In tennis, there are a few movements that are key to winning the match. When someone plays tennis they are looking for the other player to make a mistake, or to make a shot too hard for the other player to hit. The basic movements of a tennis match are serves and rallies. How a player hits the ball with their racket determines what speed, spin, and trajectory of the ball. These actions can be analyzed through the lens of a physicist to find out what exactly happens.
Let’s begin with the serve. There are a couple ways an athlete can serve a tennis ball. Most common, however, is the overhand serve. To begin the overhand serve the player will toss the ball over their head. This will increase the ball’s potential energy as the ball rises to its …show more content…
Any spin they choose to give the ball, whether topspin or backspin, will be created by the friction force of the racket’s strings on the ball. The longer the ball is in contact with the racket the greater the spin. This happens because the friction force is applied for a longer amount of time.
When someone tries to hit a tennis ball with a lot of speed there is a small “acceptance window”. The acceptance window is a range of angles where the ball is able to clear the net and remain inside of the service box. In order to increase this range, many tennis players give the ball more topspin and strike the ball as high off the ground as possible. When a player gives the ball topspin it creates an area of low pressure beneath the ball due to the Magnus …show more content…
When a tennis ball spins it causes the drag force of the top and bottom of the ball to be unequal. To hit a ball with topspin, a player has to rotate the racket over the top of the ball while hitting it. This exerts a torque about the center of the ball which causes the ball to rotate forward. When the ball is rotating forward there is greater drag force applied to the top of the ball compared to the bottom of it. This is because at the top of the ball, the ball’s tangential velocity is in the same direction as the velocity of the ball’s trajectory. This means the top of the ball has a greater magnitude of velocity than the bottom of the ball relative to the air around it (the air around the ball being what causes the drag force). The differing drag forces (the weaker drag force of the bottom and the greater drag force at the bottom) exert an unequal pressure upon the ball. The greater drag force exerts a greater pressure upon the ball which results in a net force applied in the opposite direction of the low pressure. In the case of topspin, this means there is a net downward force applied on the ball due to the Magnus effect. This force is called the Magnus
Let’s begin with the serve. There are a couple ways an athlete can serve a tennis ball. Most common, however, is the overhand serve. To begin the overhand serve the player will toss the ball over their head. This will increase the ball’s potential energy as the ball rises to its …show more content…
Any spin they choose to give the ball, whether topspin or backspin, will be created by the friction force of the racket’s strings on the ball. The longer the ball is in contact with the racket the greater the spin. This happens because the friction force is applied for a longer amount of time.
When someone tries to hit a tennis ball with a lot of speed there is a small “acceptance window”. The acceptance window is a range of angles where the ball is able to clear the net and remain inside of the service box. In order to increase this range, many tennis players give the ball more topspin and strike the ball as high off the ground as possible. When a player gives the ball topspin it creates an area of low pressure beneath the ball due to the Magnus …show more content…
When a tennis ball spins it causes the drag force of the top and bottom of the ball to be unequal. To hit a ball with topspin, a player has to rotate the racket over the top of the ball while hitting it. This exerts a torque about the center of the ball which causes the ball to rotate forward. When the ball is rotating forward there is greater drag force applied to the top of the ball compared to the bottom of it. This is because at the top of the ball, the ball’s tangential velocity is in the same direction as the velocity of the ball’s trajectory. This means the top of the ball has a greater magnitude of velocity than the bottom of the ball relative to the air around it (the air around the ball being what causes the drag force). The differing drag forces (the weaker drag force of the bottom and the greater drag force at the bottom) exert an unequal pressure upon the ball. The greater drag force exerts a greater pressure upon the ball which results in a net force applied in the opposite direction of the low pressure. In the case of topspin, this means there is a net downward force applied on the ball due to the Magnus effect. This force is called the Magnus