The Index Project
Index Award 2005 Finalists
Play & Learning
Tennis Racket Pick-up Ball Accessory
The accessory is formed from a small single piece of resilient material and can be simply attached to or removed from the top of a racket. The device adds only a few grams of weight without affecting racket performance and is almost imperceptible when fitted to the racket.

Functionality and use of design
The racket is positioned with the accessory over the ball and gently pushed down. The ball stays stuck and can be lifted off the ground.

How did this design improve life?
The accessory facilitates the conventional procedure of lifting a ball off the ground using a racket, which generally requires a certain skill and unnecessary effort. The accessory enables especially elderly or inexperienced recreational tennis players to pick up a ball faster and easier and spend more time and energy on the game.

Drawbacks of life improvement
There are no real disadvantages. Using the accessory may affect only the sporting image of the player

Research and need
An effort was made for the preliminary design concept not to depend on any technology . Therefore many common materials were tested to find the one that enables simplicity of attachment, low weight, a low profile and aesthetics. Testing was then carried out with recreational tennis players to find out how the accessory affects the personal style of play.

Designed by
Andrej Pretnar - Slovenia

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