JOOLA Flash 40+ vs Nittaku Premium

[Loopadoop]

Playing characteristics, compare the JOOLA*** Flash 40+ vs a Nittaku Premium 40+ & DHS D40+

 

[AndySmith]

Joola Flash are seamless, similar to XSF or Kingnik. They bounce higher then seamed ABS balls like D40+ or NP40+ and don't feel as hard. They're very durable in general but break/shatter on sharp impacts like fast edge hits.

 

[Baal]

Only thing I would add is they even bounce higher than celluloid.

 

[yoass]

Joola Flash are seamless, similar to XSF or Kingnik. They bounce higher then seamed ABS balls like D40+ or NP40+ and don't feel as hard. They're very durable in general but break/shatter on sharp impacts like fast edge hits.

That does sound quite like a XuShaoFa *** clone. Is the Flash pretty much the same thing, rebranded?

 

[Medax]

Our teams have played with the flash ball this season and the xsf the season before.

The general consensus from our lower division teams is that the Joola seemed to "float" less and you could impart more spin on it than the xsf seeming a little heavier/solid (all non educated experiences ). As for our top division teams, I couldn't say because I don't see them above once per season.

If this is accurate, then it would seem to us lower level players that the balls were not a rebranded clone, but the none of us are experts either to be able to tell for sure?

 

[thomas.pong]

I personally hate the Joola Flash 40+. It's slow, wobbles and doesn't spin much, and it gets worst with time / doesn't age well. They're quite irregular in shape and bounce too, much like the XSF but worst. Just ask Der_Echte how he feels about them and his experience playing with them at tournaments like the Joola LA Open... The NP40+ is by far the best ball out there, closely followed by the DHS D40+ (50 cents /ball) and Nittaku SD ($1 /ball).

 

[Shifu]

I personally hate the Joola Flash 40+. It's slow, wobbles and doesn't spin much, and it gets worst with time / doesn't age well. They're quite irregular in shape and bounce too, much like the XSF but worst. Just ask Der_Echte how he feels about them and his experience playing with them at tournaments like the Joola LA Open... The NP40+ is by far the best ball out there, closely followed by the DHS 40+ (50 cents /ball) and Nittaku SD ($1 /ball).

You mean DHS D40+

 

[yoass]

You mean DHS D40+

I've had one box (production/batch code XCAG) containing 10 outstanding balls, then ordered a few more and got a few boxes (production/batch code XHAG) filled with unplayable duds. Really disappointing. Verdict: D-, will not buy again until further notice.

 

[Ioiettino]

Maybe the same applies to the Joola Flash, because the one box of six I had lasted me a very long time (most ended as Andy described) and did the job quite nicely. Nittaku balls are great out of the box, but after a while and long hours of play it becomes a closer call (I found). I agree that the Joola spin less. When round and sound as the ones I had, they still make for a very nice game, just a little further away in terms of feeling from celluloid than the Nittaku. Favouring more "forcing your way through the ball" and this kind of play, after which it's a matter of taste.

Oh, and in this comparison I mean the first gen Nittaku 40+***.

 

[Shifu]

I had a box of D40+ which sounded really nice, played well and then I had a box which sounded horrible, like broken celluloid but still plays the same. Can't be fake because the new Tibhar Synt 40+ NG sounds the same... They changed something. I still think these balls are okay, better than seamless. Nittaku Premium is still the best tho.

 

[thomas.pong]

You mean DHS D40+

Yes of course! Correction made, thank you. The original DHS 40+ was quite bad too lol.

 

[thomas.pong]

I had a box of D40+ which sounded really nice, played well and then I had a box which sounded horrible, like broken celluloid but still plays the same. Can't be fake because the new Tibhar Synt 40+ NG sounds the same... They changed something. I still think these balls are okay, better than seamless. Nittaku Premium is still the best tho.

I've read many people say the same thing of the later batches, some reporting the issue was fixed but I'm not sure myself as I had ordered 300+ when they first came out.

 

[Loopadoop]

Is the Joola ball slower or faster than the other balls ?

 

[thomas.pong]

Is the Joola ball slower or faster than the other balls ?

Slower and less spiny.

 

[Der_Echte]

I personally hate the Joola Flash 40+. It's slow, wobbles and doesn't spin much, and it gets worst with time / doesn't age well. They're quite irregular in shape and bounce too, much like the XSF but worst. Just ask Der_Echte how he feels about them and his experience playing with them at tournaments like the Joola LA Open... The NP40+ is by far the best ball out there, closely followed by the DHS D40+ (50 cents /ball) and Nittaku SD ($1 /ball).

I have written in the forums enough about the poly balls, and Baal has written many times more.

