Homepage - Promotion Of 3-Ball Pole Tennis (21.8.2009)

Inventor's Strategy

Three years of research has culminated in the invention of a new sport game called 3-ball pole-tennis. The version to be promoted is called the GAIA model since it could be assembled from recycled components using only a screw-driver and a needle. The whole game set could be assembled without using a single watt of electrical energy. DIY and home productions could be started at very low cost even in the poorest countries in the world. This means that players need not wait for the establishment of distribution networks to obtain their pole-tennis sets.

Castor Semenya: Controversies over the South African 800m runner could never arise in the 3-ball pole-tennis game. Since brute strength is exploited in practically all conventional sport games, sexism is unavoidable. It is not Semenya's fault on what Nature has given her. Semenya is still a human being in spite of her differences. 3-ball pole-tennis is the fairest competitive sport game which should be actively promoted in the international stage. This is the first nonsexist sport game invented but the inventor is determined to discover more nonsexist sports in future. It is a pity that some existing nonsexist sports such as billiards and rifle shooting had been turned sexist by organisers.

Warning: This website is purely for information dissemination. Information is copyrighted but must not be altered by any third party. We are not inviting anyone to participate in business venture on pole-tennis. Do not be duped into joining any pyramid scheme based on the pole-tennis sets.

HYK

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(i) Brief history and theory of conical pendulum.

The first scientist who investigated the conical pendulum was Robert Hooke (circa 1660). The principle of conical pendulum had been exploited by him in the study of planetary motions and timing devices but with the advent of the atomic clocks and electronic watches, devices based on this principle have become rarities but could still be found in some museums.

Fig. 2 represents an ideal conical pendulum in steady orbit with radius r. The two force diagrams on the right-hand-side show that all forces are in equilibrium. We know that if a racquet of mass m1 hit the tennis ball of mass m squarely at velocity v1 it will impart to the latter additional momentum m1v1. If the racquet stops abruptly after the hit, then mass m must now have momentum mv+m1v1. But since m remains constant, therefore the increased velocity v2 =(mv+m1v1)/m. With the increased orbiting velocity v2, the mass m must move to a new radius r greater than before. This is a simplistic explanation based on the principle of the conversation of momentum on how a pole-tennis player could change the radius of the orbiting tennis ball. In real situation, one must be awared of energy loss of the ball/string/pivot setup and also variabilities of hits by the racquet manipulated by players.

(ii) How 3-ball pole-tennis differs from conventional pole-tennis sets advertised online.

Pole-tennis sets have been advertised online in USA for a long time but these were designed to train tennis strokes for tennis players. Only a single tennis ball is attached to a string with the other end fixed onto the pole. Some have two strings attached to two spots on the pole so that the ball is confined to move at a fixed height. Since there is no swivel installed, the string will wrap around the pole first clockwise and then anticlockwise. The 3-ball pole-tennis is not designed for training tennis strokes. It is a totally different game where three balls are played simultaneously using a badminton racquet rather than a tennis racquet. The reason is that power strokes favoured by tennis players are never used. The game objective in 3-ball pole-tennis is to play the three balls in such a way that these will orbit stably without interfering with neighbouring orbits either by intertwining of strings or wrapping around the pole both of these latter conditions could signal the loss of a point in the game. Thus 3-ball pole-tennis game is truly a new sport game in its own right. It differs from tennis, table tennis and badminton in that one does not need to practise with a partner. 3-ball pole-tennis has such a small footprint and is so portable that one could practise quietly within one's flat. This means that you need not be a member of any sport club or to rent a tennis or badminton court before you can play the game. Because of this freedom, surely ultimately there will be many more 3-ball pole-tennis players than tennis and badminton players combined.

(iii) Design features of 3-ball pole tennis.

(iv) DIY assembly of a GAIA-model of 3-ball pole-tennis.

Specifications of components:
Tennis-balls: Practice grade tennis will do. These could be purchased in bulk quite cheaply.
O-ring washer: Material PP, thickness 0.75mm, ID: 25mm, OD: 53mm,
Hose-clamps: Two types: (i) Diameter 22 - 25 mm hose-clamps for locating the positions of swivels and (ii) Diameter 50 mm hose-clamps for attaching the pole to the base for attaching poles to the bases. Thread Seal Tape: PTFE THREAD SEAL TAPE (12mm x 0.07mm x 6M) teflon tape. Internal diameter of plastic scroll 3.0 cm and rim diameter: 5.3 cm
Strings: Either twisted teflon strings or unbreakable deepsea fishing lines at least 0.5 mm diameter.
Pole: Wooden pole length: 1.8 m and diameter: 22 to 25 mm or aluminium tube with OD 25mm.
Pole-cap: Either a plastic cap or another 25 mm hose-clamp to prevent the level-1 swivel from flying off.

