Pressureless Tennis Balls Worth It?

eqc6

eqc6

New User
I've been playing tennis for a few years, but I have never hit with pressureless tennis balls.

I'm looking to buy more balls, mainly for the purposes of practicing serves. My question is, how do these pressureless ball compare to pressurized ones?

What I've always done is that after using my normal pressurized balls for a couple of games, etc, I'd just dump them to my ball hopper. Am I better off doing this and just using the used pressurized balls for practice?
 
I don't think pressureless balls are even worth dirt. The are hard and play flat. There is not bounce to them and they do not feel good coming off of the racket. I suppose they may help for general serving, but they do play differently and will give you different results. You would probably have a better time using them than really old and completely flat balls, but even balls that have been used 3 times a week for a month or two would be better than pressureless balls.
 
TennsDog said:
I don't think pressureless balls are even worth dirt. The are hard and play flat. There is not bounce to them and they do not feel good coming off of the racket. I suppose they may help for general serving, but they do play differently and will give you different results. You would probably have a better time using them than really old and completely flat balls, but even balls that have been used 3 times a week for a month or two would be better than pressureless balls.
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No bounce??? Then you haven't played with the Tretorn pressureless balls. They bounce and bounce and bounce and *never* die. I'd recommend the Tretorn Micro-X variant if you decide to try them out. I personally think they are ok. They play a bit like the more heavier gas balls. The feel is slightly different but nothing you can't get used to. They are harder on your arm though so if you are a hard-hitter then they might not be your favourite ball.
 
The pressureless balls are actually great, I think. I haven't tried the Tretorn ones, although it sounds like they're certainly worth a shot.

I mean, come on. The rallies are so much longer. You can whack the ball as hard as you want, practice consistency, and the other guy can still move up and get to the ball. Points are so much more fun.

It's great at least for a small learning tool.
 
do they sell pressureless balls in anything less than a 15 pack? i really want to try and compare them to pressurized balls but dont wanna make the commitment on a "big" purchase.
 
I think playing with regular balls will give you more accurate results of your skills. Like Phil said with the pressureless balls, you can hit the heck out of the ball and it really will move heavy, the rallies last much longer, and I think it gives you and your opponent more time to get in position to hit. IMHO, the pressureless balls do lose their bounce a tiny bit after a while and along with this lose a good amount of felt. It can also be harder on the arm like Peter said. Are they worth it? For me, I guess they are and are not. They are the best for practicing serve, but elsewhere I think pressurized balls are better. I don't know how to repressurize balls and I love playing with a new can of balls, but it sucks when they lose their bounce after a couple hitting sessions.
 
Pressureless balls to me are just slower and less spinny. They only really spin after it bounces once but not really in the air. I just don't like them.
 
SageOfDeath said:
Pressureless balls to me are just slower and less spinny. They only really spin after it bounces once but not really in the air. I just don't like them.
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That it probably due to them being a bit heavier. I see the same effect with the heavier gas balls - it's harder to get spin on them. But then again - in practice that might be good since it forces you to really _generate_ spin on them, you can't just flick your wrist and generate a heavy-spinning ball.

Regarding the felt wearing off - this is not the case on the Tretorn pressureless balls atleast. The felt on those balls last a long time. Definitely much longer than the normal gas balls.

Not indefinitely though. When I was a kid we used to play with those balls until they were more or less bald - at which point it was impossible to get any spin at all, but on the other hand you could really hit *hard* flat fastballs :-)
 
My answer to original question is "N" "O", NO!

Put it this way, the more often you play with brand new balls, the better your anticipation is. Dozens more other reasons, but this one should be good enough.
 
Thanks guys, I appreciate the feedback.

So, if pressureless balls are heavier, then that means it won't give me accurate results when I practice my kick serves - since the spin applied to the ball won't be the same as pressurized?

Oh, and I'm just curious - what kind of tennis balls do you guys play with? I play with penn, but when I can I'd buy dunlop. I like dunlop's heavier feel - great for rallying especially :)
 
They don't feel like new balls. Period.

But that is not the purpose, is it? You are targeting something that resembles the feel on new balls with about the same weight and pressure.

I personally use Micro X from Tretorn from time to time and when I read someone saying that pressureless balls don't jump and spin I can't help myself from laughing. To me the closest ball in feel and trajectory to Micro X would be Pro Penn. But I also don't agree whe people say that the felt last for an eternity. Me a partner skinned 4 Tretorn balls on 4, 2 hour lasting practicing sessions. And they are expensive at almost twice the price of a regular ball.
 
Boy Wonder, you made a comment about repressurizing balls... I don't know if it works on dead balls, but I have a gadget called the Tennis Ball Saver. It is a plastic cylinder that you place 3 balls in and then screw it together. This adds pressure to the inside just like a new can. I have never had to quit using a ball due to being dead after using this. I just wear out the felt. I have a bunch of balls now that are bald in spots and I just actually broke one. I think I paid $10 for it, and it was well worth the money. I suggest everyone look into one.
 
Nope they are not worth a penny. They don't play anywhere near regular ball. They are intended for beginners learning very basic strokes.

I have a box of tretorn micro-x, and they almost play like pressurized balls but not quite. They don't the full bouce and spin like a fully pressurized ball does and it does feel a bit stiff and heavy. Otherwise they would be perfectly fine in a ball machine, but not in match play.

The best option to consider is using a pressurizer or a cheap ($7-10) plastic screw on pressurizer such as Gamma's Reviver.
 
How to choose Pressureless and Pressurized Tennis Balls
To Know the difference between pressureless and pressurized tennis balls, we need to know how they are constructed? those types of tennis balls
Read More
 
eqc6 said:
I have never hit with pressureless tennis balls.
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Good!

Don't do it. Complete waste of time. If you want to improve in tennis, use the ball that you would use in matches/point-play to practice. Pressureless balls are not even close to a regular match play ball. No sense in using it if the focus is to get better at being competitive.
eqc6 said:
What I've always done is that after using my normal pressurized balls for a couple of games, etc, I'd just dump them to my ball hopper. Am I better off doing this and just using the used pressurized balls for practice?
Click to expand...
Yes, this is the best idea. Get some good quality balls that can last a solid 1.5-2hr hit and then just open a fresh can the next time.
 
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