1. INTRODUCTION – BALL PRESSURIZERS
Don’t you find it annoying, that at amateur level you have to use new balls every match in order to feel good and play at ease?
When it comes to playing, few sensations will be more pleasant than playing with new balls of our favourite brand. Even the part before the match, taking the can of new balls, opening it and hearing how the pressurized air escapes, taking and feeling the touch of the new balls, pressing them, bouncing them and hitting them against the glass, is already a pleasant experience that will positively influence us in order to play well the match we are going to face.
However, despite the fact that in some places they say that the number of uses that a padel ball can last is up to 4 matches (an illusion in our opinion), the reality is that, unfortunately for many players, this fabulous sensation only lasts one match, as most of the time when we go to play a match with used balls, we find that they have lost pressure and do not respond properly.
With this situation in mind, and to try to solve this problem, is where ball pressurizers appear, an accessory increasingly seen in many players’ racket bag.
In this article, we are going to talk about this accessory that is probably unknown to many fans.
2. THE BALL PRESSURIZERS
The ideal pressure in a padel ball is probably the most important item to consider in a ball. A sub-optimal pressure level will make the balls less bouncy, slower and require more force to hit, thus increasing the risk of injury.
The loss of pressure in the balls, if you don’t do something about it, is irremediable, since from the very moment you open a new can, the balls start to lose pressure and, from then on, they do not stop losing pressure, whether you use them or not.
Consequently, in most cases, after having played a first game and after the time has passed until we play the second game, the balls will have already lost enough pressure to make us feel uncomfortable and want to change them.
However, nowadays it is possible to maintain, and even increase, the pressure of the balls by means of ball pressurizers.
At first glance, a ball pressuriser looks a lot like an ordinary ball canister, only a bit more cumbersome in the lid area. It is a simple device, which works by keeping the balls at a certain pressure while they are not in use, thus preserving their ideal properties for a longer period of time.
What the pressurizer does is to keep the balls in an airtight space and at a certain pressure to prevent them from losing pressure. Obviously, the benefits of the pressurizer are not unlimited, but it has been proven that they can extend the life of the balls by maintaining the optimum pressure between games. Another thing, therefore, will be the quantity and quality of the hair on the balls as they are played with. There is nothing we can do about this, so the benefits of a pressurizer are not infinite.
3. TYPES OF PRESSURISERS
There are basically 2 types of pressurisers on the market:
– those that maintain the pressure.
– And those that allow the pressure of the balls to be recovered.
The first ones allow us to maintain the pressure with which the balls have finished after playing a match, so that they do not continue to lose pressure until our next match.
Logically, this is a good thing, since at least we can be sure that, between matches, the balls will not continue to lose pressure. The problem is that, after each match, the balls will have less and less pressure and we will not be able to recover it.
The second pressurisers, however, are models with a small integrated pump that allows us to increase the pressure that the balls have lost, until they return to their optimum pressure, as if they had left the factory.
pressure, as if they came from the factory.
Although, logically, the second pressurizers are more expensive, there is no doubt that we recommend purchasing these if at some point we decide to buy one of them.
4. BENEFITS OF USING A BALL PRESSURIZER
1. We save money.
By extending the number of matches of our balls, we won’t have to buy new balls as often.
2. We are a little more environmentally friendly.
By having to change balls less often, we will be doing our bit for the environment by generating waste.
3. We always play with balls that have the optimum pressure.
This would be true as long as we use the pump pressurisers that allow us to recover the pressure of the balls that have been lost when playing a match.
5. CONCLUSION
Although in certain levels, especially in the more advanced ones, it has become normal to have to play with new balls in every match, the truth is that, at least this is our opinion, this should not be so, at least not when we talk about amateur levels.
So, although the use of a pressuriser is not a necessary item to be able to play padel, we do recommend its use because of the advantages it provides us with, and even more considering that its price is not exorbitant. In a very short time we would have it amortized.
And what do you think, would you buy and use a pressurizer or do you prefer to keep paying for new balls every game?