Tennis
balls are bouncing balls used in lawn tennis games. These balls have a
uniform outer surface and shall be white or yellow or greenish yellow in
color. These balls have controlled fiber release for consistent nap and
natural rubber is used for consistent feel and reduced shock.Characteristics of a Tennis Ball
- Surface: The ball shall have a uniform outer surface. If there are any seams, they should be stitch less.
- Color: The color of ball shall be greenish yellow.
- Size: The diameter of the ball shall be within the range 2 ½ - 2 5/8 inches (6.35 - 6.67 cm).
- Weight: The weight of ball should be more than 56.7 g and less than 58.5 g.
Why the
color of tennis ball is greenish-yellow?
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- In the primitive age of tennis, tennis balls were made of
leather.
- Some tennis balls were found to have been manufactured by putty
and human hair.
- Vulcanized rubber was used to manufacture tennis balls, when
lawn tennis came into existence in 1870s.
- Tennis balls which are used now-a-days is comprised of two main
parts. Inner core and outer cloth covering.
- Two half shell pieces of formed rubber are joined together with adhesive to form a single inner core. Two dumbbell shaped pieces of clothes are attached to the inner core by adhesive to provide the ball its present look.
- Pressurized balls: Pressurized
balls have a core pressurized with air or nitrogen. These balls are
very bouncy when new but loose bounces over time.
- Non-pressurized balls are formed from a thicker rubber core. Pressure inside the core is equal to the ambient pressure. They retain the playing properties for a longer time. These balls have a stiffer and woody feel compared to pressurized balls. They aren't much bouncy in new. They get bouncier as they get lighter due to hair loss. The balder they get, the more flight, bounce,and spin they get.
- Regular duty balls: These are designed primarily for clay and most indoor courts. Its finer felt is designed not to fluff up excessively. It wears away quickly on the more abrasive hard courts.
- Extra duty balls: Designed primarily for hard courts. This is denser felt that can take heavy abrasion. On clay, it tends to collect little bits of the court. On clay or slower indoor courts, it gets too fluffy.
- Grass court felt balls: basically regular duty felt, but treated to resist staining.
- Slow tennis balls: They have larger diameter but same weight as other balls. Possibly good for players who need more time to get ready to hit the ball.
- Medium tennis balls: It is by far the most common type of ball. Best for most players in most situations.
- Fast tennis balls: These are hard to find and rarely used. Possibly a good choice for players who like the soft footing of clay, but would like to be able to end points more quickly.
- High altitude tennis balls: Designed to be easier to control in the thinner air above 4000 feet.
How to
judge whether a ball is good enough to play further?
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Introduction of bigger tennis balls
Sports and games are famous due to its viewers and appreciators. Tennis spectators like to see classical tennis, the longer rallies, aces, volleys etc. Speed is not all that the viewers come to watch. They are getting bored due to the increment in pace of game. Especially in men's tennis serves has become so powerful and huge that an entire set passes with only a handful of rallies. So to overcome it and maintaining the interest of viewers in this game ITF has decided to introduce bigger balls. Demand of bigger tennis balls is increasing because bigger balls slow down faster. After two years of extensive testing a new bigger ball which is 6% larger in diameter is approved to slow down the pace of tennis and making it more exciting to watch.
