Mailbag: The Better Ball Debate and More

Category: Tennis

Publish Date: 07-30-2010 09:59 AM -0400

TENNIS.com gear editor Bill Gray and his technical advisers will answer your equipment questions every Friday. Click here to send one of your own.

I've always been happy playing with Penn Championship tennis balls, but I just joined a tennis club that has Har-Tru courts and several players refuse to use anything but Wilson U.S. Open balls, regular duty for clay, of course. Is there a noticeable difference in ball performance between the two brands? We’re all 3.5–4.0 players.—Mike

The Penn vs. Wilson tennis ball debate rages on, and anyone who wants to weigh in, go ahead and comment below. I’ll start by pointing out that Mike’s not making a fair comparison since the Championships are Penn’s second-tier offering and the U.S. Opens are Wilson’s top-drawer performer. The real opponent should be the ProPenn premium ball because it’s made with better rubber and felt than the Championship, which means it will retain its bounce longer and won’t fluff up in the middle of the second set.

To be perfectly honest, I’m a 3.5–4.0 player like the guys in Mike’s group, and I can’t tell the difference between a ProPenn and Wilson U.S. Open—or a top-of-the-line ball from Dunlop, Prince or Gamma, either, for that matter.

Still, some ATP tour pros, particularly Andy Roddick, complain that constantly switching ball brands from one tournament to the next during the summer series leading up to the U.S. Open wreaks havoc on their fine-tuned games. And back in 2006 (before my watch), TENNIS Magazine proclaimed the U.S. Open ball to be “the greatest hits album” of a playtest group that also included the ProPenn, Dunlop Grand Prix, Gamma ProTour and Prince Tour.
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Whatever differences there are, they must be quite minor since the International Tennis Federation has rigid specifications and testing for tennis balls. For instance, the ITF mandates that balls dropped from a height of 100 inches onto a horizontal surface must bounce up somewhere between 53 and 58 inches. Both Penn and Wilson told us yesterday their products register in the mid-to-upper range on that test, at around 56 inches.
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Is one ball better than the other? Is it just perception or brand loyalty? Feel free to weigh in below. I think one thing we can all agree on, though, is that tennis balls are the best value in sporting goods—they cost about the same as they did 30 years ago.��

I have the Yonex RQiS 1 Tour XL 95 and the Prince Ozone Pro Tour. Both are very flexible racquets, but I'd like to stiffen them up. While the flex is great for control and the backhand slice, I lose topspin on the forehand and the ball fizzes off the string bed if I don't find the sweetspot. What string setup would you recommend to increase power and topspin? I'm currently using a soft multifilament strung at 58–60 pounds.—Viv

String isn’t going to stiffen up your racquets, but it can make the string bed firmer, which should have a similar result. Plus, changing strings is also less expensive than buying a new frame. TENNIS.com racquet adviser Bruce Levine suggests replacing your string with a hybrid combination of Babolat RPM Blast co-polyester at around 62 pounds in the main strings and a multifilament in the crosses strung at around 65 pounds. The RPM at the higher tension will increase topspin and make the string bed feel firmer for spin, while the multifilament will help protect your elbow and arm from the harsh co-polyester.

I'm 50 years old, about a 3.5, and just started playing tennis again after a 25-year absence. I really like the Babolat racquets, but I’m having a difficult time picking and staying with one model. The Pure Drive Roddick hurts my arm. The Aero Storm doesn't give me enough power on days that I don't feel particularly “grooved.” And the Aero Strike is a little better, but there are still days when I need a larger head to reduce mishits on volleys. Do you have any suggestions besides practice, practice, practice?—Michael D.

Bruce says you should take the Babolat Y 112 for a playtest drive. It’s more comfortable than the Pure Drive Roddick, has more inherent power than the Aero Storm, and has 12 more square inches in the head than the Aero Strike. Compare it against your family of Babolats.

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