How to play with a hard ball?

[kindof99]

Recently I play with a hard 3 star Joola training ball. The ball feels very hard. It plays so differently from a 3 star Nittaku or DHS ball. It is hard to spin and the trajectory is quite different (flat and dropping quickly?). I tried adjusting my technique for it. But it is still very hard. What setup/techniques do you recommend to change for this kind of balls?

 

[pong99]

"3 star training ball" is a meaningless description as these balls are not ittf certified. They can call them whatever they want just like there are "4 star" balls for sale.

Life is too short to play with crappy balls unless you are poor and have no other choice.

Your sig says you play JM ZLC + D09/D05 so you can afford good balls. ITTF 3 star balls can be bought in bulk for well under a dollar.

 

[Tony's Table Tennis]

"3 star training ball" is a meaningless description as these balls are not ittf certified. They can call them whatever they want just like there are "4 star" balls for sale.

Life is too short to play with crappy balls unless you are poor and have no other choice.

Your sig says you play JM ZLC + D09/D05 so you can afford good balls. ITTF 3 star balls can be bought in bulk for well under a dollar.

it is not meaningless

these are Joola branded, not some no-name brand of which you are probably referring to.
I see Joola advertise 1, 2 and 3 star training balls. and then 3 star ITTF approved balls.
I assume for them to have 3 tiers of training balls, the quality control also have 3 grading.

what doesn't make sense to me is, here is the link of the 3 star training balls
the orange has 3 star
the white is no star rating

JOOLA Advanced Training ABS 3-Star Table Tennis Balls

The JOOLA Advanced Training ABS Balls are universal for all training situations. Made of ABS material with seam, the 40+mm balls are highly durable, making them the perfect high-quality, 3-star training table tennis balls for recreational or club use. Available in white or orange. Please note...

joola.com

to me, there are likely two different products, but under the same product page. extremely confusing

 

[Tony's Table Tennis]

Recently I play with a hard 3 star Joola training ball. The ball feels very hard. It plays so differently from a 3 star Nittaku or DHS ball. It is hard to spin and the trajectory is quite different (flat and dropping quickly?). I tried adjusting my technique for it. But it is still very hard. What setup/techniques do you recommend to change for this kind of balls?

Nittaku Premium Made in Japan is hard too
The China made is softer
DF PAR40+ is very hard too.

harder balls, require more arc to lift the ball. So spin more.

 

[pong99]

The confusion about the various types of Joola training balls also applies to the balls sold in the US. The same 2 Joola balls from above are sold in the US. But there's more confusion.

The Joola Magic training ball costs more than either 3 star ball and has no stars. There's also a Joola Flip Ball, no stars, that cost more than the Magic Ball. So which training balls are better, 3 star or no star? Why are no star balls more expensive than the 3 star?

All of these Joola balls are sold on the same page on megaspin.net as training balls.

My original point still holds. If OP can afford a racket that costs $400+, then stop messing around with training balls and just buy known good balls.

 

[MORTtheORT]

Maybe just a bad batch of balls? Lower quality assurance on cheaper balls etc?

Sometimes it seems like a certain batch of balls breaks easier....But I guess that might also be that everyone is feeling motivated, hitting the ball harder on the day

 

[Gozo Zyreruna]

Nittaku Premium Made in Japan is hard too
The China made is softer
DF PAR40+ is very hard too.

harder balls, require more arc to lift the ball. So spin more.

Hey! I am using DF Para40+ balls which is fantastic.

@golden_son ,
See! I am not 100% Butterfly ok.

 

[Tony's Table Tennis]

The confusion about the various types of Joola training balls also applies to the balls sold in the US. The same 2 Joola balls from above are sold in the US. But there's more confusion.

The Joola Magic training ball costs more than either 3 star ball and has no stars. There's also a Joola Flip Ball, no stars, that cost more than the Magic Ball. So which training balls are better, 3 star or no star? Why are no star balls more expensive than the 3 star?

All of these Joola balls are sold on the same page on megaspin.net as training balls.

My original point still holds. If OP can afford a racket that costs $400+, then stop messing around with training balls and just buy known good balls.

we use a lot of 2 star training balls

I agree with the Joola ball confusing
hopefully @Matt Hetherington can explain

 

[zeio]

Stop wasting your time on training balls.

Joola USA is shooting itself in the foot here. 3-star has always been reserved for "ITTF Approved" balls.

 

[Tony's Table Tennis]

Stop wasting your time on training balls.

Joola USA is shooting itself in the foot here. 3-star has always been reserved for "ITTF Approved" balls.

plenty of Chinese brands produce 3 star training balls.
I hope you are instructing them the same.

