Could someone tell me and the other people on this forum about the difference that hot/cold temperatures have on strings and shuttles.
About shuttles I can tell you that the higher the temperatur the faster/further the shuttle fly. So you should choose faster shuttles for a cold sports hall and slower ones for a hot one. But you can also kink the feathers to adjust the right speed, but I don't recommend that if you have the opportunity to buy the right speed for your conditions. About string I can tell you that during winter I have to string alot more rackets than in the summer. Due the cold environment strings tend to break quicker and don't last long. About tension I can't feel a huge difference. A few of my clients request for 1 lbs less during winter but that's not the rule. Please count in that cold/hot is relative.
Air gets denser with lower temperature and lower altitude. http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Density_of_air The density of dry air can be calculated using the ideal gas law, expressed as a function of temperature and pressure: where: air density absolute pressure absolute temperature specific gas constant for dry air
And also don't forget that we humans are slower when playing in 10-15 degree C temperatures, so tend to move slower, hit slower, and mishit more often. Definitely recommend playing with 1 lb less tension during the cold winter months if your gym is not well heated, otherwise you'll be making your stringer richer every week...
There was a period of time last winter when the place we were playing in had an ambient temp of 12 degrees C! And that was when every little minor mishit was met with a look of dismay on my face and a nasty craaack as my freshly strung ZM62 @23x24 lbs snapped like dry twigs. I repeated this for a few weeks until I got fed up and dropped it by 1 lb.
Usually the difference in the sports-hall isn't THAT huge, is it? 18 degrees in winter, 25 in summer? At least in Europe and most parts of the US!? In Indonesia, it will be more like 30-35 all year? It's not like outside, where we have 30 degrees in summer and -15 in winter. One of the benefits from playing an indoor sports...
Depends on the building and owner. Everyone who is tight on budget tries to save money. If you must play at different places and cities because of league games or tournaments in the winter, you will notice a huge difference between the sportshalls. You need tons of energy and a big bag of money to keep the temperature around 18-20°C if you hadn't invest enough money for a good insulation of the building. Most owners don't care about if you are cold or you need to shower with 20°C cold water in the winter. Why should they spend more money for your wellness when they can't earn more money?
Yep, I'm not kidding when I say it's 12C in the gym in the cold of winter and 33C in the heat of summer...
Where are you guys from? In Denmark 99% of all halls are government owned, and therefore also keeps up to almost the same standard.. I haven't played anywhere in Denmark (have played tons of places) where the temperature varietes that much, it might get hotter throughout the tournament if they don't have any AC systems running but thats all.
Yes, but I've noticed over the past 2 yrs most places are cutting back in energy costs by turning down AC in summer and heat in winter... some worse than others. I've often thought about trying to trick the facility's locked thermostat into kicking in sooner by wrapping it with ice in the winter and heat pad in the summer. One of these days...
Sometimes you must play. If you play recreational and you notice that the gym is too cold you can go home and drink a hot chocolate instead of playing. But league players must play. If you don't play you loose 21:0, 21:0. And not only you your team loose points too. If you travel to tournaments, drove 50km+ and paid entry fee you are forced to play. You can't say everytime "This sports hall is to cold I go home."
An energy surcharge should be added if members are willing to contribute in order to keep the gym at a comfortable temperature.
No, need... next time I'll just bring an ice pack to trick the thermostat into kicking in the heat...
IMO the gym should calculated their cost properly. If that means that a member has to pay a few bugs more in the winter, they should add these cost on the fee of each member at the beginning of each membership. During Winter to change the dues is IMO not reliable. If you play in a sports club and you pay a fee, there shouldn't be a proplem to add a few bugs more, too. But I think that the reasons aren't that they calculate their cost badly or something like that. I think most don't heat properly to maximize their profits or to reduce the costs.