Penn balls now from China

[Nuke]

I picked up a few cans of Penn championship balls at Walmart recently, and they're different. The can looks nearly the same, but instead of "Made in USA" the can now says "Made in China". Yeah, we were expecting this, but now it's here.

Something unexpected is the branding on the ball itself. Instead of the usual Penn logo with a number from 1 to 4, the new ball has a slightly larger Penn logo with the word "Championship" underneath. There is no number on the ball. In my area, Penn is probably the ball I see most on court, so if your ball rolls onto the next court and they're also playing Penn, there's no number to differentiate whose ball is whose. I don't understand why they made this change, as it wouldn't have cost anything to keep the number.

The ball itself seemed about the same as the USA Penns: a little heaver and more solid than Wilson championship, and not as lively. I may may switch back to Wilsons again for my Walmart purchases -- they're a dime cheaper than the Penns, and there's no longer any incentive to "buy American" for tennis balls. Better still, the Dunlop championship balls are better than both, but not as widely available.

 

[The_Question]

Interesting...anybody know where HEAD tennis balls are made from these days?

 

[winks]

I noticed that too Is there anything tennis related still made in the US?

 

[Nuke]

Old look:

New look:

 

[The_Question]

I noticed that too Is there anything tennis related still made in the US?

Ashaway strings are still made in U.S.

 

[Nuke]

Tournagrip is made in the USA.

 

[rqtguy]

Penn Factory

Head Tennis owns the Penn brand.
The Largest tennis ball factory in the world at one time was the Penn factory in Arizona.

 

[canadave]

That is just bizarre about them ditching the differentiating number. I wouldn't buy that ball just on that basis alone. Considering how little effort it doubtless would've taken to keep the number, it baffles me why they'd remove it.

EDIT: Or maybe it would've taken more effort than I imagine? Now that I think about it more....you know, how DO manufacturing lines do that number printing on a random basis? Is there a computer that spits out a random number between 1 and 4 and feeds that to the printing machine? Or do they do separate printing runs of 1, 2, 3, and 4? How does the printing machine get that number printed onto the ball, anyway...is it stamped on via a physical stamp (one for each number?), or just printed/sprayed on with no physical stamp required? And say, how come they don't do random numbers between 1 and 9, just to make it even more unlikely that two adjacent courts are using the same numbered balls?

 

[canadave]

Oh, and getting back on topic...does anyone know if the Penn Championship balls are the only ones that have gone to China? Are the Penn ATP's made in the USA?

 

[charliefedererer]

And say, how come they don't do random numbers between 1 and 9, just to make it even more unlikely that two adjacent courts are using the same numbered balls?

Up until about ten years, ago Penn Championship balls were numbered 1-8.

 

[charliefedererer]

Oh, and getting back on topic...does anyone know if the Penn Championship balls are the only ones that have gone to China? Are the Penn ATP's made in the USA?

"Head NV Group, the parent company of the Head and Penn sports brands, is closing its tennis ball factory in Phoenix and moving those operations to China.

The factory will close in March, with 143 workers being fired. The Netherlands-based sports company has produced tennis balls in China since 2007 and continues to build that manufacturing presence. The company reported the layoffs to the Arizona Department of Economic Security.

A Head/Penn employee at the Phoenix facility said some administrative functions will remain in Phoenix, but all production is being moved to China."
http://www.bizjournals.com/phoenix/stories/2009/01/19/daily71.html

Sad.

 

[canadave]

Up until about ten years, ago Penn Championship balls were numbered 1-8.

Interesting...they didn't want to go up to 9?

I'm just wondering now, thinking about this even more....maybe the reason they only go up to 4 now is in case someone wants to buy several cans in a store that are the same number for some reason? Oh heck I dunno....

