The Color of Tennis Balls網(wǎng)球顏色趣談

馬特·多米諾 譯/范婕

The tennis ball is such an unassuming object in our lives that we take its appearance for granted. Who hasn’t stumbled upon one of them， forgotten， in the far corner of their closet or garage？ Despite its passive presence， one of the most frenzied internet debates of 2018 centered on its distinctive color： Is it actually yellow， or is it green？ The shade in question originates from an unlikely source： David Attenborough， the legendary British documentarian known internationally for his Planet Earth series， played a pivotal role in how we see the tennis ball today.

The sport of modern tennis was born out of the English game of lawn tennis， which by most accounts was invented in the 1870s. Lawn tennis was an outdoor adaptation of the indoor racket game “real tennis，” which itself was an adoption of the French pastime jeu de paume， or “the palm game.” After many iterations， including balls made of cork， wool， and even human hair， the tennis ball found what was then its ideal form： a ball made of a rubber core encased in white or black melton， a tightly woven and felted fabric.

For nearly a century， tennis balls were white or black. It wasn’t until 1972 that tennis balls took on their bright neon hue. At the time， Attenborough was working as a studio controller for the BBC. In the late 1960s he had led the charge for the BBC to broadcast Wimbledon， perhaps the most iconic of tennis tournaments， in color for the first time ever.

Broadcasting tennis in color brought the matches to life， but it made tracking the ball on screen difficult—especially when it fell near the white courtlines. So the International Tennis Federation （ITF） undertook a study that found that yellow tennis balls were easier for home viewers to see on their screens. An official 1972 ITF rule change required that all regulation balls have a uniform surface and be white or yellow in color. However， Wimbledon did not change the ball color to yellow until 1986.

In 1991， the Chicago Tribune ran a story about white tennis balls making a comeback. In reality， as the article states， most manufacturers never stopped producing white balls in smaller quantities. Grant Golden， a former United States clay court champion， declared that the comeback of white tennis balls would “go right down the toilet” because “the yellow ball is perfect.”

The unmistakable shade of the tennis ball is officially called “optic yellow” by the ITF. But a Google search for “optic yellow color” leads to the online color encyclopedia ColorHexa. There， the shade is listed as #ccff00 and marked as “Fluorescent yellow.”

That slight， blurry line between analogous shades led to the great internet debate： Are tennis balls yellow or are they green？ The origin of the controversy can be traced back to a now-deleted Twitter post by @cgpgrey who asked users to “help solve a marital dispute” and vote on the color of a tennis ball. The tweet led to outlets like The Atlantic taking a deep dive into the topic that touched on human perception and color theory.

The conversation grew to such a degree that even tennis legend Roger Federer weighed in， saying， “They’re yellow， right？” Despite the ITF’s position， the general consensus was that there may not be a true right answer. Maybe you’re a Roger Federer fan and agree with the Swiss legend that the ball is yellow. Or， maybe you’re a Rafael Nadal fan and， out of principle， side with green.

Either way， the next time a tennis ball comes rolling out from the recesses of your closet， take a moment to regard the power of its humble design.

生活中，網(wǎng)球是很普通的小物件，我們從沒把它當回事兒。誰沒在自家儲藏室或車庫的某個旮旯里偶然撿到被遺忘在那兒的網(wǎng)球呢。雖然它不起眼，但其特有的顏色在2018年卻引起了一場網(wǎng)絡熱議：網(wǎng)球究竟是黃色還是綠色？網(wǎng)球顏色的起源讓人意想不到——憑借《地球脈動》系列紀錄片聞名世界的英國紀錄片制作人戴維·阿滕伯勒對網(wǎng)球如今這個樣子起到了重要作用。

法國休閑游戲“手掌擊球（jeu de paume）”引入英國后，發(fā)展為使用球拍的“室內網(wǎng)球”，到了室外則成了草地網(wǎng)球。大多數(shù)記載顯示，到了19世紀70年代，現(xiàn)代網(wǎng)球這個體育項目便由草地網(wǎng)球演變誕生。而使用的球在制作上用過軟木、羊毛甚至人的頭發(fā)等等材料，幾經(jīng)改良后，終于有了就當時來說造型最理想的網(wǎng)球：用橡膠做球芯，外面包裹白色或黑色的麥爾登呢（一種編織緊密的毛氈織物）。

差不多100年的時間里，網(wǎng)球都是非白即黑，直到1972年，顏色才變得鮮亮。那時，阿滕伯勒在英國廣播公司任演播室主管，20世紀60年代末，他引領英國廣播公司首次以彩色畫面的形式直播溫布爾登網(wǎng)球錦標賽，該賽事或許可以說是最具代表性的網(wǎng)球錦標賽。

彩色的播放畫面讓比賽看起來更鮮活，但要在電視屏幕上看清楚運動中的球卻不容易，尤其當球落到賽場白色界線附近的時候。于是，國際網(wǎng)球聯(lián)合會（ITF）進行了一項測驗，發(fā)現(xiàn)黃色的球能讓在家通過電視觀賽的人比較容易看清楚。1972年，ITF正式調整網(wǎng)球規(guī)則，規(guī)定凡是正規(guī)賽事用球，其表面必須是統(tǒng)一的白色或黃色。然而，溫網(wǎng)直到1986年才使用黃色球。

1991年，美國《芝加哥論壇報》刊登文章說，白色網(wǎng)球重回賽場。其實，正如文章所述，大多數(shù)生產(chǎn)商一直都在少量生產(chǎn)白色網(wǎng)球。曾獲紅土場網(wǎng)球賽冠軍的美國運動員格蘭特·戈爾登卻認為“不可能”用回白球，因為“黃球才是最合適的”。

“視覺黃”是ITF對網(wǎng)球那獨特顏色的正式叫法。用谷歌搜索“視覺黃色”，會出現(xiàn)一個名為ColorHexa的顏色信息網(wǎng)站，在這個網(wǎng)站上，網(wǎng)球的顏色被稱為“熒光黃”，代碼為#ccff00。

相似色度之間差別甚微、界限不明，這在互聯(lián)網(wǎng)上引發(fā)了熱議：網(wǎng)球的顏色是黃還是綠？爭論的源頭是一位網(wǎng)名為cgpgrey的人在推特發(fā)布的一條帖子（現(xiàn)已刪除），這個人請網(wǎng)友“幫忙解決一個夫妻分歧”，在網(wǎng)球顏色這個問題上投票。這條帖子還使《大西洋》月刊等媒體在人類認知和色彩理論的話題上展開了深入探討。

議論熱度越來越高，連網(wǎng)壇傳奇球星羅杰·費德勒也表達了自己的看法：“網(wǎng)球是黃色的，對吧？”盡管ITF說的是“視覺黃”，但人們普遍認為這個問題或許不存在正確答案。如果你是羅杰·費德勒的粉絲，可能會與這位瑞士球星看法一致，認為網(wǎng)球是黃色;而如果是拉菲爾·納達爾的粉絲，也許不加思考就覺得網(wǎng)球是綠色。

不管你支持誰，下次再有網(wǎng)球從你家儲藏室哪個旮旯?jié)L出來的時候，注意看一下它簡約而不簡單的設計吧。