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Biggest Downfall of the Plastic Ball
- Thread starter Matt Hetherington
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i don't think there is anything much better for training to be honest, but not their training balls, I mean their regular XSF balls.
The Buttefly G40 training ball is actually not too terrible, I actually prefer them to the regular G40+. But for training i use regular XSF.
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I think it is pretty much like all the other seamless balls. Good deal for the price.
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The best training balls I've tried so far and the balls we are using for training in my tt club are the Nittaku J-top. They are really a class above other training balls I've tested, I even prefer them to many *** balls.
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sometimes, its a block wall with ridges and cracks so it throws the ball all over the place. After chasing that SOB all around the garage a good smash feels nice.
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Lots of good reading in the posts. Has anyone experienced a dull ache in the arm when playing backhands with the plastic ball? I'm not sure if its the weight effect of the new ball but I notice players I coach and myself get a build up in tension in the arm which causes a strong ache which forces you to stop for a minute or so. This has led to bicep tendinitis for meCould the plastic ball be causing this? When using a celluloid ball I never noticed this as the ball was a lot more alive, spingier and less effort was needed.
I bet the growing popularity of BH flick ZJK/FZD style has a part to do with arm pain.
As for training balls I have high hopes on the new DHS D40+. Some say they are cloning NP40+. Only available in 1 star from taobao at the moment. I found them bounce very close to NP40+ than any other in a drop test. In play it varies but more than good enough for training. Looks round and high quality even for 1 star. Last longer than usual DHS. Best of all they are dirt cheap. Cost only 18 RMB for a box of 10 in China. That roughly translate to US$0.27 a ball.
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In our club we still use that same box of Butterfly Easy Balls from last year. To give you an idea of their durability...
But I totally agree that the playing characteristics are way too different from Brand to Brand and from seamed to seamless.
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I train with Nittaku Premium and sometimes when they use balls of other brands like Stiga or Yinhe in competition, I suck immediately, make a lot of unforced errors and can't adjust quick enough. The difference is huge. It was never like that with the celluloid balls.
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Spin to win!
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I'm not sure where I said it'll increase injuries? Although if you class "arm ache" as an injury, I suppose that counts!
Dan mentioned the injuries, I just mentioned having to do a bit more with the ball to generate the spin.
I stand by my comments that for me, and my style of play, it hasn't made any difference - Quite clearly, others feel difference, which is fine.
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Yes, that is an injury. It is how chronic repetitive use injuries start out.
I think it happens because people unconsciously tense up a bit more with the larger ball, trying to get more speed and spin, more on the BH side for a lot of people. That not only keeps you from getting more speed and spin, it also increases tendon stress. Which may seem like not big deal until it becomes chronic. I have to really focus on relaxing on my BH with these new balls.
There are other reasons and shots whereby these newer balls make it easier to get injured.
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One thing that always annoyed me is that they made the plastic balls larger and heavier at the same time they changed the material. At the time, all ITTF said is that they are simply enforcing the actual rules more strictly, since most 40 mm balls were actually about 39.5-39.7 mm. Yeah. Maybe. But why was that seen as something necessary?
Because they want to slow the game down.
Who knows why? But they never acknowledge that this was their motive. I find it hard to believe that it is to improve TV watching giving the crappy video feeds ITTF provides!
The switch to non-celluloid materials, I can actually see reasons for that related to factory safety. Chinese lives matter. I don't think people should have to risk being burned to death in a factory explosion so we can have ping pong balls.
But some the biggest problems we have with the new balls, including egg shape, fragility, lack of speed and spin, relates to their larger size, and not the materials. And that was completely unnecessary.
By the way, one reason that people like the Nittaku Premiums best is that they are clearly the smallest and lightest balls*. There are other reasons too why those are good balls, but their size and weight is a major one.
* You will read in some places that they feel heavier, but that is not true, I have measured carefully with a sensitive laboratory balance. They are harder, not heavier.
** And relating this issue to the Weickert vs. Saive issue on another thread, the thing I don't like about Weickert is his role in this, and his tendency to not speak openly about what ITTF is up to. Like Sharara, he is not transparent about what the ITTF is up to. Sharara would often say things that were demonstrably false in order to justify an ITTF decisions made for some other reason, like they were banning boosters for health reasons. Weickert has that same tendency.
Because they want to slow the game down.
Who knows why? But they never acknowledge that this was their motive. I find it hard to believe that it is to improve TV watching giving the crappy video feeds ITTF provides!
The switch to non-celluloid materials, I can actually see reasons for that related to factory safety. Chinese lives matter. I don't think people should have to risk being burned to death in a factory explosion so we can have ping pong balls.
But some the biggest problems we have with the new balls, including egg shape, fragility, lack of speed and spin, relates to their larger size, and not the materials. And that was completely unnecessary.
By the way, one reason that people like the Nittaku Premiums best is that they are clearly the smallest and lightest balls*. There are other reasons too why those are good balls, but their size and weight is a major one.
* You will read in some places that they feel heavier, but that is not true, I have measured carefully with a sensitive laboratory balance. They are harder, not heavier.
** And relating this issue to the Weickert vs. Saive issue on another thread, the thing I don't like about Weickert is his role in this, and his tendency to not speak openly about what ITTF is up to. Like Sharara, he is not transparent about what the ITTF is up to. Sharara would often say things that were demonstrably false in order to justify an ITTF decisions made for some other reason, like they were banning boosters for health reasons. Weickert has that same tendency.
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