Tribology and tennis
By Rachel Fowler, Publisher/Editor-in-Chief | TLT Publisher's Pen March 2025
Being part of STLE constantly makes me think about friction and wear while in motion.
In October last year, I decided to join an adult tennis class through my local park district. I played tennis in high school and college (many, many years ago) and was really starting to miss it. I also wanted to see if I could still play and if everything would come back to me—like riding a bike. I quickly learned that I still have the skills, but I’m not as young as I used to be. Some shots were harder to get to that I could easily get in my younger days. But I was happy I could still play.
As I was playing, I kept thinking about how there must be tribological aspects behind tennis. I’ve played on all different kinds of courts before—grass, clay and hard courts—and the ball moves differently on each of them. Step movements must be different on each type of court for players as well. My favorite was always clay because proof is left behind in the clay when a ball is close to being in or out. There’s singles and doubles formats, which involve different movements as well. I prefer the doubles format (i.e., having a partner). In this format, you get to play closer to the net more often. I like to be strategic and place the ball at hard-to-reach angles when I’m closer to the net.
While doing research, I found many tribology and tennis articles related to shoe-surface tribology—something that is important on the different kinds of courts. One article shares how “a series of experiments were conducted on individual shoe tread elements, replicating the tribological conditions they will experience during hard court step and slide movements.”
1 The experiments conclude that “tread element orientation does not influence the friction during step movements, but has a moderate effect on the friction during hard court slides.” This article also concludes: “This research suggests that the frictional effect of tread during hard court tennis depends on the nature of the movement being performed, and whether it results in wearing of the individual elements.”
Another article discusses experiments that were performed on shoe tread elements during hard court step and slide movements. The article concludes: “Slide experiments were found to produce higher dynamic friction than step experiments, due to both the higher frequencies transferred to the rubber increasing hysteresis, and increased wear, both of which are influenced by slide speed. No difference in static friction was observed for the change in tread orientation for step movements, though greater dynamic friction was observed for the short tread orientation during all slide tests. Both movements caused a roughening of the rubber surface, which alters the friction and, in some cases, caused frictional asymmetry. The frictional effect of rubber’s changing surface topography is expected to affect the performance of step and slides over time in hard court tennis.”
2
While researching, I thought it was interesting that most tennis articles related to tribology are related to shoe tread. There are many other areas that could be researched, including movement and specifics of the racket and ball. But it was great getting out there and playing again. As you participate in activities and special moments, don’t forget to use the hashtag #STLEinmotion and share on social media!
REFERENCES
1.
Hale, J., Lewis, R. and Carré, M. J. (2020), “Shoe–surface tribology in hardcourt tennis,”
Proceedings, 49, 90,
https://doi.org/10.3390/proceedings2020049090.
2.
Hale, J., Lewis, R. and Carré, M. J. (2021), “Effect of simulated tennis steps and slides on tread element friction and wear,”
Sports Eng, 24, 5,
https://doi.org/10.1007/s12283-021-00343-4.
You can reach TLT publisher/editor-in-chief Rachel Fowler at rfowler@stle.org.