Foot Fault

Sunday, February 7, 2010
Indoor tennis backdrop curtains
All Court Covers
www.allcourtcovers.com
www.gymfloorcovers.org
877-393-9726

Indoor backdrop curtains were invented in the early 1970’s as a way of being able to play tennis all year round in climates that were not hospitable for winter playing. In the early 70’s the state of American tennis was at its zenith. Players like Billie Jean King, Jimmy Connors, John McEnroe, were at the top of their games and the fan interest in them was tremendous. There was an actual shortage of tennis courts to play on. Thus the indoor tennis club came into being. The original conception was just to put up a tennis barn with no curtains around them. When they tried that they found that the balls would bounce all over the place, making it difficult to play. With the court costs of $20 per hour, players found their time impugned, as they always had to stop play to retrieve other people’s tennis balls.

So it came to pass that the founding fathers hung tarps on ropes around the courts. Aesthetically this was not appealing to the players. The final solution was to string wire around the perimeter of the courts, and down the lengths of the courts in-between the tennis courts. Special tarps were designed to hang around the perimeter, and netting was used in-between the courts so the players wouldn’t run into each other. This was the beginning of the indoor tennis club even as we know it today. There are two gages of vinyl usually employed for use as a tennis backdrop curtain. The lightest weight is 13 ounce vinyl. 13 ounce usually comes in laminated form. Because the fabric is suspended from a wire over the court at a height of about 10 feet, enough weight must be used in order for this to hang nicely. When 10 ounce was tried it was found to be too light for this use. It had a tendency to curl up at the bottom. 13 ounce fabric is welded vertically at roll good widths. This allows for a minimal waste of fabric. The panels are laid side by side and welded together until the length of curtain desired has been reached. The finished curtains are then hung from the wires and overlap about 2 feet at the divider net line. The stronger gage of vinyl backdrop is either 18 or 20 ounces. It can come either coated or in laminate forms. This type of backdrop usually lasts the club for twenty five years or so. Tennis courts are very abrasive and can chew up the bottoms of these curtains. The heavier they are, the better they stand up to this kind of abuse. Also because of the greater weight they tend to hang better from the wire, and therefore look better also.

These curtains are made the same way as the 13 ounce. They are welded together vertically, in roll good widths, until the exact size specified has been reached. They also are overlapped about 2 feet at the divider net line. Tennis divider netting comes like tennis windscreens in three materials, polypropylene, polyethylene, and nylon. Each has some advantages and disadvantages. Nylon is either knotted or knotless. The colors can be green, black, or blue. Non-treated netting is white in color. A tennis ball is about the size of a baseball. The netting size is usually 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 inches in size. Nylon netting is more pliable and is more aesthetically pleasing. It can stretch however. The other types are not as pliable or as good looking as the nylon, but do not stretch as much. The final component for an indoor club would be the column pads, and any other surface pad required. Most steel buildings that are erected for indoor tennis have two types of columns. The columns that support the roof are called bent columns, and the side columns are called straight columns. The face of each column is different sizes so two types of pads is required. The bent columns usually have glue on face pads. The size is 60 inches in height, 14 inches in width, and depth of 4 inches. This size will protrude over the edges about 1 inch, enabling them to bend if hit from the side. The straight pad is 72 inches high, 10 inches wide and 4 inches deep. It goes on the same way as the other pad. With liability being what it is today, all surfaces in a club that might impact the players or bystanders should be padded. Especially if hidden from the view of the player.

Posted by Chuck Louer at 10:30 AM

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