 

[SretiCentV]

Too bad

I just ordered a bunch of tretorns. I wonder where they're made

 

[charliefedererer]

"Timothy Sturm January 26, 2009 4:51PM EST
I worked at Penn for 10 years, and their former parent company, GenCorp, formerly General Tire and Rubber Co. I was there when we diversified the product line to be an american producer of high quality tennis products, not just balls, for this very reason. We always gave back to the corporation over a million dollars annually after all expences. In other words, a quality, self supporting growing company in AZ with a strong reputation and quality products. This was created by a couple guys, Matt Dingman, and especially Doug Fonte.The problem came when GenCorp, wanted to become a "high tech" company. They are and they did, but what about the american company and its workers? What happened to the day of a loyal employee giving everything to the company and the company giving back to the employee more than a paycheck. Is there nomore ethical behavior in modern american business? Is anyone concerned about how much of our business, infrastructure, jobs, resources, and have gone overseas, specifically to China? And at what cost? Do we see what we are doing all so the american consumer can buy a cheap tshirt at wall mart? and now a cheap, lower quality for sure, tennis ball? It will still cost $1.99 at Target for a can of balls and the retailer will be happy because he will now make money. The only problem is there will be noone around to buy the tennis balls because all the jobs have been exported!If ever there was a microcosm of a economic event to study that could be applied to our overall economy, this certainly is it!And Head, ....they don't care about balls, THEY MAKE RACQUETS. In fact they will probally give the balls away if you buy a racquet. No pride in the job and the quality american product that they made. Why can't our politicians see what is going on. Short term thinking by americans .......le't revisit our decesion making process in 10 years and see how we lost the lead in world economics . . .. ."
http://phoenix.bizjournals.com/phoenix/stories/2009/01/19/daily71.html

 

[canadave]

Too bad

I just ordered a bunch of tretorns. I wonder where they're made

I just searched and found one mention that they're made in Sweden....not an official source (it was a user-to-user advertisement for a can of Tretorn Championship tennis balls, and the seller said in the description that they were made in Sweden).

 

[charliefedererer]

Too bad

I just ordered a bunch of tretorns. I wonder where they're made

Tretorns are made in Thailand.

The following is a link to where all ITF approved tennis balls are manufactured:
http://www.itftennis.com/technical/equipment/balls/balllist.asp

Up until now, the only balls made in the USA were Penn and Head.

Now there don't appear to be any made in the US.

 

[f1 tech]

So what Balls are made in the USA now?

 

[canadave]

CF, thanks for the link--didn't realize there was such a handy centralized source for that info!

 

[charliefedererer]

F1, none are made in the US. And Canadave, none are made in Canada, either.

 

[canadave]

None are made in the US. And Canadave, none are made in Canada.

Yeah, I see that now. I wonder, were any made in Canada at any point? Hmm...

 

[Il Mostro]

Oh, and getting back on topic...does anyone know if the Penn Championship balls are the only ones that have gone to China? Are the Penn ATP's made in the USA?

The entire Arizona operation is being closed -- nothing will be made in the USA. Thank you HEAD. :-(

 

[charliefedererer]

Yeah, I see that now. I wonder, were any made in Canada at any point? Hmm...

I don't know about tennis balls, but Silent Partner is a reputable Canadian company making stringers and tennis ball machines. (I am a happy owner of both.) I had mixed emotions on leaning the following, however: "The tensioners of the e.Stringer, SC and FL are made in Canada. All other components of these models as well as the complete Jazz, Maestro and e.Stringer DG are made for Silent Partner by a partner factory in Taiwan under an exclusive North American agreement." http://www.sptennis.com/stringer.asp

 

[vsbabolat]

