Tennis ball 2025
- Thread starter pub
- Start date
Being in the US we mainly have hard courts. When it comes to clay we have the green clay that plays between hard and red clay, and some tell me more like hard than red clay. I've never played on red clay.
I believe the Dunlop Fort Clay is the Dunlop Grand Prix Regular Duty (Fort being Euro/International Labeling, Grand Prix being US/North America). I feel these have no issues with fluffing on hard court or har tru.
But this makes me want to give the Dunlop ATPs a spin on the Hart Tru. Be interesting if they turn into a mess of fur or not.
I think this is where the Grand Prix fits the bill. ATP becom dog toys whereas the US Opens become naked rocks. The Grand Prix seems to be the perfect balance.
I've used Dunlop AO out of habit, but they feel way too slow now. Even on fast hard courts, matches just turn into a slug fest and no one can really hit through the ball after a set or two.
Anyone have recommendations on balls that reward attacking play for a little longer on HC? I was thinking of US Open Extra Duty because I've played with those in the past and they felt faster, but haven't tried them for a while.
Anyone have recommendations on balls that reward attacking play for a little longer on HC? I was thinking of US Open Extra Duty because I've played with those in the past and they felt faster, but haven't tried them for a while.
Westerwick
Rookie
I'm partial to the Diadems and Babolat Golds. I've heard people praise the Technifibre balls as well, but I can't find them in a high altitude version for our area. Both the Diadem and Babolats bounce well (as opposed to anything HA from Penn), don't fluff up like anything HA from Dunlop, and have good lifetimes so don't quickly turn into rocks. Perhaps not a coincidence that they are made in the same factory in Thailand.
I think if you want faster balls US Opens are a good choice.
I think you should give Dunlop Grand Prix a try to. They are more similar than you think in my experience.
Nostradamus
Bionic Poster
you know what the most annoying thing about Penn Marathon ball is,,, its inconsistency.... in april i opened a can and it felt great and maintained its bounce the entire match,, and relatively soft.. Now i open a new can yesterday,, As soon as i start hitting,, i notice it felt like a Rock. Hard as solid rock,,, felt terrible when it struck the string bed.. LOL
Westerwick
Rookie
II’m starting to believe we need the discussion threads for low and high altitude. We are at very high altitude by tennis standards (7000 ft), and even then some of the supposed high altitude balls are soft. When you get above 10,000 the game changes again since everything plays like a super ball, and we often revert back to pressureless balls.
My experience is the elasticity of the ball is pretty consistent, but we often have balls with messed up seams that cause balls to bounce on weird angles until the seem gets sanded down by the court.you know what the most annoying thing about Penn Marathon ball is,,, its inconsistency.... in april i opened a can and it felt great and maintained its bounce the entire match,, and relatively soft.. Now i open a new can yesterday,, As soon as i start hitting,, i notice it felt like a Rock. Hard as solid rock,,, felt terrible when it struck the string bed.. LOL
emkayenaim
Rookie
Interested to know what the pros will think of Yonex Tour Platinum
I'm happy with the Marathons currently. (Regular) Use them alot, mostly on har tru or indoors.
I also have some cheap Penns Champion HD. Last can i opened was weird. They hit "fine" (they worked)
BUT they sounded dead (thunk) even though they felt fine. Alot of the newer ones have been fluffing up
really bad as well.
I also have some cheap Penns Champion HD. Last can i opened was weird. They hit "fine" (they worked)
BUT they sounded dead (thunk) even though they felt fine. Alot of the newer ones have been fluffing up
really bad as well.
d-quik
Legend
smithie
Professional
I've recently been more and more disappointed with the decline in overall quality of the Head Tour balls which used to always be my 'go to' ball. Based on the reviews here I got some Dunlop ATP Championship balls to try as a substitute, and wow what a difference and this will be more preferred ball going forward. So I just wanted to drop a thank you for everyone that recommended these here!
The Dunlop ATP Championship is a great value ball.
Kind of sad that the Head/Penn Tour Balls have taken a dive. But maybe that is saving you money now?
smithie
Professional
Same price pretty much so no real benefit from a cost perspective
Is it the Dunlop ATP Championship and not the Dunlop ATP Tour?
On TW D ATP Championship $89.99
On TW D ATP Tour $109.99
vs.
Penn Tour $104.99
Penn Championship $84.95.
Not sure how they price in Europe.
It was a good run, 5 boxes of perfect Costco Penns last year. Two boxes so far this year - one is overinflated (but doesn't bounce well) and one underinflated (also doesn't bounce). Back to Costco they go.
I'm getting on the Wilson US Open High Altitude train. Unfortunately not every manufacturer makes high altitude balls, so the choices are limited.
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Very big problems with balls in Europe. I just finished using my second box of Dunlop Fort All Court and they are like pressurless balls. I used them in my basket for three weeks for trainings and they are heavy like hell, the felt gets hairy in hard court and doesn't get consumed so much... It slows down the balls crazy. But they don't shrink over time. Previously I was always using Wilson US Open, very consistent and arm friendly for one week and half, then slowly shrinking and getting felt consumed evenly. The same was happening with Head Pro and Tour with the both carrying a bit more of unpredictability and bounce compared to Wilson and higher speed.
