# Open a car lock with a tennis ball - Why would this guy try and fake this? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 12, 2012, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-a-car-lock-with-a-tennis-ball-why-would-this-guy-try-and-fake-this/631245 "2012-08-12T04:34:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2012, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-a-car-lock-with-a-tennis-ball-why-would-this-guy-try-and-fake-this/631245/1 "2012-08-12T04:34:55Z")
[This guy](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7jipkEkoC9A) has put up a video countering Mythbusters assertion that the air pressure from a tennis ball with a hole drilled into it, placed over a modern car door lock then rapidly squashed, cannot be used to force open the car lock. Some claim they can see he is using a remote in his pocket to make it look like the tennis ball is working. I can’t tell. Is he scamming or not? ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2012, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-a-car-lock-with-a-tennis-ball-why-would-this-guy-try-and-fake-this/631245/2 "2012-08-12T04:46:11Z")
Well he’s reaching in his pocket for something. I don’t recall much about the Mythbusters episode, but I don’t see how a puff of air, or a blast of air into a key hole is going to unlock a door. His daughter said it didn’t work before, so I think she’s just a pawn in this. Why did he do it? Who knows. It’s a brave new world. There’s no normal on the internet. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2012, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-a-car-lock-with-a-tennis-ball-why-would-this-guy-try-and-fake-this/631245/3 "2012-08-12T04:48:01Z")
At 1:10, he starts digging in his pocket and after the door opens, his hand comes out of his pocket and stays partly closed. Also, the car only beeps when it’s being locked by remote, no sound on unlocking. ETA:At :45, you can see something in his right hand pocket. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2012, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-a-car-lock-with-a-tennis-ball-why-would-this-guy-try-and-fake-this/631245/4 "2012-08-12T04:59:19Z")
A lock cylinder is sprung closed, you have to rotate it to engage or release, so how would air pressure, even if it could line the pins up, rotate the cylinder? Makes no sense. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2012, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-a-car-lock-with-a-tennis-ball-why-would-this-guy-try-and-fake-this/631245/5 "2012-08-12T06:02:52Z")
Sure, he went on the internet to announce that you could unlock _his type of car_ with a tennis ball. Right. ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2012, 9:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-a-car-lock-with-a-tennis-ball-why-would-this-guy-try-and-fake-this/631245/6 "2012-08-12T09:09:26Z")
If you were going to fake this, why wouldn’t you have a second person activate the keyfob off-camera instead of reaching into your own pocket for it? Anyway, of course it’s fake. But who cares? It’s just a cheap stunt for video views. And it’s working, he’s up to 82k+, despite the fact that the “like” bar resembles Darth Vader’s light saber. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2012, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-a-car-lock-with-a-tennis-ball-why-would-this-guy-try-and-fake-this/631245/7 "2012-08-12T16:24:57Z")
> [@Rachellelogram](#): > > If you were going to fake this, why wouldn’t you have a second person activate the keyfob off-camera instead of reaching into your own pocket for it? > > Anyway, of course it’s fake. But who cares? It’s just a cheap stunt for video views. And it’s working, he’s up to 82k+, despite the fact that the “like” bar resembles Darth Vader’s light saber. Because this idiot duped his daughter and someone else holding the camera into this ridiculous video. I’m surprised he didn’t claim his daughter was carried away by a balloon. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2012, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-a-car-lock-with-a-tennis-ball-why-would-this-guy-try-and-fake-this/631245/8 "2012-08-12T20:13:18Z")
Don’t most fobs unlock all doors simultaneously or no? It seems that if more than one unlocked, it would mean he cheated, although I can’t tell from this video. ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2012, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-a-car-lock-with-a-tennis-ball-why-would-this-guy-try-and-fake-this/631245/9 "2012-08-12T20:19:56Z")
A modern lock would no more spring open from a blast of air than an engine would start from pissing on it. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2012, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-a-car-lock-with-a-tennis-ball-why-would-this-guy-try-and-fake-this/631245/10 "2012-08-12T20:26:52Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > Don’t most fobs unlock all doors simultaneously or no? It seems that if more than one unlocked, it would mean he cheated, although I can’t tell from this video. Our car unlocks the driver’s door only if starting from locked. If the driver’s door is unlocked and you click it again, then all other doors unlock as well. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2012, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-a-car-lock-with-a-tennis-ball-why-would-this-guy-try-and-fake-this/631245/11 "2012-08-13T13:46:24Z")
