Why does a tennis ball bounce more on a hard cover?

The softer the floor surface, the more the energy of the falling ball is absorbed. The more the energy is absorbed, the less is left for the ball to bounce back. No

Think of each ball being like a spring. The force on a spring is proportional to how much compression is put on it. In math talk, this is F = k dx; where k is a constant and dx is the amount of compression. Each ball has a k value of sorts, based on a number of characteristics, including elasticity, internal pressure, and things like that. These determining factors come up with a different value for the k of each ball. Thus, when dropped from the same height, for example, the force created when each one hits the ground is different. F = K dx for one ball and f = k dx for another. As luck would have it, force exerted over some distance is work energy. And that energy is stored up as potential energy as each ball compresses on impact. It is then released as kinetic energy when the ball decompresses (bounces back). Because the k's are different, the amount of potential energy and, therefore, kinetic energy produced on decompressing and rebounding is different. And that means the height on rebound will be different because KE = 1/2 mv^2 = mgH = PE; where H = KE/mg is the height of rebound for a given kinetic energy KE. In other words h = ke/mg and H = KE/mg where KE > ke kinetic energies and H > h rebound heights even if the masses of the two balls are the same.