David's Best Tips:

• Planning permission may not be required for building a grass court in your back yard.
• Allthough the stipulated area for a tennis court is 120 feet by 60 feet, 110 by 55 is adequate for most people and can shave thousands off the cost.
• Putting fencing only around the backs of the court saves money and is visually less intrusive.
• Cutting the corners off at 45 degrees doesn't effect play but instead is visually more pleasing and it also trickles the balls to the centre of the court behind the baseline.

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I mentioned earlier that the higher or lower you cut the grass according to the bounce of the ball will make. The same applies to carpet courts that are impregnated by sand. What they have is a long bristled carpet that you can put sand in and shake it down and pack it down and according to how much sand you have on it according to the speed. So you fill the bristles up to the top surface.

This is an Astroturf surface is it?

Yeah that's right, that type of thing. The Astroturf has to be more... not quite as sensitive as say a Savana grass court. In other words the plastic is harder wearing for.... 'cause the Astroturf are really for hockey players.

Yeah.

And they're tearing around with studs in their boots and this sort of thing you see. And so they need something a little bit less than for tennis, because tennis is a finer type of game and the movements, although they're very vigorous. It's not quite the same as using a hockey stick and running the type of running on the larger area you see. So the Savana grass courts still have the same principle that Dan Mascall used to use. "We'll cut it a bit it will make it a little bit faster", and... "That's too fast, we've skinned it - let it grow" this type of thing. See, well you can do that with these Astro-type kind of courts.

And is there any danger of over doing the sand and making too slippery? What makes it too slippery?

Well what makes it too slippery is if you don't have enough sand on it and if water gets on the plastic type bristles.

Ok.

That makes it very slippery, so the sand enables you to slide and I mean... you lay the sand on to the top of the bristles. You could sweep a little bit off if there's too much on - that type of thing. It needs quite a lot of tending, that surface, relative to a tarmac court. So the Savana.... the best Savana type court, and I'm not certain of the name of this one. But the best ever county player for Somerset was a man by the name of Tony Pierman. Now Tony Pierman is just a fanatical tennis player - a lovely guy, I mean he helps all sorts of people obtain... and what not... but later in life when he retired he build, in a field along side his house he built this wonderful court, it's absolutely lovely, and its the best little setting that I've ever seen of a tennis court. And of course he didn't put much wire up at the sides of the court and... it's absolutely lovely. And keeps it playing sort of medium speed. 'Cause he's getting on a bit now and he ... doesn't want it too fast you see.

Right.

But he keeps it perfect for his play.

And is there much... I mean you don't have to resurface those courts, or do you? What sort of maintenance is required apart from topping up the sand?

You got to make sure that you don't... dig in a little bit in the same certain areas. You'll see the areas at Wimbledon where the grass leaves, it's always the baseline and just inside the service line, meaning when you go into the net you get to the middle of the court and there are two patches there. And so the baseline wears and so you got to be very careful that you keep the sand in that area and don't lose it too much. Cause you'll get wear on the bristles of the carpet if you don't watch out, so you got to be careful. So after a game, Tony will go around and make sure it's not too badly affected and what have you. I've never owned one myself and it isn't 'til you have owned it and tended it that you know what happens to a court. But you should be fully aware that there are three areas... five...six in all, because either end of the court you have the baseline area where people serve from, and you've got to make sure that area is well tended. And when you get to the middle of the court either side again you've got these positions just about on the service line itself, where people stand and dig their feet in etc.

The places where you will commonly stand and then push off from?

Yeah, that's right. That's what I meant by digging in. It is that you ruck the court as you move as you move in those situations.

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