I am currently taking a class called Marketing on the Internet. Last week, my professor discussed the concept of Moore’s Law. Okay, don’t tune out now at the mention of some snazzy, technological law…the concept is actually very, very interesting.
Moore’s Law was founded by Intel co-founder Gordon Moore who realized that approximately every 18 months, technology improves so much that computer memory chips pack the same amount of technology into half of the space. Therefore, this doubles the performance of a computer every 18 months! So, to put it in perspective, go back to the 1970’s. Computers were large in size, slow in operation, and uncommon in society. Since the 70’s, computer technology has now increased by 75 BILLION times! That is mind-boggling! Everything is faster, easier, and changing the world around us.
The same thing has happened with tennis. Upon breaking a string on my racket this weekend (my first string break, too…now I am officially a tennis player!), I was forced to play with my “back-up” racket. That racket is about 3 years older than my current racket and what a difference! It was heavier, even though the head was smaller, and the strings on the racket were not giving me much “umph” in hitting the ball. I ended dropping the next four games and losing my match. It could have been my mentality. It could have been the old racket, too, because that was definitely a different feeling.
So, if for one second, we put that Moore’s Law to use, I think that it can relate to tennis. Any sport actually. Technology in tennis has definitely evolved over time.
First of all, as I saw this weekend – rackets have definitely changed! A three year difference in my two rackets is a big difference in feeling, tension, and overall impact in match play. Ironically, just as computers began to boom, the tennis racket revolution began in the 1970’s, too. Up until the 70’s, rackets were the old-school wooden ones that you see in old videos. They broke easily, were small, but very heavy, too. Little speed and power was generated as a result – not really a good thing for the game of tennis.
In 1974, Prince revolutionized tennis rackets with its “oversize” model. The racket had an aluminum frame, which made the racket lighter and easier on the arms. It also had a head with a larger sweet spot. In turn, it was easier to hit the ball with power and precision. I cannot even imagine how hard it was to hit a ball with a small wooden frame!
Newer models of rackets then began to be made from fiberglass, boron, and graphite, which made rackets even “lighter and stiffer” than older models. They improved athletic performance and, as the above article states, velocities up to 30 percent greater than the old designs. This revolutionized the sport and is why, today, Andy Roddick can consistently top 135 mph on his serve and why stick-thin Venus Williams holds the women’s serve record at 127 mph. It also has produced faster and more exciting points because pros can hit harder and have more sweet spot power.
While I feel that this is great for the game and makes it easier for non-professionals to play, too, not everyone agrees with me.
Take John McEnroe. Does this guy ever have anything nice to say?
“I'm 48 now, and I hit my serve harder than when I was 25,” adds the three-time Wimbledon champion. “It's gone way too far. There should be a limit…It has become a power-dominated game.”
Moore’s Law was founded by Intel co-founder Gordon Moore who realized that approximately every 18 months, technology improves so much that computer memory chips pack the same amount of technology into half of the space. Therefore, this doubles the performance of a computer every 18 months! So, to put it in perspective, go back to the 1970’s. Computers were large in size, slow in operation, and uncommon in society. Since the 70’s, computer technology has now increased by 75 BILLION times! That is mind-boggling! Everything is faster, easier, and changing the world around us.
The same thing has happened with tennis. Upon breaking a string on my racket this weekend (my first string break, too…now I am officially a tennis player!), I was forced to play with my “back-up” racket. That racket is about 3 years older than my current racket and what a difference! It was heavier, even though the head was smaller, and the strings on the racket were not giving me much “umph” in hitting the ball. I ended dropping the next four games and losing my match. It could have been my mentality. It could have been the old racket, too, because that was definitely a different feeling.
So, if for one second, we put that Moore’s Law to use, I think that it can relate to tennis. Any sport actually. Technology in tennis has definitely evolved over time.
First of all, as I saw this weekend – rackets have definitely changed! A three year difference in my two rackets is a big difference in feeling, tension, and overall impact in match play. Ironically, just as computers began to boom, the tennis racket revolution began in the 1970’s, too. Up until the 70’s, rackets were the old-school wooden ones that you see in old videos. They broke easily, were small, but very heavy, too. Little speed and power was generated as a result – not really a good thing for the game of tennis.
