Why do the pros pick the "best" ball before they serve?

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dberke

New User
When you watch a pro tennis match, the server usually gets 3 balls from the ball-boy and then throws one back. Sometimes, I've seen a pro look through 4 or 5 balls to ge the "best"2 to start serving.

Does this make any difference? I can't beleive that there is that much individual variation in how much they wear out, but maybe there is... why else would so many of the pros go through this ritual of finding the best two balls to start serving with?

Are the pros that good that they can tell the difference or is it just a ritual someone started that caught on to pass some time between points while they catch their breath? Just curious.
 
if you want to hit a flat 1st serve, the less fuzz a ball have, the more it will go fast

if you want to hit a kick serve or slice, the more fuzz a ball have, the more effect the ball will have becauce you can bite it better.
 
I always thought they look to see which one has the most compacted 'fuzz' and is not fraying too much.

The ball boys do a good job of keeping an even rotation on each set of new balls and fresh balls are interchanged every so often, so I doubt it has anything to do with the wear of the ball itself.

But yes. A strange habit.
 
ive always wondered the same thing. i understand it when your playing with used tennis balls, but i cant tell the diff between new balls untill at least about a set has been played on them.(assuming its a quality ball)
 
To find the least used, highest-pressure and most-matted ball, so it flies through the air the fastest.

They're trying to get free points off the serve, they want something that gives max advantage to their serve.
 
Frankauc said:
if you want to hit a flat 1st serve, the less fuzz a ball have, the more it will go fast

if you want to hit a kick serve or slice, the more fuzz a ball have, the more effect the ball will have becauce you can bite it better.
Click to expand...

I know they look for the least fuzz, but was not aware the fluffy ones were better for spin/kick etc. Is this from experience or something you read...interesting if its true. i certainly hit with more spin on 2nd serve, so if a fluffy ball helps with spin then I will go that route.:)
 
Azzurri said:
I know they look for the least fuzz, but was not aware the fluffy ones were better for spin/kick etc. Is this from experience or something you read...interesting if its true. i certainly hit with more spin on 2nd serve, so if a fluffy ball helps with spin then I will go that route.:)
Click to expand...

I can't think that people are ever picky a fluffy ball (with my limited physics knowledge).

The racquet puts the spin on the ball, and we spin a ball for two reasons, to change it's path through the air and to change it's bounce. A less-fuzzy ball is going to be slowed less by the air, meaning that it's going to keep speed and rotational speed more than a fuzzier ball. Perhaps it will do slightly less through the air, but I would think it would do more on the bounce - due to 'retaining' rotation speed and also velocity.

There are few situations where a modern pro doesn't want the ball travelling as fast as possible in the context of the spin and spot that they are hitting.

Happy to hear what others have to say here...
 
The magnus effect, the factor responsible for balls with topspin dipping down to the court.

In short if you consider a ball going left to right and spinning clockwise.

Air gets compressed at the top of the ball because it is rotating against the flow direction here. Conversely at the bottom of the ball the spin is actually in the of the flow so air passes below faster.
This creates a difference in pressure between the top and bottom so the ball is pushed downwards.

Logically, the more spin you have the greater the pressure difference so the ball dips more.

In relation to a fuzzy ball, I would theorize that the fuzzy edge increases "surface friction" therefore the spin drags the air more to create higher pressure differential.

------------

As a rough analogy, suppose a car tyre with no treads to a new tennis ball and a tyre with treads to a fuzzy tennis ball. The treadless tyre has less grip on the road than the tyre with treads

------------

If I am correct then basically a fluffy ball would kick higher than a new ball with the same second serve.
 
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Even they rotate in brand new balls very frequently (what is it every 7 games or something like that?), there has to be some variation in wear with the rallies those guys/girls have. I think that many of the previous posters are right by saying that they look for the relatively newest ball for first serves (in general) , while saving the fuzzier ones for a second serve with lots of spin (the slower kind that still moves a lot after the bounce especially) BUT I'm sure they might go for a "changeup" (baseball analogy) sometimes by going with a relatively "newer" ball and hitting a relatively hard second serve though.

Even with the new ball rotation, some balls get relatively worn down due to the fact that those balls were the ones incorporated in the the real "slugfest"/long rallies.
 
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defrule said:
The treadless tyre has less grip on the road than the tyre with treads
Click to expand...

That bit's incorrect.

Tyre tread is only introduced to allow tyres to grip in the wet. Tyres that only have to grip in the dry are smooth - check almost any serious dry-weather racing tyre.

Which will be interesting, because I found the rest of your post great to add weight to this debate, and will ultimately mean 'is the path of a ball through air more akin to a tyre through wet or dry road' ;)

Ultimately - i tend to agree with you, I think a 'fuzzier' ball will take more grip through the air, but I don't think that'll be advtantegous in the case of a pro serve.
 
lendl used to roll two balls against his sweaty shirt to smooth the nap down I always thought. Smooth nap means faster rotation. Therefore more fuzz is not good for either serve.
 
