# Most visible color for sports balls, etc. **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 30, 2019, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-visible-color-for-sports-balls-etc/839450 "2019-08-30T01:45:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![zombywoof](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/9e8a1a/32.png) [@zombywoof](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zombywoof)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2019, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-visible-color-for-sports-balls-etc/839450/1 "2019-08-30T01:45:07Z")
The other day I read that traditional soccer balls are black and white because that makes for the best visibility in all lighting conditions - which seemed to make sense, except then I remember hearing that tennis balls are yellow because THAT makes for the best visibility (which is why fire engines are often now yellow instead of the traditional red)…then again, baseballs are all white, as are golf balls, two sports in which visibility is very important (in the latter case, if only to find your errant shots)…meanwhile basketball and football players seem to make do with relatively dull orange and brown. I guess my question is, is there any real science on what the best color(s) for sports balls are? ---
**Author:** ![OldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3bc359/32.png) [@OldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldGuy)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2019, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-visible-color-for-sports-balls-etc/839450/2 "2019-08-30T02:00:55Z")
I can’t answer your question, but I’ll point out that way back when they used a white football with black stripes at either end for night games. I guess with the better lighting now, that’s unimportant. [https://www.si.com/2014/05/27/nfl-history-in-95-objects-white-football](https://www.si.com/2014/05/27/nfl-history-in-95-objects-white-football) ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2019, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-visible-color-for-sports-balls-etc/839450/3 "2019-08-30T02:06:22Z")
Some of us oldsters will remember that in the early days of the Houston Astrodome (the first domed stadium) the glare made it very hard for players to see the ball. The National League actually experimented with different colored baseballs, including those day-glo types like cerise and fuschia. That particular problem was finally solved by [painting the roof of the Astrodome](https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=5Q8dAAAAIBAJ&sjid=A5sEAAAAIBAJ&pg=1385%2C3450389) (and future domes) to cut the glare. [Golf balls also come in colors](https://www.amazon.com/TaylorMade-2018-Noodle-Multi-Dozen/dp/B078S3NBXX/ref=asc_df_B078S3NBXX/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=241930041047&hvpos=1o2&hvnetw=g&hvrand=14030579492045862683&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9022877&hvtargid=pla-633969059197&psc=1), which are especially useful for die-hard golfers who play in the snow. For soccer, it’s the [contrasting patterns of black and white, and their spin](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bKOTKHtbM54), that make it easier to follow the ball, not the specific colors of black and white. [Basketball](https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&source=images&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwjqs8D3v6nkAhUCHzQIHUayA0QQjRx6BAgBEAQ&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.spalding.com%2Fshop%2Fbasketballs%2Fofficial-nba%2Faba-official-game-ball%2FIN.74248E.0.0.0.0.html&psig=AOvVaw2XwlnXG2KyABjeid_ZUBSL&ust=1567216828586792) and[football](https://imagesvc.timeincapp.com/v3/mm/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcdn-s3.si.com%2Fs3fs-public%2Fstyles%2Fmarquee_large_2x%2Fpublic%2F2014%2F05%2Fwhite-football-960.jpg%3Fitok%3De_r-b7R5&w=1000&q=70) have played around with different colors, but ultimately decided it wasn’t worth switching from traditional brownish leather. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2019, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-visible-color-for-sports-balls-etc/839450/4 "2019-08-30T02:44:45Z")
Normal cricket balls are cherry red, but balls supposed to be visible under floodlights are white or pink. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2019, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-visible-color-for-sports-balls-etc/839450/5 "2019-08-30T03:03:42Z")
IMHO, bright yellow’s the most visible. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2019, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-visible-color-for-sports-balls-etc/839450/6 "2019-08-30T11:41:42Z")
They make those tennis balls in fluorescent yellow (and other fluorescent colors) because they are so incredibly visible. I haven’t seen a traditional white tennis ball on any local court in ages. I suspect fluorescent colors are probably the most visible, and are widely used for the same reason construction crews on city streets wear fluorescent vests. But I haven’t seen any studies on this. ---
**Author:** ![Jet\_Jaguar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jet_jaguar/32/3562_2.png) [@Jet\_Jaguar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jet_Jaguar)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2019, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-visible-color-for-sports-balls-etc/839450/7 "2019-08-30T12:23:21Z")
The traditional, classic black and white soccer ball pattern was first developed by Adidas (the [Adidas Telstar](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adidas_Telstar)) in the late 1960’s to make the ball show up better on black and white television. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2019, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-visible-color-for-sports-balls-etc/839450/8 "2019-08-30T13:14:40Z")
Back in the 1970s, the WHA tried using [red pucks](https://beta.canada.com/sports/hockey/hornby-scrappy-wha-earned-spot-in-pro-hockey-history/wcm/fb96bef9-afa2-4f8d-8d0b-0f1d143e4736/amp/) for exhibition games. They were dropped because they were not the same hardness as black pucks and would get misshapen with normal use. ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2019, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-visible-color-for-sports-balls-etc/839450/9 "2019-08-30T13:22:04Z")
nm ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2019, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-visible-color-for-sports-balls-etc/839450/10 "2019-08-30T13:41:03Z")
I remember that back last century, there were some trials to find a more visible colour than the traditional red for fire appliances. Some university came up with a greeny-yellow colour that was definitely visible; the problem was that it made people physically sick. I looked for a cite but failed. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2019, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-visible-color-for-sports-balls-etc/839450/11 "2019-08-30T13:51:00Z")
