The Original Mini Tennis Red 75 Ball

The Original Mini Tennis Red 75 Ball invented by Derek Price

The Mini Tennis system of traffic light coloured balls is very much a standard part of tennis coaching of the under 10’s. But did you know it’s only been around for two decades, with the original Mini Red ball making its first commercial appearance in the year 2000? So how did the idea for the first Mini Tennis ball come about?

The Birth of Mini Tennis

Noticing the worrying trend of a gradual decline in the popularity of the game during the 80’s and 90’s, The Lawn Tennis Association spent millions trying to promote tennis to the next generation. But their efforts were met with limited success, and by the end of the 90’s they had reached a point where they felt they needed to meet with experts and veterans of the industry to get another perspective. Consultations were set up where it was agreed that the ideal way to put a halt to the decline in the game’s popularity was to encourage youngsters into tennis from the earliest age possible. It was felt there was work to be done to encourage children to fall in love with tennis before they got involved in the many other activities and sports vying for their attention.

The key to encouraging children into tennis

However, there was a key factor stopping children from enjoying the game from an early age. Small children had always struggled to get early success with regular tennis balls, too heavy and too hard, often leading them to give up on the game. Consequently, it was decided that a bigger but lighter ball was what was needed to start children off, facilitating early success and therefore helping to develop a passion for the sport.

All the ball brands were invited by the LTA to a meeting at Queens Club, London and the findings of the experts were shared with them. Some of the ball manufacturers asked during the meeting what sort of quantities of balls would be required, the answer was in the region of 1 or 2 thousand dozen. At that point, as the market wasn’t established, the large brands weren’t able to commit to the project. However, never one to turn down a ball-making challenge, Derek Price of J Price Bath decided he would go ahead and develop such a ball.

Derek Price’s Mini Red concept

Derek came up with the Mini Red ball, much bigger in diameter than the regular yellow ball and of only 25% compression comparatively. These changes meant the ball bounced much lower that a traditional ball, enabling children to strike at a more comfortable height as opposed to the head height of a yellow ball. The LTA tested many variations of Derek’s ball over a long period before their testers were agreed on the perfect version of this bigger lighter ball .They decided the perfect diameter was 75mm, roughly 10% bigger than a traditional tennis ball, giving learners the easier target hitting area they needed, whilst producing that perfect lower and slower bounce. Derek refused to make a purely red ball and said it had to be two colours, red and yellow, to be more attractive for children. This was accepted by the LTA and at that point the Mini Red 75 was born!

The Price Mini Red 75 becomes an industry standard

Launched in 2000, the ball was an instant success and was quickly adopted by tennis coaches across the UK. The ITF went on to adopt the specification for application worldwide and the rest is history, with the ball now an integral part of under ten’s tennis coaching and play.

While Derek patented the RED 75 it was not long before imitations began appearing. The patent is infringed constantly, but with all the big brands amongst the competition it is impossible to uphold the patent worldwide and Price reluctantly share the market with many copycat balls. But we are very proud of the fact here at Price of Bath that the Price Red 75 will always be the original and officially recognised Mini Red tennis ball!

The Mini Red 75 ball was designed, developed and patented in the year 2000. It’s the standard ball of the Lawn Tennis Association and also the International Tennis Federation standard for the world. All the current up-and-coming tennis stars will have begun lessons with our ball, or a perhaps a copy of it. It’s great to know that the Mini Red 75 has helped a new generation of tennis aces to learn to excel at the game we all love so much.

You can purchase the Price Mini Red 75 here>>

Read about how to choose right colour Mini Ball for your child here