Is it true that playing on clay requires power and energy rather than skills and competency?

Question

Or does it require all the above? Was that the factor why Nadal and not who gained the French Open crown in the recent two years?

Answer 1

all are required---power, energy, skills, and consistency! if you lack one.. you may be weak..

Answer 2

ofcourse it requires all the skills you've mentioned, but at the same time power and i would call it footwork and body strenght are the most important when you're playing on clay.

It is also very important that your body is in great condition because it's very easy to get injured on a clay court. Esp. you have to watch your ankles, i alway tape them when i play on a clay court.

That might be one of the factors why Rafa won past French Opens, but i think the main reason why he's doing so well on clay is that he's a spaniard and he grew up on a clay court, he knows it like his own pocket.

Answer 3

Clay just requires a different strategy and a few additionaly skills over hardcourt.  And I wouldn't really say that it's power that's winning.  It's spin.  Power wins on grass, because grass is a fast surface.  If you use spin on clay, the ball bites more into the clay so the spin takes more effect.

This is how Nadal has won.  He uses so much topspin, that his opponents are constantly hitting the ball at or above their shoulders, and that wears you down quickly.  

Clay also requires being able to slide and hit.  Sliding is the best way to stop yourself (and to keep yourself from slipping).  Clay is the only surface it's required on, but I've seen players do some sliding on hardcourt.  Believe me, it's not easy to learn to hit the ball while sliding, let alone hitting consistently and hard.

I will agree that clay takes the most energy for a 5 set match.  No question.  And like I said, clay caters more to a spin game than a power game.  And to top it off, it requires a few additional skills on top of everything you need to play on hardcourt.

Answer 4

All tennis games require energy, speed, skills and strategies.

Also, a mind that can read the opponent's mind.

Nadal loves clay, that's why he is good with it. But Federer, he loves grass, and doesn't really like clay courts.

Answer 5

It requires all of hte above, but in different proportions to other surfaces.

All the surface require a different kind of skill. e.g. Sampras was OK from the baseline, but excellent at net. That helped him win 7 wimbledons. Rafa  has excellent top spin ground strokes which bodes well for him on clay. Federer has a virtuoso all round game which works on all surfaces. It's different skills.

Answer 6

requires all of the above, but maybe you need more power than skills than in other surfaces, cause it's slower, and you can get to pretty much every ball.- sou it's more about hanging there

i don't like clay

Answer 7

Clay requires consistency, endurance, and speed or athleticism

you don't see the big servers with HUGE strokes winning at the french cuz the ball slows down when it hits giving their opponent more time to get to it, unlike grass cuz the ball skids on grass

Nadal doesn't make many errors, hardly ever gets tired, and can run down almost every ball on the court, those things combined make him so tough to beat on clay

Answer 8

yes