Noé Chouraqui, a third-year Product and Industrial Design student at Central Saint Martins in London, developed “POINT,” a 3D printed tennis ball made using additive manufacturing and eco-friendly materials as part of his final-year project. This initiative targets the environmental waste generated by conventional tennis balls, with approximately 300 million produced annually—amounting to around 20,000 tons—most of which end up in landfills.
“I created POINT to demonstrate that sustainability and high performance can coexist. It shows how innovation and technology can substantially reduce environmental impact, potentially transforming tennis equipment and inspiring broader change across the sports industry,” Chouraqui explained.
Addressing Environmental Challenges
Traditional tennis balls have limited recyclability and a short lifespan, often requiring replacement every few weeks to maintain optimal performance. After disposal, they can take 400 years to decompose. To tackle these issues, Chouraqui selected high-resilience PLA (PLA-HR), a variant produced by Chinese brand BIQU and commonly used for airless basketballs. Like standard PLA, PLA-HR is biodegradable under industrial composting conditions and has a smaller carbon footprint compared to conventional plastics.
The POINT ball is designed to closely replicate the movement and bounce of a standard tennis ball while reducing material waste by up to 90%. Through extensive testing of different filaments, internal lattice structures, and printing parameters using software such as Fusion 360 and BambuLab Studio, Chouraqui refined the balance between strength, bounce, and durability. This process resulted in a patented design.
Testing and Recognition
Jamie Capel Davies, Head of Science and Technical at the International Tennis Federation (ITF), has tested the POINT tennis ball, which is currently under review for potential ITF certification for use in competitive play.
In July, the project was honored with the Design for Planet Prize by the UK’s Design Council, which included an invitation to the World Design Congress. While 3D printing has been increasingly applied to sports equipment such as racket components and pickleball paddles, 3D printed tennis balls remain rare in the market.
3D Printing Gains Momentum in Sports
Beyond tennis, 3D printing is pushing performance boundaries across various sports sectors. For example, in cycling,Fizik’s One-to-One custom saddle program—developed in collaboration with bike-fitting experts gebioMized and powered by OEM manufacturer Carbon’s 3D printing technology—secured the Gold Award in the Components category at the 2025 EUROBIKE Awards. By seamlessly integrating dynamic rider data, automated design, and additive manufacturing, the program exemplifies scalable personalization in performance cycling.
Elsewhere, Nike, the U.S.-based athletic wear company, developed a 3D printed sports bra using a new material called FlyWeb. The product is Nike’s first application of additive manufacturing in performance apparel.
FlyWeb is made from thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU), a soft and pliable polymer, and is fabricated through 3D printing rather than traditional knitting or weaving. The material forms a single, seamless layer tailored using computational design. Designers adjusted properties such as stretch, airflow, and support by modulating density across different zones of the garment. “It took years of re-engineering — not just the materials but the design approach itself — to make FlyWeb feel soft, breathable and beautiful enough for apparel,” said Janett Nichol, Nike’s Vice President of Innovation.
Want to speak at AMA: Energy 2025 or AMA: Automotive & Mobility 2025? Submit your application now!
To stay up to date with the latest 3D printing news, don’t forget to subscribe to the 3D Printing Industry newsletter or follow us on Twitter, or like our page on Facebook.
While you’re here, why not subscribe to our Youtube channel? Featuring discussion, debriefs, video shorts, and webinar replays.
Featured image shows POINT- the 3D printed tennis ball. Photo via UAL Showcase.