"Timothy Sturm January 26, 2009 4:51PM EST
I worked at Penn for 10 years, and their former parent company, GenCorp, formerly General Tire and Rubber Co. I was there when we diversified the product line to be an american producer of high quality tennis products, not just balls, for this very reason. We always gave back to the corporation over a million dollars annually after all expences. In other words, a quality, self supporting growing company in AZ with a strong reputation and quality products. This was created by a couple guys, Matt Dingman, and especially Doug Fonte.The problem came when GenCorp, wanted to become a "high tech" company. They are and they did, but what about the american company and its workers? What happened to the day of a loyal employee giving everything to the company and the company giving back to the employee more than a paycheck. Is there nomore ethical behavior in modern american business? Is anyone concerned about how much of our business, infrastructure, jobs, resources, and have gone overseas, specifically to China? And at what cost? Do we see what we are doing all so the american consumer can buy a cheap tshirt at wall mart? and now a cheap, lower quality for sure, tennis ball? It will still cost $1.99 at Target for a can of balls and the retailer will be happy because he will now make money. The only problem is there will be noone around to buy the tennis balls because all the jobs have been exported!If ever there was a microcosm of a economic event to study that could be applied to our overall economy, this certainly is it!And Head, ....they don't care about balls, THEY MAKE RACQUETS. In fact they will probally give the balls away if you buy a racquet. No pride in the job and the quality american product that they made. Why can't our politicians see what is going on. Short term thinking by americans .......le't revisit our decesion making process in 10 years and see how we lost the lead in world economics . . .. ."
http://phoenix.bizjournals.com/phoenix/stories/2009/01/19/daily71.html

HEAD use to make racquets. They only design and market racquets now. Once upon a time HEAD use to manufacture racquets in Boulder, Colorado and Kennelbach, Austria. In 1988 HEAD consolodated manufacturing to Kennelbach, Austria. Then in the summer of 2005 HEAD decided to outsource all tennis racquet production to China.

http://investor.head.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=123990&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=699494&highlight=

I wonder if HEAD skis will ever be manufactured in China? Will that be next?

 

[onehandbh]

It's simply the economics of profit and greed. I have no
problem with corporations moving production to foreign
countries. It's a global market, BUT it's not a level playing
field. The labor laws, environmental restrictions, etc. are not
the same and way more lax in China. If we're going to require
domestic companies to meet certain standards then we need
to require the imported products to the same standards.
Until that day comes, production and jobs will continue to
flow out of the US. There are designer jeans being made by
12 year old girls working 60+ hrs a week and living in
slum-like, indentured servant conditions. I've seen it. It's really
heart-breaking. On the other hand, some of these girls don't
have many options. Some of the girls come from poor
rural areas where jobs are scarce and they actually send
some of the money the make back to their families to help
out. So it's hard it's hard to say what the answer to all
this is. The owners of the factories are usually doing quite
well though. Not too dissimilar to what goes on in the US.
We just have a higher standard of living. CEO's and execs
give themselves large bonuses & pay raises while they
lay off workers

 

[zapvor]

"Head NV Group, the parent company of the Head and Penn sports brands, is closing its tennis ball factory in Phoenix and moving those operations to China.

The factory will close in March, with 143 workers being fired. The Netherlands-based sports company has produced tennis balls in China since 2007 and continues to build that manufacturing presence. The company reported the layoffs to the Arizona Department of Economic Security.

A Head/Penn employee at the Phoenix facility said some administrative functions will remain in Phoenix, but all production is being moved to China."
http://www.bizjournals.com/phoenix/stories/2009/01/19/daily71.html

Sad.

its really sad considering the initial cost to build the factory. surely the cost cant be that high...shows how crazy low labor is in china

 

[tennisnoob2]

is this the whole line of penn balls? or just a few.

 

[canadave]

is this the whole line of penn balls? or just a few.

It appears to be all of them.

 

[DrpShot!]

Old look:

New look:

All Head/Penn balls are made in China now, but the ball they sell to Wal-Mart is probably a lower quality ball than their normal Penn Championship "Extra Duty", Wal-Mart probably demands a lower price and this is how they compensate. I don't know about anybody else but I've noticed the percentage of dead balls or not quite fully pressurized balls in a new can has seemed to increase over the last year or so. They also don't seem to last as much as before, can't put them in the bag after a few sets and expect to use them again a few days later. I started buying more Dunlop as a result, and they do last longer, but they seem bigger and a bit heavier.

