Balls

[Deuce]

Post your thoughts, praise, frustrations, etc. with the different kinds/brands of tennis balls here...

[ponchi101]

The balls being used at the ATP cup were Dunlops. Now, I have not played with Dunlops in a long time, but, if I remember well, they are like rocks. The same factory as Slazengers, you can use them to play tennis or murder somebody (a good smash on the head with one will do the trick).
Obviously done because of the money, but has any player said anything about the balls? Or am I just lost and this change took place last year? Or even before?

[Deuce]

You play with pressureless balls, and you're complaining that Dunlops are too hard?
I haven't seen pressureless balls for a long time - but I remember them being as hard as a rock 20 years ago.

As for the Dunlops at the ATP Cup, I have no idea... but Dunlop, like all ball manufacturers, make many different kinds of balls. Plus, any ball manufacturer can make a ball especially for a specific tournament, and that ball could be quite different than any ball available commercially.

[ponchi101]

Who said I was complaining about hard balls? I love hard balls. A good, solid Dunlop or Slazenger, go for a flat serve and hit that crisp volley.
But I am not in the majority, I know

[Deuce]

Oh - ok.
I just couldn't imagine anyone liking hard balls so I assumed you were complaining.

Are the pressureless balls you play with still really hard?
Could that be at least part of the source of your arm problem?

[ponchi101]

The difference between hitting with a Wilson and hitting with a Tretorn is like punching a pillow and smacking a wall. The feel is completely different. Pressureless (and Dunlops/Slazengers) feel rocky and very sharp. There is no cushioning on impact, but the ball responds a lot more and you can get more power on them.
The problems with my elbow reside with my birth certificate. I have been playing with Tretorns for 5 years now.

[Deuce]

The difference between hitting with a Wilson and hitting with a Tretorn is like punching a pillow and smacking a wall. The feel is completely different. Pressureless (and Dunlops/Slazengers) feel rocky and very sharp. There is no cushioning on impact, but the ball responds a lot more and you can get more power on them.

^ Yes, that's pretty much how I recall them being. I found them to be very sharp and jarring. I like a muted, more 'cushionny' feel. I also string my racquet pretty low (as low as the low 40s at times).
It would be interesting (and likely lethal for one's arm) to use pressureless balls with Kevlar strings - as Kevlar strings have no elasticity at all.

Do you find that the Tretorns maintain their bounce longer than traditional, pressured balls? That is supposed to be one of the selling points of pressureless.
Approximately how much longer would you say the Tretorns last, as compared to traditional balls?

[ponchi101]

Tretorns will last 3 times longer, at least. I stop using them when the felt shows no more of the label, but they last a bit longer. Any pressure ball will last way less than a pressureless.
Also, as when I work I have to leave home for long stretches, it is no unusual for me to get new balls a week before leaving, and with pressureless balls I can come back and they will be fine.
It is one of my peeves: fresh balls, fresh strings, fresh overwrap. I say I play 20% better, from the get go. I always tell people to change their wraps once every 5 outings, not wait until it looks like surgical gauze after the operation.

[Deuce]

Yes, pressureless will not be affected by time like traditional balls will. But they will be just as affected by friction.

You mention fresh strings. I actually don't like a fresh string job (and I string my own racquets!). It'll take about a full week of play before I start getting comfortable with the strings. I'm in the minority here, I know - but it works for me. And I keep them in the frame forever - I learned to play in the 1980s, and so very little topspin. And I like the string bed more and more, and am more and more comfortable with it, as time goes on. If I string at 44 pounds, they're probably close to 25 pounds when I'm done with them. But the decrease is gradual, of course.
That's why when I re-string, it's a shock - because it's suddenly something like 20 pounds more, and I need at least a week for it to settle into being comfortable for me.

[ponchi101]

I string at 56, polyester mono-filament. Vibration dampener so my string bed basically is not moving at all. And yes, flat strokes from the 80's.
If it were up to me, I would go pro: fresh everything every time I play. But too much money there.

[Deuce]

I string at 56, polyester mono-filament. Vibration dampener so my string bed basically is not moving at all. And yes, flat strokes from the 80's.
If it were up to me, I would go pro: fresh everything every time I play. But too much money there.

Yeah - I know that's the reason you didn't turn pro .

I also figure the main reason you use the pressureless balls is because they're not affected by the altitude when you play in Colorado .

[ponchi101]

I have always lived at altitude. Caracas is at 900 Mts (3000 ft), Bogota at 2,600 (8,500).
One of the reasons we have never had a really good pro. They play at this height, then go down to sea level and their ball doesn't run as in other places.
I think. There are many more reasons, too.