For many homeowners it is their dream to own a tennis court – and in a perfect scenario they would have a grass court. Much of this is down to the popularity of the world’s most important tennis tournament, Wimbledon, which is famously played on grass. But while you might love to play on a grass court, there are many other aspects of ownership that aren’t as fun.
If you are interested in the possibility of getting a grass court installed, it’s worth understanding some of challenges associated with this type of surface, as well as some of the alternatives available.
The maintenance
Maintaining a grass court is a lot of work. To be able to play on the surface it is needs to be uniformly mown very short, whilst the grass needs to be in extremely good condition. Any poor patches can negatively effect play or even make it impossible. Maintaining a grass court takes up a great deal of time and expense, and needs to be worked on year-round.
Limited play time
Grass courts are very prone to playability problems if they experience any kind of poor weather. Even a light drizzle for a couple of hours can make it impossible to play on a grass court, and if you are playing and it starts to rain you might need to cut your play short. Additionally, due to the nature of the surface, there are no draining properties. This means that even a small amount of rain can make the court unplayable for a number of days.
The alternatives
Thankfully there are fantastic alternatives to real grass in the form of synthetic grass courts. These are quick draining courts that take very little maintenance. They are also far cheaper to manage over the course of their life span.
