Duane Cagle Wins Flexible Tennis League's Denver Fall 2009 Season

Duane Cagle won the Denver Fall 2009 inaugural Flexible Tennis League season by beating Vamsee Konda 4-6, 6-3, 6-2. Duane receives a $50 gift card and a permanent place in our Page of Fame. Thanks to everyone who participated in the league and played some great Tennis matches. We look forward to more Tennis and loads of fun in the Spring 2010 season.

Duane Cagle - Denver Fall 2009 season winner.

Adidas Barricade

This week's object of desire is the Adidas Barricade Tennis shoe. The current version is 5, which comes in several color combinations including Black/White or White/Red. Barricade's have been made since quite a few years now and they have gone through a lot of changes. Barricade is one among the premium line of shoes from Adidas and does carry a hefty price tag of $120. This shoe weighs 17.1 ounces for size 10 and contains mesh from heel to toe offering additional ventilation. The patented Adidas Torsion system and claw supports on both sides of the shoe offer excellant lateral support and stability - which is so important when you have to run around the court and make those volleys. Version 5 of this shoe is supposed to be lighter than the previous versions. My personal favorite is still the adidas Barricade 2 (white/Nemesis), which is a slightly older model but looks awesome. It's hard to find it in a store, but its still available online for around $90.


Adidas also lets you customize the colors, fit and other design specs of the shoe at http://www.miadidas.com/ . Tour Pro's currently using Barricade V include Fernando Gonzalez, Marat Safin, Fernando Verdasco, Mikhail Youzhny, Bryan brothers, Sam Querrey and others. Most of the tour pro's use the customized version.

The current model Adidas Barricade V and my personal favorite Barricade II

The "Beleive" shoe sported by US Teen sensation Melanie Oudin at US Open. Tsonga with his own version of Barricades.

How does Hawk-Eye work in Tennis

We are all aware of the excitement and the drama that surrounds a line call that is challenged by a Tennis player. The results often being show on a huge screen to the disappointment or the excitement of the players on the court. Some players like Federer hate it and some love it. But how does the system work??


The technology behind the challenge system is owned by a UK based company Hawk-Eye Innovations. A series of cameras are placed at strategic locations all around the playing field and they capture the movement of the ball 60 times a second. This information is then used in the following manner:

2D (x,y)
The position of the ball in terms of both the depth and sideways movement on the court is calculated from each frame. Camera movement is compensated for by also tracking the lines of the court.

(c) - Hawk-Eye Innovations

3D (x,y,z)

Strategically placed cameras also capture the height of the ball from the playing surface, which when coupled with the horizontal displacement enables a 3-dimensional view of the Tennis ball's position.

(c) - Hawk-Eye Innovations

4D (x,y,z,t)

This process is repeated for each frame so that the 3D positions of the ball can be combined to produce a single trajectory of the flight of the ball.
 

(c) - Hawk-Eye Innovations

Bounce Mark

The trajectory is then used to calculate where the ball will land on the court. According to the rules of the game the call is then made.

(c) - Hawk-Eye Innovations.

Hawk-Eye's website claims that during the ITF's evaluation of the system, Hawk-Eye made the right call 100% of the time with an average error of 3.6 mm. These tests were performed in varying wind, light and temperature conditions. So there is a chance for error - however small that chance may be. Hawk-Eye was first used in the 2006 Hopman Cup in Perth, Western Australia, since then all major tournaments except French Open has embraced the use of Hawk-Eye. French Open administrators claim that Hawk-Eye has no place on the Clay Courts as the ball clearly leaves a mark where it lands. Hawk Eye is also very widely used in the game of Cricket, which is where Hawk-Eye was first tested and adopted.

Wilson Players on Tour - String and Grip Info

Our Denver player Steven Healey sent us another resource on what strings, grips and racquets the top Wilson players are using on the ATP and WTA tours. Click here to download the PDF. Steven also observed that most of players are using Luxilon Big Banger strings, which have a lot of power but they're not durable and they really put a lot of pressure on the arm and shoulder. Thanks again Steven!!

o