Reviving new cans of balls that have been sitting too long

norcal

Legend
So a while back I got a case of Penn's on sale, they arrived and when I opened a couple cans they were 'soft'. Must have been sitting around in a warehouse forever. I hate using mushy balls and I'm not going to be 'that guy' bringing mushy balls to matches. Not worth the hassle to send back so I decided to keep them for my dogs.

Left a can unopened outside and forgot about it. I picked it up after it sat in the summer sun a couple days and noticed it was no longer 'soft', it felt highly pressurized. Opened it and it had the bounce and firmness of new balls. So I stuck the remaining cans in the sun on my gazebo. So far so good with opening 3 cans. 6 cans to go (only 1 still feels soft - you can easily touch the balls when you squeeze the can).

Anyway, thought I would pass along the tip for you guys who have a bunch of new/old balls sitting in the closet - your tennis buddies will thank me lol.
 

Ronaldo

Bionic Poster
So a while back I got a case of Penn's on sale, they arrived and when I opened a couple cans they were 'soft'. Must have been sitting around in a warehouse forever. I hate using mushy balls and I'm not going to be 'that guy' bringing mushy balls to matches. Not worth the hassle to send back so I decided to keep them for my dogs.

Left a can unopened outside and forgot about it. I picked it up after it sat in the summer sun a couple days and noticed it was no longer 'soft', it felt highly pressurized. Opened it and it had the bounce and firmness of new balls. So I stuck the remaining cans in the sun on my gazebo. So far so good with opening 3 cans. 6 cans to go (only 1 still feels soft - you can easily touch the balls when you squeeze the can).

Anyway, thought I would pass along the tip for you guys who have a bunch of new/old balls sitting in the closet - your tennis buddies will thank me lol.
Keep your balls on the topshelf of the closet. Topshelf balls are always firm, not soft
 

Tennisist

Professional
It is interesting how ball manufacturers claim to produce balls to account for altitude variations and surface hardness, yet do not account for obvious temperature fluctuations between 65°F and 92°F. And those are incommensurate! The balls you bought were probably meant for Florida....
 
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