On Wed, 3 Aug 2016 12:59:08 -0700 (PDT), bob_villa
wrote:

On Wednesday, August 3, 2016 at 2:41:00 PM UTC-5, wrote:
A while back, I was injured and had to use a walker for a few weeks. I
bought a used one at a second hand store. It came with tennis balls on
the legs. I was just putting it away and noticed there are rubber "cups"
on the legs beneath the tennis balls. This makes me wonder why they put
the cut-open tennis balls on the legs. And I see this on almost every
walker used by people.....

Do the tennis balls provide a better grip than the rubber, or is there
another reason?

They allow it to be slid...the rubber does not.

That eliminates my theory that the men in Nursing Homes installed the
tennis balls, so they could show off their balls to the women in the
Nursing Home.

Seriously, I never really noticed the "slid" part, because I mostly used
it on carpetting, or outdoors on the patio blocks. Because the injury
consisted of torn muscles in my leg, I mostly just needed the walker to
help me stand up. Once I was up, I could walk without it on a flat
surface, as long as I kept the leg relatively straight. Steps were the
biggest problems, but the railing on the stairway was then used. Getting
off a chair or out of bed was the worst problem, which required the
walker. I was really glad when I no longer needed it, but it sure helped
when I did. At my age, I figure I may as well keep it around, but hope
it can stay in the closet for a long time.