 

[フェデラー]

its not like penn balls can get any worse. dunlop ftw!

 

[tennisnoob2]

All Head/Penn balls are made in China now, but the ball they sell to Wal-Mart is probably a lower quality ball than their normal Penn Championship "Extra Duty", Wal-Mart probably demands a lower price and this is how they compensate. I don't know about anybody else but I've noticed the percentage of dead balls or not quite fully pressurized balls in a new can has seemed to increase over the last year or so. They also don't seem to last as much as before, can't put them in the bag after a few sets and expect to use them again a few days later. I started buying more Dunlop as a result, and they do last longer, but they seem bigger and a bit heavier.

good point, but they were posting stories of the factory shutting down.

 

[Nuke]

Wal-Mart probably demands a lower price and this is how they compensate.

I believe closing the US factory is how they compensated. The Wilson balls at my Walmart are 10 cents cheaper than the Penns. It wouldn't surprise me at all to find out that Walmart pressured them to reduce their price, and moving production to China was the answer.

 

[Bri-guy]

My most recent case of Penn ATP balls were all made in China. The case before was not. I think I purchased my current case from TW in May or so.

I do not notice a big difference in quality. I had some shoddy looking balls comes from cans that had 'made in the USA' printed on them before. Overall they seem to be about the same.

Cheers!

 

[TennezSport]

Head off into the Sun........

Spoke to a Head rep today and he confirmed that all Penn Balls are made in China today. The last ball made here was the ProPenn+ and that ended in Feb '09. He also stated that Head has been making balls for the Asian and European markets in the China plant for some time now and they fully own and operate the entire facilty, which means complete control over product. Other make balls are contracted out to private factories.

Balls sold to WalMart, Target, Models etc will be the low quality balls pictured earlier. Reg and Xduty Penn that we are used to will go to SA, *****, type stores and ProPenn+ will go to pro shops as usual. Rep said with the exception of the WalMart type ball, the quality will remain the same.

Cheers, TennezSport

 

[tiebraek]

used to love penn balls..don't buy them anymore not because they are made in china but because the don't have a decent bounce and they go dead after 5 min of hitting...

 

[Lakers4Life]

used to love penn balls..don't buy them anymore not because they are made in china but because the don't have a decent bounce and they go dead after 5 min of hitting...

I agree, just played last night with my league team. We always open new cans when we scrimage. The new Penns suck, the felt seems not as fluffy, more like a dense mat. They also make a different sound than what I'm normally used to hearing. I thought it was my racquet, but the others said the same thing. In a way they seem to be a cross between presureless ball and a normal ball.

 

[Kot_Bigemot]

Spoke to a Head rep today and he confirmed that all Penn Balls are made in China today. The last ball made here was the ProPenn+ and that ended in Feb '09. He also stated that Head has been making balls for the Asian and European markets in the China plant for some time now and they fully own and operate the entire facilty, which means complete control over product. Other make balls are contracted out to private factories.

Balls sold to WalMart, Target, Models etc will be the low quality balls pictured earlier. Reg and Xduty Penn that we are used to will go to SA, *****, type stores and ProPenn+ will go to pro shops as usual. Rep said with the exception of the WalMart type ball, the quality will remain the same.

Cheers, TennezSport

Now, that is nice.
So, if you do not have any pro shops around, you must play with s..t right?
I stopped using Penn 2 month ago and switched to Dunlop Grand Prix. Great quality,reasonable price($2.25/can) and they actually last longer than a set.
Why bother with Penn trying to figure out weather you get a good quality or Wallmart quality?
Dunlop does not divide market by Wallmart customers and Pro Shop customers. They just make good quality balls. For everybody.

 

[Rabbit]

I don't use Penn any more either. I have converted over to the Dunlop Grand Prix as well, better ball at a lower price than Penn.

 

[maximo]

I love the Head ATP balls here in Europe...

