My First Real Tennis Points in 15 Years - on Clay Court!

After barely playing competitive points for the last 15–16 years, I finally got back on the tennis clay court with my friend Ricardo here in Spain — and this is how it went.

I grew up on clay, so I expected long rallies and grinding points. Instead, Ricardo’s serve immediately put me under pressure with aces, aggressive placement, and tough first balls. I missed way too many returns early on, especially trying to return aggressively like I would on hard courts.

During the session, I experimented with a few return adjustments:
• Chipping more returns with slice
• Standing farther back on return
• Trying to create longer clay-court rallies
• Mixing in drop shots and trying to go behind him

Some adjustments worked better than others… and some points reminded me I might still have a little tennis left in me.

If you're an advanced beginner, intermediate, or returning tennis player, you'll probably relate to the timing issues, movement adjustments, and tactical decisions that come with getting back into match play — especially on clay.

It was super fun and I will definitely challenge Ricardo to more re-matches?

🎾 Partner Links & Discounts

My Patreon Membership for MORE and EXCLUSIVE Content
patreon.com/Meikebabel

ADV Tennis – 10% off
advtennis.pro/MEIKE24595

Titan Ball Machines – 10% off
titanballmachines.com/Meike

SwingVision – FREE Swing Stick with Pro Subscription
swing.tennis/r/meiketennis

STIGA Rackets & Gear – 15% off with code: MEIKE15
adtr.co/96dv1b

TopspinPro – Tennis Training Aid
topspinpro.com/product/topspinpro-tennis-training-aid/ref/meike

TennisFitness.com – 10% off with code: Meike
memberstennisfitness.com

Full disclosure: I receive a small commission on each sale of the above products. Which will help me keep making the content you expect from me :-)