Warning!: Twisted teflon strings are very nice but some grades are inferior to others and are found easily broken. For durability, deepsea fishing lines are the most satisfacotry although dearer. The only reason to use teflon strings is because the directions of twists of strings are visually discernible so that a player could untwine the strings in play. With fishing lines, this may not be so easy to detect. Also be warned that depending on the directions adopted for the hose-clamps, 3-ball pole-tennis could exhibit a right-handed or clockwise version and a left-handed or anticlockwise version. Thus a left-hander playing a right-handed version would be at a slight disadvantage. Thus a player should choose right from the beginning of building his own pole-tennis set the version he prefers.

(v) How to play the three levels of 3-ball pole-tennis.

General Strategy:

If the three orbits have the same orbiting velocity to start with, intertwinning of strings cannot occur. The higher the orbiting velocity is, the larger the orbiting radius. The harder you hit the ball with your racquet, the larger is the orbiting circle but the upperlimit is reached when the string is 90 degrees to the pole. Unfortunately you are not a robot and so your hits will be inconsistent or random. If you could hit with absolute consistency, then you could play level-3 pole-tennis indefinitely by maintaining three orbiting circles of the same radius and keep them horizontal. If you cannot do this, the better strategy is to maintain the three orbits with decreasing radii from B1 to B3 but this has a disadvantage in that ball B3 is circling too near the pole leading to its string wrapping around the pole. Strictly intertwining of strings is not always serious as there is a good chance of untwining them on the fly with the right strokes. Thus in competitions, the referees could choose to ignore string intertwining and only declare the loss of a point to a player when the strings wrap the pole. However if all three strings got entangled, the chance of unravelling them is very remote.

Keys: M: medium strength of hit, L: light strength of hit.
Level 1: Hit B1 with M strength using the sequence: B1_B1_B1_B1.... or
the sequence: B1B1B1B1B1B1...
B1_ means one hit per two revolutions.
B1B1 means one hit per one revolution.

Level 2: Hit B1 with M strength and B2 with L strength.
Hit sequence for B1: B1_B1_B1_...
Hit sequence for B2: B2B2B2B2....

Level 3: Hit B1 with M strength, Hit B2 and B3 with L strength.
Hit sequence for B1: B1_B1_B1_B1_...
Hit sequence for B2 and B3: B2B3B2B3...
Comments: The descriptions above are not exhaustive. Each player in intensive training will discover new strategies unknown to others. These are your secret weapons in competitive pole-tennis. In the tennis world, Nadal and Federer do have their own secret weapons. That is how to move up in world rankings.

(vi) Why is it called the GAIA-Model?

In the design of the 3-ball pole-tennis, the developer aims to produce a set at very low-cost. This can only be achieved if the assembly is built mostly from recylable components. However this note contains full instruction on how to set up pole-tennis at home using various types of bases. You will see that our demonstration sets are erected either on recyclable electric fan bases or old office chair bases. These stands are slightly underweight and must be stabilised with additional counter-weight pieces such as a brick. However for presentability, a plastic box containing either water, sand or a brick looks better.

(vii) Rules of competitive 3-ball pole-tennis.

