When I play tennis, only two things are certain: I’ll try in vain to hit a one-handed backhand like Richard Gasquet, and this will take place on a hard court.
I’ve been a hardcourt hacker all my life. At the local high schools where I play, concrete is the only option available. But I’ve always wanted to experience tennis on different surfaces, especially grass. I had some longstanding questions. How would it feel like retrieving shots that don’t bounce as high? Would my serve speed really get a noticeable boost on the lawn? And could my backhand find new life, as Gasquet’s has on grass in recent years?
Before I could get these answers, I had to find a grass court, which is no easy task. There are fewer professional tournaments on grass than ever before, and the surface is likewise endangered at the amateur level. Luckily, the West Side Tennis Club in Forest Hills, NY (former home of the U.S. Open) is still home to this exotic terrain. Recently, I had the chance to hit on grass with Thomas Gilliland, Junior Program Director at West Side and USTA/Eastern National Coach.
We started our session by hitting on a hard court for ten minutes. This way, the surface differences would become more apparent when I moved over to grass. After the warm-up, Thomas opened a can of white balls (which turned mint green by the end), and my grass court experience was about to begin.
Within the first ten seconds into our hit, I learned a valuable lesson: You must be quick on grass. Novice that I was, I waited for the ball to bounce to me at the baseline. It never came. Instead, it skidded, striking the court twice before I could get my racquet on it.
Problems arose even when I did reach the ball in time. I tend to put a fair amount of spin on my groundstrokes, but that was proving difficult on this faster surface. The result was weak returns that often went long or wide. “Everyone is late on grass,” Thomas said. “It will affect you differently based on how you play.” In my case, I couldn’t get the racquet over the ball quick enough. After a few mishits, Thomas pointed out what had happened. “You didn’t have time to close the racquet face – and the ball flew on you.”
In order to make better contact, I started to anticipate the next shot more and charged towards the ball. I often camp out on the baseline, so this was a significant adjustment I had to make. One tip that Thomas gave me was that I should run in diagonals, instead of my traditional side-to-side movement. “You can’t move parallel to the baseline like on clay and hard courts,” said Thomas, who compared the concept to a baseball outfielder moving to catch a pop fly in a higher-altitude park. This is because the path of the ball isn’t as predictable on grass. Taking Thomas’ advice, I started sprinting forward instead of doing a linear shuffle.
When watching Wimbledon on TV, you don’t get the sense of how low the ball is coming in and how quick it’s moving. This is partly due to the camera angle used, but mostly because these athletes know what to expect on grass. For casual players, playing on grass can be like playing a new kind of tennis. It was challenging for me at first, and I soon settled on simply getting the ball over the net. It didn’t seem like a worthy goal until I considered that my opponent would face the same difficulties that I did. I started placing more emphasis on solid contact – instead of placement and power – and was shocked at how many winners I hit.
While it took some time to see positive results when rallying, I saw immediate dividends when serving. The hard part was getting my pre-serve bounce under control – seriously, the uneven pitch below can do crazy things to the ball. Forget trying to play like Novak Djokovic on grass, I couldn’t even bounce the ball like him.
Once that was under control, I started hitting my serves as usual. The results were anything but ordinary. First serves that stayed in were usually winners, or led to meek returns that could easily be put away. The grass court really takes the ball well, adding to the momentum of the serve instead of absorbing its force. On grass, the returner is put under tremendous pressure.
I don’t serve-and-volley much, but it’s a very effective tactic on grass, as it puts even more pressure your opponent to hit a good return. I tried rushing the net a few times against Thomas, and got more comfortable up there than I first imagined. The discipline may be dying in the pro ranks, but for recreational players on grass, it's king. “Grass is difficult to play on at first,” said Thomas. “But for people with big serves [who] like to volley, it will help them.”
After being accustomed to the surface, I asked Thomas if there was any special equipment I should consider using. For weekend warriors (like myself), it's better use what you already have – you probably wouldn’t notice a difference anyway. But for truly dedicated players, Thomas suggests altering your string tension. “Drop your tension when you play on grass. The points are shorter, it adds pace to the serve, and ideally, you won’t be hitting too many groundstrokes.”
And as for that backhand of mine? I hit it better than ever. The reason is the same as why Roger Federer’s is more potent at Wimbledon than at Roland Garros – it’s easier to hit the ball with a full, powerful swing when it isn’t taking such a high bounce. Unfortunately, that’s where the comparisons between Federer and me stop.
We ended our hour-long session by playing a tiebreaker, which I promptly lost. But I didn’t go home empty-handed. Playing on grass for the first time was exhilarating, and I encourage anyone with a serious interest in tennis to find some turf of your own. It’s like discovering something completely new about a game you think you know everything about.
Thanks to Thomas Gilliland and the West Side Tennis Club for their cooperation and assistance.