Tennis Balls

The process of making tennis balls is very interesting. In fact, there are multiple steps factories need to go through in order to produce the yellow balls we know as tennis balls. To learn more about those steps check out the video attached below. There are also certain requirements for tennis balls set by the ITF or International Tennis Federation. For up instance, a tennis ball must either be white or yellow, must have a diameter between 6.35cm and 7.15cm and must weigh between 56 and 59.6g. Tennis balls also must be exactly the same on the outside and if there are any seams they must be stitchless.

The manufacturing of tennis balls used to take place in Europe and the USA however tennis balls are now made mainly in Asia. Asia is considered to be a prime location for their manufacturing because of the easy access to cheap materials and the reasonable labor costs. However, while having factories in Asia may be cost-effective for companies, their effect on the environment definitely does not come without a price. For instance, if one takes the tennis ball company Slazenger-who supply tennis balls for Wimbledon one can clearly see that they have left a huge environmental footprint on the planet. Slazenger obtains its supplies from all over Asia: petroleum from Zibo China, glue from Basilan Phillipines tin from Indonesia and much more. All of these supplies are shipped over to their headquarters in Bataan and after being manufactured and packaged are shipped 50,000 miles to Wimbledon