Court Construction
PACE RATINGS determine the levels of friction between the ball and the court. The sand goes The Science Behind through gradation analysis to test its sieve curve. The tighter the curve, the Court Pace less chance of deviation to court speed. Sand plus science—and many more How the courts are installed is also a determining factor: Environmental details—equals speed. A closer look at circumstances like the temperature of the court and the ball all have to Laykold, the US Open’s new surface. be taken into consideration. How the courts are installed impacts their speed. By Wesley Baum A broom-fi nished court will create more peaks and valleys in the sand, which creates superior abrasion resistance and reduces the court’s hen it comes every tournament, there is much riding speed. A squeegee fi nish will result in a to the speed of on getting speed right—and never more tighter, smoother matrix, which in turn a tennis court, so than with the US Open, a tourna- speeds up the court. tournaments set ment known worldwide for being the the pace. It is the fastest on the pro tennis circuit and Scientifi c knowledge and experience court W manufacturer’s job to pinpoint exacting in its objective to remain so. provide an advantage: The formula the tournament’s desired pace ratings for success requires R&D investment as accurately as possible—which may Sand is the main agent of pace: The and scientifi c know-how built up over sound simple, but is much harder to margins of speed are tiny. And so too time to get speed consistently right. For achieve in practice. is the main factor that infl uences the more than 25 years, APT and Laykold What is the science behind building a court’s pace: sand. It’s not just the have carried out extensive surface court to a specifi c pace rating, and why presence of sand that is important, but testing to determine how to achieve a does it matter so much? the type and blend of sand. The specifi c variety of Court Pace Ratings between The speed of a court determines angles of the grains, and how they the ITF Category 2, 3 and 4 data points. how a player plays it. It also, therefore, interact with the grains around them, The results have been used to develop determines the fan experience. So, for are both agents of pace because they a formulation database enabling us to perfect how we dial in those pace rat- ings and tailor surface speed. We’ve also developed a proprietary blend of sand that ensures consistency of surface pace and speed of play.
Proving pace accuracy: But you don’t need to take our word for it. The courts, once laid, are independently tested by the ITF in three locations with 14 shots per location. This equates to 900 hours of testing in total for the US Open alone. Using our formulation database for pinpointing pace ratings, we are cur- rently delivering court pace ratings for the US Open that meet USTA expecta- tions within one point of the requested pace. This is the result of years of R&D, proving that even the fastest courts cannot be rushed.
Wesley Baum is an R&D chemist and Technical and Field Support Manager for
Laykold, the new surface of the US Open. LAYKOLD COURTESY PHOTO OF MIAMI OPEN COURT
16 RACQUET SPORTS INDUSTRY September/October 2020 www.tennisindustrymag.com