Have you guys seriously never heard about this or figured it out on your own? I'm just a little surprised.

Anyway...Yes - the newer the ball - the less play on it - the faster it will go - the more skid it will have, etc. So that's the ball you want on a first serve most times. And for the second - the opposite is usually true: fluffier ball means more spin and kick (and yes it's quite a noticeable difference).

And when you are hitting at a pretty high level - especially on a hard court - the balls wear out in a matter of games and change dramatically even after a few good hits. New balls vs balls that have even 6 or 7 games on them are much faster and skid way more.
 
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Well I guess when you're at that level, every little thing matters. That extra pace from a newer ball or extra kick from a fuzzy ball may make all the difference.

As for me, I'm lucky if I can toss the ball straight up and hit it.
 
zapvor said:
i think its more a ritual, and also to buy time and decide what they want to do for the point.
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Bingo!
It also has a psychological benefit of reinforcing the idea that one is in control.
Ritualistic behaviour from pitching baseball is very similar to serving in tennis.
 
I do think that some of the players have gone to the extreme with this - getting three or four balls from one ball-boy/girl, discarding one or two then repeating the process. Add to that the inevitable call for a towel and the fifteen ball pre-serve bounce and you have added delay I can't remember in past times.

On the other hand, I suppose the challenge process stops all the hoo-ha of arguing over line calls.

Funny thing is I don't always believe the veracity of the Hawkeye system. How can any system assess how much spin is put on the ball for example.
 
xcourt4hand said:
I do think that some of the players have gone to the extreme with this - getting three or four balls from one ball-boy/girl, discarding one or two then repeating the process. Add to that the inevitable call for a towel and the fifteen ball pre-serve bounce and you have added delay I can't remember in past times.

On the other hand, I suppose the challenge process stops all the hoo-ha of arguing over line calls.

Funny thing is I don't always believe the veracity of the Hawkeye system. How can any system assess how much spin is put on the ball for example.
Click to expand...

I'm a guy, why? :confused:
 
...perhaps your father wore baggy boxers rather than tight pants...
...did he like bananas? Salty foods, dairy products, and bananas are all said to help gender selection boy efforts...
...did he drink 1 or 2 cups of caffeinated coffee just prior to conception?
...there are many other explanations, some inappropriate for publication on this forum...
 
I could tell the "best" ball out of 3 within 3 minutes of hitting the set.
Of course, least fuzz for first flat, but also the hardest and slickest.
For the second serve, depends. More fuzz and hit higher if you're tentative. Less fuzz and hit closer to the netcord when you're being aggressive and trying to win with the serve.
 
xcourt4hand said:
...perhaps your father wore baggy boxers rather than tight pants...
...did he like bananas? Salty foods, dairy products, and bananas are all said to help gender selection boy efforts...
...did he drink 1 or 2 cups of caffeinated coffee just prior to conception?
...there are many other explanations, some inappropriate for publication on this forum...
Click to expand...

He meant to quote the post above yours LOL.
 
I agree with the idea that this is a ritual to help "settle" the players; helping them to relax and recover.

However, I wanted to add something. In baseball, raised seams make a breaking ball break more. We used to pinch the seams up with our fingernails for some extra nasty curve in practice. I'd imagine the fuzz on fluffy balls would probably also cause a similar effect- more movement through the air on spin serves.
 
I already answered the question earlier. The difference in balls - new vs a bit used - has a pretty big effect on how the serve acts. There isn't any argument or "I think they might do it because..."

There might be a ritual aspect to it, but there is a very real reason to do it. It's a legit part of serving at high levels. You look for every little advantage you can find - especially if the serve is one of your major weapons.
 
DNShade said:
The difference in balls - new vs a bit used - has a pretty big effect on how the serve acts.
Click to expand...
This would be an interesting test to do after an amateur match where 3 balls are used:
3 balls unintentionally sorted by the players
3 balls intentionally sorted by the players
3 balls sorted by direction to the players unequally
3 balls sorted by direction to the players equally
And also test against 3 new, unused balls.
How much, in terms of velocity, do you think the effect might be?
 
IDK I just assumed everyone did it. I do it personally when I play. I ALWAYS use the best balls available when I play, so let's say me and a friend have three balls to play with. I feel all of them, and take the least flat ball, and that will be the ball I play the point with, and put the rest back in my pocket. Ball quality is a silly thing for you to let alter a game in anyway. In theory, both of you deal with the advantage or disadvantage of a particular ball, but wouldn't you rather play with a good ball? :)

my .02¢
 
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