In 1974, Prince revolutionized tennis rackets with its “oversize” model. The racket had an aluminum frame, which made the racket lighter and easier on the arms. It also had a head with a larger sweet spot. In turn, it was easier to hit the ball with power and precision. I cannot even imagine how hard it was to hit a ball with a small wooden frame!
Newer models of rackets then began to be made from fiberglass, boron, and graphite, which made rackets even “lighter and stiffer” than older models. They improved athletic performance and, as the above article states, velocities up to 30 percent greater than the old designs. This revolutionized the sport and is why, today, Andy Roddick can consistently top 135 mph on his serve and why stick-thin Venus Williams holds the women’s serve record at 127 mph. It also has produced faster and more exciting points because pros can hit harder and have more sweet spot power.
While I feel that this is great for the game and makes it easier for non-professionals to play, too, not everyone agrees with me.
Take John McEnroe. Does this guy ever have anything nice to say?
“I'm 48 now, and I hit my serve harder than when I was 25,” adds the three-time Wimbledon champion. “It's gone way too far. There should be a limit…It has become a power-dominated game.”
I disagree. I think that power is what makes great play. For me, I absolutely HATE playing someone who I define as a “pusher.” A pusher is that one person (usually a tiny, quick opponent) who gets to EVERY ball, makes contact with it almost EVERY time, and LOBS the ball over the net. Hence, the ball flies HIGH over the net at a snail’s speed and bounces somewhere inside the court on the other side. You have to lob it back to them because you are stuck in an awkward position to strike the ball. What’s worse is the process begins all over again! I hate pushers and prefer the power game. Luckily, newer rackets (and the rackets that most college students use – best for my benefit) are becoming lighter and making it much easier to quickly strike a ball with SPEED!!
It is crazy how much the sport of tennis has changed. From wooden rackets to graphite ones, tennis skirts that are worn at the knee to leopard-like bathing suits (see my previous post!), to a serve not even breaking 100 to speeds today of over 140 mph, tennis is constantly evolving, just like the world around us.
I will be interested to see what happens in the coming years. I don’t know how much more the game can really change. Then again, I don’t know how much faster computers can get. Maybe one day, I will be able to serve at Venus’ speed or will be playing with a multi-color ball or something. Who knows, but I am so excited just thinking about it! McEnroe can just shut his mouth. I know, it will be very, very difficult for that to happen!
1 comment:
An interesting take on the question of tennis equipment. Like McEnroe, I am inclined to believe that the advanced equipment has changed the game and not for the better, in all ways. While power is fun and no one wants to play a pusher, old timers like me and grandpa McEnroe wonder if the new breed of power hitter can still play tennis.
Here's what I mean, imagine McEnroe at his prime wielding one of those old wooden clubs in a match against Bjorn Borg. Unable to rely on killer power to overwhelm the opposition, both men had to hone their game to perfection. They had to set up points through a series of shots and out think their opponents as well as out hit them. It was great stuff, really, and I miss it, as a fan.
To me, the absolute nadir in men's tennis was reached during the Sampras era, when entire matches would be played with no loss of serve and each set would be decided by a tiebreaker, almost inevitably won by Mr. Sampras, of course. What a bore that was. Power no doubt, but redundant and predictable as well. I have always wondered if McEnroe, in his 40s, could have beaten Sampras if both were compelled to use the old wooden racquets. I am sure that Mac in his prime would have, and I am just as sure the match between a young Sampras and an aging Mac would have been more interesting than some of the "championship" tennis I witnessed in Sampras' heyday.
Nonetheless, I do not agree with McEnroe that racquet technology must be curtailed for the good of the game. The new generation of players, the first to have grown up with these extreme technical advances, seem to have learned to use the new racquets with more subtlty than the Sampras era players.
If McEnroe needs a "cause" or if he wants to save men's tennis from itself, then he ought to focus his attention on the simmering match fixing scandal that is haunting the game.
Dr. P.
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