NP mate. Joola had an early ball (the Super P, iirc) that looked like their rebadged DHS first-gen (like the optimum), and that was as bad as all chinese seamed balls were back then. Hopefully those days are behind us now and the awful balls are being left behind as we move forward. Just need to get rid of the G40+ now and things will be much better.
It's hard to say really - I do think that the overall landscape has improved a lot since the early days - seamless don't bounce quite so high and are harder/more resistant to breaks, ABS seamed balls are close to Nittaku Premium. There is less variation between the most popular balls. People do report that they have better or worse batches of D40+, and I suppose there will always be some variation (and perhaps fakes appearing on the market), so anything's possible.
I find it much easier to adapt between Joola Flash and D40+ (the two most common balls I see each week these days) than I did with XSF and the first-gen seamed. It's also possible that I'm just getting used to the way things are I suppose. Adapting to the need to adapt.
I tend to ask people about their preferences when I meet them and I still get all sorts of responses. Anti and LP players seem to dislike Nittaku Premium and ABS (and some seem to like the original generation seamed, for some reason), spin-based players like seamless, hitters/drivers like Nittaku Premium and ABS. But it's not by any means consistent and people just like what they like. Some even like the G40+, and there's only one good response to that.
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