He’s right handed, but when he’s giving directions to his daughter at about 1:13 he’s using his left hand while it look like he’s doing something else with his right hand. You can see his right hand fumbling around, look at this elbow go up and down. ---
**Author:** ![AaronX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7bcc69/32.png) [@AaronX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AaronX)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2012, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-a-car-lock-with-a-tennis-ball-why-would-this-guy-try-and-fake-this/631245/12 "2012-08-13T15:13:59Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > Don’t most fobs unlock all doors simultaneously or no? It seems that if more than one unlocked, it would mean he cheated, although I can’t tell from this video. Some cars only unlock the driver’s door (you need to press twice to unlock all doors), to prevent someone jumping in with you and hijacking the car. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2012, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-a-car-lock-with-a-tennis-ball-why-would-this-guy-try-and-fake-this/631245/13 "2012-08-14T15:38:12Z")
So, there’s the way to test this for sure, if you pro-tennis-ball people want to be vindicated: [ul] [li]Lock all doors with the remote.[/li][li]Push the unlock button on the remote _once_ to unlock the driver’s door.[/li][li]Do the tennis ball trick on the locked _passenger_ door.[/li][/ul] If the passenger door unlocks, but the rear doors remain locked, then the tennis ball worked by engaging the cylinder as claimed. If the rear doors unlock as well, someone pushed the unlock button on a remote somewhere. ---
**Author:** ![Sigene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df788c/32.png) [@Sigene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigene)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2012, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-a-car-lock-with-a-tennis-ball-why-would-this-guy-try-and-fake-this/631245/14 "2012-08-14T15:50:05Z")
> [@zoid](#): > > A modern lock would no more spring open from a blast of air than an engine would start from pissing on it. Sounds like a challenge! ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2012, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-a-car-lock-with-a-tennis-ball-why-would-this-guy-try-and-fake-this/631245/15 "2012-08-14T16:15:25Z")
Urine does have plenty of electrical potential… ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2012, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-a-car-lock-with-a-tennis-ball-why-would-this-guy-try-and-fake-this/631245/16 "2012-08-14T16:18:07Z")
> [@Max\_Torque](#): > > So, there’s the way to test this for sure, if you pro-tennis-ball people want to be vindicated: > [ul] > [li]Lock all doors with the remote.[/li][li]Push the unlock button on the remote _once_ to unlock the driver’s door.[/li][li]Do the tennis ball trick on the locked _passenger_ door.[/li][/ul] > > If the passenger door unlocks, but the rear doors remain locked, then the tennis ball worked by engaging the cylinder as claimed. If the rear doors unlock as well, someone pushed the unlock button on a remote somewhere. Make sure it’s not a Volkswagen or something. They often don’t have passenger keyholes, or hide it behind plastic. Wouldn’t want you to push on that thing for an hour. This trick isn’t worth the price of a tennis ball, though. ---
**Author:** ![markdash](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@markdash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markdash)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2012, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-a-car-lock-with-a-tennis-ball-why-would-this-guy-try-and-fake-this/631245/17 "2012-08-14T16:21:34Z")
This sounds like trick shot (be it table tennis, or basketball, or whatever) videos where, after completing the miraculous shot, everyone starts yelling “FIRST TRY!!!” ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2012, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-a-car-lock-with-a-tennis-ball-why-would-this-guy-try-and-fake-this/631245/18 "2012-08-14T16:32:14Z")
I heard about this weird thing from an email somebody sent me. Now I do often have tennis balls in my car (I play tennis, I have a dog). But (a) they are IN the car, not in my pocket, and (b) they don’t have holes in them. I am really not so likely to have a tennis ball and a thing to make a hole in it, which is not all that easy. (If the dog is with me I think I have a way; otherwise, no.) If I did have these things, they would also be IN the car. The only reason to try this is to break into someone else’s car! No, I have no idea if it works. But if you have a tennis ball with a hole in it in your pocket, I’ll bet you will be some kind of suspect.