what are the best traditional balls for ball machines?

[mmaster]

i'll be getting a new ball machine soon, and originally i was looking at tretorn micro-x pressureless balls to use with it but i might want to save money and go with traditional pressurized balls instead. which ones would work great in a ball machine? i prefer penn championship XD for regular play, but i think dunlop championship might be better for a ball machine because it keeps its bounce longer. thoughts?

 

[NE1for10is?]

I just get regular pressure balls and replace them a couple times a season. I tried the pressureless as a way to warm up for matches, but found out that I had to readjust my strokes too much. It cost me a first set once until I readjusted to the feel of a normal ball.

 

[Ronaldo]

Found Prince Tour balls seem to bounce longer than any other. A local private club only uses those balls and saves them for practice. Still dead in 3-4 weeks.

 

[tennisdad65]

I use a mixture of various types of regular balls. Some heavy, some slow, some fast, some light, some high bouncing, some low bouncing etc.. My machine has an oscillation feature, but I also prefer to get some amount of variability in the height and depth that the ball is fed. Using a mixture of various types of balls tends to provide a tiny bit of height and depth variation.

 

[mmaster]

I use a mixture of various types of regular balls. Some heavy, some slow, some fast, some light, some high bouncing, some low bouncing etc.. My machine has an oscillation feature, but I also prefer to get some amount of variability in the height and depth that the ball is fed. Using a mixture of various types of balls tends to provide a tiny bit of height and depth variation.

thanks for that insight because that totally makes sense. and the machine i'm planning to get doesn't vary depth of shots, just side to side oscillation.

 

[coachrick]

dad's plan is a good one; UNLESS you are renting the machine to clients desiring a consistent 'flow' of balls. If it's just for you, adding balls from a practice session or team match or Round Robin might be a way to introduce 'fresh' balls that aren't identical.

In the old days, Dunlops were considered the best 'teaching' balls because they did hold acceptable compression longer(actually some Dunlops were made with +1# over normal compression--putting them at the top of the spec range for rebound. Naturally, they would have 'acceptable' compression for slightly longer than other brands). Since all the balls are imported to the US now, I'm not sure if the difference is still in play.

 

[ryan380golf]

Going with traditional balls is a good idea. I have a bucket of Tretorns that went bald after a season and are just way too heavy and bouncy now. I'd rather use flat regular balls then the Tretorns. I'd shop by price and a large discounter for a couple cases of whatever to start, then keep an eye out for extra balls each time you play.

 

[charliefedererer]

I'm surprised at all the regular ball users in their ball machines.

One of the great things about a ball machine is that it allows you to really work on a shot that is losing you points in matches. Like not being able to hit a consistant down the line backhand on the run, or not being able to consistantly return a a serve to the backhand crosscourt. To hone that skill it takes lots of reps until you own the shot. And with a ball machine you can keep turning up the speed and spin until you can own that shot against a really heavy ball. But to do this you need a balls with a consistant bounce. For that, it's hard to beat the Tretorn Micro X tennis balls.