Okay, so the other day I got curious about something pretty basic – the size of a tennis ball. I mean, I’ve played tennis on and off for years, but I never really stopped to think about the exact measurements. So, I decided to go down a little rabbit hole and figure it out.
First, I grabbed a tennis ball from my old sports bag. It was a bit worn out, but still good enough for this little experiment. I also grabbed a ruler and a measuring tape to see which one would work best. I tried measuring the diameter with the ruler first. I put the tennis ball on a flat surface and tried to align the ruler across the middle of the ball. It was kind of tricky to get an exact measurement, you know? The ball kept rolling a bit, and it was hard to tell exactly where the widest point was.
Next, I tried using the measuring tape. That was a little better. I wrapped the tape around the ball, making sure it went around the biggest part. It was still a bit fiddly, because the ball is round and the tape is flat, but I managed to get a circumference measurement. Then, I remembered some basic math from school, and I figured I could use that to calculate the diameter. I divided the circumference by pi (which is roughly 3.14), and that gave me a pretty good estimate of the diameter.
My Findings
- Using a ruler was a bit challenging.
- Measuring tape was easier but still a little rough.
- Got a circumference and then did some quick math to get the diameter.
After doing my own measurements, I went online to see what the “official” size should be. I found a bunch of different websites that talked about tennis ball specs. It turns out there’s an actual organization, the International Tennis Federation (ITF), that sets the rules for this kind of stuff. Turns out all the websites that talked about tennis ball specifications mentioned the same thing and that got my attention. They said a tennis ball’s gotta be between 2.57 inches and 2.70 inches in diameter. Most of the websites also mentioned the official weight of a tennis ball, they are 1.975-2.095 oz (56-59.4 g). Wow, that’s pretty precise!
So, there you have it. That’s how I spent a bit of my time figuring out the diameter of a tennis ball. It wasn’t exactly rocket science, but it was a fun little exercise. And now I know a little bit more about the sport I enjoy!
