The construction of Dunlop balls is abysmal

[ogruskie]

Don't get me wrong, I love their balls. They have superior bounce and pace, and they're quite easy to see on court due to the bright color. But they pop on me way too quickly.

I bought a canister of Grand Prix and two canister of Championship Hard-Court. These were perfectly sealed and appeared to be in exception condition. First day I open a canister of CHC to practice against the wall, and about 3 hours into playing 2 out of 3 balls pop. I don't know, a hole got in there somehow and the ball went flat.

Second day, I open a new canister. Again, 2 of the balls went hole/flat on me. I practice against a friggin' wall, and I don't even hit that hard. I hit with about moderate power (semi-western FH, extreme eastern OHB if it even matters), and very rarely do I unleashed 100% on the ball. Yet of the 6 balls that I purchased, 4 of them died on the first two days of being exposed outside the canister.

If it even matters, I personally walk around the court making sure there are no sharp objects/whatever lying around. The Gran Prix were superb balls but lasted me a week. To be honest, I can't afford to be buying a new canister of balls every few days. This is ******* me off. I hate Penn balls, but they never simply die on me. They lose bounce, but they never pop.

I feel like Dunlop balls are the equivalent of natural guts strings. If you want the most superior playability and feel, you're gonna have to lay down the cash, even the fun lasts a few hours.

[counter_puncher]

just buy grand prix. their awesome and last for ages.

[ogruskie]

Originally Posted by counter_puncher

just buy grand prix. their awesome and last for ages.

I wouldn't consider a week as "ages", but it sure as hell beats one day of play.

[mdjenders]

i have had some issues with canisters of dunlops purchased at the big chain sports retailers, namely flat balls out of the can, non pressurized cans, things rattling in the ball (sometimes all 3 balls in the can), and once the ball popped when I hit a forehand. It sounded pretty cool . this goes for grand prix and championship. stay away from the mcenroe ones; they dont last long at all and are clearly a second rate ball.

I will say that when I have bought cases of dunlops, the quality has always been superb, so I am wondering if maybe the big chains buy crap stock or seconds and sell them at full price. anyone know the customer service # for dunlop in the US? It is not on the ball cans, and I would love to call them and complain next time I get a dud can of balls.

[ODYSSEY Mk.4]

wow i have gone trough about 2 cases of Grand Prix and not a problem, while i fully believe you since there are always quality defects just seems odd

[RanchDressing]

how hard do you hit? lets say bh fh regular ground stroke(with full power). or if you dont know for reg groudnstroke then, an aprox where you make your most power non overhead.
i have hit 90mph range fh and 80mph range bh according to my priv coach, and should be capable of 100mph in a while.
i consider this fairly powerful.... enough to win a point when i need to do it (but 4-6 of these full throttle strokes in a point and im weak)

[[d]ragon]

i;ve never had a problem with dunlops at all. i;ve got some champs that we (my hitting partner and i) and worn down all the way to the rubber core and no problems with popping ever

[WildVolley]

Just last week I popped a Dunlop hitting with a friend. We were hitting fairly heavy topspin forehands, but we noticed a ball began to take crazy spin. It was dead and could be easily deflated with 2 fingers.

Interestingly, the hole was not at a seam. I wonder if a bad mold was used in a batch that hit stores recently?

[tbini87]

if a can lasts me a week i am more than happy with that. i have not had a dunlop ball (or any ball) pop on me (yet).

[ClubHoUno]

The European Dunlop Roland Garross balls might be expensive, but they are all made under high quality control - I've never had a Dunlop Roland Garross ball go dead on me quicker than maybe 2-3 hours of play - and it still had some pressure left inside the ball - just not enough.

Quality and price often comes hand in hand

[Gmedlo]

I think the main suspect is store-bought balls. I'm almost all the way through a case of Grand Prixs I got from TW and I couldn't be happier with them.

The only defects I've ever seen have been in some cheap gamma balls. I had a cover ripped off of a wilson US open in a tournament once, but I don't like to call that one a defect .

[Blade0324]

Wow you try to get a week out of balls. I open at least one if not 2 new cans every time I play. The older ones that the felt is still ok on and still bounce good go in the practice hopper for about 2 weeks or until they are dead. I would not even play a second time (actually playing) with the same set of balls even if they were just opened a day or 2 ago.

[origmarm]

The only Dunlops I have played with are the FORT balls and they have been fine. I play with them till dead and then add them to the serve practice hopper.

Wilson Titaniums however....now there's a rubbish ball