Why are tennis balls so fuzzy? Is a question many have asked. If you are one of those many, get your answers with us. Visit us to know more on this topic.
The tennis ball may seem simple to the plain eyes but deep down they are a lot of meanings behind how it was crafted. It a common factor that most tennis players don’t think to bother asking the question of why are tennis balls fuzzy?
The simpler meaning behind why are tennis balls so fuzzy is to keep the ball well balanced, this means the ball does not travel too fast nor slow while creating a solid body for the tennis racquet be I contact with. The correct term for this would be Aerodynamics, we will be getting in more detail about that in short while from this. Another important factor of the fuzz on tennis balls is maintaining a balanced bounce of the ball no matter where it hits.
Why Are Tennis Balls So Fuzzy
There are a few reasons behind why they are fuzzy, for starters the fuzzy or nylon material keeps the ball well balanced and controllable. The fuzz provides the ball with an all-through perfect bounce no matter which angle you hit the ball from. The next thing would be it provides the players to truly feel their ball when hitting it alongside player’s craftsmanship meaning a player can add spins and other players to the ball easily.
When I use the term well balanced I am referring to the in-air control, when hitting the ball it has a body, the fuzz, in particular, creates a controllable window for the ball to be air-balanced all that is called Aerodynamics.
What Is Aerodynamics?
Aerodynamics is basically how air reacts to solids objects, like a cricket ball in the sky or an air balloon being floated it can go as high as to how planes fly. Let’s use a cricket ball, for example, the hardcore material used on it would give it a totally different play in the air. The ball would then come hard and fast enough to damage you in which the tennis ball is the total opposite.
The fuzz on the tennis ball would give the ball slower and softer plays, the fuzzy material will carry a good enough speed while not being as harmful as the cricket ball would be. The fuzz controls and maintains the correct speed and slowing the downtime of the ball.
That’s basically what Aerodynamics in regards to tennis balls mean, it adds to the factor of how the balls is been controlled in the air in terms of traveling, the fuzz maintains the balance. If you noticed I keep repeating the main factor that it keeps the ball well balanced, without it the ball would be just too light in the air and it would be harder to be controlled.
So what exactly is the fuzz on a tennis ball?
The fuzzy covering on a tennis ball is known as the nap. The nap is actually the most important part of a tennis ball, and it is a real game-changer for the sport. A textile material that is normally made of wool, nylon, and cotton is cut out in the shape of a dumbbell and then two such dumbbell shaped pieces are glued over the ball. The two curvy seams over the tennis ball show you exactly where the pieces were glued together. It is, therefore, no surprise that the materials that are needed to make the nap or the fuzz, are the most expensive components in the tennis ball manufacturing process. The fuzz covering on a tennis ball is really important because It not only changes the speed of the tennis ball but also imparts spin to it as the ball travels through the air. That is why you always observe tennis greats such as Serena Williams and others spend a lot of time in just choosing a tennis ball, they properly examine and feel a ball and even bounce it around before making a decision, this is because they are looking for a tennis ball that is completely covered in fuzz and as explained above, we know that if the fuzz is not intact the ball will travel much faster in the air and will almost always land outside the tennis court.
Why is the fuzz on a tennis ball green?
Tennis balls are almost always a yellowish green colour, this is actually done to enable better visibility to spectators. Yellowish-green is the most visible colour for the human eye, making it much easier for the players and spectators to follow the brightly coloured ball as it volleys rapidly back and forth across the court.
Tennis Balls History
Let’s get into some short fun historical factors of tennis balls, in the 15th-century tennis walls were made for leather and was stuffed with horse and human hair or wool. It was even common to use the inside stomach of a goat or sheep for the making as well, they would make sure to wrap it with wool and tied with rope. In that era, the Germans were known to create the air-filled rubber balls.
In those ages, a lot of creativity was implanted in the making of tennis balls if I was to really be listing out items that were used in the past to create tennis ball you would be so shocked and the listing would be very long as well. We have however come a far way from that now using tennis balls that are compacted with air, hard rubber core, and in a nylon fuzzy material or wool.
Final Thoughts
They are many different types of tennis as well some will have a thicker fuzz than some however the fuzz does the same thing for all tennis balls. I wanna walk you through a little bit more information on tennis balls that you may not know about especially if you are new to the sport.
There’s a lot of tennis balls out there on the market but the mains one is practice, championship, and professional tennis balls.
The practice balls your the lower quality ones that get real fuzzed-out quickly, they are extremely popular to use in the tennis ball practice machines they are super cheap as well. The championship ones are a little pricier however the quality on this is higher grade, it is still a great ball for practices and well know to be used in small league tournaments as well.
Final on the list is the professional tennis balls, these are made with the highest of quality of felt to reduce fraying on a slower paste even under high pressures and loads of plays. These are the type that most if not all the tournaments use or any major tennis leagues.
Let me end it by saying thanks for reading and reaching the end of our article why are tennis balls so fuzzy, we hope you have enjoyed and learned from your reading experience with us. Do remember to check some other related articles that we have like why female tennis players wear skirts alongside with some shocking fun factors.
