Tretorn Micro-X Pressureless Tennis Balls
You probably noticed the balls with X on tennis courts already. The X is the sign of Tretorn Micro-X Pressureless Tennis Balls. They are not the only pressureless tennis balls, but they are most easily recognizable and they belong to the best pressureless tennis balls. I always thought about trying the Tretorn or Penn or other pressureless tennis balls to find out if they can be compared to common pressurized tennis balls I am used to.
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Construction of pressureless tennis balls
To understand the difference between pressureless and pressurized tennis balls we need to know how they are constructed.
Pressurized tennis balls have compressed air in rubber balls with fuzzy fabric cover. Pressureless tennis balls are solid inside. For example, Tretorn Micro-X pressureless tennis balls are filled with 700 million micro cells filled with air.
The cover is made from fabric for both pressurized and pressureless balls.
So the difference lies inside the rubber ball and it shows up in characteristic and way of the use of particular balls.
Check the following video to find out what is inside the pressureless tennis ball.
Best Price to Quality Pressureless Tennis Balls
48 Penn Pressureless Tennis Balls in bucket- View on Amazon
Advantages
The main advantage of pressureless tennis balls is their long life span. They are sometimes called as forever balls as they never lose bounce. Pressureless balls can lose the yellow color as the fabric wears out, but the core remains solid. That is the main difference against pressurized tennis balls that lose bounce and flatten in the course of time depending on their use.
You can use pressureless tennis balls for any surface, they are essentially all court tennis balls.
Pressureless tennis balls are usually sold in buckets of 48 or 72 balls. Thanks to their longevity, if you do not mind a loss of fuzzy fabric covering over time, it is a cost-wise solution for clubs or for practice with tennis ball machines.
You even can find Tretorn Micro-X pressureless tennis balls to be sold with an imprinted logo of Lobster Sports, one of the two most known ball machine producers (check here). Firstly Wilson and then Dunlop signed partnership deals with SlingerBag and start to develop branded pressureless tennis balls (Wilson Trinity and then Dunlop Fort XTRA Life).
Check the prices of pressureless balls here.
Playing
Tretorn X Pressureless Tennis Ball after a year of use
I played several practice sessions with pressureless tennis balls. They felt a little bit heavier during warm-up comparing to pressurized tennis balls I used before. The bounce was the same as with pressurized balls but the speed of the pressureless balls was higher. I had a problem adjusting as I need to quicken my reaction time. A combination of weight and speed can be hard to absorb for beginners or even intermediate players. Sometimes you can feel the increased burden on your elbow and wrist due to the weight of balls. Well, I do not want to scare you. You will not feel the weight difference when holding the balls in your hands, but you feel a slight difference during the hits. My arms needed some time to adjust to playing with pressureless tennis balls.
The fastness of the balls can be an advantage for you. You will get used to reacting much quicker. That can be utilized successfully in competitive matches.
Good thing is, the balls did not show up any signs of wearing out or bounce deterioration after hours of practice during several weeks. They did not flatten and did not require special care in between practice sessions. The bounce consistency for months (or even years) of the practice playing is the biggest positive of pressureless tennis balls.
Check the prices of pressureless balls here.
Recommended Use
Pressureless Tennis Balls are really for long-term use. I (and also Lobster Sports:) would recommend them for flat shots practice or for practice with your tennis ball machine. You can be sure that every tennis ball has constant bounce and every shot by a tennis ball machine will be placed exactly at the same place.
They are very good for practice sessions, but remember, that matches are played with pressurized tennis balls. Therefore, I recommend switching back to them a few practices before your competition matches. The adjustment period can be a little bit longer sometimes.
Best Pressureless Tennis Balls
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|---|---|---|---|
PENN PRESSURELESS | TRETORN MICRO-X | BABOLAT ACADEMY | WILSON PRESSURELESS |
48 balls | 72 balls | 72 balls | 18 or 36 balls |
Check the prices of pressureless balls here.
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Hi,
great review & I do agree with your comments.
I do spend about 8 – 10 hrs a week on court (practice and match play) and use mainly pressure less balls for practice.
I use Babolat Academy (no affiliation with them) and bought 4 buckets of 72 balls each 3 years ago. Still using them today. I would like to point out that I haven’t tried any other brands as I have researched others before and decides on customer feedback’s on Babolat. I was very happy with them from the beginning so I wouldn’t change.
I also would like to confirm that these are pretty solid and heavy at the beginning and can be a bit uncomfortable on the arm. I guess this applies to “all” pressureless tennis balls. I have used them however for the first few weeks on the tennis ball machine and for short distance feeding only and they did soften a bit a after that.
After a few weeks they just get bouncier and faster and it is correct, currently they are really fast. This makes you work harder on your footwork too. Unfortunately, I do play only on hard-courts so the yellow felt is nearly gone after 3 years, which will impact your contact/bite on the strings. Therefore soon time to get another batch.
You can’t beat the value for money option on these.
cheers
Marco
I would not write it better. Thanks for sharing your experience.
Hi there,
I am hosting an Ice Golfing tournament up at my cabin in a month. Most of these tournaments use tennis balls. I think using pressureless tennis balls would be a good idea except one thing: are they any heavier than a pressurized tennis ball? Any help with this would be great. Thanks!
Hello,
the difference in weight is negligible. They are almost the same weight (1-2 grams difference maximum).
Good review. I am based in Ireland and my club has an ageing carpet surface. The Tretorn X are used by most in the club for play. The advantages of the presureless ball is that, in the winter time , given the state of the courts and the damp conditions we get, the ball will at least bounce to a playable degree. The disadvantages are, once wet, they are very heavy and like rocks and you definitely feel it on the elbow. Come summer time then they are way too fast on these worn courts to allow for decent play. When the Open tournaments kick off within the region, it is noticeable that our guys can’t keep a rally going long enough to win the away tournaments, as we are so used to quick points. So, deffo a ball for use with a practice machine,, and little else for me.