Reason for frequent ball switching

Jasper Low Asked 1 week ago

Hi Alois, I've been watching a lot of WTT matches recently and I saw that whenever a ball gets blasted away, the umpire passes a new ball to the player. I get that it saves time as they don't have to keep fetching for the ball. But I also saw that in the short points, like a short push miss or something, they'd just chuck it and get a new one from the umpire. Sometimes they get a new ball, just to chuck it immediately and get another new ball. Why do they do this? What's wrong with just sticking to one ball until it's blasted off court?

Alois Rosario Answered 1 week ago

Hi Jasper,

I don't think there is anything technical here.  I think often the players just get into a pattern of utilising a different ball for each rally.  You might call it superstition or routine but a lot of players like to get into habits that help them to focus on the next point.

Unfortunately most club matches don't have this sort of service provided and we just have to go and pick the ball up every time. 😊