Embracing the Evolution of the Tennis Ball
Throughout the history of tennis, there has been significant evolution in the construction and manufacture of the tennis ball. It is a good thing, because otherwise the sport would still be played with a ball made of leather stuffed with rags and/or horsehair. I sometimes wax nostalgic about the characteristic aroma of the modern tennis ball. It lingers in the atmosphere at tennis facilities as a permanent vestige of the fleet of the ball carts and hoppers used by the resident teaching pros. I shudder to think what it would smell like if we still used the traditional balls from the earliest days of tennis. I… probably would not store tennis balls in my car if we did.