Summer Sports - Tennis
Agripower Contractors
Court testing in full swing
able to bake the surface without the need for additional weight. That said, there have been years where we’ve needed to ballast up something bigger, because weather and, therefore, time has been against us, and we’ve needed to pull more moisture out of the surface quicker then we’d like in an ideal world. This though, is where we think testing equipment does have its place. We’re not suggesting that Clegg hammers, or moisture probes, should ever replace the experience, touch and feel of a well-qualified grounds professional. However, these tools can be used to confirm what we often suspect, and refine and fine tune our decision making. The other advantage for us, is that we can seek some level of consistency and uniformity in what we are doing, not just from one court to another on site, but even from one venue to another. As a pre-Wimbledon event, we try and produce courts which match their playing characteristics. By knowing what they aim for on a Clegg hammer reading, we can aim for a similar court hardness and, therefore, speed and bounce. The Clegg hammer and moisture meter, for our venue in particular, are invaluable pieces of equipment and detect variations with far greater accuracy then we could by touch and feel. In some ways, this is where the level of play for which you are preparing your surface may decide whether these implements are worthwhile or not, as the variations in moisture for us may only affect the bounce of a ball on a forehand by, say 5-10cm. To the average club player, probably not a noticeable amount, but to players from the world’s top ten, that is a huge margin.
As a result, we test the courts morning and night during the playing season, on at least fifteen pre-determined points on each court, so that we can monitor consistency, and address as necessary. For example, if an area has become too hard compared to the rest of the courts on the Clegg Hammer, we can confirm the problem is that it is too dry by checking the moisture probe readings for that area, and then apply additional local irrigation to address the problem. This is where the tools are invaluable to us. Anyone familiar with our site and our construction will know the issues we face with
inconsistency. Our three practice courts are constructed on native soil and, so, are significantly affected by the water table. Our block of four match courts and centre court were recently reconstructed (2012/13), but not in a way that we would have wanted, had we been working at the club at the time! We have subsoil where there should be topsoil, road stone and gravel all over the place, and even the depths of each vary across individual courts, never mind from one to another!
On a perfect construction, the only allowance you would likely need to make when drying down would be for shading at the south end, however, for us, our courts don’t dry consistently because of the issues
underneath the grass. Being able to test the surface hardness and moisture levels on a very local level allows us to make adaptations to our maintenance that, from feel alone, we’d struggle to refine to the level required. Now, there is no arguing that this isn’t currently working for us. The courts have been acknowledged as being
PC APRIL/MAY 2016 I 87
Sports Turf Specialists
Sports turf construction and renovation, drainage & irrigation, hard & soft landscaping,
Tel: 01494 866776
info@agripower.co.uk www.agripower.co.uk
50 Years of Good Grounding
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