What kind of grass is traditionally used at wimbledon

It was Major Wingfield that widely promoted the game by selling instructions to play the game accompanied by sets of equipment. There is an astronomical amount of work that goes into the preparation and care of the lawns at Wimbledon…. From the moment that the tournament finishes the work begins for the next year, being completely stripped ready to be re-sown. When the grass is stripped back using the best machinery in the business, the ground is then thoroughly weeded to limit the chance of any regrowth.

Once this is done the lawn undergoes a rigorous aeration process including tilling the soil. There is a dedicated team led by Neil Stubley that gets this process done in a relatively short space of time to get a fast turnaround so the courts are ready to play again as soon as possible. Once the soil is in the appropriate condition they grounds team moving on to lawn seed planting. When it comes to grass seed, Wimbledon tennis lawns have their very own produced to ensure optimum growth.

The seed is a mix of perennial ryegrass which is used in combination with a controlled-release fertiliser to speed up the development of the grass. This is a meadow grass that can spread quickly and have a very negative effect on the perfect lawns.

Players adapt. Until , it was Eddie Seaward who was the head groundsman at Wimbledon. In , he was replaced by Neil Stubley. Grass usually needs a dry soil to grow properly. Since there has been no change in the dimensions of tennis balls. The same year, research proposed that 8mm is the optimum height of the grass for the ball to bounce. During the Championships the grass is cut every day to maintain its height. Ground staff also tracks the hardness of the surface, chlorophyll index, and the live grass content to make sure they are within normal limits.

The answer is: the grass. After the first week, most people believe that the organizers have scheduled the middle Sunday so that the players can take a day off. That is not the case. Water is an essential factor for the proper growth of grass. The middle Sunday is the day when the grounds men give maximum water to the grass to prepare it for the second week.

Doing so on days when matches are to be played is dangerous for players as it could cause them to slip and be injured. Finally, while on day one, the lawns of SW19 are the envy of horticulturalists everywhere, the courts begin to deteriorate as soon as the first match has commenced. As the surface deteriorates, the bounce becomes less predictable and luck enters the frame ever more.

Wimbledon should showcase tennis at its best. But what we see in Wimbledon are not players at their best, but players making the best of an unfamiliar and unpredictable surface. A sport should honour its history, but it should not be hamstrung by it.

The use of this surface is needlessly risky, it is out of step with the modern tennis world, and it does not showcase the modern tennis athlete. It would be extraordinary if Wimbledon still insisted on players using wooden rackets, because racket technology has moved on and the sport is better for it. In this respect, what is true of rackets is also true of courts.

Portsmouth Climate Festival — Portsmouth, Portsmouth. Edition: Available editions United Kingdom. Become an author Sign up as a reader Sign in. Stubley is not the type to panic about the condition of the 19 courts under his care. Stubley and his 16 team members are a shining example. Perhaps with a green hue. At no other tennis facility in the world does the state of the courts have such a significant influence on the game. Immediately after finishing college, Stubley joined the club and rose from student trainee to chief gardener.

He was the natural successor to legendary head groundsman Eddie Seaward and has been involved in 27 editions of the tournament overall. Each Wimbledon involves matches spread over 19 courts. Whoever has witnessed what happens around the grounds overnight knows the incredible level of care lavished on the facilities.

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