Pressureless Tennis Balls

[USS Tang]

I used Tretorn tennis balls in the mid-1970s. Trouble was none of my hitting partners liked them. Felt like rocks, etc. Now, I see that Penn sells them in mesh bags at Wal-Mart, so they must be coming back. What's your take on this? My thought is that they might be feasible for outdoor tennis when the temperature is below 50 degrees. Any thoughts?

[The Meat]

Not to be played with other than serving and ball machine feeding. Bounces a little too high last time I tried to rally with a friend.

[volusiano]

The Tretorn Micro X balls are a lot better quality than the Penn pressureless balls you find a Walmart. The only thing they have in common is that they're both the pressureless type.

[3fees]

Penn pressure-less balls last at most 2 years.

[ATP100]

All pressure less balls are better than they used to be, but still better for
practice only.

[ec51]

I have yet to try the Tretorn - though I have read many good things about them.

Though it is important to note, Tretorn does make a few different types (pressureless and regular):

http://pa.tretorn.com/tretorn/Tennis

The Micro X are the most popular and are an entirely different construction when compared to other pressureless balls.

I personally have not used them, though I plan to when my current batch of Penns die - I bought two buckets of the Penn pressureless from Amazon.

Ive read the Penn will last longer when compared to the Tretorn - though the Micro X at least, are a lot more arm friendly and feel like a regular ball (when hitting).

Ive been using my Penn pressureless for about a year in my ball machine and they are still going strong.

[NLBwell]

I use the pressureless balls for practice.

[Ace of Aces]

The penn pressure-less balls last for a long time and don't act noticeably different than the penn championships.

[ShoeShiner]

I have seen some coaches use the Tretorn Micro X Trainer(72 balls) for strokes practicing in small groups of students.

[Someone Else]

Originally Posted by ATP100

All pressure less balls are better than they used to be, but still better for
practice only.

Why?
An explanation would be nice.
What's wrong with pressureless balls?

[corbind]

Tracking...

[Someone Else]

I have never had any problems with tracking while playing with my balls.

[AtTheNet]

I bought 72 of the Penn pressureless balls for use in practicing my serve. Being pressureless, will they hold up pretty well until the felt is worn, or do the pressureless balls have a lifespan? I saw one post that said they last a couple years--is that due to loss of felt, or do they get flabby?

[atai]

I got the micro-x pressureless balls and found them to be as hard as rocks. They might be ok at lower speeds, i.e. slow ball machine feed or 3.0 and below rallies. But at higher speeds, I could really feel them. I would try out a can first to see if you're ok with the hardness.

[yonexRx32]

Originally Posted by 3fees

Penn pressure-less balls last at most 2 years.

I used mine (about 250 of them) for 4 years with a ball machine. They were still bouncing fine but had lost their color and turned almost green by now. I also grew tired of hitting these very heavy balls. So I turned to using old pressurized balls instead. The problem now is that many of them lose the pressure quickly.

[yonexRx32]

Originally Posted by Someone Else

Why?
An explanation would be nice.
What's wrong with pressureless balls?

They feel heavy and their bounce is slightly different from pressurized balls. However, they last for years instead of days.