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Physics of the Ball · On the court

What the surface does

lesson 3 of 425 minnot yet done

A bounce has two parts. The court returns a fraction e of the vertical speed (the coefficient of restitution) and takes horizontal speed through friction μ. If the ball slides through the whole contact:

v_x' = v_x − μ (1 + e) |v_y|, ω' = ω + (3/2) μ (1 + e) |v_y| / R

If friction is high enough it starts rolling before it leaves, and the exit is set by angular momentum alone: v_x' = (3 v_x + 2 R ω)/5 for a thin shell.

Pace rating

The ITF's court pace rating is CPR = 100(1 − μ) + 150(0.81 − e): low friction and a dead bounce mean fast. Grass (CPR ≈ 48) keeps 90% of a 200 km/h serve's speed and stays low; clay (≈ 24) keeps 85% and lifts. The receiver's budget differs by about a hundredth of a second, which is the return.

A 200 km/h serve with 1,500 rpm of topspin: what each surface hands the receiver after thebounceGrass · CPR 48keeps 90.1% · 153 km/hbounce 0.44 m · 519 ms to reach the receiverIndoor hard · CPR 44keeps 89.2% · 152 km/hbounce 0.50 m · 521 ms to reach the receiverHard court · CPR 40keeps 88.3% · 150 km/hbounce 0.53 m · 523 ms to reach the receiverHard court, slow · CPR 30keeps 86.7% · 147 km/hbounce 0.55 m · 526 ms to reach the receiverClay · CPR 24keeps 85.0% · 145 km/hbounce 0.59 m · 530 ms to reach the receiverLow friction and a dead bounce make a fast court: grass keeps the pace and stays low, clay sits up.fastmediumslow
The same serve on five surfaces. Grass hands the receiver 153 km/h and a low ball; clay takes eight km/h off it and sits up half a metre higher.
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