Joshua Speckman is a freelance journalist. A scientist by training and a tennis nut since childhood, he has a particular interest in the influence of technology on tennis. His January 2011 article in The Atlantic, “The New Physics of Tennis”, brought the impact of copoly strings on professional tennis to the attention of the general public and rekindled discussion about the topic in the tennis community. Joshua lives in Kunming, China with his wife, a photojournalist.
Joshua Speckman
Tennis Science
In the first article in this series on strings and spin, we learned that slippery strings, like copoly, generate extra spin because the main strings slide, stretch and snapback, applying an extra spin-boosting torque on the ball. (Click Here.) In...
Tennis Science
What exactly was the spaghetti revolution and why was it so brief? In Part I of this series, we showed how copoly strings really work and the role they've played in transforming the way pro tennis is played. (Click Here.)...
Tennis Science
It's been almost 15 years since Guga first won the French using "copoly" strings. Since Gustavo Kuerten won the French Open in 1997 with the aid of Luxilon copoly strings, the material has gradually displaced traditional natural gut and other...