Tennis: Help me out here, Difference between Clay and Grass/Hard?

[aceskay]

To clarify, a top spin shot will bounce higher on clay than on hard or grass. The clay tends to "grab" the ball more, meaning the spin on the shot will be more pronounced than on hard, and especially on grass.

On grass, everything tends to "jump" through the court, as the ball tends to skip off the surface without the spin affecting the ball's path as much.

edit - I posted mine the same time as WFDeac. Well said.