Ronaldo
Bionic Poster
USTA Adult League? Your section does not furnish balls?I've been playing with the USO fro the past five years. Always a consistent bounce, occasionally a bit fluffy. I just purchased another case for league play.
USTA Adult League? Your section does not furnish balls?I've been playing with the USO fro the past five years. Always a consistent bounce, occasionally a bit fluffy. I just purchased another case for league play.
To my knowledge no leage in the Washington DC area provides balls. i hope I'm wrong. The home team provides balls in our leagues.USTA Adult League? Your section does not furnish balls?
BITD our USTA district provided balls to every club, private or public. However, they discovered Costco tennis balls were cheaper than any other source and bought the balls there. Those were Extra-Duty balls and nearly every private club needed Regular-Duty balls. We are handed Xtra-Duty balls and brought regular-duty balls or asked to swap at the Pro shop. This may be just a USTA problem.To my knowledge no leage in the Washington DC area provides balls. i hope I'm wrong. The home team provides balls in our leagues.
Our USTA District always provided at least a case of Penn Extra-Duty balls. Our dilemma, nearly every private club has Har-tru courts.Our USTA district definitely doesn't provide balls. Our city's tennis association will, but only if everyone on your team is a member, which has not been my experience thus far.
Seems like a punishment.Our USTA District always provided at least a case of Penn Extra-Duty balls. Our dilemma, nearly every private club has Har-tru courts.
For the clubs. We traded those Xtra-Duty balls for Regular Duty. Guess the clubs used those Costco balls for junior camp or the ball machines. If stuck with those Xtra-Duty balls I would save them for the fall. Open the can and either Nuke them in a Microwave or wrap them in a hot towel then stuff the balls in a cooler to keep them warm. Break them out trey at a time till they lose their bounce. Need to remember to tell everyone not to leave their balls on the ground.Seems like a punishment.
Seems like a lot of work for something that should be given out as dog toys from the start. At our tennis mixers I've sometimes broken out cans of used Babolat or Diadem balls that are several days old and played a half dozen sets and shown that they work better than brand new Penns.For the clubs. We traded those Xtra-Duty balls for Regular Duty. Guess the clubs used those Costco balls for junior camp or the ball machines. If stuck with those Xtra-Duty balls I would save them for the fall. Open the can and either Nuke them in a Microwave or wrap them in a hot towel then stuff the balls in a cooler to keep them warm. Break them out trey at a time till they lose their bounce. Need to remember to tell everyone not to leave their balls on the ground.
Lint Buster to the rescue,I've been a big fan of the Dunlop ATP Championship Ball. It has been the best "championship"/lower tier ball on the market edging out Wilson Championship and crushing the Penn Championship by a mile. So I thought I'd try Dunlops premium line and grabbed a case of the Dunlop ATP Tour XD Ball.
It's a decent ball. Bounces well and has a good weight, but I've never had a ball fluff up so easily. Most of the folks I play with have no comment on the balls. But a few people commented on how much they fluffed up. One looked like a dog took a riff at it. We played doubles for just 2 hours and the ball looked hammered. It still had good bounce, but if you are fluff sensitive this might not be the ball for you. The Championship ball has much less fluff.
Generally 4.0+ players like it when someone opens a can of premium balls like ProPenn, Penn Tour, Wilson US Open, Tecnifibre X1 etc. as they bounce higher and last longer especially if it is Extra Duty for hard courts. The exception I’ve noticed is when someone opens premium Dunlop balls like their AO or ATP Tour version in the last 3-4 years as they fluff up too much and ‘feel’ heavier/slower in the opinions of many players - some even complain that their arms get sore. You hear these complaints from pro players also at some tournaments.I've been a big fan of the Dunlop ATP Championship Ball. It has been the best "championship"/lower tier ball on the market edging out Wilson Championship and crushing the Penn Championship by a mile. So I thought I'd try Dunlops premium line and grabbed a case of the Dunlop ATP Tour XD Ball.
It's a decent ball. Bounces well and has a good weight, but I've never had a ball fluff up so easily. Most of the folks I play with have no comment on the balls. But a few people commented on how much they fluffed up. One looked like a dog took a riff at it. We played doubles for just 2 hours and the ball looked hammered. It still had good bounce, but if you are fluff sensitive this might not be the ball for you. The Championship ball has much less fluff.
Our USTA district concursCostco Penns. Price.
The only reason to play pickleball when someone pulls out a can of these.Costco Penns. Price.
Feel free, but doesn't posting offer new info?I still think we kill this thread and start a new one. The quality of the balls have changed so much since COVID.
I don't know how we do that but we keep posting on this thread with info that is outdated so it is so hard to get a current perspective.
But there is a vote up above and I suspect many of us would change our vote from a few years ago so if someone is looking at the data they would be looking at data in the vote that includes information from years ago that no longer is valid.Feel free, but doesn't posting offer new info?
My favorite ball remains Penn Pro Marathon.
Best budget ball remains Dunlop Champion.
Penn Tour a good alternative.
For cheap balls Wilson Champion ok.
