Penn Pressureless Tennis Balls - Non-Pressurized Training / Practice Tennis Balls

I have been playing tennis all of my life at the recreational and at the tournament level. When my husband and I moved, we somehow ended up with only 3 cans of tennis balls. After a few hitting sessions, the balls quickly began to die. I knew something had to be done.This set of pressureless balls is ideal for any player. The bucket looks like a shorter version of a standard 10 gallon bucket and black lid folds back, allowing for quick access to the balls while the lid remains attached to the bucket. The balls look, smell, and feel like "normal" tennis balls. My bucket was filled to the top with seemingly "normal" tennis balls. Overall, it was a wonderful purchase and I couldn't be happier. I finally have enough tennis balls for a decent hitting session without having to worry about chasing tennis balls on neighboring courts or the balls dying at an accelerated rate due to my hitting/play style.There is one thing that should be noted. When I made contact, I did notice that the balls felt a bit heavier on my strings. I was initially concerned. However, after a short warm up I was not noticing the difference any more. I do not think anyone who is not an experienced player will be able to tell the difference.

I have used Gamma, Tretorn and Penn pressureless balls and these are the best of the bunch - by a mile. Pressureless balls are firmer than regular balls on off-center and frame shots, but these are not at all objectionable to me and my kids. I have used Penn pressureless balls for instruction, ball machines, and in practice games, including at high altitude. They work great for all purposes. In fact, Penn has perfected pressureless balls to a level where they should price and market them as the primary ball for recreational (non-tournament) play. The fuzz on the Penn pressureless balls (and the other brands) holds up very well. My one gripe is that the lid on the Penn 48-ball bucket is a terrible design. Granted most people will put them in a hopper, but why go to the manufacturing expense of making a bucket and then not put a lid on it that: 1) opens without a crowbar; 2) stays open when you are using it; and, 3) secures down when you close it. So easy to improve, it seems like basic laziness on the part of the design team. In comparing Penn pressureless with Gamma and Tretorn, my experience is that Gamma balls bounce like they are "out-of-round" and get worse the longer they are stored on top of each other - great for improving your reflexes, but wierd to play (I ended up throwing them away while the fuzz was still good) - and Tretorns are like hitting bricks whether you hit on the sweet spot or off.Update: Penn changed the bucket design and the lid is much easier to open and close.

I've been thinking about buying pressureless balls for a while and I first tried different brand, cheaper ones than Penn. On my first try with the balls, I heard popping sound when I hit the balls and some balls bounced unnaturally. It was just a regular, not too hard strokes. I returned them and bought Penn presureless balls instead. I've been practicing/playing with these balls for 5~6 times already for a couple of times in each session. All balls are still perfect and bounce much better than the cheaper brand balls I experienced.[Pros]- Still good and going strong after 2 months[Cons]- None found yet

My experience with pressure-less tennis balls from over 15 years ago weren't too positive. The balls then were just not bouncy enough, and therefore practice can't mimic real play.I got these due to better reviews than others. It came in a bucket that is different than the picture! The bucket is round, with a black cap. The plastic bucket is solid so can't see through the balls. The cap is round obviously, and can open 2/3 ways as well. It's functional but not as elegant as the one in the picture.The balls are very bouncy out of the bag. I'm very pleasantly surprised given my perception of the pressure-less balls from experience. They bounce as good as the regular balls, and perhaps maybe a tad bouncier. I am gauging these about 4 miles from from San Francisco Bay (south-east side), where the elevation is slightly below sea level.The balls are excellent and gets 5 stars from me, but the bucket loses 1 star. Overall I'm very happy and will likely buy another bucket.

Update: I wish I could give these more than 5 stars, it is November 3, and we are just now down to our last couple of balls...this bucket was worth it...we'll only be buying Penn balls for our dog from now on.They're everythinghing we hoped they'd be. Tennis balls... Well not just any tennis balls but ones that might Outlast all others! We usually by the large bag of balls for our aggressive chewer, but the balls never last more than a day or so, but these balls are outlasting the jaw power of our entelbucher!!! I had my doubts, but they've delivered. It takes her 2-3 times as long to chew thru these babies than the ones we buy at Walmart. Will be buying more when we're all out of this bucket. Great purchase!

Having read the reviews about these balls, I was initially reluctant to purchase after someone wrote that they were hard. We have hit with these balls several times and I can assure anyone that they are good balls so far. Though I have no idea how long they will last, my first impression is that they are good quality balls.My first purchase of pressureless balls were gamma. These were great balls that have lasted a long time; however, I ordered a second bag of gamma balls that were 'dead'. The two sets of gamma balls were mixed in the ball machine and I never knew if I would get a ball that would give a normal bounce or one that barely came up. This inconsistency made me consider the Penn balls rather than order more gamma.So far so good with the Penn balls.