Pressureless tennis balls bounce longer than pressurized tennis balls, which quickly degrade even if you don't play with them. Learn about the differences between pressureless and pressurized tennis balls so you can choose the best type for you. Once you decide on a type, try various brands of tennis balls to determine which retain their bounce with your style of playing.
Pressurized Tennis Balls
Most tennis balls are pressurized, meaning they have a hollow core that manufacturers fill with gas to provide bounce. Pressurized balls come in airtight containers, but once you remove them, the quality degrades as the gases escape. How fast balls degrade depends on the quality of the brand, how often you play and the air pressure of the region you play in. It's possible for a tennis ball to start losing its bounce after four to six hours of vigorous play, but they can last as long as a month, depending on how often and hard you play.
Pressureless Tennis Balls
Pressureless tennis balls are bouncy because of their construction, not because they have gas in their core. This means their bounce won't decrease over time. Rather, they become increasingly bouncy as their felt rubs off during a game. But a ball that is too bouncy is just as unsuitable as a ball that is not bouncy enough, so you must replace pressureless tennis balls at some point.
Determining Appropriate Bounce
The best way to determine whether a ball is bouncing effectively is to compare it to a new one. Drop an old tennis ball and a new tennis ball simultaneously from the same height. Note whether the old ball bounces lower than the new one. Perform the test several times and use other new balls for comparison. Replace any balls that bounce significantly less than new ones. If you're using pressureless tennis balls, replace balls that bounce significantly more.
Considerations
A dead tennis ball is one that has lost its bounce. One option for restoring dead tennis balls is to use a device that temporarily repressurizes them. Pour a large number of dead tennis balls into the machine, and several days later some of their bounciness will return. Such machines can be expensive, so most tennis players just replace their tennis balls frequently.
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