Great tips. My club has artificial clay and I don't like the high bounce of the ball. I'm still a newbie and it forces me to do a very uncomfortable swing. I've never played on grass yet so no comment on that. Could you do a video about how to slide on clay and what's the difference with sliding on hard courts? Many thanks for the content!
Hi Sonia, thanks for watching! Depending on the level of your opponents and how hard/deep they hit the ball, try standing a little further back so that you have more space and time to let the ball drop into a more comfortable height. Great idea about a video on sliding on clay, I’ll have a think about how I can put one together. Thanks again!
Awesome video. In America, hard courts dominate but we do have some clay courts or more precisely har-tru. I have played on real red clay but rarely. I always thought that slicing on clay was good too. The ball skids more. Am I wrong? Its been a while. I do remember the bad bounces on clay and this use to drive me crazy because I love to play the baseline and take it early. Also, the long rallies are also somewhat boring. A lot of the older players in my club only play doubles on clay to help their knees. You also have to brush the surface and clean the lines for the next group. Also water it down when it gets dry. A lot of work. I would only play on the surface if all the hard courts were taken. I would love to play on grass. Unfortunately, they are difficult to maintain and in America it's all about low maintenance. Wimbledon has managed to slow the court down so much that's actually has nearly clay-like speeds I hear. My guess has been the Brits are tired of giving the trophy to Fed every year. (Of course, the French never tire of giving the trophy to Nadal every year) I think it's crazy. If you slow the surface down, what would be the point of having different surfaces for the majors. The other thing is that long rallies don't necessarily equate to more interesting tennis, in fact it can be very boring.
That’s is the down side of the two surfaces... the maintenance! We have artificial clay courts in the UK (you’ll see them in my matchplay videos) which are lower maintenance than real clay, you just need to sweep them after use... and they are amazing in any wet or cold conditions (which we get a lot over here!!). The ball reacts more to any type of spin on a clay court as it grips more than grass, this can cause slices to sit up a little more, whereas grass skids through. I agree with your points about changing the speed of surfaces... I think that grass should remain fast and clay slow. It makes for exciting matches and variety and challenges the players more tactically. I love seeing serve and volley on grass! Thanks as always for your great comments!
Another really useful tip Ash. I was searching your site for backhand instruction but only found one, which surprised me. Am I missing them somehow when searching,? Thanks
I want to play on other surfaces so bad, but over here in the US, its just hard courts everywhere. Theres only about a dozen or so grass courts in the whole country, and even less clay, unless they're privately owned by private tennis clubs, resorts or country clubs, and you have to pay out the 'you know what' to play on them. Oh, and do yourself a favor, don't even mention Carpet, you'll get nothing but bizarre confused stares. Most people seem to have completely forgotten the surface even existed, even though it wasn't that long ago that it was a regular part of the ATP Tour. Its insane.
We’re very lucky to have grass, it’s not an easy surface to maintain! The most common surfaces in the UK (outdoors) are synthetic grass and more recently artificial clay. Easy to maintain and great in all weather. We get so much rain, that hard courts aren’t as popular outside, although most cities have an indoor centre! We have a few carpet courts at private health clubs but they’re definitely vanishing over here too!
Great video. Also, what raquet do you have? Is it a head radical? Im not sure, but i like it. One question. I am more of an aggressive player, and on hard courts and grass i love going to the net. This summer, im going to play on clay. I was just wondering, should i go to the net aswell, or stay behind, and try to dominate creating angles with my forehand, from the baseline? Thanks.
It is the head radical pro (teaser frame - a limited number of these were sent to coaches to test before the racket was launched). My advice is to spend some time on the clay to get to know what works and what doesn’t for you. You shouldn’t change your game style completely but you will probably get less opportunities to get to the net as your shots won’t be as penetrating as they are on grass or other fast surfaces and your opponent will be able to keep you pinned back easier than they would on a quicker surface. In summary, play aggressively and wait for the right moment to approach... it probably won’t be as often as you would on grass!
