“The depressing thing about tennis is, no matter how good I get, I’ll never be as good as a wall.” ~ Mitch Hedberg
Rubber + Adhesive + Felt + 12psi = the following photo gallery.
Rain puddles and tennis are comfort associations for me. Spring was about outdoor tennis in the Northwest . . . which meant tennis balls soaked through to the rubber, and court-sized squeegees to mop up the drizzle. Tennis in Seattle is like skiing in Seattle: if you cut your chops on wet courts and slushy snow, life in Colorado and California is a breeze.
We were wandering Berkeley with our TZ5 in pocket, nothing in mind. Empty courts and two reanimated tennis balls later — I had this gallery and a wash of nostalgia.
(Shot at Berkeley’s Rose Garden tennis courts after a stormy deluge.)
Tennis Ball Trivia:
- The International Tennis Federation approves all tournament tennis balls, using precise measures of diameter and mass. Here’s an image of the two-ring gauges used to determine these parameters.
- This is what happens when you’re shot at close range by a tennis ball cannon popping balls at 45mph: 45mph Tennis Balls
- There are rules about how high a ball should bounce, the same rules as originally set in 1925. A ball is dropped from 100 inches in height, with the ideal rebound coming back up at between 53 and 58 inches (ITF)
- Tennis balls pollute since they’re made from materials that don’t easily biodegrade. There are movements afoot to increase recycling of tennis balls. The company Rebounces specializes in recharging dead tennis balls.
- Some tennis balls from Wimbledon are donated to a wildlife trust to provide shelter for harvest mice. You have to click on that article to see a harvest mouse in his tennis ball house.
- Balls at Wimbledon are kept at 68 degrees F for optimal condition and performance.
- Re-used tennis balls have various incarnations: tennis ball bench, scuff mark remover, surfboard protector
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
im a tennis teen big time and stuff could you up date it please
and also ur pics are amazing the one hitting the net is my fav
but no in the rain its just a little too ordinary and beautiful but kinda sad cause like rainy days are sad and stff you know please
dont take it offencive
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