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The Evolution of the Tennis Ball

venturist | Apr 11, 2010 |

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Tennis stands out as one game that is really popular. Although we see many watching it or playing it, there are some facts about tennis that few are aware of. For instance, were you aware of the fact that tennis was originally played on clay courts? Even now we see clay as highly popular among tennis players. Let us look at some interesting tennis facts that you might not have known in the past.

When playing tennis the balls are usually light green. Even if you will find people telling you that the color is yellow you should know one thing. During training the use of yellow balls is common but when competing the balls are usually of a light green color.

What few people know about tennis is the fact that in the beginning the tennis balls were stuffed with hair or wool and made out of leather. Louis XIV was the main reason why this was implemented. During that point in time there were many types of different tennis balls in different countries, all made out of different materials. Even putty and human hair were used at times.

Nowadays the tennis balls that are used are fully aerodynamic thanks to evolution in technology. One interesting fact is that all pressurized balls lose bounce and pressure-less balls start to bounce more as time passes. This is the main reason why you will see balls changing during tennis matches.

Today we can see around three hundred million tennis balls produced yearly. Due to the fact that rubber is used in order to make the balls different environmental concerns arise. It is not at all easy to recycle them. Thanks to various alternatives developed we think that all debates are soon to end. The good news is that no matter the debates tennis is constantly growing in popularity. Every single aspect of the game is known by most people and we are in front of a very good sport for our bodies. While not many will go on competing, playing tennis as a recreation sport is great for the human body.