Modeling of Impact Dynamics of a Tennis Ball With a Flat Surface Available to Purchase

A model of impact of a tennis ball with a flat surface is developed based on a planar, two-mass, linear, four degree of freedom vibration system idealization. The impact is assumed to be incident on a flat surface with friction. The incident parameters of the ball include the centre of mass translational velocity, angle of impact with the surface and the incident angular spin of the ball. The linear, piecemeal vibration model predicts the corresponding rebound parameters of the tennis ball. The model also predicts the duration of contact of the tennis ball with the flat surface, the transition of motion of the tennis ball during contact with the ground from sliding to rolling contact, and the resulting contact forces developed between the tennis ball and the flat surface. The model is computationally efficient because the governing differential equations of motion are linear and their standard solutions can be easily implemented on a personal computer. Predictions of the rebound parameters from the model are compared with experimental findings on tennis balls which are incident on a flat surface with various angles, velocities and angular spins (zero spin, topspin and backspin). For selected parameters of the two-mass model, the comparisons show excellent agreement between the model and the measurements.