Secrets For Playing On Clay Tennis Courts

By Amy Schwenk

If you're an active tennis player and you've never played on red clay, this is a surface that you'll surely appreciate. There's a ton of history behind red clay, and playing on it is a truly magical experience.

Playing on clay can be an extremely enjoyable experience, though anyone living in North America may have a hard time finding a court. Regardless, it's a surface that many lovers of the sport truly cherish.

I thought it would be useful to throw together a quick guide for people playing tennis on clay courts, pointing out the areas of strength and weakness that arise on this surface.

If you've ever seen the French Open or any other clay court event on TV, you've probably witnessed long rallies played from the baseline. Those who stay back generally find more success on these courts.

Unfortunately, players with big serves and proficient net games simply won't find as much success on clay courts. The impact of a hard hit serve or a quick rush to the net simply doesn't have the same effectiveness.

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.

This results in very long rallies, since balls that ordinarily couldn't be returned are gotten to on this surface. This makes things interesting, but they're also more challenging.

As a result, anyone who moves quickly during the course of a match will definitely have an edge. - 31983

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