Rule 1: Competitors will bring along their personal pole-tennis set including racquets of their choice. The most suitable racquet is the badminton racquet but players are permitted to use table-tennis racquets if they feel more comfortable. Tennis racquets are not permitted as these are too heavy giving no advantage to players. This is because power strokes are not used in pole-tennis. For convenience, the heavy base could be left at home since free standing bases will be provided in the competition room.
Rule 2: Since pole-tennis depends very much on finesse of light strokes, physical strength is irrelevant. Therefore the game does not discriminate female from male players. There is also no age discrimination in competitions. Anyone with age from 16 to 90 could compete on equal footing.
Rule 3: In all levels of pole-tennis, all balls are either served by manual throwing at the same time or by sequential serving in either clockwise or anticlockwise direction but not mixed. Once launched, the player will apply his/her strategy to keep the orbiting balls apart without string entanglements or wrapping around the pole. A point is declared lost if strings start wrapping around the pole. String entanglements do not disqualify a player but timing is invalid unless he/she is able to disentangle the strings. The player who could play the longest without string entanglement and without wrapping around the pole is the declared winner.
Rule 4: Competitions are confined to levels, such as level 1, level 2 and level 3. Prize is awarded to winner of each level. Thus a player could win multiple prizes from more than one level. In each level, players will play three times and the winner is the one with the highest score of wins. The prize will be shared if two or more winners have the same number of points.
Rule 5: The personal pole-tennis set must have the distance between swivels and the length of strings adjusted to ARC specifications. The K = L/d value is 2 where d = 37 cm. Depending on the physical height of the player, he/she may clamp the pole to suit his/her height. Swivel must conform to ARC specification, i.e. the scroll-washer-hoseclamp arranged as shown in section (iii). Strings may be fishing lines or teflon lines. Standard practice tennis balls are used without pellet infills.

(viii) 3-ball pole-tennis as an exerciser.

The 3-ball pole-tennis set could be used both as an exerciser and as a competition training equipment. As an exerciser, only level 1 is needed and the string should be lengthed up to K = L/d = 3 with d= 37 cm. This would allow you to hit harder to bring up the sweat. Here is more information on using it as an exerciser.
Level 1 Exerciser: An ideal exerciser should be very affordable and can be used in all weathers. Walking is a good exercise but may be too rigorous for older folks. Treadmills are expensive but do not give whole body exercise. For less than $25/- you could have the pole-tennis exerciser made at home and start using. Please proceed as follows:
Stage 1: Hit the level-1 ball once lightly after every two revolutions. The reason is that if you have not done it before, the ball may fly pass too quickly to hit on its first flypass. Do this 20 times first with your right-hand and then your left-hand. If you feel very tired stop for the day. If you feel pain in your muscles at night, stop for one or two days before resuming. This advice is especially relevant for older folks over 60.
Stage 2: Still follow the pattern of stage 1 but increase the number of hits progressively from 20 to 100 incrementally over a period of four weeks. Once you are used to the exercise motions, your ultimately goal is to perform 500 times each with your left and right arms.
Stage 3 - Continue the same pattern but swing your body around the hip over 180 degrees to exercise body muscles. Also rock your feet rythmically to exercise the leg and thigh muscles.

(i) This is the newest competitive sport invented in Singapore. It needs active promotion because it is too new.
(ii) It is the only sport equipment which could be built almost entirely in Singapore. If popularised, it will provide a lot of home-based jobs for unemployed people.
(iii) Existing sports supported by the Sport Council can only be practised and played in properly laid courts. Land is expensive in Singapore. 3-ball pole-tennis is the only sport which could be practised in HDB flats alone.
(iv) This sport does not discriminate between male and female competitors. There is no age limit in competitions because it is not a physically exhaustive sport like lawn tennis.
(v) 3-ball pole-tennis is not an exclusive game catering to a few elite players. It is the most suitable sport game to engage people at community level.

3-Ball Pole-Tennis is solidly based on the mathematical theory of conical pendulum. But some mathematicians claim that 3-ball pole-tennis is an unplayable game. The reason is that there is no generalized analytical solution to the 3-body problem. But there are no analytical solutions to the tennis and the badminton games either. Yet the latters are playable. The inventor himself has demonstrated repeatedly that this game is playable, although much more difficult than table-tennis or tennis. So, who is right and who is wrong? At this moment of time HYK is the only player of this game. This remains an open problem until we hear from the experience of other players in future.

(1) The GAIA-model has been designed which could be assembled entirely using components purchased from hardware stores. There is not a single patentable item and so these sets are unpatentable. This model will suit small entrepreneurs wishing to establish a home-based craft industry for 3-ball pole-tennis. Initial capital outlay will be less than $200/- dollars.

(2) A Premium version is to be promoted most suitable for the furniture industry or woodwork industry. Since these sets will most likely to be used indoors, these must harmonise with existing furniture in the lounge, office-rooms or bedrooms. These must be designed for multi-functions such as the inclusion of a bookshelf or shoe-racks at the base which will also provide counterweights. The retail price will be expected to be higher but much more presentable in one's home.

