Understanding the Dynamic Behaviour of a Tennis Racket under Play Conditions

Banwell, GH; Roberts, JR; Halkon, BJ; Rothberg, SJ; Mohr, S

Understanding the Dynamic Behaviour of a Tennis Racket under Play Conditions

Banwell, GH Roberts, JR Halkon, BJ

Rothberg, SJ Mohr, S

Permalink

Publication Type:: Journal Article
Citation:: Experimental Mechanics, 2014, 54 (4), pp. 527 - 537
Issue Date:: 2014-01-01

Open Access

Copyright Clearance Process

Recently Added
In Progress
Open Access

This item is open access.

Adobe PDF

Download Accepted Manuscript VersionAdobe PDF (1.55 MB)

View on publisher's site

View statistics

Full metadata record

Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Banwell, GH	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Roberts, JR	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Halkon, BJ https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5459-2329	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Rothberg, SJ	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Mohr, S	en_US
dc.date.issued	2014-01-01	en_US
dc.identifier.citation	Experimental Mechanics, 2014, 54 (4), pp. 527 - 537	en_US
dc.identifier.issn	0014-4851	en_US
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/117448
dc.description.abstract	The 'feel' of tennis rackets is of increasing importance to manufacturers seeking product differentiation in a context where further performance enhancements are prevented by a combination of mechanical limits and regulations imposed to protect the integrity of the sport. Vibrations excited during a shot contribute greatly to the perception of 'feel'. Previous studies have been reported but none has covered the full set of mode families or the frequency range in this study. In-plane vibrations associated with the routine use of topspin shots in modern tennis have not been documented so far in the literature. To consider modal behaviour, multiple measurements during play conditions are required but this is practically impossible. This paper proposes an alternative approach and successfully relates a comprehensive modal analysis on a freely suspended racket to vibration measurements under play conditions. This is achieved through an intermediate stage comprising a necessarily more limited modal analysis on a hand-gripped racket and use of the mass modification modal analysis tool. This stage confirmed the prevailing view that hand-gripping can be considered as a mass modification distributed along the handle of the freely suspended racket but the associated mass was much lower than that of an actual hand and the hand also increased the damping ratio of frame modes significantly. Furthermore, in frame vibration measurements during forehand groundstrokes, a greater reduction in bending mode frequencies was observed, consistent with a mass-loading of around 25 % of the actual hand as a consequence of the tighter grip. In these play tests, the first two bending modes, the first torsional mode, the first eight stringbed modes, the first three hoop modes and the third in-plane bending mode were identified, with the stringbed modes being particularly prominent. © 2013 Society for Experimental Mechanics.	en_US
dc.relation.ispartof	Experimental Mechanics	en_US
dc.relation.isbasedon	10.1007/s11340-013-9803-9	en_US
dc.rights	info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
dc.subject.classification	Mechanical Engineering & Transports	en_US
dc.title	Understanding the Dynamic Behaviour of a Tennis Racket under Play Conditions	en_US
dc.type	Journal Article
utslib.citation.volume	4	en_US
utslib.citation.volume	54	en_US
utslib.for	0905 Civil Engineering	en_US
utslib.for	0913 Mechanical Engineering	en_US
utslib.for	0915 Interdisciplinary Engineering	en_US
pubs.embargo.period	Not known	en_US
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology/School of Mechanical and Mechatronic Engineering
utslib.copyright.status	open_access	*
pubs.issue	4	en_US
pubs.publication-status	Published	en_US
pubs.volume	54	en_US

Abstract:

The 'feel' of tennis rackets is of increasing importance to manufacturers seeking product differentiation in a context where further performance enhancements are prevented by a combination of mechanical limits and regulations imposed to protect the integrity of the sport. Vibrations excited during a shot contribute greatly to the perception of 'feel'. Previous studies have been reported but none has covered the full set of mode families or the frequency range in this study. In-plane vibrations associated with the routine use of topspin shots in modern tennis have not been documented so far in the literature. To consider modal behaviour, multiple measurements during play conditions are required but this is practically impossible. This paper proposes an alternative approach and successfully relates a comprehensive modal analysis on a freely suspended racket to vibration measurements under play conditions. This is achieved through an intermediate stage comprising a necessarily more limited modal analysis on a hand-gripped racket and use of the mass modification modal analysis tool. This stage confirmed the prevailing view that hand-gripping can be considered as a mass modification distributed along the handle of the freely suspended racket but the associated mass was much lower than that of an actual hand and the hand also increased the damping ratio of frame modes significantly. Furthermore, in frame vibration measurements during forehand groundstrokes, a greater reduction in bending mode frequencies was observed, consistent with a mass-loading of around 25 % of the actual hand as a consequence of the tighter grip. In these play tests, the first two bending modes, the first torsional mode, the first eight stringbed modes, the first three hoop modes and the third in-plane bending mode were identified, with the stringbed modes being particularly prominent. © 2013 Society for Experimental Mechanics.

Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item:

http://hdl.handle.net/10453/117448