Best Tennis Balls

[AlfaAce]

Vote for your favorite.

[Francis27]

Wilson US Open Extra duty

[pvaudio]

This will be a dead heat between Dunlop Grand Prix/Slazenger Wimbledons and Wilson USOs, with Pro Penn ATPs bringing up the rear. Why? The Dun/Slaz is the best overall ball. Lasts the longest, plays great. The Wilson is a slightly better playing ball, is a bit softer, BUT, will only last for about one match. This thread has been done dozens of times.

[andyaycw]

I recently started playing with Penn ATPs and noticed how much more lively they are - specifically, how much more they seem to respond when hit with topspin. I don't even have to try that hard, and when the ball bounces on the other side of the court there is a very noticeable kick to the ball.

It seems that USTA Leagues here in Cali seem to mostly use the Penn Championship, which, no matter how much extra topspin I put on the ball, seems to have no effect when the ball bounces on the other side of the court.

Anyone else notice this difference with other tennis balls?

[pvaudio]

Penn Championships should be reserved for nursing home walkers only. You even look at one of those things and it turns into a slow moving ball of fluff with no pop.

[Matchball]

What ?

Slazenger not included? You gotta be kidding me, right?
By far the best ball IMO.

[SystemicAnomaly]

My top 2 choices fall into the OTHER category. My top choices, in order:

~ Prince Tour
~ Slazenger Wimbledon
~ Dunlop Grand Prix

~ Wilson US Open XD
~ Wilson US Open Regular Duty
~ Penn ATP

Have not had the opportunity to use the A-Player, Marathon, or the Babolat FO ball. Of the Championship balls, I'd go with either the Prince or the Dunlop balls. However, the Penn Champs are my first choice on a cold night -- the others feel like rocks and take longer to warm up. Of the premium (pro) balls and the 2nd-tier balls (like the Championship balls), the Wilson Champs are at the bottom of my list.

[Nostradamus]

I Hate it when cheap clubs use Dunlop balls just so that they can save some money. they tend to last longer but control really sucks

[mikeler]

Originally Posted by pvaudio

Penn Championships should be reserved for nursing home walkers only. You even look at one of those things and it turns into a slow moving ball of fluff with no pop.

Amen brother. SSGator80, you reading this?

[max pl]

1. Penn ATP
2. Penn Marathon + Wilson USO
...
...
...
Last: Dunlop GP

[finalfantasy7]

Originally Posted by pvaudio

Penn Championships should be reserved for nursing home walkers only. You even look at one of those things and it turns into a slow moving ball of fluff with no pop.

Disagree, ive used all slazenger balls and i go agree that they are very good, but they bounce way to high - especially when you play moonballers. I find that the slaz tournemant balls last way longer than any other of thr balls.

So far ive used Penn championships just for 3 hrs (1can), and i love them, i have to see how they last. Penn great for flat hitting

[SystemicAnomaly]

^ Note that the quality/quality control of the Penn Champs is somewhat substandard compared to the premium/professional balls. I have noticed this for more than 5 years now. The XD version is one of the most popular balls in our part of the planet -- due to cost and the softer feel of these balls. However I have noticed that nearly every can, if not every can, of Penn Champs contains one substandard ball. I believe that this is intentional on the part of Penn.

Sometimes, the odd ball is cosmetically flawed (crooked or offset label, excess glue or rubber at the seams, etc). This is not too objectionable at all. OTOH the odd ball, instead, very often has a bounce that is noticeably lower than the other two balls in the can. Check this out for yourself with your next new can.

Also, Penn Champs noticeably lose pressure/bounce height by the 2nd set of a match. By the 3rd set. the bounce is quite a bit lower. I have not seen this with Dunlop or Prince Champs or any of the premium/pro balls.

Wilson USO XD balls do tend to fluff up quite a bit in the 2nd or 3rd set of a match -- it depends on the type of shots that the ball experiences. Players who hit a lot of low, flat or underpin balls that skid fluff the USO XD ball rather quickly.

Originally Posted by max pl

1. Penn ATP
2. Penn Marathon + Wilson USO
...
...
Last: Dunlop GP

What is your objection to the Grand Prix ball? The only ball that is brighter than this ball is the Slaz Wimbledon ball. It also has an excellent, consistent bounce and is longer lasting than most other pressurized balls. I have not had the chance to use the PP Marathon ball for comparison. Of all the balls that I have used, only the Prince Tour ball appears to last longer. Some have reported that this Prince ball lasts longer than the Marathon ball (which is 1 of the 2 balls in this poll that I have not used myself).

[LeeD]

Dunlops by a mile.
They last the longest.
All 3 last the same. No ONE ball goes flat or fuzzless.
Yes, they are somewhat heavy. So hit harder and go for more winners!

[finalfantasy7]

Originally Posted by SystemicAnomaly

^ Note that the quality/quality control of the Penn Champs is somewhat substandard compared to the premium/professional balls. I have noticed this for more than 5 years now. The XD version is one of the most popular balls in our part of the planet -- due to cost and the softer feel of these balls. However I have noticed that nearly every can, if not every can, of Penn Champs contains one substandard ball. I believe that this is intentional on the part of Penn.

