Favorite Value Tennis Ball for Hard Courts?

S

Soundbyte

Hall of Fame
For years, I've always used Wilson Extra Duty or Penn Championship Extra Duty as my goto value tennis ball. For a higher tier, it was Wilson OS Open tennis balls.
I haven't really deviated, but prices for balls have shot up across the board. And now I see theyre plenty of other options these days: Diadem, Artengo, Dunlop, etc

What's everyone's preferred value (cost/performance ratio) tennis ball for hard court use? And obviously bonus if the balls are available as cases.
 
Last edited:
I loathe penn and Wilson championship balls. But I’ve been pleasantly surprised with Dunlop atp championship ball. I think it’s the only “non premium” ball that I’m not annoyed to hit with.
 
Dunlop and babolat are decent, I slightly prefer them to Wilson and vastly to Penn.

IME Penn championship come out of the can better than the other three but don't maintain as well and by the end of a set are far worse for wear.
That said I've heard of you have a Costco membership cases are like $40, and cases of the others on TW are 2x that.
 
chic said:
Dunlop and babolat are decent, I slightly prefer them to Wilson and vastly to Penn.

IME Penn championship come out of the can better than the other three but don't maintain as well and by the end of a set are far worse for wear.
That said I've heard of you have a Costco membership cases are like $40, and cases of the others on TW are 2x that.
Click to expand...

That's true, part of the reason why I haven't switched. Costco man... They make more decisions on what I buy then I do simply because they choose to stock something!
 
Costco is now $45.xx. for 30. Could depend on market. One store had maybe 30 boxes. In less than 48 hours, they were all gone. I don't buy them there. Just FYI. HC Penn champ.
 
These two are about the cheapest pressurized balls you can buy, but do perform fine for say 6-8 hrs: Slazenger Club All-Court, and Slazenger Tournament. About 85p a ball if you buy in the 12 (3x4) packs or more. Down to 65p a ball if you buy 72 (18x4)+ cases.
 
I've used Wilson Extra Duty Felt for decades.

I'd be a little more curious as to just how many folks in here play several days a week, buy cases of balls for xx amount of dollars each, hit two to three cans of balls even if for 2-4 hrs each trip to the courts, then eventually off to the landfill those balls go. That's going through a case of tennis balls pretty quick and a fairly stout tennis ball habit every month.
 
Last edited:
There used to be a big local market for used tennis balls. Shame if people are throwing balls away that are price and/or enviro conscious.

used to be able to easily sell 4 used balls for $1 and you could hold out for 3 for $1. Usually teachers and dog owners would be the buyers.

just mentioning because buying at a lower price isn’t the only way to reduce costs.
 
ryohazuki222 said:
There used to be a big local market for used tennis balls. Shame if people are throwing balls away that are price and/or enviro conscious.

used to be able to easily sell 4 used balls for $1 and you could hold out for 3 for $1. Usually teachers and dog owners would be the buyers.

just mentioning because buying at a lower price isn’t the only way to reduce costs.
Click to expand...
I'm with you there, but even after dogs puncture them and teachers (I assume you're referring to tennis teachers here) use them to teach with until there's just no life left in them at all, they still end up ultimately a one-way ticket to the landfill. Of course my original point being there must be tons of recreational folks in here that have the ability to hit crazy topspin and make Nadal look like he should be playing high school tennis, to blow through multiple cans of balls on a daily basis. And I say topspin because no doubt topspin/backspin eat away a balls felt a heap quicker than hitting flat shots all day, at least common sense would make me think that anyhow.
 
USMC-615 said:
I'm with you there, but even after dogs puncture them and teachers (I assume you're referring to tennis teachers here) use them to teach with until there's just no life left in them at all, they still end up ultimately a one-way ticket to the landfill. Of course my original point being there must be tons of recreational folks in here that have the ability to hit crazy topspin and make Nadal look like he should be playing high school tennis, to blow through multiple cans of balls on a daily basis. And I say topspin because no doubt topspin/backspin eat away a balls felt a heap quicker than hitting flat shots all day, at least common sense would make me think that anyhow.
Click to expand...
Hope you don’t think I was directing my comment at you :). Your comment on landfill just made me realize that I’m surprised I never really see much talk about re-selling in “cheap/value ball threads”.

I remember I used to go collect all the old used balls people left on the court. I just looked at them and saw quarters!
 
ryohazuki222 said:
Hope you don’t think I was directing my comment at you :). Your comment on landfill just made me realize that I’m surprised I never really see much talk about re-selling in “cheap/value ball threads”.

