface allows him to get to just about everything.

Besides tennis, this author also frequently blogs on car window cleaning in addition to car carpet cleaners.