Humidity-altitude-temperature-affect tennis
It seems simple. A tennis court for singles is 78 feet long and 27 feet wide, a service line 21 feet from the net and a centre line. A player has a strung tennis racket averaging 27 inches and a tennis ball with dimensions of 2.57-2.70 inches and a weight of 1.9802.10 ounces. How difficult can it be. It seems straightforward. Put the ball into play with a serve, either allow it to bounce once after the serve or volley it out of the air. Put it all together and you can play a game of tennis. Of course-the scoring: 0,1,2,3,4; when 3 all – play win by 2 points in a row. Rename the points:love,15,30,game,deuce. That’s it. Tennis in a nutshell. Or is it?
Humidity
humidity-the amount of water vapor in the air. Higher humidity reduces the effectiveness of sweating in cooling the body by reducing the rate of evaporation of moisture from the skin.
Playing in drier conditions is much more fun than playing in humid conditions. Your body moves easier through the air and the ball feels lighter coming off the racket. When the humidity is higher your body feels sluggish and doesn’t move as quickly around the court. The ball feels heavier coming off the strings and the experience is not nearly as enjoyable. It takes more work to play in humid conditions as opposed to drier.
Altitude
altitude- the term is commonly used to mean the ‘height above sea level’ of a location, in geography the term elevation is often preferred for this usage.
Playing in Bogota (9,350 feet) and playing in Monterrey (1770 feet) are two different experiences. Higher altitude means less oxygen and less resistance for the tennis ball. Sea level means more oxygen and denser air creating more resistance for the tennis ball. Depending on where you were raised means adjusting to different conditions when playing at either higher altitude or sea level. Both have challenges.
Temperature
temperature- an objective comparative measure of hot or cold.
Temperature affects the body, the strings in your racket and the tennis ball. Your body under colder conditions is not as pliable and you are more likely to pull a muscle or move slower until your muscles become warmer and even then you could cool off quicker and risk injury if you don’t keep moving. Under warmer conditions your muscles stay warmer and more pliable, allowing you to move, stretch and recover easier and quicker. When playing in extreme heat you must be careful to hydrate and watch for heat symptoms such as heat exhaustion (white spots on cheeks) and heat stroke (stop sweating-get to shade-ice the back of your neck-get medical help).
The tennis ball is affected by temperature as well. Colder weather has the effect of a lower bounce – higher temperatures causes a higher bounce due to the reaction to temperature change of gases inside the tennis ball.
These three:humidity, altitude and temperature can create another dimension of understanding in your approach to your tennis game. Understanding some or all could improve your enjoyment of the game.