I suspect it has a lot to do with specific lighting conditions, distance and the background for each sport. For example, back in college when I used to play a lot of recreational golf, I played around with the colored balls a little. The yellow ones weren’t as visible as I expected, but the safety orange ones stood out like crazy, and the traditional white ones were somewhere in between. I suspect it’s because yellow and green are analogous, especially on the rather indifferently maintained college course, while orange isn’t anywhere near the colors normally seen there. Similarly, I suspect in relatively close quarters tennis, that yellow stands out because the ball is still relatively large. ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2019, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-visible-color-for-sports-balls-etc/839450/12 "2019-08-30T14:13:50Z")
> [@bob\_2](#): > > I remember that back last century, there were some trials to find a more visible colour than the traditional red for fire appliances. Some university came up with a greeny-yellow colour that was definitely visible; the problem was that it made people physically sick. > > I looked for a cite but failed. Apparently an optometrist named Stephen Solomon, who began his research in the 1970s. He’s still around, and provides some background here: > **[Does Vehicle Color Play a Role in Fire Apparatus Safety?](https://www.firehouse.com/apparatus/article/21082328/does-vehicle-color-play-a-role-in-fire-apparatus-safety)** > > Dr. Stephen Solomon looks at recent studies that compare accident rates for red vs. lime-yellow apparatus. There are some claims that an added bonus to the color is that it’s remarkably ugly, meaning that very few other vehicles are going to be painted that color. Whoever said that doesn’t remember the snot-green Datsun B210s from the 1970s. ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2019, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-visible-color-for-sports-balls-etc/839450/13 "2019-08-30T17:24:54Z")
Yes, when I was growing up, Toronto police cars were bright yellow - which made the traditional back-and-whites in movies seem very foreign. For a while I seem to recall, they tried painting fire engines puke-yellow-green. Those fluorescent tennis balls are fairly new in the last few decades; when I was growing up, tennis balls started out fuzzy white and got browner with use. I expect the change was because the courts varied from public asphalt courts to reddish clay courts and dark green grass courts and the best compromise was that one. Dodge balls were usually dark, I assume as a contrast to white tee shirts. Similarly for court sports like racquetball, the balls are blue or dark red in contrast to the white court walls. Pucks are black on white ice - certainly the best to follow. White golf balls do stand out against grass (from my experience as a caddy way back when) but in a field of dandelions or lots of litter they are harder to find. I suspect for most sports, the optimum choice evolved over time - like tennis balls; given a choice, most people found the bright green most visible in assorted circumstances. I wonder that in tennis stadiums where spectators could wear white, and the ball is often as not above eye level, it was less optimal to have a white ball. Whereas in golf, unless the sun is behind you, a white golf ball is typically visible in flight as a dark spot against a bright sky. ---
**Author:** ![Esprise\_Me](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/esprise_me/32/2947_2.png) [@Esprise\_Me](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Esprise_Me)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2019, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-visible-color-for-sports-balls-etc/839450/14 "2019-08-30T17:47:53Z")
I suspect there isn’t a single definitive answer, as the most visible color will be the one that provides the most contrast against the background, and that’s going to vary. There’s some debate on what color surface marker buoy scuba divers should use to make themselves most visible on the surface; most SMBs are fluorescent orange or yellow, but there’s supposedly some study out there that says hot pink is better. (I haven’t been able to find it.) Time of day can be a factor too; this article states (again without citation) that orange is more visible in full sun while yellow is more visible at dawn: [Which Delayed Surface Marker Buoy should I choose?](https://alertdiver.eu/en_US/articles/which-delayed-surface-marker-buoy-should-i-choose) ---
**Author:** ![swampspruce](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/swampspruce/32/261_2.png) [@swampspruce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/swampspruce)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2019, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-visible-color-for-sports-balls-etc/839450/15 "2019-08-30T18:03:23Z")
Don’t forget that out eyes are optimized for the wavelengths of sunlight and the predominant colour of that is that horrible yellow green you see fire trucks (particularly airport pumpers) come in. Red is the colour we lose first in low light conditions due to the Purkinje shift so the best option usually is some variation of yellow-green. Eye sensitivity- 550 nm [Nondestructive Evaluation Techniques : Penetrant](https://www.nde-ed.org/EducationResources/CommunityCollege/PenetrantTest/Introduction/lightresponse.htm) Purkinje Shift- [Purkinje Shift](https://isle.hanover.edu/Ch03Eye/Ch03PurkinjieSim_evt.html) Sunlight composition- [https://www.windows2universe.org/sun/spectrum/multispectral\_sun\_overview.html](https://www.windows2universe.org/sun/spectrum/multispectral_sun_overview.html) ---
**Author:** ![Schnitte](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/schnitte/32/9033_2.png) [@Schnitte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Schnitte)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2019, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-visible-color-for-sports-balls-etc/839450/16 "2019-08-31T18:11:04Z")
To throw in (pun intended) some science, [here](https://shapeamerica.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10671315.1976.10615391#.XWq3dHvgqUk) is a study from 2013 that concludes: “Blue and yellow balls produced significantly higher catching scores than the white balls. The significance of interaction effects suggested that various combinations of ball color and background color produced high catching scores. Blue balls projected against white background produced the highest catching score.” It thus seems to contradict [this 2000 paper](https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/001401300750004087?src=recsys) which concluded that, for cricket, the colour of the ball didn’t make a difference.