Monday 17 October 2016

Paul Zarda – Inventor of the Zarda-Top-Spin-Racquet

Paul Zarda is a highly skilled mechanical engineer with both theoretical and practical expertise in the area of Mechanical Computer Aided Engineering (MCAE) & Knowledge Based Engineering (KBE).  Talking about his education, he received his Ph.D. in Engineering Mechanics from Columbia University in 1974 in bioengineering and biomechanics. Prior to this, he did his Master of Science in Engineering Mechanics & Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from the same university. In 1969, he completed his Bachelor of Arts in Math & Physics from Jacksonville University, Jacksonville, Fla.

Paul Zarda has invented a tennis racquet called as The Zarda-Top-Spin-Racquet, or the Z-TSR. It has an inner frame and an isolation system that connects the inner and outer frame together. The idea behind this invention was to increase the accuracy of the tennis’s ball trajectory. Another objective of the Z-TSR is to minimize the motion of the strings relative to each other on the inner frame, thereby increasing the life and performance of the frame.

The design of Paul Zarda’s Zarda-Top-Spin-Racquet allows for adjustment of the in-plane Kx and Ky stiffnesses. So, irrespective of the head’s motion as it strikes the ball, the in-plane x-y stiffness that the ball sees can be made the same. Therefore, if a racquet is swung where the motion of the head is not exactly parallel to the ground at ball impact, the ball will rotate about an axis that is parallel to the ground. This will result in a planar trajectory that will increase the accuracy of the impacted ball.

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