On Wednesday 20 June the club paid for the surfaces of all three of our courts to be professionally cleaned.  A company called Dualway Courts provided a competitive quote and agreed to undertake the work - the company is active at other courts in the area having been responsible for the facilities at Wrexham Tennis Centre for a number of years, and they came to us after completing cleaning work in Gresford.

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Slippery When Wet?

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The cleaning work was deemed necessary after the club's Lead Coach received comments during coaching sessions that the surfaces felt too slippy when wet.  Advice on court maintenance suggests that annual cleaning is a necessary expense to ensure moss does not build up and also to clear dust and pieces of rubber worn from the underside of tennis shoes.

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There is, however, some uncertainty as to whether the cleaning work on Courts 1 and 2 will have the desired effect.  These two courts were spray painted 2 years ago (whilst Court 3 was painted only a year ago) and there are signs that the paint, which contains grit to assist friction, has worn to the point where re-application is required.  The paint surface typically lasts for 3-4 years, however the first paint application after a new surface has been laid often last less than this as, even though the porous macadam is left to cure for several months prior to painting, some bitumen seepage can still occur and affect paint adhesion.

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The club's management committee will be monitoring the situation over the coming weeks to consider whether to arrange re-painting of Courts 1 and 2 this year, and it would useful for members to get in touch to provide input on the post-clean grippiness - please advise if you're finding it just as slippy as before, and please also advise if you've found a good improvement.  Thank you!