onehandbh
G.O.A.T.
So which balls would you recommend for this surface?Another thing to consider is balls make a big difference on this surface.
Slazengers are nasty on synthetic - low bounce, tight felt, fast AF. We all avoid them. It seems counter-intuitive since they are made for grass, I know, but we avoid them. Good if you wanna play like it's 1989 - and some here do.
Fort balls, and a few other Dunlops, are lively at first, but die quick. Fluff up only slightly, but enough to slow them down a lot after a few games. They are lively enough at first they can really take you by surprise when new balls come out.
Head XT are similar, but fluff up just a bit more which slows them down some(and fluff up a LOT when it's damp) - which is almost always a good thing on this surface unless yer all about the flat serve. Not great bounce once they go all fluffed, though.
Head tour (penn marathon) are excellent on this surface, and fluff up just enough to slow them down for enjoyable play, but like all marathon balls, have a slightly heavier feel to them and not quite as spinny as some others. Great bounce until you lose them nearly.
US Open HD are sort of an acquired taste. They do not fluff, and in fact appear to lose their covering as they play, which makes them a rather fast ball on this surface. They sort of compensate with their great bounce, but still, a rather fast ball for synthetic since there's not much to grab on to to slow it. I win a lot of points on serve with these, and get a fair amount of second serve aces. I made the mistake of playing one of the younger kids the other day with this ball, and it was exhausting.
The fluff thing is important because, although you can't say synthetic is abrasive like modern gritted hard court or clay, it does have spiny little plastic strands and grit in it that both causes balls to fluff and grabs them when they do.
But likely more importantly, it slows the feckers down. So how a ball fluffs up really helps determine how it plays on synthetic. Some non clay balls will grab some of the grit and slow down even more(Head XT do this, and Dunlops to an extent). Because of this, I haven't tried clay court balls. But a few at the club swear by them. So gonna order a few in the next batch here.
Head Tour /Penn Marathon?