The International Tennis Federation (ITF) developed a specification that is used to determine the forward and return deformation characteristics of a tennis ball. Many conceptually similar tests can be used by companies who do not make tennis balls as this compression test is a good overall quality control check of many products - whether it be a basketball, football, soccer ball, golf ball, dog toy, etc.
To perform the test on a tennis ball, do the following:
1) Compress the ball to a load of 18 pounds
2) Measure the distance the ball had to be compressed to reach a load of 18 pounds (forward deformation)
3) Continue to compress the ball until it has been compressed a total of 1 inch.
4) Uncompress the ball
5) Measure the distance when the ball again reaches 18 pounds (return deformation)
6) Uncompress the ball and note both the forward and return deformation
The video below shows an example of this test being performed on our eXpert 7601 testing machine.
If you have any questions please feel free to visit our website or call us @ (800) 667-3220
