How to Make a Backyard Grass Tennis Court

-ehow.com

Strategic use of cell phones, BlackBerries during matches posing problems in tennis

Liz Clarke

The Washington Post

WASHINGTON–From the vantage point of the broadcast booth, there was little doubt about what was going on during changeovers of a third-round match at the Australian Open last January.

TV cameras captured a player repeatedly reaching into his racket bag to use a BlackBerry-type device at the same time his coach, looking on from the stands, was captured on TV using his own BlackBerry-type device.

After tournament officials were informed about the behaviour, which smacked of a violation of the sport’s ban on coaching during matches, the chair umpire ordered the player in question, Dudi Sela, to stop.

Sela, who lost in four sets, told reporters afterward he had only been trying to turn off his vibrating phone.

But he was fined $1,500 (U.S.) for unsportsmanlike conduct – in this case, according to Australian Open referee Wayne McKewen, using his mobile phone during a match – and didn’t appeal.

It was never established that Sela’s coach texted tactical advice. But if so, it would hardly have been the first time the sport’s coaching ban was flouted. It simply would have represented the latest technological twist on an age-old ruse.

Coaching is an integral part of nearly all stick-and-ball sports. NFL coaches bark elaborate instructions into quarterbacks’ headsets from the first snap to the last. NBA coaches are celebrated for drawing up buzzer-beating plays. And caddies advise on club selection.

But coaching has traditionally been banned in professional tennis – a sport, at its essence, that pits one athlete against another in a test of skill, fitness, mental resolve and tactical guile.

“It’s part of the beauty of the sport,” says former world No.1 Jim Courier, who was in the broadcast booth for Sela’s match in Melbourne. “The lack of coaching on court makes tennis unique, and it’s something we should guard.”

But as the line between sports and entertainment has blurred in tennis, so, too, has the stance on coaching.

Both the men’s and women’s tours have experimented with limited coaching during matches and, in some instances, broadcast the advice given.

At the moment, coaching is banned in the men’s game and in all matches at the four majors – Wimbledon and the Australian, French and U.S. Opens. But it’s allowed on the women’s tour, as well as in Davis Cup competition and World TeamTennis.

Veteran coach Nick Bollettieri, who has nurtured such champions as Andre Agassi and Maria Sharapova, can make a case for and against it.

“Some say (coaching) takes away from the thought process and limits whether or not the player can make decisions for themselves,” Bollettieri said. “On the other hand, if you’re able to do some constructive coaching at times of difficulty, that might help the player get through it when they have to do it on their own.”

Bollettieri, for one, isn’t ashamed to say he has taken liberties with the rules – sometimes signalling advice by removing his sunglasses at a critical juncture; other times by scratching his head.

At the French Open years ago, Bollettieri says he gave one of his pupils an index card listing several gestures and the corresponding tactic he wanted her to employ for each. But when she looked up at him for the signal during the first changeover, he realized he had forgotten to put his own copy of the index card in his shirt pocket.

“I’d forgotten the card,” Bollettieri says, laughing. “So for the whole match, I never moved a muscle.”

Policing the line between general encouragement that’s acceptable (“Keep after him!”) and specific advice that’s not (“Attack his backhand!”) can be difficult.

Todd Martin remembers an exhausting five-set match at the U.S. Open years ago against a Spaniard whose coach sat directly behind the chair umpire and out of his line of sight so he could discreetly give advice in Spanish during changeovers.

After falling behind two sets to none, Martin called for the supervisor of officials, who told him he couldn’t do anything about it. So Martin asked him to sit beside his opponent’s coach. The advice stopped. And after the momentum turned in Martin’s favour in the final set, his opponent blurted out in Spanish, “Give me back my hands!”

“You can’t put duct tape over a coach’s mouth and handcuffs around his wrists,” Martin said. “You also can’t ask them all to encourage their players in English. But it has to be monitored by the umpire and by the supervisor and referees as well.”

It’s that time of year – post-Wimbledon and with the school holidays still stretching ahead – when thoughts may well turn to tennis courts, as in ”wouldn’t it be nice if we had our own?”

