Do scuff marks on tennis courts affect the performance of the court?

I've played tennis since I was a kid and have always encountered the tennis-shoes-only-because-they-don't-scu... rule.





First, I can't find any literature (scientific evidence) about why tennis shoes don't scuff while others do. I swear I've had black soled non-tennis shoes that didn't scuff before...





Second, I can't find any evidence that scuffing actually damages the court surface. Seems to me that it just makes it look ugly.





My questions:





1) What are tennis shoe soles made of? Are they always made of the same material? Are non-tennis shoe soles ever made out of this material? Why do other shoes scuff while tennis shoes supposedly don't?





2) Is there any literature out there about this? Where?





3) How does scuffing affect the ability to play competitively on the courts? Is it just an aesthetic problem or does the shoe sole material somehow chemically react with the court surface or something, leading to failure or the need to resurface?





Thanks!

Do scuff marks on tennis courts affect the performance of the court?
The biggest problem with scuff marks is that they make it difficult to see where the mark that the ball made is. This makes it difficult to call lines.


Another problem would be that black marks all over the court would be very distracting to someone who is trying to play.
Reply:I think its purely aesthetics as well as making sure you don't have black marks all over the court and in possibly critical areas. ie: calling lines.





I do know that some shoes are made out of tire rubber, but if you noticed, rarely will you find black soled tennis shoes. There are different rubber densities for specific sports. So for basketball shoes, they have a fairly soft rubber for indoor basketball courts. For tennis, it seems that most shoes are made for hardcourts and durability, you'll more often find a harder rubber on tennis shoes.





I don't think there is any drop in peformance of the courts. Although I couldn't be sure because I haven't really seen a problem with excessive black sole marks on a court. I think its just an issue specifically with black soled shoes more than whether its a tennis shoe or not.





One sure way to find out whether the sole will scuff the court, run the outer edge of the sole against a court or sidewalk. If it doesn't mark, you're probably ok.





I hope this helps!
Reply:It is bad luck to step on scuff marks while playing.



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