Grass - bounce and speed

I've seen lots of comments about bounce and speed. I'm not going to
get into arguments about whether it is fast or slow(!), but in my view
the physics is this:

Given a certain hardness of the surface, a dropped ball will bounce to
a certain height, irrespect of whether the surface is clay, grass, or
HC. It just depends on the firmness of the surface.

The same will be true of a moving ball. It will vary if the ball is
hit flat or with topspin, but if the shot(s) are the same for each
surface, the bounce height(s) will be the same

BUT

The friction of the surface will change the point at which the ball
reaches it's highest point. So on clay (highest friction) the ball
rears up steeply and gets to it's high point early. And on grass,
because friction is lowest, the ball shoots through and gets to its
(same) high point later. HC is in between.

In the past Wimbledon grass had a combination of both soft surface and
lower friction (especially after rain or in damp humid conditions), so
the ball bounced lower and shot through. IMO the surface is harder
than it used to be, so the bounce height is more similar to clay and
HC. IMO the high point is still later than HC. How much later - I
don't know, and I haven't seen any numbers.

So...of you are talking about your beliefs about grass you have to
separate the two aspects - bounce height and ball friction (-> speed).
.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Grass - bounce and speed
    ... Given a certain hardness of the surface, a dropped ball will bounce to ... The same will be true of a moving ball. ... The friction of the surface will change the point at which the ball ... And on grass, ...
    (rec.sport.tennis)
  • Re: Cronin: Federer says USO fastest slam, Nadal says Wimbledon
    ... At Wimbledon the ball slides through a bit lower, ... happen if we look at the bounce alone ... Part of it is that grass is such a rare surface, ...
    (rec.sport.tennis)
  • Re: the "slow" courts bother me ...
    ... grass tennis is defined by the ball staying ... upright and wailing away like on all other surfaces. ... Wimbledon can be called 'The French Open On Grass' ... I think the biggest factor is the higher, more even, bounce. ...
    (rec.sport.tennis)
  • Re: Cronin: Federer says USO fastest slam, Nadal says Wimbledon
    ... At Wimbledon the ball slides through a bit lower, ... Yet Nadal has had more succes at Wimbledon, which, in theory shouldn't happen if we look at the bounce alone ... Part of it is that grass is such a rare surface, and since the time spent on grass is limited, pure talent is essential....nobody can afford to "work hard" to become a better grass-court player these days. ...
    (rec.sport.tennis)
  • Re: Grass - bounce and speed
    ... Given a certain hardness of the surface, a dropped ball will bounce to ... The same will be true of a moving ball. ... The friction of the surface will change the point at which the ball ... And on grass, ...
    (rec.sport.tennis)