Apart from the joy of being able to send the family to the bottom of the garden rather than transport them anywhere, tennis courts have an added social dimension. Your own court means impromptu ”bring your racquet” parties with friends and neighbours and relaxed Sundays at home with Pimms. Rain may well stop play, but you won’t have far to go when the sun returns.

Does it, though, make economic sense to invest in a court? Will it add value when the time comes to sell or will it put some buyers off?

“We have plenty of buyers looking for homes with tennis courts,” says James Cleland, partner in Knight Frank’s country department. “A court can certainly add value, although anyone considering building one should be extremely careful where they position it and be sure they have enough space. A plot with less than an acre and a half may mean the court would dominate the garden too much.”

In which case, you would risk detracting from your home’s value rather than adding to it. Estate agents tend to agree it’s trickier to quantify the value added by a court compared to extensions to a property.

“A rough ballpark figure to have a court built would be somewhere between £15,000 and £40,000, depending on earthworks needed and different types of surface, fencing and so on,” says Cleland. “If you spent £20,000 you can’t say it will instantly add £20,000 to the property’s value, although it should be a plus if done properly.”

Positioning your court is key, but first contact your local planning authority (LPA) because rules govern fence heights, change of land use (you can’t just put a court on land designated as agricultural), hard surfaces and drainage, not to mention floodlights (best avoided). Planning rules vary widely.

“Get something in writing from your LPA to avoid problems later,” says Graham Fisher, managing director of Halcyon Courts, in Peterborough, who has been building courts for 20 years.

A court should be far enough away from the house not to detract from the beauty of the garden and hidden from view by hedging or trees. Beware of overhanging branches as you won’t want to spend time clearing debris. “Have a north-south position rather than east-west to avoid sun in your eyes in the evenings,” says Fisher. Grass is nice if you have someone to maintain it, but most people choose an all-weather porous surface for easy drainage. If you want your court to be a social hub, add a pavilion.

“Don’t expect an instant court,” adds Fisher. “Even if the planning side goes smoothly, the base has to be dug and laid before the surface can be added, which can stretch over several months. Ideally, get your base done in the colder months ready for the surface to be laid in warmer weather, as it will need to ”settle in” before use.” So start planning now…

Making your own centre court

• Contact your local planning authority first or see www.planningportal.gov.uk See the ‘Facility advice and Guidance’ on the Lawn Tennis Association website: www.lta.org/clubs/resources

• Use a specialist contractor to construct your court, make sure they come with plenty of experience and guarantees: personal recommendation is best

• Positioning is key – not too close to the house and hidden from view behind trees/shrubbery is best

• Approximate average cost is about £15,000-£30,000 depending on location, earthworks, type of surface, fencing and lighting

• It usually takes a minimum of two months to construct a court because the surface isn’t ready to play on for several weeks after laying. Ideally, dig the base in the winter/spring and lay the surface in late spring/summer when weather is warmer.

How to tend a grass tennis court

Grass courts require constant maintenance, says Jean Vernon.

• Grass courts require constant maintenance; mowing, rolling, feeding, weeding, moss control, scarifying and aerating. Either pay a grass professional, or buy the kit to do it yourself. And that’s assuming you already have the top-quality grass sward required as a playing surface.

• The surface must be uniform and smooth with no hollows or bumps to deviate the balls, and firm so it supports the correct bounce and pace of play. It must be free from weeds.

• Mow using a top-quality lawnmower that can mow down to 6mm. Most rotary lawnmowers will not cut this close; cylinder mowers such as the Atco Balmoral (from £730, 0844 736 0108; www.atco.co.uk) are most effective. Always remove the clippings.

• Roll the court during the season – cylinder mowers are ideal as they have substantial rear-rollers.

• Grass should be scarified in spring to remove any thatch.

By Go-Wheelchairs

Since its inception in 1976, wheelchair tennis has become one of the fastest growing and challenging sports. The recent interest generated by media exposure and propelled by the encouragement of this sport by top notch tennis players such as Martina Navratilova and Jim Courier, has made the public realize the potential this wheelchair sport has for the disabled. It provides opportunities to people with disabilities to participate in a competitive environment, to fully develop their physical and mental capabilities while at the same time providing recreation.

