R.I.P. Howard Brody

[gzhpcu]

Howard Brody, just passed away at the age of 83. Condolences to his family.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/19/sp...pgtype=article


I have his book "The Physics and Technology of Tennis" which he wrote together with Rod Cross and Lindsey.

[johnyandell]

Funny I was just wondering yesterday how he was doing because he had been ill for many years.

When we started our study of ball spin and ball speed Howard was one of the people we consulted and his blessing of our work was a key endorsement.

I still remember him furiously taking notes during one of my first heavy ball talks and making me quite nervous. What a relief when afterwards he told me he thought it "held together."

It's a loss of a big positive force for tennis.

[klacr]

Wow. Quite sad.

Tennis lost another great mind and a fan of the game.

"explored what happens when the stoppable force known as a ball meets the movable object called a racket..." I love that.

Howard's last years were a battle against Parkinson's. Brutal disease that I'm all too familiar within my family and friends circle. Condolences to his friends, family and the sport of tennis.

He'll be able to talk to Vic Braden about the science of tennis in Heaven.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

[don_budge]

Howard M. Brody…on over-sized racquets

The "M" stands for nothing…which is interesting.

New York Times article...

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/19/sports/tennis/howard-brody-83-expert-in-physics-of-tennis-dies.html?&moduleDetail=section-news-0&action=click&contentCollection=Tennis&region=Footer&module=MoreInSection&version=WhatsNext&contentID=WhatsNext&pgtype=article

From the article...

"Vacationing in Florida in the 1970s, Professor Brody caught sight of a Prince racket, the oversize racket designed by the engineer Howard Head and recently introduced to the market. The racket piqued his professional curiosity: Did its size make it better, and if so, how?

None of the tennis professionals he consulted knew the answer, and he resolved to find out.

In a lab filled with lasers and mirrors and oscilloscopes, Professor Brody set to work, focusing in particular on the interaction — sometimes companionable, sometimes not — between ball and racket.

A specific area of inquiry was the racket’s percussion center, known in popular parlance as the sweet spot. The percussion center is the place on a racket’s head that, when struck, does not vibrate, creating a torque-free still point.

On oversize rackets, Professor Brody learned, the percussion center tends to reside closer to the head’s physical center, making such rackets, for many players, easier to use."

I came to the same conclusion that he did…going though a lot less trouble.