Difference in Sizes Between Lacrosse Ball & a Tennis Ball

Girls lacrosse head and grey ball on grass

At first glance, there is not a large difference in size between a lacrosse ball and a standard tennis ball. However, a standard tennis ball is a little bit larger, and the lacrosse ball is typically heavier. Many more significant differences are evident when you compare junior tennis balls to lacrosse balls. How the two sports are played is related to these differences.

Standard Tennis Ball Size

According to the International Tennis Federation, or ITF, a standard tennis ball has a diameter of 2.575 to 2.675 inches. A tennis ball has a circumference of about 8 inches.

Standard Tennis Ball Weight

Tennis balls are usually quite light. A standard tennis ball has a mass range of 56 to 59.4 grams, which converts to roughly 2 ounces of weight. As a result, the tennis ball bounces more than a lacrosse ball.

Size of Junior Tennis Ball

To help younger players learn the sport, tennis manufacturers make low compression balls -- balls with less internal pressure. Four types of balls are available -- stage 3 red foam balls, stage 3 red standard balls, stage 2 orange balls and stage 1 green balls. Red foam balls have a circumference of about 11 inches and the red standard has a circumference of about 9-1/2 inches. The circumference of the orange and green balls is about 8 inches.

Weight of Junior Balls

Red foam balls weigh 0.882-1.517 ounces while the regular red balls weigh 1.270-1.728 ounces. Orange balls weigh 1.270-1.654 ounces and the green balls weigh 1.658-1.817 ounces.

Size of a Lacrosse Ball

A regulation lacrosse ball typically has a circumference of about 7-3/4 inches to 8 inches. That makes it close in size of a standard tennis ball, the junior orange ball and the junior green ball. It is; however, smaller than the junior red foam and the red standard ball.

Weight of a Lacrosse Ball

A lacrosse ball is heavier than a standard tennis ball and all of the junior low-compression balls. That's because lacrosse players pass the ball from stick to stick and hurl it into a goal. A regulation lacrosse ball typically weighs from 5 to 5-1/4 ounces, making it more than twice as heavy as a standard tennis ball and about three to five times heavier than the junior low-compression balls.