I prefer a reasonably warm ball for any shots, including drops and volley drops.

Yes it will bounce more, but on the other hand you can "feel" the ball on the racquet much better. An overly cold ball feels like a lump of lead, which is not good for touch shots, regardless of how it's going to bounce.

Of course you can have too much of a good thing, and when you have a super hot ball the shots will be harder to control.

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aprice - I have written a coaching tip about this subject but cannot find it as our archives have been archived!  Well I have found the title was "hot or cold weather?" but that is all.  The archives are on Ray's list of jobs to chase up.... anyway...

This could make a long story so I will try to be brief. The ball is affected by a few things:

• temperature (heating and ventilation within the courts)
• the season (winter or summer)
• how hard the ball is being hit
• the length of the rallies
• the brand of the ball
• the type of ball, eg colour and dot identification.

You asked specifically about touch shots, eg dropshots.  A few ways to help:

• if you like to play touch, play more variety in your game and not so much hard hitting or hard serving to prevent the ball getting too hot (oven hot).
• if the ball gets too hot slow the rallies down a bit, and use the softer serves.
• if the ball is hot, or a mixture of warmer and hotter, that will affect all shots, and an adjustment will be necessary.  I always feel the ball when I go over to serve and the temperature in your hand will tell you if you can control the ball or not.
• observe the shots during the rally and you will soon realise when the ball feels out of control, and make that adjustment, eg drives will not go deep enough the ball could be cool so you need to aim higher to correct the length, etc.

About the drop shot - assuming you mean one which is hit when the ball is very low:

• swing through the ball
• aim a bit higher (the angle is more important than the height)
• have a very open face (gives more spin and you can hit the ball harder)
• if you still have trouble, lift the ball a little.

A cold ball is hard work too so strive to keep the ball warm, but not too hot.  If it is a bit too cool use a hard serve; a bit too hot use a lob serve and use the defensive drives to the corners unless attacking.

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 Artie,

I dare to say any ball is good while it's not broken. Keep it warm and never complain. If you find the ball being cold, you do not have to use the full energy power shots to warm it up - keep the target on the front wall higher than service line and it's going to work. 

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