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Article
Calculations of groundstroke trajectories in tennis
Numerical and analytical calculations are presented on the flight of a tennis ball and the subsequent bounce off the court for typical groundstrokes. The horizontal flight distance was chosen as 22.77 m, corre...
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Article
Effect of topspin on the apparent speed of a tennis court
Experimental results are presented concerning the impact of a tennis ball incident obliquely with topspin on a rigid, horizontal surface. The ball was launched at speeds between 12 and 17 m/s onto P800 emery p...
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Article
Topspin generation in tennis
Tennis players impart topspin to the ball by striking the ball in an upwards direction while the racquet head itself is aligned with the string plane approximately vertical. Significantly larger spin can be ge...
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Chapter and Conference Paper
A Model of Probabilistic Hysteretic Switching in Organizations
We propose an application of hysteresis models to explain non-smooth adjustments to individuals’ wage acceptance within organizations, and argue that individuals’ response to incentives can be described as a p...
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Article
Factors affecting the vibration of tennis racquets
Measurements and calculations are presented on the vibration of the handle of a tennis racquet. It is shown that the vibration amplitude depends primarily on the stiffness of the racquet, but it also depends o...
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Article
The footprint of a tennis ball
The Hawk-Eye line-calling system in tennis uses a footprint of the ball to determine whether the ball was in or out. However, the footprint itself is not measured. It is the ball trajectory through the air tha...
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Article
Oblique Bounce of a Rubber Ball
Measurements are presented on the oblique impact of a hollow rubber ball incident on a polished granite surface, and the results are compared with those for a solid rubber superball. The hollow ball had a much...
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Article
Measurements of drag and lift on tennis balls in flight
Measurements are presented of drag and lift on new tennis balls in flight. Two video cameras were used to measure the velocity and height of the balls at two positions separated horizontally by 6.4 m. The ball...
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Article
Impact of sports balls with striking implements
A common problem in sports mechanics is to understand and to model the impact of a sports ball with some other object such as a sports surface or an implement used to strike the ball. In this review, we focus ...
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Book
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Chapter
Contacting the Ball
One of the problems faced by a batter is that the ball approaches the batter at high speed, up to 90mph. Batters are somewhat sluggish in responding to this situation. It takes a certain time before they react...
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Chapter
Pitching Trajectories
The basic task of the pitcher is to throw the ball so that it passes over the home plate at a height between the batter’s knees and shoulders. In baseball, the strike zone extends from the knees to a point mid...
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Chapter
The Trampoline Effect
The superior performance of non-wood bats is due to the fact that they are hollow rather than solid. The wall of a hollow bat vibrates like a drum when it strikes the ball, emitting a characteristic high pitch...
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Chapter
Flexible Bat Handles
In recent years, batmanufacturers have been experimenting with flexible bat handles in an attempt to increase bat performance. Some manufacturers claim that better performance is obtained with flexible handles...
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Chapter
Ball Spin Generated by a Bat
When a batter swings at a ball, the result is often disappointing for the batter. Striking the ball is better than missing it completely, but a miss-hit is not much better. Both are very common. Only rarely do...
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Chapter
Basic Physics
Most of the physics in this book can be understood in terms of basic high school mechanics and slightly beyond. This chapter is provided for those who might need some extra guidance or a kick-start. The author...
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Chapter
Pitching Mechanics
Pitching mechanics can mean different things to different people. To coaches and players, pitching mechanics refers to biomechanics, to the actions of all the different body segments involved, the correct sequ...
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Chapter
The Sweet Spot of a Bat
An interesting aspect of a bat and ball collision, from both a practical and a physics point of view, is that the batter can exert a huge force on the ball without feeling any particular discomfort at the hand...
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Chapter
Ball Bounce and Spin
Almost all major sporting activities are played with a ball. The rules of the game always include rules about the type of ball that is allowed, starting with the size and weight of the ball. The ball must also...
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Chapter
Ball Hysteresis
Most of the physics in this book can be understood in terms of basic high school mechanics and slightly beyond. This chapter is provided for those who might need some extra guidance or a kick-start. The author...
