Before each serve, most professional tennis players go through a ritual to get in the zone. Novak Djokovic will bounce the ball with his racket, then with his hand. Rafael Nadal will usually pull at his shorts and the sleeves around his shoulders, then touch his nose and tuck his hair behind his ears. Each has a very distinctive routine. But there’s one tennis ritual nearly every pro tennis player does: choosing a specific tennis ball. A common belief among players is that the ball they choose can help them win.
But there’s real physics at play behind this ritual — and It all comes down to the fuzz. For a faster serve, players try to find a compact ball. For a slower serve, they feel for more fuzz. The idea is that a fluffier ball is more likely to be slowed by drag as it travels through the air — and that choosing the right level of fuzz can help the serving player defeat their opponent.
You can find this video and all of Vox’s videos on YouTube. And if you’re interested in supporting our video journalism, you can become a member of the Vox Video Lab on YouTube.
Will you support Vox’s explanatory journalism?
Most news outlets make their money through advertising or subscriptions. But when it comes to what we’re trying to do at Vox, there are a couple of big issues with relying on ads and subscriptions to keep the lights on:
First, advertising dollars go up and down with the economy. We often only know a few months out what our advertising revenue will be, which makes it hard to plan ahead.
Second, we’re not in the subscriptions business. Vox is here to help everyone understand the complex issues shaping the world — not just the people who can afford to pay for a subscription. We believe that’s an important part of building a more equal society. And we can’t do that if we have a paywall.
So even though advertising is still our biggest source of revenue, we also seek grants and reader support. (And no matter how our work is funded, we have strict guidelines on editorial independence.)
If you also believe that everyone deserves access to trusted high-quality information, will you make a gift to Vox today? Any amount helps.
Yes, I'll give $5/month
Yes, I'll give $5/month
We accept credit card, Apple Pay, and
Google Pay. You can also contribute via