Have you ever watched a tennis match and thought the speed of the game was too fast? Many people think modern tennis – particularly the men’s grass court game – has become far too reliant on big serves and volleys. It means whole sets often pass with only one or two rallies. That’s why tests are being carried out on a tennis ball with a diameter 6% larger than usual. The ball, if tournament organisers decide to use it, will slow the game down.
Have you ever wondered how bigger balls would slow down a game of tennis?
You might like to …
• develop a procedure for measuring the speed of a travelling ball
• develop a way of increasing or decreasing the size of your ball, so you can compare the difference in speed, and work out the correlation between speed and size
• find out how the size of the ball affects its bounce; find out if you have to hit a ball harder or softer depending on its size; find out if air temperature makes a difference to the height of bounce
• design and make a machine that can serve a tennis ball, or an automatic machine to collect your balls.