 

[Mike Cottrill]

From 2005..
http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showthread.php?t=30852&highlight=Penn+busted

Penn balls quality has been declining for about 4 years. That includes USA made!
I have had in 2005 and 2009 batches of balls that bust within 2 sets.
Felt holds up good, but as others stated, get the random dead ball (most likely busted before can opened).

Not to long ago, good players in Asia would not play with Asian made balls, not round, dead, inconstant felt.. Now there is no choice.. The new Dunlop balls; get fluffy to fast..play harder to me.

 

[fattsoo]

hmmm, very good find

 

[Fedace]

I knew it. no wonder these Penn balls have been sucking lately

 

[samster]

I usually buy my 16-cans box at Costco and I bought a 16-cans box yesterday and noted "MADE IN CHINA" for the first time.

Perhaps I should return these before being utterly disappointed?

 

[TennezSport]

What.........

Now, that is nice.
So, if you do not have any pro shops around, you must play with s..t right?
Why bother with Penn trying to figure out weather you get a good quality or Wallmart quality?

The rep stated that the quality of the Reg and HD balls along with the ProPenn+ will be the same as always, which is why Head built its own plant instead of contracting the work out. The only ball that will be the cheap one (Penn Champ. pictured earlier and clearly marked) is the ball sold at Walmart type stores due to the Walmart pricing policy (you get what you pay for). So what's to figure out???

You buy the ball that you need. I just received 10 cases of the ProPenn+ balls and did not even nothice that they were made in China until recently, from reading the can; balls felt and played the same so far. People that I play with can shred a Wilson, Prince, Gamma balls is a half hour but the ProPenn+ lasts us 2 -3 matches before they die.

Cheers, TennezSport

 

[tennisnoob2]

I knew it. no wonder these Penn balls have been sucking lately

well its kinda obvious with the huge made in the usa decal on it, how could you not realize it?

IT now says made in china

 

[Syfo-Dias]

The rep stated that the quality of the Reg and HD balls along with the ProPenn+ will be the same as always, which is why Head built its own plant instead of contracting the work out. The only ball that will be the cheap one (Penn Champ. pictured earlier and clearly marked) is the ball sold at Walmart type stores due to the Walmart pricing policy (you get what you pay for). So what's to figure out???

You buy the ball that you need. I just received 10 cases of the ProPenn+ balls and did not even nothice that they were made in China until recently, from reading the can; balls felt and played the same so far. People that I play with can shred a Wilson, Prince, Gamma balls is a half hour but the ProPenn+ lasts us 2 -3 matches before they die.

Cheers, TennezSport

That's good to hear. What about the Penn ATP's?

 

[canadave]

I usually buy my 16-cans box at Costco and I bought a 16-cans box yesterday and noted "MADE IN CHINA" for the first time.

Perhaps I should return these before being utterly disappointed?

Might want to return them and just try a single can; then you can buy the case if your test can seems to play to your satisfaction.

 

[1st Seed]

In Toronto just picked up 4 boxes of Penn Championships at 50$ a box CDN.I hit with a few packs last night and they felt fresh to me.I was using the Dunn's champ from Wal mart at 3.99 for a four pack.But this deal was way to sweet to pass up.As far as comparing the two,U.S.A made balls to China's I can't really tell the difference.All of my cases came with# balls.I'll say it again 50 $ a case of 24=steal.

[/IMG]

 

[TennezSport]

Sorry..............

That's good to hear. What about the Penn ATP's?

Sorry by the Head rep did not mention the ATP ball directly. He just stated that the quality of all of the Penn balls would remain the same with the exception of the Walmart/Target/Modell ball. However, this morning we tested the last of the USA ProPenn+ balls against our new shipment of the China ball, and we cannot tell them apart in look, feel or playing ability.

Cheers, TennezSport

 

[DashaandSafin]

Yea, because if its made in China its utter crap right?

 

[stanfordtennis alum]

stay away from penn balls... wilson us open are worth the extra $$$