Which poly ball should you choose?

i just ordered 300 balls 1 star from ttjapan the brand name was TSP. Not bad for training balls as for playing i have 2 stars Nittaku and 3 stars also but saving the 3 stars for something big lolz.

TT4Life said:

i just ordered 300 balls 1 star from ttjapan the brand name was TSP. Not bad for training balls as for playing i have 2 stars Nittaku and 3 stars also but saving the 3 stars for something big lolz.

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Good idea, once i buy a table in the future then i may ordered minimum 200 balls, or maybe mixing balls from different brands, 100 from each and see, but should i train with poly balls or celluloid, this is the question.

The USA label .. Gambler Seamless 3* Poly Ball .. made in the XSF factory .. is .. durable .. consistent .. very good quality .. less than half the price of the Nittaku Premium ..

That's an excellent summary of the current situation. I have spent a lot of time testing various types of balls and I agree with pretty much everything the OP wrote.

My way of dealing with the poly ball quandary is that I have my own seamless balls. If someone wants to use something else, whether it is a poly ball or a celluloid ball, I will be happy to use it. If it breaks we use the next one whether it is a different brand/type or the same.

TareqPhoto said:

Good idea, once i buy a table in the future then i may ordered minimum 200 balls, or maybe mixing balls from different brands, 100 from each and see, but should i train with poly balls or celluloid, this is the question.

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U train like u play, so up dated poly training balls.

For those who like to keep track of the plastic ball zoo, some new bits and pieces have arrived on the ITTF's approval list.

ChenVul Marura - 40+ Seamed - Made in China
Tibhar 40+ SL - 40+ Seamless - Made in China
Xiom Pro Select - 40+ Seamed - Made in China

So Tibhar and Xiom will be selling seamed AND seamless chinese balls in the near future.

Still no orange plastic balls at all though.

brabhamista said:

Thanks, Baal.

I know from your posts on other forums that you have played a lot with the poly balls over a long time so your input would be very valuable. Therefore, would you mind elaborating on what you don't agree with as that will make this topic even more "complete" and closer to the "truth".

The more opinions we have, the better the overall picture of the situation

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I don't disagree with anything you wrote so far!

I think it is really interesting that Tibhar is now selling some seamless balls. A trend? Giving up on the crappy seamed balls? I personally welcome it.

unknown_poster said:

BTW does anyone remember old Barna , Dunlop etc balls ? Were they not non-celluloid ??

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When I was playing in the 1980s the Dunlop balls were widely supposed to be non-celluloid and were often spoken of as "plastic." They were unpopular - Halex or Nittaku were the balls of choice. Also unpopular were Schildkröt, or Schittgrot as I used to call them - can't now remember why though !!

unknown_poster said:

Yawn Unfortunately you are 200% correct . The cesspool of tabletennis is infested 95% with mosly robotNazis , rest spineless cowards and hardbat nutjobs all masquerading as model citizens . Tell me something new please




What about at home. ?! Same difference (none). You can still use less expensive celluloid balls

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I think you may have misread my drift in the first part there. Meanwhile the reason I asked the question about EJ is because I don't recognise the term and the Urban Dictionary gives a variety of interesting but conflicting definitions for it.

Asking about something "when it's at home" is a British slang expression - difficult to give an exact meaning but in the context I used it it conveys the same sentiment as "Wtf is an EJ ?" Two nations divided by a common language........

Equipment Junkie = EJ = someone who buys and tries every new and old piece of equipment. Has 10 (plus) rackets, and every time something new comes out they buy one of every kind.

So here, the guys who tried all the Poly balls are the biggest EJs in this category. So, from this perspective, EJ is pretty much everyone here.


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Thanks for clarifying about what is EJ, i -myself- didn't know what does it mean or stands for, but thanks.

Well, i am EJ for blades and rubbers so far regardless that i didn't buy many old or new of every kind, but i think i bought something of this and that so that put me in EJ category anyway.

About balls, i only have 2 packs of 2 different brands, i just tested more from others, and one more pack just came and i hope i can collect/pick it up from the post office soon, so far 3 packs and i didn't open the 2 i now have, so does that means we are also EJ for balls?

To be honest, as you said Carl, we all have that EJ inside us, it is a human nature, we like to have/want/try many things, and i really don't see this wrong at all if someone can and have budget to afford it, but many don't like the idea of others keep buying/trying many things, why? people are free to burn their money on whatever they want even on items that will kill them, to me if i buy 100 rackets or 1000 balls is not worse at all than someone who buy a packet of cigarette everyday to smoke and damage his health, so EJ is essential as part of our human being nature, sorry if it went off topic, but i may go to buy more poly balls to keep it on topic ;-)

UpSideDownCarl said:

Equipment Junkie = EJ = someone who buys and tries every new and old piece of equipment. Has 10 (plus) rackets, and every time something new comes out they buy one of every kind.

So here, the guys who tried all the Poly balls are the biggest EJs in this category. So, from this perspective, EJ is pretty much everyone here.


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Thanks Carl !! The various definitions in the Urban Dictionary are rather more amusing, but we'd best not go there !

I love the Nittaku (MIJ) most, it is the best I think ( other than the price ) ...

