On Sunday 30 July, the Orange and Green Ball section of the Tewantin Junior Development Series hosted 24 tennis players from the Sunshine Coast, many who had never been in a tournament before.
The tournament was held at the Tewantin Tennis Club. Despite their youth, the players displayed determination and strong competitiveness in all their tennis matches.
Winner of the Green Ball Tournament was left-hander Tommy Ballen who fought a closely contested match with runner-up Michael Tellan. Orange ball winner was Hayden Williams with Alani Smith the runner-up.
The use of orange and green balls in tennis matches makes the game easier to learn for younger players.
For orange ball matches, the court size is smaller, and the balls have 50 per cent the compression of normal yellow balls. Green balls have 75 per cent compression. These modified tennis balls don’t bounce as high as normal yellow balls, which gives children more time to set up for shots and allows them to hit the ball in the correct hitting zone.
The end result is more enjoyment for the youngsters.