There is only one thing that you can be sure when you buy a box of tennis balls: it is not worth your hard earned money.
If you are lucky they will last good for two weeks. If you are unlucky they will feel like the Tretorn X (I always have a can at home to make comparison).
There is only one thing that you can be sure when you buy a box of tennis balls: it is not worth your hard earned money.
If you are lucky they will last good for two weeks. If you are unlucky they will feel like the Tretorn X (I always have a can at home to make comparison).
d-quik
Legend
Expecting balls to behave well over a week is a problem with you, not the balls.
I don't think any tennis ball from any continent from any era could fulfill your requirements
This brings up another factor in selecting balls is what is their intended use.
Match play vs. practice vs. being used in a teaching pro's hopper at a club vs. being in a hopper for someone just practicing their serve.
For match play I always use new balls. Typically warm up with old balls then pop the can for play for 3 sets.
Then those balls go to the practice court. Typically I use balls in practice for 2-3 sessions so 4-6 hours of use. When I practice/hit with friends we either use 6 balls or 3 balls. So the balls get a lot of hits.
So I guess if you practice with a buddy 3 times a week, 2 cans can sort of last a week.
This also depends on the type of ball--Penn Championships are uselss after a match, and really useless after one practice session but some buddies keep bringing them out.
Whereas the Pro Penn Marathon are still feeling pretty solid in our third session.
After 2-3 sessions of use, if the ball still has some decent fuzz and an OK bounce I through it into my hopper for the couple times I get out to practice serve or work on some self feeds for technique. Then just over time as the hopper gets full I leave the deader ones on court.
In a teaching pro's hopper, if you put 3 cases into the hopper, That's 60-100 balls with maybe 1-2 pickups an hour. So the balls aren't being constantly hit. So they might last a week or so depending on how busy the pro is and how hard his pupils hit.
I guess the level of the players might factor in too. A ball that I can play with for 3 sessions might might be done after Ben Shelton using the for serve practice for 20 minutes.
Oddly, when I've gone to Cincy, the pros usually have odd set ups for training balls. They rarely have hoppers. They often have a box, bag or a containter that looks like hardware bucket or garbage can full of balls.
I would have agreed with you if I would have been a newbie to tennis, but my routine is going on for almost 40 years with the same brand of balls and models, the Dunlop Fort and Wilson US Open (heavy duty). I can tell you that both balls in 2018 were better. On the other end, both were super lasting around 2011-12 (two weeks good), Dunlop were defective in 2004-6 (the glueing was exploding after four days of heavy play).
Prices per can doubled from 2011. Quality halved after pandemic.
recreationalplayer
Semi-Pro
Wilson US OPEN, Wilson French Open/Roland G.,clay court balls are made in Taiwan, their QC is consistent and very high. To me they are worth the extra price as I never open a can if flat balls so there is no waste.
antony
Hall of Fame
Tried Pro Penn Marathon and they’re great. Way cheaper than US Open and they hit well over four sets last time I used them. Only 50c more than Penn Championship at Target at $4.50 per can if buying single cans.
I’d buy a case.
ponzicrash
New User
I just got a case of us open xd and the bounce is significantly higher than any other ball I've used recently .
Are they really lively or have the majority of other balls just become dead.
Are they really lively or have the majority of other balls just become dead.
I keep coming back to this ball. Was liking Dunlop Grand Prix--nice weight and bounce, but go bald, not as fast as US Opens. So with the ProPenn I get at least another good session out of them. Just wish they started a little crisper like US Opens.
Compared to any "Championship" ball they are definitely more lively. That could be Penn, Wilson, Dunlop "Championships."
I think they are maybe a little more lively than Dunlop Grand Prix and ProPenn but I think if you mixed them together it would be harder to tell.
d-quik
Legend
Messing around on taobao, I find that the "Kannon Tour" in the black cans have been selling out left and right. What usually will yield multiple pages of results on Taobao now only yields one page.
dr325i
G.O.A.T.
Brought back 10 cans of Wilson Shanghai Open. Disappointed...
Grafil Injection
Legend
In a 'they were terrible out of the can' or 'they wore out really quickly' kind of way?
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Nostradamus
Bionic Poster
not in the US tourmanemts though,, right ??
dr325i
G.O.A.T.
They fluff up very fast and they wear out quicker than any other ball I have used.
When they fluff up, they become super slow.
I prefer USO much more
dr325i
G.O.A.T.
I tried these and…did not like them. Too hard.
Still prefer the USO over these
ChrisJR3264
Legend
So far the TF champion balls don’t seem to fluff up that much or regular duty Dunlop (not great but okay).
