Customer Reviews

The Physics and Technology of Tennis

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is an excellent book that dismisses many myths regarding tennis equipment. The three coauthors include two physicists and one tennis pro. They are all avid tennis players. They also have incredibly investigative minds. The book consists of about 40 different articles covering many different technical subjects regarding stroke mechanics, ball bounce, racquets, and strings. All these articles represent serious investigation and research from a physicist standpoint. These articles stand on their own independently. As a result, you do not need to read them in sequential order. You also don't need to read them all to extract the information you care about. For my part, I skipped some of the articles on the physics of ball bounce, but was very interested on all the articles regarding strings and racquets properties. Depending on your own personal interest, you may read or focus on different sets of articles. Given the rather dry subject, the writing style of the authors make the information easy to digest.

Contrary to what players believe, racquets have very similar power. Strings, regardless of tension and type have also very similar power. But, different strings can feel very different based on their respective stiffness. Gut and high quality nylon strings feel soft because they are relatively flexible. Kevlar does not feel so good, because they are the stiffest strings.

According to the authors, the pros don't use any of the high-tech latest models, including oversize, and widebody frames. They use older models customized with lead tape to add swingweight. Oversize racquets are not maneuverable enough at their playing speed.

The authors state throughout the book that racquets that are stiff strung at low tension feel better. A stiff racquet vibrates less. Its vibrations have a faster frequency. The ball sits longer on low tension strings than the fast vibration of a stiff racquet. As a result, both string and frame vibrations are dampened by the longer impact time of the ball. Thus, the least amount of vibration occurs in stiff racquets strung at low tension.

The book has a whole lot more of interesting information about tennis than I share in the above paragraphs. If you love the game, and are somewhat of a quantitative type, you will love this book.

Don't buy your next racket until you read this book. This book, by 2 physicists and a tennis specialist, sets forth what they have found scientifically about tennis rackets and technology. The book takes considerable concentration to mine the lessons learned for your game. But here are a few of the nuggets I found:
1) All rackets have essentially the same power!
2) Stiff rackets vibrate less and feel better.
3) Soft strings and lower tension feel better.
4) String tension has little effect on power.
5) No one knows how to measure "control".
6) Perimeter weighting drastically reduces shock.
7) Backspin groundstrokes are easier to hit than topspin, but have much less tolerance for error.
8) Stand inside the baseline when receiving a slow serve and bash it at the netman. He'll have no time to react.

On the downside, the authors should have done a much better job of summarizing the findings. The chapters are written in sort of a mystery fashion, where you have to wait until the end to get the lessons. The first book by Dr. Brody did a much better job of summarizing the findings for the general tennis player.

Finally, a book that helps you sort through tennis rackets! Unfortunately, the authors conclude that your skill and arm make the difference in how good you are. No racket will take you directly to Flushing Meadows.

This is an excellent review of every conceivable aspect of tennis and the colliding forces on the ball. It covers frames, spin, deceleration... about the only thing I can think of that was not covered was differences in altitude and high altitude vs. regular tennis balls. Mathematical formulas are provided throughout describing the physical phenomenon that is being explored. I loved the section of the rate of deceleration of the ball, which helped me to understand why my serves seemed to be quite fast, but only registered 95-100 mph at the net. This was good stuff!

My review did not earn 5 stars because the book is a little bit dated in terms of current racquet choices, and because it appears that a little bit of material is redundant from chapter to chapter, and I wonder if this could be either justified or eliminated in a subsequent edition.

If you have ever wondered if a coach/friend was giving you factual information about your game, read this book!

Simply put... this beautiful book is the best book on the technology of tennis and should be read by every MANUFACTURER of tennis gear, as well as those serious about increasing every aspect of their game! This is well written, beautifully designed and packed with information that any tennis player will enjoy and benefit from!

The book provides valuable information, useful for me to understand tennis better.
There is room for improvement in writing skill, and making it fun to read.

It was very interesting to read technical explanations for tennis realities... Since the book is filled with obtuse scientific concepts such as Vertical Angular Acceptance, Coefficient of Restitution, etc., most readers may find the material difficult. I've summarized some of the finer points from the book at my blog site:

http://www.sokol-blog.com/

Seller was accurate in their description and very quick in completing the order. I'd highly recommend this seller and I will look at this seller for future purchases.