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Tennis courts can be outdoors or indoors, and can have a variety of surfaces.
Each surface can benefit a style of play, and knowing how to play on each surface can improve your matchplay.
The main types of outdoor court are described below:
Grass courts are becoming less and less common because of the time and money needed to maintain them, they can only be used for a few months a year due to fact that they cannot be used during rainy periods.
Grass courts play very fast, the ball does not bounce very high and the ball skids off the surface. This means that generally it is suited to hard hitters, and volliers (i.e. don't let the ball bounce). Grass courts tend to play slower and the ball bounces higher the drier they are, so during a dry Wimbledon you will see more baseliners doing well.
This is a court with a surface made of clay, crushed shale, stone or brick. Again these courts take a lot of maintenance, they need to be "dragged" after each play and need regular attention from ground staff. Again they are not good in all weathers and are not able to be used in very wet conditions. In England we do not have many clay courts but they are very popular in Europe and South America.
Clay courts play very slow, the ball bounces very high and the ball does not skid off the surface. This means that generally it is suited to baseline players who have the time to use their large swings.
A tennis court whose surface is made out of asphalt, concrete or a similar material.
Cement courts play fast or slow depending on the texture of the top surface. When it is left rough the game will be markedly slower. Asphalt court plays faster when sprayed with green paint.
An astro turf court is one of the most popular court types in the UK, the surface is similar to the surface of artificial football pitches.
The surface is very good in all weathers, and you can even play on them during the rain.
The downside of these courts is that they are very fast and low bouncing (playing similar to a grass court) and as such does not promote good baseline play, so crutial to modern tennis.
