What I think about this ball is that will change a little bit the way we play but not much, I mean, before I try this ball I was pretty concerned about the changes that would imply (I'm a little old and I suffer the 38-40 transition and that was a huge change) From my point of view there are two key factors:
- The material, evidently. DHS ball have a good sound and texture... I'm sure a lot of people wouldn't notice the change if you don't tell him. But it's clearly softer, all the plastic balls I tested, DHS Xushaofa and Palio where slower, bounce less, and wich is more important, they have a poor durability... I'm strongly convinced since now it's gonna be very difficult to end a 7 set match with the same ball.
- The size. It's clearly bigger, and I think this changes the ball dinamic even more than the material.
I have play with polyball just three sessions but what I find is the ball slows quickly, and it's more difficult to spin it. I also find the hit strokes are now more reliable but topspin tends to have a flat trajectory.
If I had to sum up in a headline i would say: "Gravity is going to replace some spin" and to be honest I think this is what ITTF was looking for. We going to have more predictible trajectories, predictible paddle reactions, people playing near the table, and for sure longer rallies. Nevertheless, if people thinks that this is a "no spin ball" they are wrong, I notice services seems to be keep effectiveness with this ball.
Well that's my opinion... I guess I should add all this text to the video
