Customer Reviews

Technical Tennis: Racquets, Strings, Balls, Courts, Spin, and Bounce

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

A few years back I did read "The Physics and Technology of Tennis." Even though this was a sensational book that gave me the physics knowledge to moonlight as a racquet development consultant, "Technical Tennis" is a great update. "The Physics and ..." consists of a collection of papers that were published in TennisPro magazine between 1993 and 2000. Meanwhile, "Technical Tennis" was published in 2005. Tennis technique and technology have changed since the mid nineties. The authors thoroughly study these changes. They do a great analysis of Sampras second serve that remained a standard even for today's pros. They also analyze Federer's forehand that is a marvel of versatility, speed, and accuracy. Nobody hits a forehand using Federer's technique. But, maybe thanks to this book more tennis players and especially pros will emulate it.

The authors' opinions have become more complex and nuanced over time. In "The Physics ..." they stated unequivocally that heavier racquets gave you more power, control, and felt better all around than lighter ones. Now, they indicate it depends somewhat on your playing style. And, they come up with an all around "ideal" weight of 342 grams or 12 ounces. That is heavier than most recreational racquets sold in store. But, it is not heavy vs what the pros use. On page 55, they also indicate that to reduce the force on your arm there are five things you can do:

1) Use a heavier racquet;
2) Use a head heavy racquet;
3) Use a more flexible racquet (not a widebody one);
4) Lower the string tension;
5) Use a softer thicker grip.

These are different recommendations than in "The Physics ..." book. Back then they recommended a stiff racquet.

The authors also study in greater details the relationship between racquet weight and ball speed. And, how the relationship is different for serves vs groundstrokes.

If you read "The Physics ..." book, you have to read this one to update your knowledge. If you have not, you don't need to read it, and can jump in straight into this one. It will provide you with all the physics you care about. This book is really not dummed down much. Be ready for that. At times the physics discourse gets pretty dry and challenging. But if you digest it, it's pretty interesting stuff.

The previous "version" of this book -- The Physics and Technology of Tennis -- is a daunting read for all but a few. In Technical Tennis, the authors cover many of the most important technical aspects relating to the interactions among racquets, strings, balls, and court surfaces, but the information is MUCH more accessible (and portable). The writing style is smoother, too, than Physics, so one could actually read through this entire volume in an evening. This book represents a great effort to render a complex subject in such a way that the concepts and principles are within the grasp of the interested lay-person, without being condescending or patronizing.

This book cuts through all the marketing hype and gets to the physics of rackets, balls, and courts. Explains what matters when selecting a racket. Helped me find a racket that helps my tennis elbow. The previous book was very long. It also was redundant and contradictory in places. This book solves those problems.
Of particular interest is the section on how to deliver spin. Two things were very interesting:

1) most modern forehands get their topspin not by swinging dramatically upward, but by swinging fairly falt but closing the racket face.
2) There are no topspin serves, only slices. Also, the swing is dramatically outward from 8 to 2 oclock. this greatly simplifes the overly complex instruction that is commonly proferred.

GREAT book.

Despite the title, there are no equations and the technical details are all descriptive, but there's lots of useful information. A great first book to read on technical aspects of tennis. If the title suggests you will find hard numbers and research-level information here, you might be disappointed. Otherwise it's really a great book with lots of practical physics- and engineering-based
good advice on everything from racquets and balls to shots and serves, delivered at an almost non-technical level: think physics for poets!

Even if you are not a science geek, if you love the game of tennis you absolutely must read this book. It can only help to improve your game. Primarily by dispelling myths about why certain things do or don't happen. Being a scientifically minded person I already had a pretty good grasp on the true physics behind the game and it's equipment, but had to laugh at myself a few times for my boneheadedness. It's amazing how the things we experience on the court lead us to make assumptions that have no basis in truth. Only when a true scientific explanation is given can we then really understand what is happening. If you think I'm nuts, I dare you to read this book and soon you will be saying to yourself, "Ohh, that's why that happens when I do that!!"

Not to deep to fail being a casual read, but purely scientific to the core. An Awesome book!!

This book was very helpful for me in deciding on what I should look for in a tennis racquet that would best suit my style and level of play. It also helped my understanding of how tight vs loose stringing affects the ball rebound off the racquet. In fact, I found myself at home watching one of Rafa Nadal's matches where he was consistently overhitting his shots and I thought to myself, his strings might be too loose. Amazingly, within a minute or so of my thinking this, Rafa went over and got another racquet!
The only downside for me was that I found myself skimming through certain parts of the book that were more technical and/or detailed than I liked.
I recommend this book to anyone wanting to shop for a new tennis racquet or strings, and for those wanting a clearer understanding of HOW and WHY the physical properties of the racquet, strings, and court affect your shot-making.

THIS IS A GREAT BOOK.TOO BAD THE TENNIS PROS AND TENNIS WRITERS HAVE APPARENTLY FAILED TO READ THIS.IF THEY HAD THEY WOULD STOP WRITING FICTION ABOUT TENNIS BALLS,STRING,AND RACQUETS.HOWEVER THAT IS WHAT THEY ARE PAID TO DO;IE SALE PRODUCTS.

Technical to a fault, but exacting. Provides interesting, sometimes counter-intuitive information, e.g., on how the tennis ball bounces, and how racquets really perform.

For the serious tennis player or anyone trying to learn more about tennis it's great.

I am a physicist and play some tennis. I think this book won't help your tennis much.

I had the previous "physics and technology of tennis" by the same authors, and I felt this one is not an update of the previous book. It's more like a summary but the conclusion is for some reason different. For people who didn't read the big book, this book discusses the technical aspects of tennis and does not make much effort to connect these scientific facts to personal experiences and techniques. The advices which can be drawn from this book is surprisingly limited. Basically, choose a racquet you feel good when you are hitting the ball (instead of the air in a shop), and string doesn't really matter much. However, if you love tennis and is a noob in physics maybe this book can teach you something.

To be on the critical side, some of the conclusions in the book looks suspicious and are drawn without evidence. It claimed the ideal racquet weighs ~350 grams and toward head heavy. I think for the balance it would be way too heavy. The reason provided in the book is vague and imprecise. It also states that different string materials can be simulated by different tension of the same material without any obvious reason. The biggest dissapointment of all, in the book it very often states that there is an obvious discrepancy between the physics they describe and how pro players claim or feel, and they take the view that the feel is subjective and can be explained away. This view isn't half bad if you can offer sound objective scientific advice on how to achieve certain things, but all that remains in the book seems more like scientific trivia to me, which are all small (but true) facts here and there, sometimes subtle, but are never quite connected to how you play.