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April 2, 2009 - By Janice Kang
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To many people unfamiliar with tennis surfaces, clay courts provide different bounce and spin to the ball. The different kinds of court surfaces require players to use different techniques throughout the game. �It�s a slower surface and it's slippery and on clay courts you do a lot more sliding. There are certain techniques used to play proper clay court tennis,� said Mateljan. Currently Rafael Nadal, professional tennis player, unitizes the court's slippery and absorbent surface to his advantage, making him the king of clay courts.
There are several differences between clay courts and concrete courts. Clay courts are unique because clay courts tend to have dirt and the clay slows down the tennis balls and it also reduces the power from the force of the player hitting the ball. �People who learn to play on clay courts learn how to play tennis and people who learn to play on concrete courts learn how to hit tennis balls�power is rewarded on hard surfaces like concrete,� said coach Scott Harris of Fundamental Tennis (PTR & USPTA certified). According to Harris since the clay courts slow down the ball you learn to play the game and the techniques instead of learning how to hit the ball hard. Harris recommends taking advantage of the Andulka Park courts if you want to learn how to play and improve your overall technique.
The soft surfaces of the clay courts are also great because they don�t cause your joints to hurt after long hours of playing the game. Similar to the idea that rubber track fields decrease the amount of pressure that impacts the knees. �I�m excited! I have played on clay courts before�when you play for two and a half hours and your knees don�t ache and your ankles don�t hurt and the bottom of your feet don�t hurt, it�s great. Your muscles get exhausted but your joints don�t hurt,� said Harris.
In the United States clay courts aren�t as popular as they are in foreign countries, causing American players to struggle when they compete with international players because they have trouble adapting to clay courts during tournaments. �American tennis players who have never played on clay courts can�t compete with international players. Most of the world plays on clay and they learn how to adapt to concrete because they�ve learned how to play tennis but it�s hard to adapt on clay because all they�ve learned is to hit hard and the dirt slows down the ball,� said Harris.
Tennis is popular in Southern California but since clay courts aren�t popular throughout the United States it�s rare when they are found or built. �Having the availability will give those individuals a better opportunity if they play tournaments against other players on a clay court. There are hard court tournaments and clay court tournaments found throughout the United States and having clay courts in Southern California will help those that aren�t familiar with clay courts�they will probably do better in the future,� said Mateljan.
Although there were many positives about the clay courts nothing is perfect. The disadvantage of clay courts is that they are hard to take care of. The true test is how long these courts will be able to withstand the test of time.
Because of the high maintenance these courts demand there will be memberships for the usage of the courts and the money collected from the memberships will probably go toward paying for the cleaning and care. �It�s going to be a managed facility. There will probably be memberships available of some sort and you just call up and reserve courts and play. If you have membership you will have priority and anybody from the public without membership will probably pay a modest fee of some sort to play,� said Harris.
Riverside gets this opportunity to have a rare clay surfaced court located here and open to the public. This brings a new type of play that tennis players have the opportunity to develop and may perhaps even better Riverside's tennis culture.
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