Butterfly G40+ Plastic Ball Review

this wont be used by ITTF because they're trying to slow the game and butterfly keeps coming up with technology to fasten the game D:

Thanks Dan!
Very nice review and I liked the way you showed the comparison in slow motion in a split screen. I had a question, how was the spin on the ball compared to existing Nittaku 3 star or the older celluloid balls. Is it spinning more , compared to other plastic balls ?

I just ordered some. In US we won't be able to get them before December.

Baal said:

I just ordered some. In US we won't be able to get them before December.

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It says Oct 15 on the site tho (for 12 I dumbly ordered). Likely a mistake as everything else says Dec.

NextLevel said:

It says Oct 15 on the site tho (for 12 I dumbly ordered). Likely a mistake as everything else says Dec.

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Where are you ordering from?

Why does ITTF approve balls with different characteristics?

NL, that's where I ordered too. Hadn't noticed it says October for the 12 box which is what I ordered. Maybe we will get lucky.

Ilia Minkin said:

Why does ITTF approve balls with different characteristics?

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Because their testing procedures use such broad parameters that the door is left open for the manufacturers to vary things.

Anyone knows if this tech will be used by the other manufacturers? In Norway we have to use Stiga balls for matches and they really suck atm, so hope Stiga will get their hands on this tech hehe

AndySmith said:

Because their testing procedures use such broad parameters that the door is left open for the manufacturers to vary things.

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This is very, very sad.

The reason ITTF gave is this: They wanted balls to fit into a certain range of weights, diameters bounce heights, roundness etc. More recently they are adding some durability measures. Back around 2012 they thought it would be fairly easy to get balls like that. Later they were forced to delay the time the most strict parameters would be enforced until Jan 1, 2016 when it became clear it would not be so easy to make these balls and most of the balls they were getting to test would fail. They also claim they wanted to spur innovation since they were not sure what technologies would win out. Originally, DHS was part of a consortium with XSF and Palio to make the seamless balls. DHS dropped out (not sure why, maybe intellectual property dispute). Seamless balls meet all of the 2016 specs already and have for about 18 months, whereas DHS balls do not (unless they have gotten better recently). However, DHS has a great deal influence with ITTF (deep pockets for bribes would be my speculation) and XSF do not. Now DHS are whining to ITTF asking for more time, since the technology they are using -- basically trying to make plastic balls exactly the way they used to make cellulloid -- is producing a bad result (low bounce, fragile, not round, expensive). Now some of the European companies (Joola for example) are hedging their bets and selling seamless balls (which I think is great news). Stiga should probably consider that.

SO the answer to Ilia's question is that the ITTF did not intend to allow such a wide range of ball performance, but faced with reality, they decided that they would allow balls that are not very good provisionally until the manufacturers started to figure out how to make decent plastic balls. Now that time is almost up, just a little over two months left. And we will see what happens.

By the way Dan's description of the G40+ balls is a lot like how I feel that Nittaku Premium 40+ Japan balls feel.

Baal said:

By the way Dan's description of the G40+ balls is a lot like how I feel that Nittaku Premium 40+ Japan balls feel.

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Yes, I'm expecting something similar as well. The Easy Ball is a bit rough in terms of quality, but the bounce and (crucially) hardness is quite close to NP40+. So the 3* version could be very close indeed (apart from the sound, which will be a bit of a hurdle for some).

The ITTF ended up presiding over quite the mess. On one hand, they seem to want the marketplace to sort the problem out for itself (which, you could argue, is happening now with Tibhar and Joola offering seamless balls and Butterfly introducing German-made).

But on the other hand we didn't start out with a level playing field. There were contracts in place, sponsorship deals, undue influence from DHS (who unfortunately managed to produce the worst ball). The pain of this has been felt at ground level where plastic use has been pushed through. The first 12 months have been a mess. Hardly an open marketplace in which to operate.

I have to say that there is a lot more positivity around these days though. Things are less than ideal - the worst ball generally available is being used at the top level, and the differences between ball types are too large. But progress is being made. It was great to see the NP40+ being used at the Euros, for example, and the German ball is promising.

What rubber was used in this review, please?

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Please don't hate on me. Those aren't just for me. They are for our whole club...

NextLevel said:

It says Oct 15 on the site tho (for 12 I dumbly ordered). Likely a mistake as everything else says Dec.

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I don't think it's a mistake.

Dan said:

Good question Anders. I have a feeling Butterfly have a patent on this material... anyone else know about this? I think Butterfly are making this ball themselves and in Germany so I doubt other Manufacs can use it. But lets see.

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Not sure how accurate this is. The Butterfly G40+ ball was made in the Weiner factory in Germany. Weren't Butterfly just getting the Weiner factory to make the ball for them? I am not sure if this is a similar situation to the ones in China where, at the DHS factory they can make DHS balls or let other companies put their own brand name on the same ball.

Wouldn't it be a similar process from the Weiner factory? Or would other companies wanting to use balls from the Weiner factory need to get the factory to reinvent the wheel (or in this case, the ball!).

Butterfly is the first company to brand a ball from the Weiner factory though.


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UpSideDownCarl said:

Not sure how accurate this is. The Butterfly G40+ ball was made in the Weiner factory in Germany. Weren't Butterfly just getting the Weiner factory to make the ball for them? I am not sure if this is a similar situation to the ones in China where, at the DHS factory they can make DHS balls or let other companies put their own brand name on the same ball.

Wouldn't it be a similar process from the Weiner factory? Or would other companies wanting to use balls from the Weiner factory need to get the factory to reinvent the wheel (or in this case, the ball!).

Butterfly is the first company to brand a ball from the Weiner factory though.


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Butterfly in their first press release made it sound like they had an exclusivity agreement.