Letter
from Global Sports Alliance
(Japan)
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Hello,
I thought you might like to hear about a recycling initiative
we've started here in Japan. We collect thousands of tennis
balls from across the country and donate them to schools
The balls are attached to the bottom of desks and chairs
to reduce noise and protect the floor from ware. They are
especiallywelcome in schools that have children with hearing
difficulties. Thesechildren wear hearing aids that are sensitive
to sudden loud noises.
Jason, Global Sports Alliance |
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| A
Ball Snake
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Take
a hundred or so tennis balls. With a sharp knife (I used
Swiss Army knife) and puncture two small holes on opposite
sides of the ball. Then take about 30 feet of tennis string
and thread through the balls thus making a long necklace
of tennis balls. I used a long, small metal rod with the
tennis string taped to it. This made threading so much
easier. The end product is a great rope of tennis balls.
On court it is great for depth drills because it is so
easy to tell if the ball was short or not. It can also
be used as a target itself. With a little creativity added
I bet there are a dozen or more ways it can be used on
court.. I know the kids love it. You could even add a
snake head on one side and give it a name.
Alan
Chandronnait
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Tree
Topper
(Fort Smith, Ark)
"I have a tree with just tennis ornaments
and I use the ball as a topper.
Also, I use as a cover for trailer hitch on car... "
Jill Martin
Walker
(St. Petersburg- FL)
"I saw an elderly gentleman come in to the post
office with a walker,
I looked down and he had tennis balls covering the front
legs of
the walker -- so it would slide easier!!"
Denis
Car
Stop
(Shelton, WA)
Use ball as a guide when pulling car
into garage.
Hang a tennis ball from a string in the garage --
position it so when it hits the windshield of the car
you know you can stop there and have cleared the garage door.
Jim
Balloon
Holder
(Pekin, IL)
"For parties or to use on tennis court for kid's
drills --
cut an X slit in the top and bottom of the ball. Thread the ribbon
from a helium balloon thru the top and bottom of the ball.
Tie off ribbon on bottom of ball."
Kris
Garage
Sales
Tennis balls are big sellers at garage sales.... Most people want
them for their dogs, but make sure the dogs mouth isn't too big
or
the ball could get lodged in their throat!!!!
Answers
to "Still Have Plenty of Bounce"
Like a good tennis ball, our Odd Balls competition still has plenty
of bounce after a couple of rounds.
Witty responses continue to flood into ATPtennis.com.
At our local
high school the track coaches cut them in half and the long jumpers
and triple jumpers
use them as markers alongside the runway, marking where they need
to start running in order to
hit the jumping boards in the correct stride. - Susan Templeton,
Earth, Texas
Insert used tennis balls in the tank of a toilet to reduce the
water used per flush of the toilet.
Water conservation is achieved via recycling old tennis balls!-
Bill Kunzman
I have been constantly arguing with my neighbor to lower his music
at late hours of the evening.
He always refuses. So when I leave for work in the morning I put
several tennis balls in my laundry dryer.
It drives him crazy! - Jason Carr, Westwood
In bushfire prone areas in Australia, an old trick is to keep
a bucket of old tennis balls in the garage.
If a bushfire occurs, the balls are wedged into the roof's down
pipes and a garden hose is
used to fill up the gutters with water. This creates a "moat"
around the house,
and prevents advancing sparks and flames from catching fire with
the leaves
and twigs that build up and collect in the gutters, and has saved
many houses from being destroyed.
Andrew Neville, Melbourne, Australia
Ever been scared in your house in the late hours of the night?
My family was, so we bought
the tennis ball dispenser security system. If someone breaks down
the front door, a wire is tripped,
and tennis ball dispenser fires over 100 tennis balls below their
waist. Unfortunately, the system was tested a
few weeks ago. Tennis balls saved our lives and our possessions.
- Jordan Sandler
I am a huge tennis fan, but my first love is
swimming. My coach uses tennis balls to help the
swimmers with breaststroke and butterfly technique. We tuck the
tennis ball under our chin and
swim with it, it is the oddest thing every!- Katie
A few years ago I founded the Orange Balls support group. This
is a Dutch organization that supports
Dutch Davis Cup and Dutch players in general. We do so by throwing
orange balls to the court just
as a Dutch player has won the match. We need the old balls to
color them orange because new balls
are too expensive (we throw up to 400 balls per match). - Deevid
van den Hurk, Founder Support Group Orange Balls
Website www.orangeballs.nl
This article
was a result of an ATP tennis contest asking people how they reuse
their tennis balls.
Press
release © ATP - ODD BALLS Oct. 03, 2002
