Great Balls of Fire!

Its somewhat incredulous that in our tennis officiating world everything revolves around a little tennis ball.  We watch how the ball is hit, where it lands, and then what happens after it lands--and its such fun!  There is nothing more exciting than being right in the center of a hotly contested tennis match and here are a few of the unique twists and turns of the glorious tennis ball...

As we prepare for a match, sometimes the ball just appears out of nowhere.  Of course we are supposed to open the can, clean the balls, squeeze the balls, and begin the warmup.  However, it doesn't always happen this way...

Part of our job is to learn how to watch the bounces of the ball and whether it lands inside the court boundaries or outside.  Try to follow and bouncing ball and learn to focus...

Sometimes the players have trouble focusing on the ball--but play begins anyway.  Ready or not...

The serve is struck and the point is begun!  Now get ready for the real action.

Sometimes the ball is hit with such force that it just "burns right past the players".

And sometimes it catches us by surprise...

Then there are those who don't really care what the ball does.  They are just there for the fun, entertainment, and socialization.

Then there are those who want to argue about everything that happens with the ball...

Some want to dissect the game--and there are those who watch too many cooking shows!

Tennis is truly an evolving game--just look at the new rackets and how hard the players hit the ball.  Be sure to watch long enough to see the evolution...

And thus the tennis ball quickly rolls away to live yet another day...