We just returned from the PTR International Symposium of Tennis in Hilton Head Island, SC.

After the trade show we were able to spend some time picking up balls for the various manufacturers demo courts giving us quite a bit of time testing BRAD on clay.

With just a very small change to plastic bottom of the collection unit (very thin plastic runners were added to raise the level about 1/16”) BRAD performed flawlessly.

There is a very small amount of surface picked up with the balls,  this small amount is evenly dispersed on the court when raising the collection unit, what this means is slight imperfections on the court are actually removed by using BRAD, much like sweeping the courts.

There was also no issue with the lines of the court, BRAD just glides over effortlessly.

As I was picking up I realized quite a few unique things about BRAD I had never discovered before.

The courts had a brick border around the edges, at times this border was nearly an inch off the surface of the courts and quite a few balls would tend to rest on this ledge.

Because of the design of BRAD I was able to slightly lift the collection unit by pushing on the handle just enough to retrieve the balls off of the ledge, I don’t think other machines would do that.

I also kept finding balls hiding behind the sprinklers on the court, again because of the unique mobility of BRAD I was able to use the arm of the collection unit to give those balls a little push and move them from behind the sprinkler, after that I could simply back up and maneuver around the sprinkler to get the balls on the other side, another thing I don’t think other machines can do!

During this time I was  able to speak with quite a few Tennis Pros about their experiences with the larger drum type ball mowers.

What I heard was that the abrasiveness of the clay surface finds its way into the internals of the drum mechanism and causes premature wear.

Several pros mentioned that they could purchase a new BRAD every couple years for the cost of maintaining the larger machines.

I never thought of that being a problem but once again it just shows that sometimes simpler is better!

If you had doubts fear no more, BRAD works on ALL surfaces!