Comments: One plays 3-ball pole-tennis with a badminton racquet on tennis balls. So is this new sport nearer to badminton or tennis? Our answer is: Neither! The nearest sport which 3-ball pole-tennis could claim some affinity is the game of billiard. Like billiard, this new sport is nonconfrontational. Like billiard, this new sport is not physically exhausting. Like billiard, one could hone one's skill by practising alone. Thus the use of badminton racquets and tennis balls happens to be convenient choice. Unlike billiard, players do not need to rely on branded name items since they could build the equipment other than the racquets by themselves. As to the badminton racquet, don't waste money on branded racquets since a cheap S$1/- China racquet is good enough.

More comments: The standard 3-ball pole-tennis version is designed as a competitive sport to test skill of playing and not brute strengths. One notes that tennis has developed into a boring contest of brute strengths of players. One does not see the deft strokes and skillful court plays of such players as Micheal Chang and McEncroe anymore. However for bringing out sweat one needs to hit hard and to do that the string attached to the ball must be tripled in length and one could confine to playing a single level only. By playing rythmically with the whole body rocking and hitting the ball on each pass and chalk up to a few hundred revolutions for both left and right arm and to play as fast as possible, you get whole body exercise bring out the sweat. This should supplement practice for competitions.

Since this game originates from Singapore, will it first take root in this country? Through the Internet, information on this game has been disseminated throughout the world. Interested players need not shop for these items from distributors since they could easily assemble their own in less than an hour using components easily purchased from hardware stores. The inventor will just be as delighted to hear that the game has taken root in a foreign country. Sport is international. This is the Olympic spirit. There is the possibility that 3-ball pole-tennis may first become popular as a video game in more affluent countries.

In table-tennis, badminton and tennis competitions, players only bring along their favourite racquets. The organisers will provide the courts. In 3-ball pole-tennis competitions, players will bring along their favourite racquets and the pole-tennis sets which they either build themselves or get someone to build for them. The organisers of this sport only provide the sturdy bases for players to plant their favourite pole-tennis sets ready for competitions. This is equivalent to a tennis player bringing his own court in competitions. Thus in 3-ball pole-tennis competitions, a player has to combine the skill of playing plus the skill in building his own pole-tennis sets. The organisers only have to provide the bases and referees and adequate empty space for the competitions. Don't you think that may create unfair conditions amongst competitors just like controversy over specially designed swimming suits? The answer is .. not likely, since the constructions of the pole-tennis sets together with the materials used will be specified by the organisers before the competitions.

Another unique feature of 3-ball pole-tennis is the concept of Continuous Competitions. The organisation of annual grand slam events must be astronomically expensive as all players must travel to one place and compete over a period of time. 3-ball pole-tennis is nonconfrontational thus there is no need to play against a specific opponent. This means that competitors need not meet. Each player could choose his/her own time to go to a central appointed stadium to be refereed for his/her performance the result of which is entered into a central data-bank. At the end of the year, the player who could play for the longest time will be declared the winner.

Timing Method: Press Start button of timer with serving of balls whether by hand throwing or by sequential serves. Strings are temporarily allowed to twist but timing is only accepted at the moment when all strings are free. Players are allowed to indicate to the timing referee that he will stop as soon as strings are untwined by raising his lefthand. Timing will be aborted as soon as any string wraps around the pole and the result is not valid.

The common perception of Parkinson's disease is of a disorder that leads to problems with movement, tremors, involuntary spasms, and a shuffling gait. However, functional MRI has now confirmed that the disease can also cause widespread abnormalities in the sense of touch and vision for sufferers.

Research into Parkinson's disease has previously focused mainly on the brain's motor and premotor cortex, sidestepping the somatosensory and the visual cortex because the most prominent symptoms are associated with movement and not the senses. However, neurologist Krish Sathian of Emory University and colleagues discovered through tests of tactile ability, that PD patients also have sensory problems with touch.

The 3-ball pole-tennis was orignally developed as a new competitive sport but it may have potential to be used as a unique therapeutic execiser or research tool for PD patients. This is because unlike conventional stimulatant exercisers, this set involves both visual and motoring cortices. Professor Sathian has found signiciant difference between the brain images of PD sufferers and normal person from fMRI imaging. This is the reason why a demonstration of 3-ball pole tennis of 5 minute duration was performed before the main lecture on fMRI at 7T by Profess Cho on 23.10.2009 at AIMT, beach road. We hope to gain some insight on this proposal. Sound could also be incorporated so that hearing cortices are also stimulated. We believe that prolonged usage of this exerciser could delay the onset of full blown pd.