The life's purpose of a tennis racquet is to change the speed and direction of a tennis ball. This momentous event takes place in approximately five-one-thousandths of a second. During that time, the ball and the racquet launch into a frenzy of technology-enhanced physics:? The strings stretch, deflect, vibrate, store and return energy.? The ball squashes, slides, bites, reverses direction, ejects, and flies away like vibrating jello.? The racquet decelerates, rotates, bends, twists, and vibrates.? Bending waves race up and down the racquet, slamming the handle into the hand.? Pain, frustration, anger, joy, or elation explode forth from the collision.Players paying upwards of $300 per racquet and $50 for restringings can spend hundreds of dollars every year trying to influence any of these events in their favor.

This book explains the what, how and why of those fateful collisions on each side of the net, as well as the flight and bounce of the ball in-between.