JHB said:

Thanks Carl !! The various definitions in the Urban Dictionary are rather more amusing, but we'd best not go there !

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Okay, I couldn't pass up looking and got myself a good laugh. Funny. Plug in any of those meanings and you get a pretty good laugh.5

Also funny given the meaning of your statement--"what's and EJ at home?"--is the response you got. hahaha.

Agree with what Tareq said. Nothing wrong with being an EJ. EJs like me just seem to want to help other people and keep them from falling into the trap of buying a bunch of stuff they don't need.

I have loads of rackets as the photos in the "photo your racket" thread shows. But I acquired them over 25 years and have excuses for why I don't want to sell any of them. The ones I did not want any more, are already sold or given away.

But there is nothing wrong with buying what you want. Especially if you can afford to.

In the last 3 years I had not bought one racket. This year I got 4 OSP blades. I decided that I don't really spend much playing and I wanted to find something all wood from a non major company that was really good. I think I got something that is better than what you can get from a major company. But I did spend a few hundred dollars. So if money was tight, I would have just stuck with the blade I had. Because the I was using before I ordered the OSP blades is great. I had more of a political reason to want to find an OSP blade I liked. Little brand. Better blade. Better service, I like that.

As far as EJing on balls though, I kind of agree with unknown_poster. The ITTF and the major companies can't figure out which way is up. I have 3 seamless poly balls that were given to me. So far they have lasted several months already. But I would not have bought them.

If I am playing with someone who has a preference they can provide the ball. Meanwhile I still have at least 100 good 3 star celluloid balls that I am happy to keep using because they are better than most of the poly balls.

And even though I like the seamless poly ball there is a problem. Sharara and XSF actually cut a deal and made a patent on the production process of the seamless ball shortly before Sharara announced that the sport would be switching to THE SEAMLESS POLY BALL. The other companies sued that if XSF had a patent on the process and everyone had to use the patent, that is a monopoly. The other companies won so now they can produce those crappy balls which break every time you make solid contact on the seam. And they don't bounce right because the seam is harder and thicker. So when it bounces on the seam everything goes haywire.

As far as the Nittaku Premium Poly ball, yeah it plays well, but it cost more than tennis balls and they can't make enough of them.

So the real question would be, how much money will Sharara put in his pocket if everyone but Nittaku realizes they have to go through XSF?????

UpSideDownCarl said:

Agree with what Tareq said. Nothing wrong with being an EJ. EJs like me just seem to want to help other people and keep them from falling into the trap of buying a bunch of stuff they don't need.

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I strongly agree on this. EJs are one of the best things that happened to table tennis. They help people make faster and good decisions with regards to choosing weapon. It’s a lot more fun to spend more time training with your coach and playing with your pingpong buddies than spending more time at tt shops re-assembling your racket, and EJs will indeed help you to avoid the latter.

I am just returning to the sport that I love the most and the sport that gave me great joy when I was in primary and secondary school. In just a matter of more or less 3 months I finally found the setup that gives me extreme satisfaction and oozing confidence in fighting out every serious game with my opponents, and this I could not have done without reading articles, comments and reviews of tt EJs around the world.

Now Im in a place(singapore) where I am surrounded by sing-chinese and prc tt players, some are trained locally and some are trained from mainland china. I have a Chinese coach who was intensively trained in china to coach tt. And I have a weapon that gives me nothing but confidence, BIG THANKS TO EJs! Now I have less to think about and just looking forward to defeating my weaknesses and hoping to play with local best players very soon.

With regards to poly balls, just go for the brand that is currently best reviewed by EJ’s and you can’t go wrong. Yep, go for XSF 3star 40+.

I must be slipping. I am just seeing this thread!!

UpSideDownCarl said:

And even though I like the seamless poly ball there is a problem. Sharara and XSF actually cut a deal and made a patent on the production process of the seamless ball shortly before Sharara announced that the sport would be switching to THE SEAMLESS POLY BALL. The other companies sued that if XSF had a patent on the process and everyone had to use the patent, that is a monopoly. The other companies won so now they can produce those crappy balls which break every time you make solid contact on the seam. And they don't bounce right because the seam is harder and thicker. So when it bounces on the seam everything goes haywire.

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I did not know that there was a lawsuit which the companies won. Apparently, good can win over bad...sometimes.

Very observant posts by the OP. Only one comment; in my experience at my club, the Nittaku premium has proved to be as or more durable than the cell-ball. But there is a significant difference in gameplay between it and the Chinese seamed and seamless. As said, the XSF sits up more. In fact I sometimes feel like a young player as I can just bang away at most balls that I am in position for. If I am using the Nittaku, no. One has to apply that much more care and spin just like a celluloid ball.
As to the seamed balls, I have examples of several makes, Bty, Joola, tibhar, and all of them have inconsistent bounce.
But durability on all the balls has improved over the first batch from last year. The players still hit the balls with the side of the blade, but this does not cause as many ball failures as previously.

The problem for Nittaku balls in the UK is as it has always been. That is, it will not be used in National events or leagues. The National leagues and events are mostly sponsored either by the Butterfly (Teessport) or Joola (Bribar) dealers and they specify the balls to be used. I don't see them using either the Nittaku or XSF balls. But someone here may know something>>>