The sport can be played on any regular tennis court, with no modification to rackets and balls. However, there are special wheelchairs designed for tennis players. These wheelchairs have wheels that are slanted outwards to provide speed and maneuverability on the tennis court. They are also more lightweight than traditional wheelchairs. While able-bodied tennis players have to work on both upper body and lower body strength, tennis players in wheelchairs have to have a high degree of upper body strength complemented by good coordination of both the hands. A wheel chair player has to move around quickly using one hand to move the chair and the second hand to hit the tennis ball with their raquet. This requires a certain degree of training, but where there is determination and persistence, obstacles just melt away!

In playing tennis from a wheelchair, the rules of the game are the same as those of traditional tennis. The only difference in the regulations is that players are allowed two bounces of the ball —- the first bounce has to be within the bounds of the court. The player must return the ball before it hits the ground a third time. The rules are similarly modified when a player on a wheeled chair faces an able bodied player. In this case the able bodied player has to hit the ball after once bounce.

Tennis is a demanding game and to make a successful player, high levels of fitness and skill are required. These tennis skills MUST be complemented with a good strategy.

Happy Tennis Playing!

AN elderly man is in serious condition tonight after his car rolled down an embankment and slammed into a tennis court.

The Melville man was reversing out of his driveway at 2.30pm when he overshot the road and rolled down an embankment, police spokeswoman Ross Weatherall said.

The car came to a stop after it collided into the gates of a tennis court.

The man is believed to be in serious condition with severe head injuries at Fremantle Hospital.

Tennis courts are standard in dimension, but vary widely in surface material. Tennis rules dictate the length, width, and placement of the lines on a tennis court. Tennis courts have a variety of surfaces and can be either outdoors or indoors. In this article, we will introduce the basic dimensions and aspects of the tennis courts and discuss the different types of tennis court surfaces.

The rules of tennis dictate that tennis courts be 78 feet long from baseline to baseline. A net, 3 feet high in the middle, divides the court into two equal halves. Tennis courts are 36 feet wide from doubles sideline to doubles sideline, and 27 feet wide from singles sideline to singles sideline.

Unlike the dimensions of a tennis court, the tennis court surface can vary in character. The different surfaces have different characteristics that affect the style of play. Common surfaces for outdoor tennis courts include grass, red clay, green clay, and hard courts. In addition, indoor tennis courts often have hard surfaces or synthetic, carpet-like surfaces.

The very first tennis courts were made of grass. While the number of grass tennis courts has decreased in recent years, some remain, and the world’s most prestigious tennis tournament, The Championships at Wimbledon, is still played on grass tennis courts.

Grass tennis courts are considered a fast surface because the ball moves quickly through the court when it bounces. Typically, the ball stays low and close to the ground. Because of the speed of the court and the unreliability of the bounce, historically players playing on grass tennis courts prefer to volley the ball out of the air whenever possible.

Red clay and green clay are the two types of clay, or slow, court surfaces. Red clay tennis courts are made of natural clay or crushed red brick. The French Open is played on red clay courts. Green clay, the more common type of clay court in the U.S., is made of Har-Tru, a mixture of crushed stone, rubber, and plastics. Clay courts are considered slow because the ball bounces more slowly off the court. Typically, players playing on clay tennis courts prefer to hit balls off the bounce from behind the baseline.

Hard courts, the most common court surface in the U.S., are another fast court surface. Hard courts are made of asphalt or concrete coated with a thin sealer and special paint. Some types of hard courts have more extensive, rubberized coatings. The ball bounces high off hard tennis court surfaces and moves through the court quickly. Because the ball has a reliable bounce and the ball moves quickly off the court, players can employ a variety of tactics. Generally, aggressive play is preferred.

Finally, tennis players also play indoors, especially during the winter, on indoor tennis courts. Indoor tennis court surfaces are made of concrete or a synthetic or plastic material that mimics grass. Indoor tennis courts are generally the fastest tennis court surface of all. At the professional level, hard serves, volleys, and powerful grounds trokes dominate matches on indoor tennis courts.