Comparing 10 and Under Tennis Ball BRANDS

[Lanten1]

Question for Tennis Instructors:

I teach tennis with the red, orange and green balls. Are there any instructors out there who have some experience with different brands to see which ones maintain their bounce better. Stocking teaching carts with 4 different types of balls gets expensive!!

Between Penn, Wilson, Gamma, Dunlop: Have you found any of the brands maintain bounce/pressure better than others? Regarding the bounce also: it seems some brands have a livelier RUBBER, so that even as the pressure decreases, the bounce stays better.

For instance, the QuickStart "brand" orange ball goes dead so quickly so that there's virtually no bounce before very long. And if it's cold outside, forget about it!

Also, I experience different weights between different brands.
I weighed the 2-tone "Champ" brand, green QuickStart balls and they are noticeably lighter than the Penn Green Dot ball. So the lighter one (which is not available anymore -- the "Champ" ball manufactured by OnCourt OffCourt), could be used in place of the orange ball (to get longer life), but the Penn Green Dot ball is too heavy for the little rackets.

Thanks for your feedback.

 

[Dan - FSU PTM]

Wilson and Penn are your best bets. They are basically the same as far as red and orange balls go. I will say that Penn Control Plus (green dot) balls are better than the Wilson green dots. They stay livelier longer.

 

[Dan - FSU PTM]

Right now there is no standard for how much the different balls weigh. I have heard that the different companies are talking about how much each color should weigh.

 

[Crisp]

I agree on the cost issue. This was probably not taken into account when launching these program's. it is expensive to have red,orange,green and normal balls all in good condition plus the storage room has become a nightmare too.

 

[Lanten1]

USTA 10-under ball spec's

Follow up on original post:

If you're interested, here's a (hard to find) USTA/ITF link to the ball spec's for all balls, including 10-under.

http://www.usta.com/2011_tennis_ball_specifications/

Notice in the specs that the bounce height for orange and green overlaps at 41 inches (dropped from 100 inches). And, there's a WIDE range for acceptable bounce height and ball weight.

If I could find a green ball in a lighter weight (the Penn green dot seems to be the heaviest), I think that would be great for 7-9 age group and would still be an acceptable bounce height for many younger kids as it gets older and loses even more compression (and when it's cold outside).

I personally would rather the younger, advancing kids (5 - 9 years old) could have a lighter ball (that doesn't overpower the small, light rackets), but bounces a bit higher than the orange ball. I'm concerned with younger, advancing kids getting too used to such a low bounce (and not developing the judgement to back up as needed on higher balls).

I'm planning to contact ball manufacturers and get their specs for weight. If I find out something useful, I'll let you know.

 

[SFrazeur]

I prefer Penn brand. The Penn Orange for me lasts far longer than Wilson. The Penns orange color does fade in the sun rather quickly. The Penn Reds last longer for me than the Wilsons and are the original size while the Wilson's are larger in diameter. Last I used Wilsons were over a year ago and their quality might have changed since then.

I have tried the quick start brand red and green ball and found them to die far too quickly.

 

[Micalzon]

I've used a few and much prefer the Penn brand (red) over the others. I've used the Wilson and Gamma and the Penn are much higher quality and have lasted longer than the others. The Penn's do seem a little weightier but the kids don't have a problem. I actually found the Wilson's to be a little too light and were difficult to feed with their low bounce.

 

[the_faceless_player]

Follow up on original post:

If you're interested, here's a (hard to find) USTA/ITF link to the ball spec's for all balls, including 10-under.

http://www.usta.com/2011_tennis_ball_specifications/

Notice in the specs that the bounce height for orange and green overlaps at 41 inches (dropped from 100 inches). And, there's a WIDE range for acceptable bounce height and ball weight.

If I could find a green ball in a lighter weight (the Penn green dot seems to be the heaviest), I think that would be great for 7-9 age group and would still be an acceptable bounce height for many younger kids as it gets older and loses even more compression (and when it's cold outside).

I personally would rather the younger, advancing kids (5 - 9 years old) could have a lighter ball (that doesn't overpower the small, light rackets), but bounces a bit higher than the orange ball. I'm concerned with younger, advancing kids getting too used to such a low bounce (and not developing the judgement to back up as needed on higher balls).

I'm planning to contact ball manufacturers and get their specs for weight. If I find out something useful, I'll let you know.

Have you looked at the Dunlops? I know their foam balls tend to be on the light side compared to Wilson and Penn. Their orange feel that way too. It could be the same with the Dunlop green if you are looking for a lighter one.

 

[Sparky]

I've used a few and much prefer the Penn brand (red) over the others. I've used the Wilson and Gamma and the Penn are much higher quality and have lasted longer than the others. The Penn's do seem a little weightier but the kids don't have a problem. I actually found the Wilson's to be a little too light and were difficult to feed with their low bounce.

Penn manufactures the best junior tennis balls. This includes red, orange and green ball.

Avoid Gamma for green ball and Prince for red ball.