Talk About Tennis 2.0

We have been playing on clay with Yonex balls..was initally resistant but they have worked well for us ..the Wilson balls seem very hard, we get injured after a couple days play with them
Just saying...fyi

ashkor87 wrote: ↑Wed Jun 01, 2022 3:09 am We have been playing on clay with Yonex balls..was initally resistant but they have worked well for us ..the Wilson balls seem very hard, we get injured after a couple days play with them
Just saying...fyi

I don't think I've ever even SEEN Yonex balls - let alone played with them. I guess their availability is continent-dependent to a degree, with them being based in Japan.

After seeing articles, etc. on how much pollution tennis balls produce and how much environmental damage they cause, I wanted to try pressureless balls, because I've read where people said they could keep using these balls for a long, long time (months, and in some cases years!) - which obviously results in fewer balls polluting and in landfills.

Unfortunately, pressureless balls are much more difficult to find in stores here (Canada) than they were 30 years ago, which is when I last tried them. More companies are making pressureless balls now (back then, it was pretty much only Tretorn) - but you have to buy them in bulk in massive numbers today - which is not very conducive to testing them, of course. It's difficult to find 30 tennis playing friends who want to share a big batch of pressureless balls. 30 - 40 years ago, you could buy a box of 3 Tretorn balls pretty much anywhere.

The problem with the Tretorns of a few decades ago is that they were very hard and heavy. About as good for the arm/elbow as using Kevlar strings is (and if you really want to die 1000 deaths, hit the Tretorn pressureless balls from 30 years ago with Kevlar strings!)

I did find a box of 3 'Artengo' (Decathlon) pressureless balls, and bought them. They were interesting. In the store, I took one out of its cardboard box (pressureless, remember), and bounced it on the floor. It bounced like a regular, pressurized tennis ball.
Bouncing them on the court, as well, they bounced like a regular tennis ball...
When you hit them with your racquet (actually, the strings, hopefully ), the sound is different. The rubber of the pressureless ball is thicker than the rubber in a pressurized ball, and it produces a more 'hollow' sound.

As well, despite the thicker rubber, the pressureless balls compress more than the pressurized balls when struck. This results in a ball which is slower than a pressurized ball. It's simply not as lively as a pressurized ball. The pressureless ball is thus easier to control, and easier to play with.
Unfortunately, though, that is not what I was looking for.

After playing a set and a half with the pressureless balls, they bounced just as well as they did when brand new when I bounced them on the court from my hand. The felt was dirty and more used, of course - and the ink was half worn off on the label.

we did try the Wilson pressureless ones, and didnt like them.. seemed too hard on the elbows..

I also have never seen Yonex balls, but I don't think they would be bad. I have played with Yonex racquets (the old R-22) and with shoes, and they were both very well made. No doubt the balls would be good too.
Because I am at around 2,600 Mts/10,000 ft altitude, I was playing with Tretorn pressure-less balls here. As you say, very hard balls but they last a long time. Even the felt seems to last longer.
But I would not play with them at low altitudes. Who knows how hard you would need to swing to make them move.

I have never seen Yonex tennis balls either and I have also only ever played on a clay court once in my life.

I use the Wilson Championship Extra Duty Tennis Balls.

You have to try to get some time on clay/hartru. It will help a lot with footwork, and later in life (and I do mean much, much, much, much later in life) playing on soft courts will be good for your tennis longevity.

ponchi101 wrote: ↑Mon Jul 04, 2022 12:24 pm You have to try to get some time on clay/hartru. It will help a lot with footwork, and later in life (and I do mean much, much, much, much later in life) playing on soft courts will be good for your tennis longevity.

I have played 99% of my tennis on typical hard courts. I have played 1 time on a clay court surface and it was a totally different experience. I really do feel though if I had the experience on clay courts I would excel on them. As for grass courts I have never played on one nor have I ever seen on other than on television.

As a serve and volley player when I was young, and with a rather flat FH (I can put more spin on my BH), I always dreamt of playing on grass. It must be such fun.

ponchi101 wrote: ↑Tue Jul 05, 2022 8:10 pm As a serve and volley player when I was young, and with a rather flat FH (I can put more spin on my BH), I always dreamt of playing on grass. It must be such fun.

Not a serve and volley player at all and I would probably be a horrific player on grass courts. I really think my game would be more suited for clay courts if I had the opportunity to play on that surface more than the big 1 time I have played on it.

The first time I played serve and volley (I must have been 14,) I fell and broke my elbow!! It was a slippery clay court just after a rain shower..so everyone should be careful!

I blame it on Krishnan..he saw me serve and told me someone with a serve like that should follow it up to the net..!!

ashkor87 wrote: ↑Thu Jul 07, 2022 4:27 am The first time I played serve and volley (I must have been 14,) I fell and broke my elbow!! It was a slippery clay court just after a rain shower..so everyone should be careful!

^ Water is supposed to make clay LESS slippery, not more slippery.
Unless there's too much water, of course...

ashkor87 wrote: ↑Thu Jul 07, 2022 4:46 am I blame it on Krishnan..he saw me serve and told me someone with a serve like that should follow it up to the net..!!

^ Ramesh or his father?

Ramesh is younger than I am..much younger..so yes, his father Ramanathan .Ramesh was briefly my son's coach

ashkor87 wrote: ↑Thu Jul 07, 2022 5:09 am Ramesh is younger than I am..much younger..so yes, his father Ramanathan .Ramesh was briefly my son's coach

Color me impressed.

I have a question about how long does a can of tennis balls you practice with last you? My coach opens a new can each session so for me that is 5 cans per week because 1 of my practices I don't pick up my racquet and hit at all. Now the other tennis balls I use in the previous sessions don't get thrown out. They get re-cycled in doing some side hitting or hitting that isn't what our main focus of the session is that I am going to be learning that day.

I am just wondering if any of you use a new can every time you practice or play a match with someone?