OUR COURTS
Booking courts and care instructions
COURT BOOKINGS
To book a tennis court at Iffley, you must be either a social or team member of OULTC.
As of Michaelmas 2023, memberships no longer include the ability to book courts for personal use. If you wish to do this, you can buy a top-up membership from the reception desk at Iffley Road Sports Centre, which will allow you to book courts through the OU Sport app.
PLEASE NOTE:
Only 4 players are allowed per court. Before every session, courts should be watered and afterwards the court and lines should be swept. To maximise the health of our courts, people failing to do so will have their membership revoked.
Please observe the following guidelines for passing the tracks on the way to the courts:
-
Look out for others on the track. Don’t get in the way of lanes being used. Use the outside lanes.
-
Look both ways before moving across lanes.
-
If someone shouts ‘TRACK’ move as soon as practical and let them pass.
COURT CARE INFO
Before Play
If the courts are dry, water the courts using the hoses provided. When you unwind the hose, ensure it isn’t kinked or knotted before turning the tap on. After watering, please ensure that the hose is wound back in. Watering is not only necessary for maintenance, but also for better movement on court.
After Play
Drag the court you played on fence to fence (including the runoff area and not just the playing surface), taking extra care not to miss any spots. You should do this from the back of the courts where the clay accumulates the most, in a rectangular pattern making your way closer into the net. After brushing, use the line brush to clear the lines. If the courts are wet due to rain to the point where the clay clumps together, then you do not need to drag the courts. Do spend 3 minutes in watching this video about dragging the courts after play.
Lastly, there is absolutely no excuse for leaving rubbish on the courts when there are bins right outside of the clubhouse.
Watering
Water the courts well before play. They should be a nice dark red colour, not pale orange otherwise they are really dusty, which is not good for play or for the courts. The better you water the courts the better they play, just be careful to water them evenly so you don't make puddles. If the hose pipe does not reach the back of the court then two pipes can be joined together. Taps are underneath the hose coils but they should always be on.
Sweeping
Use the provided clay court sweepers to even out the playing surface by dragging it across the court until you have covered all the area within the lines and 2 metres behind the baseline. Please also use the line sweepers to clear clay off of the playing lines.
Rain
Our clay courts can be played in light rain. However, after your session DO NOT drag the courts as this will cause damage to the playing surface. If there are any standing puddles, the courts are out of action and cannot be played on.