Guide to Modern Day Tennis Court Construction

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• A Guide To Modern Day Tennis Court Construction

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• In recent years tennis has made a resurgence and
  the threat to courts in many communities is less
  than it has been. Since the COVID-19 lockdown
  started to ease around the world, tennis has been
  one sport that has been a popular choice as a
  non-contact sport and people have been flocking
  to the courts.
• Building new a tennis courts requires space,
  money and a special expertise to ensure the court
  is playable and the area around the courts is
  safe and usable.

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• As well as the construction of the court itself,
  court surfacing, lighting, fencing or perimeter
  walls, and any other amenities in the vicinity of
  the court need to be taken into account. Lighting
  will mean the court will get more use and allow
  players to play in different conditions. Then
  there is the positioning of the court in relation
  to the sun.

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• It is suggested that courts should be oriented as
  close to north/south as possible and the net line
  should be on the east/west axis. The reason it
  needs to be positioned like this is so the sun
  does not disrupt play, particularly in the early
  morning or late afternoon. The length of a court
  is around 78ft by 36ft wide. Mini courts for
  children learning the game are 36ft by 18ft.

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• There are several different surfaces to choose
  from clay courts, hard courts, grass courts,
  synthetic courts and carpet courts. The different
  courts all have a very different impact on how
  the game is played. For example, grass is
  considered to be the most difficult to play on as
  the ball moves so fast them.

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• The grass is grown on hard packed soil and how
  the court performs will be dictated by whether it
  has recently been mowed or how much it has been
  watered. The ball tends to bounce low and fast on
  a grass court, so it gives the opponent less time
  to be able to move. Grass courts are the most
  difficult to maintain.

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• Artificial grass is becoming a popular surface
  for recreational tennis. It is not used on
  professional courts, but it is can be used for
  warm up courts. The benefits of artificial grass
  courts are that they are easy to maintain with
  low maintenance costs, long lasting, weather
  resistant and are cheaper to construct than
  traditional courts. All of these factors are a
  bonus for cash-strapped local authorities and
  clubs on tight budgets. Clay courts are cheap to
  build and can be installed anywhere, even over
  the top of old and cracked asphalt courts. They
  do need to be looked after well to stop them from
  cracking.

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• The cost of tennis court construction depends on
  the surface that is being used, the size, and the
  condition of the surface that is being built on.
  It will also depend on how extensive the add on
  facilities are lighting, fencing, walls or any
  buildings. The average cost is usually around
  65,000, but could be as high as 100,000.

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• Major Walter Wingfield is said to be the person
  who started the game of tennis on courts outside.
  He took a version of Real Tennis out on to a lawn
  in 1873. It was called Sphairistike (Greek for
  playing ball) and was first played in Wales in
  the UK.

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• The process of constructing a tennis court starts
  with the excavation of the allocated space,
  taking off the top surface to the required depth.
  All courts are built on a level layer of
  foundation of asphalt and then topped up with
  acrylic layers. A geotextile layer is used to
  help with drainage, filtering and protection of
  the site. It is the amount of sand used in these
  acrylic layers that will determine how fast the
  ball will bounce.

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• Professional tennis tournaments have jazzed
  things up since the US Open decided to change
  their surface color green to blue in 2005. The
  reason for the change was to make the ball easier
  to see for both players and spectators.

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• Once your tennis court construction is complete,
  then it is important to maintain the space.
  Experts say that court maintenance is often not
  taken seriously enough. But it is the decisions
  you make at the start of the construction process
  that will impact how easy it is to maintain your
  court.

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• Cleaning at least every few weeks
• Introducing special rules to limit the damage of
  the court, like special shoes, not items like
  chairs dragged across the court and no eating or
  chewing gum that could dame the surface
• Fences are something to consider when
  constructing your court to prevent children from
  playing non tennis games on them, to stop animals
  getting in and stop any types of vehicles from
  getting on them

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• Installing a drainage system will mean surface
  water wont damage the surface, but it is
  important to check for leave and debris blocking
  the drainage
• Remove any surface water to prevent it from
  damaging the surface
• Consider getting the court colour painted in an
  anti-slip and anti-fungal paint that will help
  with maintenance
• Courts will need to be resurfaced every six to
  eight years to keep them in good working order

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Contact details

• CrowAll Surface Contractors Ltd.
• Address 2 Briardale Place, Aurora, Ontario,
  Canada, L4G 6M4
• Phone Number 416-951-4626
• Website http//crowall.ca/