Gallery: Tour the Factory That Cranks Out 90 Million Tennis Balls a Year

  • Wilson Tennis Ball Factory in Thailand
    Amanda Mustard
    01

    AMM-Wired-Tennis-10.jpg

    Rolls of felt in that familiar yellow hue measure eight feet wide and over 200 feet long.
  • Wilson Tennis Ball Factory in Thailand
    Amanda Mustard
    02

    692f11710a168ee1-AMM-Tennis09.jpg

    Two steel rollers knead the rubber, which is then pushed through an extruder to form a roll sliced into small chunks called “slugs.”
  • Wilson Tennis Ball Factory in Thailand
    Amanda Mustard
    03

    AMM-Wired-Tennis-4.jpg

    The slugs are pressure-heated in molds to form half shells. Those are trimmed, buffed, and aligned to await adhesive.
  • Wilson Tennis Ball Factory in Thailand
    Amanda Mustard
    04

    AMM-Wired-Tennis-5.jpg

    Blue adhesive is applied to the shell halves.
  • Wilson Tennis Ball Factory in Thailand
    Amanda Mustard
    05

    e00c55ded354c1d9-AMM-Tennis27.jpg

    The halves are fused together in a hydraulic press.
  • Wilson Tennis Ball Factory in Thailand
    Amanda Mustard
    06

    AMM-Wired-Tennis-7.jpg

    Ball cores are shaken around in a machine with sandpaper-like walls to texture them before glueing.
  • Wilson Tennis Ball Factory in Thailand
    Amanda Mustard
    07

    AMM-Wired-Tennis-9.jpg

    Workers rake ball cores over racks to dry after an adhesive bath.
  • Wilson Tennis Ball Factory in Thailand
    Amanda Mustard
    08

    AMM-Wired-Tennis-11.jpg

    A machine stamps felt panels called "dog bones" out of huge sheets of felt.
  • Wilson Tennis Ball Factory in Thailand
    Amanda Mustard
    09

    AMM-Wired-Tennis-12.jpg

    Stacks of felt panels called “doggones” are dunked into vats of glue, coating the edges in white adhesive.
  • Wilson Tennis Ball Factory in Thailand
    Amanda Mustard
    10

    AMM-Wired-Tennis-13.jpg

    Workers assemble two felt panels around the pressurized core with a desktop machine.
  • Wilson Tennis Ball Factory in Thailand
    Amanda Mustard
    11

    AMM-Wired-Tennis-14.jpg

    A worker places a ball.
  • Wilson Tennis Ball Factory in Thailand
    Amanda Mustard
    12

    AMM-Wired-Tennis-15.jpg

    The covered balls are sealed in a hydraulic press again to cure the white seams.
  • Wilson Tennis Ball Factory in Thailand
    Amanda Mustard
    13

    AMM-Wired-Tennis-16.jpg

    Workers fluff and inspect every ball before logo stamping.
  • Wilson Tennis Ball Factory in Thailand
    Amanda Mustard
    14

    AMM-Wired-Tennis-17.jpg

    Nearly finished balls churn through the factory.
  • Wilson Tennis Ball Factory in Thailand
    Amanda Mustard
    15

    AMM-Wired-Tennis-19.jpg

    Workers package red and yellow "starter" balls by hand.
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