I’m always on the look-out for interesting, well-written and varied content for Moo’s Tennis Blog.  My preview of the Wuhan final will be published later today, but here is something a little bit different for you.  Many thanks to Becca Honeybill from Soft Surfaces Ltd, who has written a piece about the advantage of implementing artificial clay courts in the UK.  For more information about these court surfaces, you can view their website HERE.

The most popular tennis court surface type amongst professional players in the UK is the clay court specification.  This system slows the ball down and makes it easier to develop certain skills during training and matches. In fact, 88% of the top 10 tennis players carry out their training on clay courts, so the benefits speak for themselves. However natural clay tennis court surfacing can be difficult to look after and the heavy maintenance requirements are often unsustainable for local tennis clubs and sports facilities. This is where synthetic clay court surfacing can be the perfect solution for clubs who want the performance qualities of real clay but don’t have the budget to carry out a lot of ongoing maintenance.

Artificial clay tennis court systems such as the ClayCourt Pro specification from Sports and Safety Surfaces are made up of a synthetic carpet which has sand infill within the fibres to keep the playing surface stable and to replicate the characteristics of a natural clay facility. These favourable performance qualities include ideal ball bounce, player slide and speed of play to enhance the overall playing experience and make it easier to improve different skills. The artificial clay tennis surfacing design is fully accredited by the ITF with a court pace two medium/slow rating to endorse the quality of the system. Both the carpet and the sand are dyed a terracotta red colour to match the appearance of real clay surfacing, and the baking method used to colour the sand ensures that the colour won’t fade over time from sun exposure and heavy use.

Unlike natural clay court flooring, the synthetic specification is completely porous meaning that water can drain away easily, allowing training and matches to continue during wet weather where a real clay surface would become flooded very quickly. A lot of dust tends to get thrown up when you play on a natural clay court; this can stain players’ clothes and skin, as well as affecting the line markings meaning that they need to be regularly reapplied. This problem doesn’t happen with the synthetic clay court system so no colour is transferred onto clothes, it also means that the artificial specification can be used for indoor facilities as well as outdoor courts.

With any sports facility surface, you need to carry out regular maintenance to look after it once the initial installation is complete. This is no different with synthetic clay tennis courts, however the maintenance requirements are much simpler and less time consuming compared with real clay surfacing. Regularly brushing and re-spreading the sand infill layer, as well as removing debris and contaminants from the surface should be enough to keep an artificial clay court performing to its maximum potential.

This infographic outlines the specification and benefits of synthetic clay tennis court systems:

Clay Court Pro – An infographic by the team at Artificial Tennis Clay Court Surface

Photo in this article provided by Soft Surfaces Ltd