Prince Tour Tennis Ball Review

A leading brand in tennis racquets, strings and shoes, Prince has now entered the tennis ball market, introducing three different tennis balls to meet the needs of all players. All the balls are part of the Tour series and come in Regular felt, Extra Duty felt, and High Altitude with the Extra Duty felt. After adding the Tour Extra Duty to our tennis ball line-up, we decided it would be good time for our first ever ball review.

The Ball

The Tour Extra Duty ball is designed to be a tournament quality ball with a durable, hard court felt. The felt features Prince's Hi-Vis optic yellow color for optimum visibility. Prince states that the Tour ball is covered by hand for exacting consistency, and it features a Dynamic Core with a PURE rubber compound for longer life.

Feel of the Ball

Off the strings our team enjoyed the feel of the Tour Extra Duty in play. Finding the ball up to the standards of the leading brands was Jon. "The Tour Extra Duty felt on par with the Penn ATP and Dunlop Grand Prix, though It felt a tad heavy to me when rallying at the baseline. The felt allowed for good string bite, making it easy to generate good topspin and slice." Danny thought the ball had great feel due to the soft material and low pressure. Granville offered, "if a blind play test were conducted, I doubt very much I could tell the difference between the leading Prince, Penn or Wilson balls, whereas with a Dunlop I could."

Brad found the feel of the ball to meet his expectations. "I felt that the Tour Extra Duty came off the racquet just fine. It didn't feel like it pocketed on the stringbed more or less than other balls on the market." Chris said, "I really liked the feel of the Tour Extra Duty. It felt softer than a Penn ATP or Wilson US Open XDuty. It also had some nice weighty feel in play - heavier than a Penn or Wilson, but not quite as heavy as the Dunlop Grand Prix."

Hardness Of The Ball

Players never want a ball that feels too soft and flat, or conversely, one that feels rock hard and uncomfortable. With the Tour Extra Duty, our team agreed Prince has produced a ball that is soft and comfortable, yet firm enough to offer a lasting bounce. Chris offered, "I thought the Tour Extra Duty felt great. It never felt like it was rock hard and about to break my arm. Rather, it had a somewhat soft feel and was very comfortable. Considering the softness of the ball, I was surprised by its healthy bounce." Enjoying the soft feel of the Tour Extra Duty was Danny. "The ball didn't have a hard feel at all. In fact it's the softest ball that I've used."

Finding the Tour Extra Duty softer than most other tennis balls was Brad. "I found this ball to be softer than the Wilson U.S. Open ball, the Penn ATP ball, and the Dunlop Grand Prix ball." Jon found some weight to accompany the soft feel of the Tour Extra Duty. "The ball had a slightly soft feel to it and it maintained its feel longer than the Dunlop Grand Prix and Penn ATP balls that I usually use. It was not overly firm and had a slightly heavy feel to it." Granville found the Tour Extra Duty similar to offerings from Penn and Wilson. "I thought the Tour Extra Duty offered average hardness - not too hard, not too soft. Felt just about in the middle of the range of other balls, but most similar to the Penn ATP and Wilson US Open."

Bounce Of The Ball

The Tour Extra Duty met our team's expectations when it came to the height and consistency of the bounce. Danny was impressed by the height of the bounce. "The bounce of the ball was surprisingly good. I thought the bounce was going to be low due to the soft feel, but that wasn't the case." Finding the Tour Extra Duty to offer a predictable bounce was Jon. "The ball has a true bounce, on par with the Dunlop Grand Prix. I found topspin and slice shots to have a predictable bounce."

Chris was impressed with the durability of the bounce. "I thought this ball offered a perfect bounce and gave it top marks. I was impressed with the consistency of the bounce over a two set match. This ball also seemed to hold up well overnight and made a great ball to throw in the practice bucket after being used in a match." At first Granville was concerned with the width of the seams on the Tour Extra Duty. "The ball seams are among the widest I've seen when compared to the Penn ATP, Wilson US Open and Dunlop Grand Prix. I had wondered if there would be some odd bounces with a wider seem, although I did not notice any bad bounces. Of note, the seams are consistently wide with less width variation compared to the other more narrow seams." Brad found the bounce consistent and worry free. "I did not notice any inconsistencies in the bounce of this ball. I didn't feel like the ball bounced any higher or lower than what I would normally expect from a tennis ball."

Felt Wear

The Tour Extra Duty balls proved to be very durable for our team during hard court play. Brad said, "the felt on this ball held up very well. We did not end up with a fur ball or a super slick cannonball at the end of a match. The felt did loosen up slightly, as with most balls, but it didn't get super fluffy on us." Finding durability comparable to other tournament quality balls was Danny. "The durability is just as good as any ball. The durability and feel were the qualities that I liked most about the ball. The ball was still good to hit with after a full tennis match, which is hard to find with most other balls." Comparing the Tour Extra Duty to other brands was Granville. "As far as durability and felt wear go, it seems most similar to the Wilson US Open ball, as they show similar kna, while the Penn and Dunlop ball felt remains smooth and largely knap free. I found the Prince ball did not 'fluff' the way the Penn do, and they had a more evenly paced felt demise."

Jon offered, "I thought the felt was a bit more durable than the Penn ATP ball." Also finding good durability was Chris. "The felt held up very well. Even on new, textured courts, the balls did not fluff up, or go bald and rocket fast. Combined with a consistent bounce, the Tour Extra Duty made a great choice when looking for a ball that would hold up to two sets of aggressive play. It was nice to get in a whole match without feeling the need to break out another can of balls."

Overall Performance

Our team was impressed with the overall performance of the Tour Extra Duty. Chris said, "I was very impressed with the Tour Extra Duty. I've become quite a ball snob in the last few years and usually don't stray far from my favorite Dunlop Grand Prix. However, I really liked the feel of the Tour Extra Duty. It had the same consistency and durability I find with the Dunlop Grand Prix, and I liked that it would last for an entire match - keeping the same consistent bounce and soft feel. While the Dunlop is still my favorite, the Prince is a very close second." Also impressed was Jon. "Overall, I was impressed with the Tour Extra Duty ball. It was consistent and durable from right out of the can to the last hit. I would play with these balls without hesitation."

Granville felt the Tour Extra Duty compared favorably with other tournament level balls. "I thought this ball had good overall performance and was comparable to the other leading performance brands." The reliable response of the Tour Extra Duty impressed Brad. "These balls never became a factor in how the point was played or the outcome of a game. This is a good thing, as the last thing a player needs to worry about is the ball taking funny, low bounces or high hops." The Tour Extra Duty has found a new fan in Danny. "I hope the Prince ball is here to stay. The qualities I liked most were the durability and feel, but mostly durability. The felt of the ball didn't fluff up like I've found with the Wilson US Open ball, and the Prince ball was good for the whole match."

The only way to really compare premium tennis balls is in a blind comparison test. We'll attempt to secure unmarked balls from Dunlop, PENN, Prince and Wilson, and try to run a comparative playtest in the near future. Stay tuned.

Review date: October 2005. If you found this review interesting or have further questions or comments please contact us.

All content copyright 2005 Tennis Warehouse.