How I see it, the Chinese factories are providing such grading, so the brand-oem are using it too.

 

[golden_son]

it is not meaningless

these are Joola branded, not some no-name brand of which you are probably referring to.
I see Joola advertise 1, 2 and 3 star training balls. and then 3 star ITTF approved balls.
I assume for them to have 3 tiers of training balls, the quality control also have 3 grading.

what doesn't make sense to me is, here is the link of the 3 star training balls
the orange has 3 star
the white is no star rating

JOOLA Advanced Training ABS 3-Star Table Tennis Balls

The JOOLA Advanced Training ABS Balls are universal for all training situations. Made of ABS material with seam, the 40+mm balls are highly durable, making them the perfect high-quality, 3-star training table tennis balls for recreational or club use. Available in white or orange. Please note...

joola.com

to me, there are likely two different products, but under the same product page. extremely confusing

From the link you posted. I've not seen the white no-star ones, Amazon has the white with the "Advanced" label and 3* now. I use the orange ones in my robot and casual play. A lot of my [basement pong] friends like them over the Nittaku and DHS balls I've brought. They do seem spinnier, but I can attest after dozens of hours with them that they will give you the occasional weird bounce and feel thinner so they crack more easily. That said, I bought 120 and have thrown out maybe 20 in two years? Not sure what the turnover rate is for other training balls but that seems pretty good considering they're <$0.17 apiece.

 

[kindof99]

"3 star training ball" is a meaningless description as these balls are not ittf certified. They can call them whatever they want just like there are "4 star" balls for sale.

Life is too short to play with crappy balls unless you are poor and have no other choice.

Your sig says you play JM ZLC + D09/D05 so you can afford good balls. ITTF 3 star balls can be bought in bulk for well under a dollar.

Everyone in the club is using this ball. And I don't want to be special. I will just try it more to figure out how to play with it better.

It appears that for these balls, you need to have better timing and faster accelerating. Adapting to these balls will actually help me time better and shorter my strike for even better accelerating to create more spin and power.

 

[kindof99]

Nittaku Premium Made in Japan is hard too
The China made is softer
DF PAR40+ is very hard too.

harder balls, require more arc to lift the ball. So spin more.

I can feel the Joola 3 star advanced training balls are harder than any of the balls I have used. Nittaku 3 stars balls are hard, but not near to these Joola balls.

 

[kindof99]

I also have some Huison training balls from Aliexpress. They are pretty good, almost like DHS or DF 3 star tournament balls. I can feel the difference between the Huison and Joola balls just holding them in the palm.

 

[Gozo Zyreruna]

Gman has played with Nittaku premium, Yinhe 3 stars and sadly they break and is torn asunder like one per month. Gman not happy.
**( NB: Not so sure if this is due to the inherent poor construction of said material or due to Gman’s formerly using a 10.5mm One ply hinoki monster with MX-P rubber )

DF Para 40+ no break so far… Gman happy.

 

[kindof99]

Also it is similar to the transition from 38+ to 40+ balls, brush looping is basically useless. Brush looping is particularly useless for these hard Joola balls. Drive loop with an angle is the way to go. It will force me to use drive loop more even for backspin balls.

 

[kindof99]

Gman has played with Nittaku premium, Yinhe 3 stars and sadly they break and is torn asunder like one per month. Gman not happy.

DF Para 40+ no break so far… Gman happy
View attachment 39028

DH para 40+ is good. DHS balls are good. Nittaku premium is good for play, but bad for wallet and usually with bad durability. I remember that I broke 2 or 3 Nittaku balls in one night.

The good thing for the Joola training balls is that they are really durable.

 

[Tony's Table Tennis]

I can feel the Joola 3 star advanced training balls are harder than any of the balls I have used. Nittaku 3 stars balls are hard, but not near to these Joola balls.

Sounds like they are made using the DF Par spec. As the par ball is harder than nittaku premium

 

[pong99]

Everyone in the club is using this ball. And I don't want to be special. I will just try it more to figure out how to play with it better.

It appears that for these balls, you need to have better timing and faster accelerating. Adapting to these balls will actually help me time better and shorter my strike for even better accelerating to create more spin and power.

Are the balls being provided by the club?

At the clubs I play at, players bring their own balls.

Players who enter tournaments want to train with tournament balls, which vary by event. Tournaments publish which ball they are using in their entry forms.

The US Open is next month, which will use Nittaku balls. Of course players are practicing with Nittaku balls.

 

[Tony's Table Tennis]

Gman has played with Nittaku premium, Yinhe 3 stars and sadly they break and is torn asunder like one per month.

which Yinhe 3 star ball?