I remember I used to go collect all the old used balls people left on the court. I just looked at them and saw quarters!
Click to expand...
Not at all...it's all in good conversation. I remember when we were kids playing in the late 70's at the local Rec Center (10 courts that are still there to this day) and playing on school yard tennis courts (tennis courts at several high school and junior high school yards), and even courts in a couple of close to home (bike riding distance) elementary school yards, of all places. We had no choice but to try and make cans of tennis balls last forever it seems, until we just flat out lost them...we'd beat the felt off of extra-duty balls and then some. Then grass-cutting money would get spent on a can or two amongst trying and saving up for a nicer racquet, etc and seemed to take forever to save the money...of course I wasn't getting but $10 to $20 at best back in those days for push-mowing folks yards, and if you were getting $20 it was a fairly large, time consuming yard to push mow.
 
Costco Penn's can be hit and miss as far as quality. Some come dead out of the can and I had 1 that was not round, more egg shaped. For regular hitting & warm up they are just fine for me and the cost is good. For my budget go to ball I like the Dunlop ATP Champs. For high end/splurge I have always liked USOpen & ProPenn. The Dunlop AOs seem to get really fuzzy like a stuffed animal after some hitting.
 
smboogie said:
Costco Penn's can be hit and miss as far as quality. Some come dead out of the can and I had 1 that was not round, more egg shaped. For regular hitting & warm up they are just fine for me and the cost is good. For my budget go to ball I like the Dunlop ATP Champs. For high end/splurge I have always liked USOpen & ProPenn. The Dunlop AOs seem to get really fuzzy like a stuffed animal after some hitting.
Click to expand...
Any places to get cases for discount / on sale? Or just order en mass from TW?
 
The best tennis balls in my opinion which give the best cost/performance are the trinitis (when they're in-stock and not price gouged (under $5)). Just don't leave them in the car or in the sun....
 
Soundbyte said:
I'm not. But my BIL and SIL are active military in the army and live about 40 mins away from me. Where should I have them look?
Click to expand...
Wilson gives a 15% discount on all purchases for all active duty, retired, and veterans. Have to verify through IDme or Verifypass, one or the other is who they use…short process of entering info and either will be good to go.
 
Soundbyte said:
Any places to get cases for discount / on sale? Or just order en mass from TW?
Click to expand...
I would usually just order when TW or others at least offered free shipping, but I haven't seen that come up in awhile. I laugh at the shipping charges for 1 case of balls, but I order 2 pairs of shoes, strings, grips and clothes across multiple boxes and it's free shipping.
 
IMO you're better off using any ball for two matches than using Costco Penn balls...those feel like used balls after two games.

haven't tried Diadem or Artengo, but I'm a big Dunlop fan. if you don't mind that their balls feel a little smaller, they are great and don't lose bounce very fast. plus, I have never opened a dead can. even before prices went up, I stopped buying Wilson US Opens because I opened too many balls flat out of the can, no matter who or where i bought them from
 
We have been using the Diadem balls for about 1 1/2 years now here. While a little harder, they last MUCH better than Penns. Price per case is lower and our local guys band together to get the free shipping and a lower price.

Wilson US Opens are of course the gold standard
 
  • Like
Reactions: cks
ProPenn XD is my value ball that I use for most doubles matches. Tecnifibre X1 is my favorite premium ball that I use for singles and tough doubles matches - it is long-lasting and consistent with high bounce. I also like that TF comes in four-ball cans and therefore each ball gets beat up less relative to 3-ball cans during a long match. ProPenn is about $110 for a 24-can case and TF X1 is $135 for a 18-can case.
 
  • Like
Reactions: cks
We’ve been messing around with two different balls with the Sportbot ball machine just to see how they act. The Diadems feel a little firmer, but they shoot out way more consistent and don’t get fuzzy as quick. Penns are softer at the start, which is nice, but after a couple of hits they wear down faster and sometimes start messing with the feed.
 
NikeHakinen said:
We’ve been messing around with two different balls with the Sportbot ball machine just to see how they act. The Diadems feel a little firmer, but they shoot out way more consistent and don’t get fuzzy as quick. Penns are softer at the start, which is nice, but after a couple of hits they wear down faster and sometimes start messing with the feed.
Click to expand...
This is one of the main reasons why my local group abandoned Penn.....
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

TennisProPaul
  • Poll Poll
Best Balls For Hard Courts Poll ! Vote Now!
Replies
31
Views
4K
dr325i
dr325i
E
Wilson US Open RD vs Penn Championship XD on Hard Courts
Replies
3
Views
2K
mikeler
mikeler
pabletion
  • Poll Poll
How much do you pay for a can of balls?
2
Replies
69
Views
11K
2HBH-DTL
2
T
Good Tennis Balls for Practice
Replies
20
Views
9K
SpinControl
S
C
Which is the heaviest tennis ball?
Replies
31
Views
10K
rufus_smith
R
Back
Top