Why are tennis balls yellow? Know the surprising story behind the colour change
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "Why are tennis balls yellow? Know the surprising story behind the colour change")
Why are tennis balls yellow? Photograph: (AFP)
The white tennis balls, which had always been used, were barely visible on colour television. Viewers struggled to follow the ball during fast rallies. Hence, Sir David and his team began searching for a colour that would be visually appealing on screen.
Whenever tennis comes to mind, we visualise two rackets, lush grass or clay courts, epic rallies, game-set-match and of course, yellow tennis balls. But what if we told you that yellow wasn't always the colour of tennis balls? In fact, the balls were initially either white or black. Sounds strange, right? Well, it wasn’t until 1972 that yellow, fluorescent yellow to be specific, became the official colour of tennis balls. But why yellow? Why not red, blue, or green? Let's understand it.
The story behind Wimbledon's fluorescent yellow balls
It was Sir David Attenborough, a renowned British historian and biologist, who had a huge role to play in this colour switch of tennis balls. Back in 1967, he was working as the studio controller for the BBC. That year, he, along with his team, decided to broadcast Wimbledon, played at the All England Lawn Tennis Club, on colour TV for the very first time. Until then, sports coverage on TV was done in black and white.
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But there was a major inconvenience for the viewers. The white tennis balls, which had always been used, were barely visible on colour television. Viewers struggled to follow the ball during fast rallies. Hence, Sir David and his team began searching for a colour that would be visually appealing on screen.
In 1972, a study conducted by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) confirmed that fluorescent yellow was the most visible colour for TV audiences. That same year, yellow balls were officially added to the ITF rulebook. The 1973 US Open was the first major slam tournament to adopt them. Wimbledon, known for holding on to its old-fashioned tradition, didn’t switch to yellow balls until 1986.
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Thus, the next time you see the yellow tennis balls on your screen, remember it was the result of a great vision led by Sir David Attenborough, who changed the way we see tennis forever.
