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Tennis Balls

Buying tennis balls has none of the complexity of a racquet hunt. Even at the professional level the differences among brands are barely perceptible, and whatever complication you may encounter with type as an amateur (sorry, Maria Sharapova, for making you feel left out) is offset by the number of balls you'll likely run through and, thus, the number of opportunities you'll have to field test the four principal varieties.

Top Picks

The standard choice is a regular are ideal, since their bounce will increase over time and the deterioration of the felt so common with heavy play with those balls won't be a factor. A beginner needs no more than six balls: In fact, two containers are a good first purchase if you're serious about developing your play. ! About.com's Jeff Cooper recommends the following three models for players at any level, though, again, most any brand that comes in nice container packaging will be just fine: !

Things to Consider

* '''Pressure''' ** Pressureless balls, which have rubber cores, gain bounce as they age but their felt (see below) tends to wear faster. ** Pressurized have air or nitrogen filled cores have a great feel and pressure right out of the container, but the bounce is short-lived. *** How to test bounce: Drop the ball straight down; it should bounce back up to at least half the distance from which it was dropped. **** Squeeze to test firmness over time you'll notice the difference. * '''Felt''' ** Extra is best for hard courts because it can withstand the abuse without fraying. ** Regular felt is best for clay * '''Size & Speed''' ** Smaller, harder, more compressed balls (called Type 1 by the International Tennis Federation) are the fastest. ** Traditional sized balls (Type 1) are the standard. ** Bigger balls are slower and have more bounce. *** A movement to slow down professional tennis and decrease the advantage of an extraordinary serve revolves around the bigger Type 3 balls. * '''Color''' ** Tournament balls are usually yellow and, in rare instances, white.

Types of Balls

The four principal varieties of tennis balls, the ones you'll most likely find on the shelf (or in the search results) are: * Pressureless balls: standard size with extra duty felt. * Pressurized balls: ** Standard size, regular felt. ** Standard size, extra duty felt. ** Larger size, extra duty felt. Also: Practice balls are of lesser composition (and so cheaper), though often they're simply defective in a cosmetic way. !

Top Manufacturers

* Wilson * Dunlop * Penn * Gamma

International Resources

For this resource in your home country, please see: ! NL: Tennisballen Shopgids