It’s all about Tennis Ball
Tennis is one of the most popular and loved game in the world that took its first breath in UK. Earlier, Tennis was considered as the game of the elite class. But, now it is played by all across the globe. The two most important equipment of tennis game are: Racket and Ball. The first tennis ball was made in the 11th century with leather stuffed with hair or wool.
There are two types of tennis ball:
• Pressure-less tennis ball has a solid core with a property that the more the wear and tear of ball is, the more it will ball will flight, bounce and spin.
• Pressurized Ball has a hollow core filled with air to be more bouncy but the negative side is that the bounciness is short lived only. The air seeps out of the tennis ball during the game, a pressurized ball loses its bounce gradually.
The felt covering on a ball is designed with a specific court surface in mind. Like, Regular duty for indoor and clay courts, Extra duty for grass and concrete courts and High Altitude for high altitude regions.
Tennis balls come in four speeds: slow, medium, fast and high altitude. Medium speed ball is most commonly used and preferred most of the tennis players, whereas as the most players avoid using tennis ball with fast speed. The tennis ball with slow speed is favoured by players who need more time to get ready to hit the ball. The High altitude speed ball is created for games which are played where the air is thinner.
The International Tennis Federation (ITF) has laid down certain criteria for size, weight, deformation, and bounce. The standard tennis ball must have a diameter between 65.41 mm and 68.58 mm. The standard tennis ball must weigh between 56.7 g to 58.5 g. The standard tennis ball must have rebound height of 135 to 147 cm (53-58 inches).The standard tennis ball must be tensed with environment having temperature of 20°C / 68°F, humidity 60% and atmospheric pressure of 102 kPA. The International Tennis Federation (ITF) has approved 3 types of balls depending upon the surface of the play :
- Ball Type 1 (fast speed) is intended for play on slow pace court surfaces
- Ball Type 2 (medium speed) is intended for play on medium-slow, medium and medium-fast pace court surfaces
- Ball Type 3 (slow speed) is intended for play on fast pace court surfaces
A ball which is granted ITF Approval is approved by the ITF only on the basis that it has been found to conform to the current Rules of Tennis and is therefore considered suitable for use in tournaments played according to the Rules of Tennis.