Wilson US Opens just aren't worth the price. Start out crisp, but drop and lose felt quickly.
A lot of clubs by us have switched from Wilson US Opens and have gone to Dunlop Grand Prix. Seem to last longer for hoppers etc.
With thoseThe only reason to play pickleball when someone pulls out a can of these.
Agree, just trying to sort out which is the best ball for the price.Dunball doesn't produce a bad ball. Even the championship or the club balls are high quality.
Grand Prix is the best Dunlop ball. It is the perfect middle ground of the Dunlop line.Agree, just trying to sort out which is the best ball for the price.
ATP tours are pretty nice but fluff up pretty easy. I almost prefer the Championship ball.
I'm wondering if the Grand Prix is the sweet spot between the two of them?
Today my opponent opened a can of Babolat Gold Championship balls and I did not like it at all after playing for many years only with ProPenn XD or Tecnifibre X1 balls. The felt was very thin and didn’t fluff up at all, but it bounced higher than most balls I’m used to - he said there is only one version of this ball and no extra duty XD available. So it flew out easily due to the lack of fluff and also the bounce messed up my footwork a few times as I didn’t expect certain neutral shots to bounce as much as they did.Babolat sells balls too but they are so terrible that I wonder if they are really meant for tennis.
I don't mind them for casual hitting but I wonder if they transmit more shock to the arm(1) In different countries, balls can come in plastic cans or metal cans. What is the different shelf life of these unopened cans?
(2) No one here likes Wilson Trinity for a relaxed simple practice??
Tried the Trinity twice when the first came out. Seemed just a little flat to start and not bad, but back then why would a I pay more for a ball that was OK?(1) In different countries, balls can come in plastic cans or metal cans. What is the different shelf life of these unopened cans?
(2) No one here likes Wilson Trinity for a relaxed simple practice??
+1 on this. Very good ball that a high-level hitting partner introduced me to.I hate to say this, but the Babolat balls are the best I've tested and also the cheapest per case at my racquet club.
Thanks for posting. Very relevant for me at the moment as I'm about to buy a case for my winter tennis (indoor medium fast hard courts - green set). I'm a 47 year old male tennis player (EU equivalent of 5.0+) training regularly with promising juniors. This past weekend played the best tennis of my life on indoor courts and was using Technifibre Court. I hadn't heard of this ball at all but after 4 hours of play it's still going very strong. It has excellent playability, feel and most importantly makes the court feel like medium pace so rallies can take place (I personally hate fast surfaces or conditions where the point ends in less than 5 shots). In a nutshell: this was a rare find and a very pleasant surprise particularly as I have had tennis elbow in the past and it can sometimes flare up when using harder balls. This was a dream ( note: there is a 15 minute break in period where the balls seem to have a low bounce but after that they really play like a dream).What's your favorite tennis ball brand and then ball type of that brand? And why?
For me my favorite ball is the Penn Pro Marathon. For higher end balls it is tough to beat. Plays lively, doesn't fluff up to much and lasts long.
Pt stay away from Penn Championships--highly unreliable from can to can.
My favorite ball for lower end balls is the Dunlop ATP--just a solid ball. Comes out of the can great. Good durability.
As a brand, I also give props to Wilson--US Open is a solid ball and for a cheap ball the Wilson Championships get the job done.
I like also that they realize there are more than 4 numerals and make them really big, which helps for identifying spin as well as which balls are yours two courts away.+1 on this. Very good ball that a high-level hitting partner introduced me to.
The TF Club ball is a slightly better ball than the TF Court which is a very good ball for the price. I have gone through 2 cases of the TF X1 ball and I do not feel there is a break in period. They play fine from the time I crack open the 4 ball can to the end of the session. I recommend you try them yourself rather than solely relying on a review by someone else.Thanks for posting. Very relevant for me at the moment as I'm about to buy a case for my winter tennis (indoor medium fast hard courts - green set). I'm a 47 year old male tennis player (EU equivalent of 5.0+) training regularly with promising juniors. This past weekend played the best tennis of my life on indoor courts and was using Technifibre Court. I hadn't heard of this ball at all but after 4 hours of play it's still going very strong. It has excellent playability, feel and most importantly makes the court feel like medium pace so rallies can take place (I personally hate fast surfaces or conditions where the point ends in less than 5 shots). In a nutshell: this was a rare find and a very pleasant surprise particularly as I have had tennis elbow in the past and it can sometimes flare up when using harder balls. This was a dream ( note: there is a 15 minute break in period where the balls seem to have a low bounce but after that they really play like a dream).
I'm also going to be testing out the Technifibre Club and compare the two. For hard courts used to use Dunlop AO but their longevity of late has gone down the drain and they play too fast. According to "Tennis Guy" the Technifibre X1 are considered to be the best balls on the market but have a 40 minute break in period where they are initially superfast and hard and then they play very well. As my winter tennis is often 75 min max per session that's a non starter right off the bat!
Will update this reply once I've also tried the Technifibre Club. I'll be also playing my 5th hour with the Technifibre Court on Friday so will hopefully have an update early next week![]()