Sometimes, the odd ball is cosmetically flawed (crooked or offset label, excess glue or rubber at the seams, etc). This is not too objectionable at all. OTOH the odd ball, instead, very often has a bounce that is noticeably lower than the other two balls in the can. Check this out for yourself with your next new can.

Also, Penn Champs noticeably lose pressure/bounce height by the 2nd set of a match. By the 3rd set. the bounce is quite a bit lower. I have not seen this with Dunlop or Prince Champs or any of the premium/pro balls.

Everyone been telling me about the 1 ball doesnt bounce, didnt happen to me, but ive only played 3 hrs with a can- need to play longer with them and only played indoors with them. Also see how all 3 tubes see out to discuss quality control.

Anyone played with Head atp? brief summary

[jwbarrientos]

Head ATP gold

[pvaudio]

Originally Posted by Nostradamus

I Hate it when cheap clubs use Dunlop balls just so that they can save some money. they tend to last longer but control really sucks

Um, they don't use Dunlops to save money, they use Dunlop balls so that they don't waste money on a ball that's worthless after a week of lessons. Also, all respect intended, I don't think that the ball has anything to do with the amount of control you have when hitting the ball.

[pvaudio]

Originally Posted by finalfantasy7

Disagree, ive used all slazenger balls and i go agree that they are very good, but they bounce way to high - especially when you play moonballers. I find that the slaz tournemant balls last way longer than any other of thr balls.

So far ive used Penn championships just for 3 hrs (1can), and i love them, i have to see how they last. Penn great for flat hitting

The Dunlops and Slaz are slightly harder and faster balls. The Pro Penn and ATP Penns are fine. It's the Penn Champs which are simply worthless. Seriously, they are soft after warmup, let alone a set.

[pvaudio]

Originally Posted by SystemicAnomaly

^ Note that the quality/quality control of the Penn Champs is somewhat substandard compared to the premium/professional balls. I have noticed this for more than 5 years now. The XD version is one of the most popular balls in our part of the planet -- due to cost and the softer feel of these balls. However I have noticed that nearly every can, if not every can, of Penn Champs contains one substandard ball. I believe that this is intentional on the part of Penn.

Sometimes, the odd ball is cosmetically flawed (crooked or offset label, excess glue or rubber at the seams, etc). This is not too objectionable at all. OTOH the odd ball, instead, very often has a bounce that is noticeably lower than the other two balls in the can. Check this out for yourself with your next new can.

Also, Penn Champs noticeably lose pressure/bounce height by the 2nd set of a match. By the 3rd set. the bounce is quite a bit lower. I have not seen this with Dunlop or Prince Champs or any of the premium/pro balls.

Wilson USO XD balls due tend to fluff up quite a bit in the 2nd or 3rd set of a match -- it depends on the type of shots that the ball experiences. Players who hit a lot of low, flat or underpin balls that skid fluff the USO XD ball rather quickly.




What is your objection to the Grand Prix ball? The only ball that is brighter than this ball is the Slaz Wimbledon ball. It also had an excellent, consistent bounce and is longer lasting than most other pressurized balls. I have not had the chance to use the PP Marathon ball for comparison. Of the balls that I have used, only the Prince Tour ball appears to last longer. Some have reported that this Prince ball lasts longer than the Marathon ball.

I'm with you and LeeD. I've yet to find a better ball than GPs or Wimbledons. Some people prefer USOs because they're slower and softer, but the Dunlops and Wimbys are the most consistent throughout their life.

[SystemicAnomaly]

Originally Posted by finalfantasy7

Everyone been telling me about the 1 ball doesnt bounce, didnt happen to me, but ive only played 3 hrs with a can- need to play longer with them and only played indoors with them. Also see how all 3 tubes see out to discuss quality control.

Anyone played with Head atp? brief summary

Perhaps you got a can of balls that had a cosmetic flaw on one of the balls (instead of a substandard bounce). I see that happen every once in a while -- perhaps 5-10% of the time.

Usually, with the substandard ball, the bounce height is about 80-90% or so of the other two balls. Perhaps you got one where the lower bouncing ball was 90+% of the other 2 balls so you may not have noticed it. I have seen hundreds of cans of Penn Champs where one of the balls had a substandard bounce.

One night while playing doubles, we lost one of the new USO xd balls after 40 minutes of play. One of the guys decided to open a new can of Penn Champ balls. At that point, the 2 older Wilson balls had the same bounce height as 2 of the newer Penn balls. So we decided to continue play with the 2 USO balls and the 2 Penn balls (that had the same bounce height). After a couple more hours of play, it was apparent that the bounce height of the 2 Penn balls was noticeably lower than the 2 older Wilson USO balls.

The Head ATP ball should be identical to the Penn ATP ball -- they re the same ball with a different label. The Penn name is used for balls used in the US. The Head name is used for most other countries.

[tistrapukcipeht]

I have not been satisfied with Pro Penn Marathon XD at all, they last less than 2 hours, the former Pro Penn lasted more (bounced well for longer), 3-4 hours i'd say. I have had many cans that didn't pass 1:30 mins, they were completely flat. Wilson US Open XD doesn't last that much neither, lower bounce fluffs faster as well. I wish Yonex sold balls, I bet it would be good.

I can see that what they wanted was us to buy more, therefore more profit.

So you guys recommend Dunlop Grand Prix and Slazenger (4 can ball)??