I like Clay but play better probably on hard courts as it’s more predictable. But never played on grass. I just found few court 130 km away from my home and might constantly going there :)
I will play on grass soon against my friend Thomas for the first time. I think he also follows you, so he may watch this video soon, too. And read my comment 😆
Really lazy and stick to grass and hard so I don't have to carry my knee support for movement on clay, I've only ever played on acrylic hard 11 years ago without a warm up so we all can guess how that went 55 mintues into the hour I was starting to hit form 😂
Very true! The herringbone pattern sole (‘zig zag’) is ideal for clay to assist with grip when sliding. This pattern has become a lot more popular with all court shoes recently, and you’re absolutely right... the clay court version of this shoe has the herringbone all the way through the sole without the gap in the middle (good spot - my bad!). Thanks for watching.
@@TheTennisMentor It was easy as I own the exact same shoes and use them for hard and clay courts! Often "all court" shoes will use the herringbone pattern but alter it a little on the inner half of the shoe to give it more durability on hardcourts. Like the Adizero makes it a little thicker. ...sometimes I feel like there is no bottom to this tennis nerd rabbit hole🐇😉
Great tips. My club has artificial clay and I don't like the high bounce of the ball. I'm still a newbie and it forces me to do a very uncomfortable swing.
I've never played on grass yet so no comment on that.
Could you do a video about how to slide on clay and what's the difference with sliding on hard courts?
Many thanks for the content!
Hi Sonia, thanks for watching! Depending on the level of your opponents and how hard/deep they hit the ball, try standing a little further back so that you have more space and time to let the ball drop into a more comfortable height. Great idea about a video on sliding on clay, I’ll have a think about how I can put one together. Thanks again!
Awesome video. In America, hard courts dominate but we do have some clay courts or more precisely har-tru. I have played on real red clay but rarely. I always thought that slicing on clay was good too. The ball skids more. Am I wrong? Its been a while. I do remember the bad bounces on clay and this use to drive me crazy because I love to play the baseline and take it early. Also, the long rallies are also somewhat boring. A lot of the older players in my club only play doubles on clay to help their knees. You also have to brush the surface and clean the lines for the next group. Also water it down when it gets dry. A lot of work. I would only play on the surface if all the hard courts were taken. I would love to play on grass. Unfortunately, they are difficult to maintain and in America it's all about low maintenance. Wimbledon has managed to slow the court down so much that's actually has nearly clay-like speeds I hear. My guess has been the Brits are tired of giving the trophy to Fed every year. (Of course, the French never tire of giving the trophy to Nadal every year) I think it's crazy. If you slow the surface down, what would be the point of having different surfaces for the majors. The other thing is that long rallies don't necessarily equate to more interesting tennis, in fact it can be very boring.
That’s is the down side of the two surfaces... the maintenance! We have artificial clay courts in the UK (you’ll see them in my matchplay videos) which are lower maintenance than real clay, you just need to sweep them after use... and they are amazing in any wet or cold conditions (which we get a lot over here!!).
The ball reacts more to any type of spin on a clay court as it grips more than grass, this can cause slices to sit up a little more, whereas grass skids through.
I agree with your points about changing the speed of surfaces... I think that grass should remain fast and clay slow. It makes for exciting matches and variety and challenges the players more tactically. I love seeing serve and volley on grass!
Thanks as always for your great comments!
great topic!
Thanks boys... you’ll be experts of adapting to different surfaces after these two weeks!!
great video.
What about granulate on carpet?
(it slows the ball, but it bounces also low...)
This is really good content!
Another really useful tip Ash. I was searching your site for backhand instruction but only found one, which surprised me. Am I missing them somehow when searching,? Thanks
Thanks for watching, no you may be right! I will put it on my priority list!! Do you have a single or double hander?
Double, thanks Ash
I play so much better on clay court than hard court. That extra split-second to react makes all the difference for me.