All the other balls I’ve used seem to just feel heavy after 30 minutes or so. I’m noticing the pusher’s must love these balls bc they seem to be getting everything back from what I experience lol. (No offense)
All the other balls I’ve used seem to just feel heavy after 30 minutes or so. I’m noticing the pusher’s must love these balls bc they seem to be getting everything back from what I experience lol. (No offense)
thebigz
Professional
Diadem is the most similar to US Open I've found. They both have a softer feel than other high quality options and easier on the arm. Neither last the best but they also don't age as badly as some other balls, just lose the pop you get when fresh. If price is similar though I would get US Open. I have ordered through a friend who coaches to get wholesale pricing for Diadem. They are pretty awesome for training/coaching if you can justify for your cliental and get wholesale price.
Westerwick
Rookie
Just non-statistical observation: Diadem pressurized balls last longer in the serving practice bucket than any other pressurized balls, including US Open. Some of them, notably Penn Championship and anything Dunlop, never make it into the practice bucket because they are unusable after a couple sets and lose pressure rapidly.
AlexKangaroo
Rookie
Funny that US Open Wilson balls are the cheapest in my country. Other brands are slightly costly. Of course we don't have very cheap Penn balls.
Diadem has 2 30%off promotions every year. The discounted price of the balls is even better than wholesale price.
Weird in the US home to Wilson. US Open balls are the most expensive. $6.49 for a can.
Got another case of Dunlop Grand Prix XD.
They now have a paper/cardboard top instead of a plastic top. Also instead of having the label glued to the outside of the platic can, they just have a paper insert. Their way of being more environmentally sound.
NOt sure if they have gotten feedback or if it is just random.
Grand Prix's have been one of my favorite balls. Some nice weight to it, lively crisp bounce to start with fairly decent duration. But the last 2 cases I had, the balls went bald fairly quickly compared to ProPenn Marathon, championship level balls. Almost a similar balding like US Opens. Thinking about it, I kind of think of the Grand Prix as a A- version of the US Open with better durability (US Open winning on playability for the first hour).
But my new case with the environmentally friendly labeling, seem to fluff up more than go bald. Not crazy fluffly like the Dunlop AO or Dunlop ATP tours.
Have 2 cans I used for 2 hours of dubs each, then have been using for hitting practice for another 4 hours, bounce is still pretty good. Better than a fresh can of Costco Penns.
They now have a paper/cardboard top instead of a plastic top. Also instead of having the label glued to the outside of the platic can, they just have a paper insert. Their way of being more environmentally sound.
NOt sure if they have gotten feedback or if it is just random.
Grand Prix's have been one of my favorite balls. Some nice weight to it, lively crisp bounce to start with fairly decent duration. But the last 2 cases I had, the balls went bald fairly quickly compared to ProPenn Marathon, championship level balls. Almost a similar balding like US Opens. Thinking about it, I kind of think of the Grand Prix as a A- version of the US Open with better durability (US Open winning on playability for the first hour).
But my new case with the environmentally friendly labeling, seem to fluff up more than go bald. Not crazy fluffly like the Dunlop AO or Dunlop ATP tours.
Have 2 cans I used for 2 hours of dubs each, then have been using for hitting practice for another 4 hours, bounce is still pretty good. Better than a fresh can of Costco Penns.
AlexKangaroo
Rookie
That's true, but owner of Wilson Amer Sports is located here in Finland
. Which probably explains the popularity of Wilson here. Supermarkets sell US Open for like 8,9€ 4-ball can. Base rate for 4-ball cans in the proshops in tennisclubs is like 10-12€. Tennis Warehouse Europe sells Wilson Roland Garros for 6,9€ 4-ball can and 7,9€ for US Open. My own club has Babolat as the chosen partner and I can buy 3x Babolat Team all court cans for like 25€.
dak95_00
Hall of Fame
I’m a high school teacher and tennis coach in the US. I buy 6 cases of ProPenn Marathon for the season. I think these are every bit as good as the Wilson US Open balls and I’m getting them shipped to me for $592. That’s $4.11/can. These balls will maintain their felt and bounce better than nearly all other balls
Klatu Verata Necktie
Hall of Fame
Sorry to bring back a zombie thread, but I'm a high school coach and am in the process of stocking up for the upcoming season. Like you, I bought Pro Pen Marathons last year, but was dissapointed in the quality. Most of the cans contained balls that were too hard and low bouncing for my liking. They didn't seem like quality competition to the US Opens and Dunlop ATPs that I've used in the past.
Do you have experience with the Diadems? So far, I've read good reviews, and the price per can is really good when using a coupon.
I love playing with Diadem Premier balls. It is said the balls are made in the same factory of US open. It is very close to US open on feeling but slightly worse on durability like 10-15%. But with a 30% promotion around Black Friday period, I choose Diadem for sure.
Klatu Verata Necktie
Hall of Fame
Thanks for the reply. I'm heavily leaning towards the Diadem on price alone. If the quality is even in the US Open ballpark, they'll be a hit.
Yes, the price was quite attractive. I bought 4 cases for $333.03 including tax and shipping cost last Black Friday.
