The game of tennis is played on many surfaces from concrete to clay to grass. Learn tips for playing on clay courts in this video tennis lesson.
Use clay court for knee or hip problems
Be patient
Have good shot selection and tolerance
Learn to slide
Point toes in direction of slide
Jeff is a certified USPTA Professional and Tennis Director at Heathrow Country Club in Florida. Prior to that he has been a tennis director at numerous Country Clubs. He has been a reigning champion in USPTA National 40's singles and doubles for two years.
JEFF COHEN: Hi, I'm Jeff Cohen. In this segment, we're going to talk about how to play on clay. So you've got your racket, you've got the balls, and now you're on the court. If you're on a clay court, it's a very, very forgiving surface. So if you have a little bit of a problem in your knee or a little bit of problem with your hip, this is the surface for you, less wear and tear in your body. Let's talk about the actual surface itself. Clay court tennis versus hard court tennis or indoor tennis or even grass court tennis, it's a much slower game. So in order for you to be successful on clay court, you have to be very patient. You have to have good shot selection and shot tolerance. You don't want to be eager to end the point rather quickly. You want to wait for the right ball whether it's a short ball and you pound a forehand, or it's a short ball and you transition into the net. But remember, it's a little bit slower game so you have to be a lot more patient, and you genuinely have to take more time in building a point, setting up the point. Another key ingredient on clay court tennis is learning how to slide. This takes years of practice but you can master it if you really work at it. One of the things that you want to do is when you're moving to the ball, your front foot, when you're moving with your front foot, you want to make sure that your toe or your foot is pointed in the direction of your moving so that will allow you to slide properly. And if you want to stop, you just put a little bit more weight on your front foot. You don't want to slide with your foot perpendicular to the net. You might roll your ankle or you might get injured. And those are just a couple of things to think about when playing on clay. Have fun.
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