Me too… Thanks for watching!
Amazing content. It would be even better if the video were a bit longer and included hardcourt into the mix.
Thanks, I’ll work on an updated version!
Great video Ash, thanks 👍🏼
Thanks Harry!💥🎾
I want to play on other surfaces so bad, but over here in the US, its just hard courts everywhere. Theres only about a dozen or so grass courts in the whole country, and even less clay, unless they're privately owned by private tennis clubs, resorts or country clubs, and you have to pay out the 'you know what' to play on them.
Oh, and do yourself a favor, don't even mention Carpet, you'll get nothing but bizarre confused stares. Most people seem to have completely forgotten the surface even existed, even though it wasn't that long ago that it was a regular part of the ATP Tour. Its insane.
We’re very lucky to have grass, it’s not an easy surface to maintain! The most common surfaces in the UK (outdoors) are synthetic grass and more recently artificial clay. Easy to maintain and great in all weather. We get so much rain, that hard courts aren’t as popular outside, although most cities have an indoor centre!
We have a few carpet courts at private health clubs but they’re definitely vanishing over here too!
Which surface do you play best on, which do you enjoy the most and why?
Carpet. It's fast, the ball doesn't bounce too low, and there aren't any court imperfections like on grass or clay.
Clay for sure. Looks great, playable when wet, gives me more reaction time too.
indoor hard i have won the most tournaments on indoor hard court
Great informative video and nicely articulated
Many thanks Jo!! 😊
Great video. Also, what raquet do you have? Is it a head radical? Im not sure, but i like it.
One question. I am more of an aggressive player, and on hard courts and grass i love going to the net. This summer, im going to play on clay. I was just wondering, should i go to the net aswell, or stay behind, and try to dominate creating angles with my forehand, from the baseline? Thanks.
It is the head radical pro (teaser frame - a limited number of these were sent to coaches to test before the racket was launched).
My advice is to spend some time on the clay to get to know what works and what doesn’t for you. You shouldn’t change your game style completely but you will probably get less opportunities to get to the net as your shots won’t be as penetrating as they are on grass or other fast surfaces and your opponent will be able to keep you pinned back easier than they would on a quicker surface.
In summary, play aggressively and wait for the right moment to approach... it probably won’t be as often as you would on grass!
@@TheTennisMentor Thank you, that helped.
New subscriber :)
@@Javi-gk6zs thanks a lot! I hope you enjoy the rest of my content 👊
I like Clay but play better probably on hard courts as it’s more predictable. But never played on grass. I just found few court 130 km away from my home and might constantly going there :)
I will play on grass soon against my friend Thomas for the first time. I think he also follows you, so he may watch this video soon, too. And read my comment 😆
I hope you both have a great time!! Let me know how you find it 🌱🌱🌱
Really lazy and stick to grass and hard so I don't have to carry my knee support for movement on clay, I've only ever played on acrylic hard 11 years ago without a warm up so we all can guess how that went 55 mintues into the hour I was starting to hit form 😂
You might actually find the clay a bit more forgiving on the knee? Also, a warm up would definitely help it 😅
@@TheTennisMentor I would have loved a warm up but everyone else wanted to rush into matches I like gagueong a courts speed
That's an all court shoe, not a clay court shoe.
Very true! The herringbone pattern sole (‘zig zag’) is ideal for clay to assist with grip when sliding. This pattern has become a lot more popular with all court shoes recently, and you’re absolutely right... the clay court version of this shoe has the herringbone all the way through the sole without the gap in the middle (good spot - my bad!). Thanks for watching.
@@TheTennisMentor It was easy as I own the exact same shoes and use them for hard and clay courts! Often "all court" shoes will use the herringbone pattern but alter it a little on the inner half of the shoe to give it more durability on hardcourts. Like the Adizero makes it a little thicker.
...sometimes I feel like there is no bottom to this tennis nerd rabbit hole🐇😉