The Bottom Line
This big, brightly colored, bouncy foam ball is an indispensible practice tool for beginners, with plenty of fun and instructive value for advanced players, too.
Pros
- Makes rallying easy for beginners
- Bright yellow and red colors make spin highly visible
- Very little shock to arm
- Much higher bounce than other foam balls
- Never loses bounce
Cons
- Colors wear away quickly on hard courts
- Hard courts gradually abrade foam away
Description
- Diameter: 3.5 inches
- Weight: 1.5 ounces
- Bright red and yellow
- High density foam
Guide Review - Dunlop SpeedBall: Foam Tennis Practice Ball
As the first product ever to make rallying easy for beginners, Dunlop's SpeedBall is probably the best tennis innovation of the last ten years. Advanced and intermediate players, too, find it fun and instructive. Strong players can use the SpeedBall's bright yellow and red colors to practice generating heavier spin, and for an arm weary of the jarring of regular tennis balls, the SpeedBall's soft foam is a welcome relief. Two beginners can often sustain a rally of several dozen hits from around 3/4 court. A teaching pro can rip heavy topspins and have them returned over and over by a mid-level beginner. SpeedBalls are a lifesaver for tennis teams stuck in a gym, and they make a great alternative ball for platform tennis courts. The SpeedBall's only weaknesses are too little durability and too much wind resistance. Hard courts quickly fade their beautiful colors and slowly chew away their foam. Winds above 15 mph make rallies difficult.
