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