| | | | | Because clay courts slow the ball down and cause it |
| When learning how to play tennis, the surface you | | | | to sit up (bounce up) more, that surface rewards |
| spend most of the time playing on can affect what | | | | consistency over aggression. It is normally harder to hit |
| kind of player you turn into. That is because the tennis | | | | a winner on a clay court than any other surface |
| ball bounces differently from surface to surface. | | | | because it takes more power to get the ball by your |
| There are three major tennis court surfaces: clay, hard, | | | | opponent. That means that players who learn to play |
| and grass. I’m going to ignore grass because | | | | tennis on clay will probably develop a |
| players rarely “grow up” on that surface. | | | | “baseliner’s game.” They will stand several |
| Clay courts are the slowest type of tennis court. They | | | | feet behind the baseline and keep the ball in, waiting for |
| are, of course, made out of clay. This makes it a clay | | | | their opponent to make a mistake. |
| court softer than a hard court, which is essentially | | | | For comparison’s sake, on a hard court the ball |
| made out of concrete. The soft clay slows the ball | | | | maintains its speed better when it bounces. That |
| down significantly when it bounces. Also, because the | | | | makes it easier to get the ball by your opponent. It also |
| ball “digs into” the clay a little bit when it lands, it | | | | means you won’t be able to get to as many balls |
| bounces higher up than it would on a hard surface. | | | | as you would on a clay court. Therefore, keeping the |
| Hard courts are typically made out of concrete and | | | | ball in, at a high level of play, is typically not enough. |
| some other materials (there are several types of hard | | | | You need to be aggressive – take it to your |
| courts). They are faster than clay courts because the | | | | opponent, so to speak. |
| surface is slicker and the ball doesn’t dig in when it | | | | There are other considerations relating to the surface |
| bounces. This latter fact means the ball doesn’t | | | | that affect how your game might develop. However, |
| bounce quite as high on a hard court. | | | | the factors mentioned above are the major ones. It |
| This is somewhat of a simplification, but based on the | | | | may be worth spending a little extra time thinking about |
| discussion above you can safely assume the following: | | | | what surface you want to learn how to play tennis on. |
| clay means slower ball, higher bounce; hard means | | | | That being said, if you work hard to develop all the |
| faster ball, lower bounce. | | | | shots, you should be able to transition from one |
| Now how, exactly, can learning how to play tennis on | | | | surface to another relatively easily. In other words, |
| one surface or the other influence your style of play? | | | | learn to play defense and offense. |