Tennis court cleaning is an essential part of tennis court maintenance. It helps maintain the longevity of the court surface and ensures that the players can enjoy a safe and enjoyable playing experience. Proper tennis court cleaning requires attention to detail and specialized equipment, as well as knowledge of the specific materials used in constructing a tennis court.
Tennis court cleaning
Cleaning and maintaining a tennis court is an important responsibility for any tennis club or facility. Tennis court cleaning is essential to ensure that the surface of the court remains safe and playable, as well as to protect the investment made in the court.
Types of sports surfaces
Here are the different surfaces in sports facilities and the maintenance work they require.
1. Dirt surfaces
The sports played on this type of surface are usually tennis, long jump pits, football, petanque and maintenance gymnastics circuits.
Common care is as follows:
Watering
The amount of watering will depend on the sport to be practised. Each sport requires different surface qualities.
Decompacting the surface
Helps to prevent the loss of surface properties: hardness of the soil and problems with puddling and/or lack of drainage. After decompaction, a mat or brush should be used to re-levelling and a machine should be used to compact the soil.
Addition of topsoil
Over time it may be necessary to add more soil to achieve optimum conditions.
2. Natural grass
Fertilisation. Depending on the needs of the soil as indicated by the analysis, it is possible to know what type of fertiliser is needed and how often to fertilise the area.
Irrigation. This will be done according to external conditions: rainfall, soil humidity, the degree of evaporation, among others. Watering should be done evenly and preferably at night to avoid evaporation.
Airing. Serves to decompact the soil and oxygenate it.
Scarifying. This is used to remove the felt (a surface layer 1 or 2 cm thick formed by the remains of leaves, roots and loose soil).
3. Artificial turf
Sports played on artificial turf are football, rugby, baseball, hockey, tennis and paddle tennis. This surface is easier and cheaper to maintain than natural grass. The tasks that require this type of turf are:
Cleaning and removal of elements
It is advisable to clean the court regularly as papers, pipes, dry leaves, etc. can accumulate.
Cleaning the drainage gutters
This surface is impermeable, so the drainage must be cleaned periodically to ensure that it fulfils its function correctly.
Decompaction
This action prevents the loss of cushioning and shock absorption.
Brushing
This operation prevents the fibre from caking and loss of elasticity. It also prevents premature ageing.
Watering
If the pitch is wet, it improves the friction between the player and the turf, thus avoiding possible burns. It also increases the useful life of the pitch and reduces wear and tear.
Disinfection of the irrigation system
This is done to prevent the appearance of legionellosis.
4. Concrete and resin flooring
Sports played on this surface include indoor football, handball, basketball, tennis, paddle tennis, pelota, roller hockey, skating, skateboarding, skateboarding and BMX. Within this category, there are three different surfaces: porous concrete, screeds with some kind of surface hardening treatment or synthetic resin flooring. The care to be taken into account is:
Surface polishing
This is usually done on hockey or skating rinks to avoid irregularities caused by wear and tear.
Cleaning of the surface
Most of these rinks are located outdoors, so dust and dirt accumulation is normal.
Repair of small holes
The sooner this defect is corrected, the better, because if it is left to stand, it will spread in a short space of time.
Plastic and linoleum floor coverings
The sports played here are indoor football, handball, basketball, volleyball, multi-purpose sports halls, athletics, fencing and weightlifting.
Clay tennis court maintenance
A clay tennis court needs a high investment in hours of dedication to keep them in good condition, an essential condition for the customer to enjoy the courts in the best conditions.
For daily maintenance we recommend :
Passing the mat: it is essential to eliminate any irregularities that may exist on the surface and to distribute the clay evenly throughout the court. This should be done not only from the lines inwards, but also in the rest of the areas of the court that we may walk on during a training session or a match.
Sweeping the lines: once the mat is over, there will be a layer of earth on the lines that will make it difficult to see the limits. For this reason, we should sweep all the lines with a brush, a broom or a line roller so that the pitch is clearly visible.
Water the soil: lastly, to prevent the soil from becoming too loose (this causes slips and makes it easier for a gust of wind to blow it away), it is necessary to water the course and keep it at the right level of humidity. This is something my friend Rafa Lucena knows a lot about, as he always waters perfectly, without leaving waterlogged areas or dry areas. It is very important to do it correctly, because an excess of watering can leave the court muddy, which would be very detrimental to your tennis experience.
Annually you should also do a maintenance of the clay court, the steps are:
- Level the court, scrape the high areas, and patch those with depressions. To evenly distribute all the clay on the court, thus creating a uniform surface.
- Adding new clay, the effects of the weather, and even daily maintenance can lead to a certain amount of clay being lost, which must be replaced annually.
- Finally, the lines of the court that have deteriorated must also be restored.
According to the daily and periodical maintenance carried out, a more or less exhaustive annual maintenance should be done.
Annual maintenance
We finish this post with the annual maintenance of the tennis courts. Every year the courts should be levelled, new clay should be added because the weather conditions make it disappear little by little and the white lines that deteriorate should be restored.
As you can see, there are quite a few things that need to be done with a clear objective: to be able to enjoy our favourite sport, on our favourite surface. Do it periodically.
Do you think that with what we have told you in this post you will get a proper maintenance and a good cleaning of the tennis courts?