Flash is a XSF ball made to the reseller company's specs just like other brands' seamless poly balls... but I believe it is in the bottom third overall of these kind of balls. The official sponsored tourneys I have been in that Joola supplied the balls were both not-so-rosy experiences.

You shoulda taken (or I shoulda taken) footage of the pros who were invited to LA Open selecting the match balls before match time... took a few boxes to find a halfway round one... then it would break before game 1 ended.

Many of us in the bleachers watching were heckeling the players selecting the balls... jokingly asking them to open up 5 boxes before they find a decent one.

 

[Loopadoop]

This Joola is the ball to be used at the World Veterans Championships in Las Vegas in June 2018, so any info could be helpful to participants.

 

[42andbackpains]

I have written in the forums enough about the poly balls, and Baal has written many times more.


Flash is a XSF ball made to the reseller company's specs just like other brands' seamless poly balls... but I believe it is in the bottom third overall of these kind of balls. The official sponsored tourneys I have been in that Joola supplied the balls were both not-so-rosy experiences.

You shoulda taken (or I shoulda taken) footage of the pros who were invited to LA Open selecting the match balls before match time... took a few boxes to find a halfway round one... then it would break before game 1 ended.

Many of us in the bleachers watching were heckeling the players selecting the balls... jokingly asking them to open up 5 boxes before they find a decent one.

Like Der Echte experience.
I loved the XSF ball when it first came out, but when the Nittaku Premium 40+ launched. I finally knew the XSF ball was a piece of turd when compared to the seamed Nittaku premium. I really dislike all variants of XSF balls now. I wont hate them, i just wouldn't choose to play with them if i had a choice. Here is a true example that happened two week ago at my club. A couple of Joola sponsored players were practicing at our club, there rating ranged from 2500 to 2650 USATT rating. They probably broke to 2 to 3 Joola flash balls in there 2 hours practice session. Maybe lower level players wont break them that easily because we dont hit that hard. But at higher levels, this ball would not be acceptable at all. My 2 cents given.

 

[Der_Echte]

This Joola is the ball to be used at the World Veterans Championships in Las Vegas in June 2018, so any info could be helpful to participants.

The 2017 US Open was played using Nittaku Premium 40+ balls on new Joola tables that had a friction coefficient higher than 60 grit course sandpaper... any ball that had light underspin would brake-stop and not kick out... on any other newer table, the ball would continue on another 6-8 inches. This caused a LOT of problems for players... also made it real easy to touch back short returns if you could read spin and get there off the bounce.

Having said all that... if Joola is gunna sponsor the tourney with the same new tables AND use the flash ball... gunna be real unpredictable...

Only way to get used to that is to change your game to take everything as close to off the bounce as possible to minimize mishit or out of time. This is gunna be a real nice chance for those who park at the table and bump it right off the bounce.

 

[thomas.pong]

The 2017 US Open was played using Nittaku Premium 40+ balls on new Joola tables that had a friction coefficient higher than 60 grit course sandpaper... any ball that had light underspin would brake-stop and not kick out... on any other newer table, the ball would continue on another 6-8 inches. This caused a LOT of problems for players... also made it real easy to touch back short returns if you could read spin and get there off the bounce.

Having said all that... if Joola is gunna sponsor the tourney with the same new tables AND use the flash ball... gunna be real unpredictable...

Only way to get used to that is to change your game to take everything as close to off the bounce as possible to minimize mishit or out of time. This is gunna be a real nice chance for those who park at the table and bump it right off the bounce.

True, the Joola tables are not too good either. The two we had at my club in LA were buried in a corner and used last by everyone, the bounce and feel is horrible, plus they had that mat purpleish dark top with a horrible glare... which either makes the light disappear in certain parts of the top or shine real bright in other parts. Nothing like the purple DHS table tops or Cornilleau grey tops which are great.

 

[thomas.pong]

I have written in the forums enough about the poly balls, and Baal has written many times more.

Flash is a XSF ball made to the reseller company's specs just like other brands' seamless poly balls... but I believe it is in the bottom third overall of these kind of balls. The official sponsored tourneys I have been in that Joola supplied the balls were both not-so-rosy experiences.

You shoulda taken (or I shoulda taken) footage of the pros who were invited to LA Open selecting the match balls before match time... took a few boxes to find a halfway round one... then it would break before game 1 ended.

Many of us in the bleachers watching were heckeling the players selecting the balls... jokingly asking them to open up 5 boxes before they find a decent one.

I knew I had to get you started so people can get the real picture of the poor quality, poor consistency and challenges of the non-ABS and seamless plastic balls à la Joola Flash, XSF... God, I also remember the comical and endless scenes of Samsonov, Aruna and other pro and top players going through several boxes of Joola Flash or Butterfly G40+ at the various LA Opens I've attended sponsored by either brands. I should have totally filmed it!