APTA’s ball standards revised

The APTA reported that all four of the approved ball suppliers met the new, tougher standards and that they now had their own testing capability, so if any balls became sub-standard during the season they could be “unapproved.”

The new balls were lighter and less bouncy and a yellow ball was approved for night play.

The approved suppliers were Barr, Vittert, Beconta, Inc. (a division of Puma), and Marcraft.

The APTA set forth the new ball standards:

I. BOUNCE TEST FOR REBOUND
Balls are conditioned at 70 degrees for 24 hours, then dropped from
90 inches to a concrete slab, and the rebound is measured.

Standard Rebound: 40 inches; Acceptable Tolerance: 38″ to 42″

II. WEIGHT TEST
Standard Weight: 72.5 Grams; Acceptable Tolerance: 70 to 75 grams

III. DIAMETER TEST
Measure diameter along two perpendicular axes of the ball. Both
readings must be within tolerance.

Standard Diameter: 2 ½” inches; Acceptable Tolerance: 2 ½” – 2 19/32″

Source: Off The Wire, Vol. 6 No. 1<.small>