Let's talk about seamless plastic ball

Yup, it's old-school night at the old-fogie home... but I got a wayz to go before I am Berndt's grumpy old man status.

After countless balls broken and split in half, there is the XSF with good quality.

I have written a blog post about it also, please visit, comment and subscribe

The XuSauFu whatever the name is ball is the only seamless ball I know of. It's also the best ball I have ever used. I got 3 of them and each one lasted more than a month. (Playing an hour at least 6 days a week) They bounce a little higher than the others and are a bt heavy but still they are the best. I don't know if the Nittaku Premiums are better but they are more expensive.

Zaid323918 said:

The XuSauFu whatever the name is ball is the only seamless ball I know of. It's also the best ball I have ever used. I got 3 of them and each one lasted more than a month. (Playing an hour at least 6 days a week) They bounce a little higher than the others and are a bt heavy but still they are the best. I don't know if the Nittaku Premiums are better but they are more expensive.

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Nittaku Premium plays closer to celluloid (mainly because they are slightly smaller than seamless), costs more, and is less durable. It requires a little less of an adjustment. So a lot of people like them better from a purely playing perspective (I do). But if the seamless ball was the standard, I would be perfectly happy. They are consistent, round, and durable and they are the best value among plastic balls.

The thing we are all waiting for is the new DHS D40+. Supposedly made of the same material and by a process similar to the Nittaku Premium. Will it be as good? Where will they price it? I think we will know before too much longer. The current DHS 40+ is an embarrassment (or should be).

Yup I don't know why ITTF lets DHS be the tournament ball

$$$$$$$

That is why.

Baal said:

$$$$$$$

That is why.

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Yo live in Houston? Cool I am in Austin TX

Zaid323918 said:

The XuSauFu whatever the name is ball is the only seamless ball I know of. It's also the best ball I have ever used. I got 3 of them and each one lasted more than a month. (Playing an hour at least 6 days a week) They bounce a little higher than the others and are a bt heavy but still they are the best. I don't know if the Nittaku Premiums are better but they are more expensive.

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I've hit with the XSF ball. Really nice.

You should try out the seamless Gambler 3 star ball. Cheaper and i swear if you took off the logo, I wouldn't be able to tell the difference between that and that XSF ball.

Amazing ball. Our club uses it.

sold at zeropong or megaspin

Zaid323918 said:

Yup I don't know why ITTF lets DHS be the tournament ball

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To my mind, the real question is why does the ITTF let those poor quality, not round, balls with an inconsistent bounce even get a 3-star label. They shouldn't even be 2-star. They are more like 1-star or 0-star in my book.

And, as far as I am concerned, the fact that they allowed balls that bad to receive a 3-star rating makes me question what 3-star means.

Butterfly G40+ would be okay if they were more consistently round. But they also wear out too fast.

Nittaku Premium 40+ is the one I like playing with best. It plays really nicely. You can also spin them better than the others. They are pretty durable. But not as durable as the seamless.

And the seamless balls: I like these too. How durable they are is a big plus. And they play pretty well even if I like the way the Nittaku Premiums play better.


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Zaid323918 said:

The XuSauFu whatever the name is ball is the only seamless ball I know of. It's also the best ball I have ever used. I got 3 of them and each one lasted more than a month. (Playing an hour at least 6 days a week) They bounce a little higher than the others and are a bt heavy but still they are the best. I don't know if the Nittaku Premiums are better but they are more expensive.

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Each one lasted more than a month? I can only assume that you don't hit very hard. Either that or you have balls of steel.

Nittaku premiums are better and longer lasting. But not the ones made in China.

Xiom makes poly balls that play exactly like XushaoFa balls, but are more durable.

Double fish poly balls and some DHS ones are a little soft. Same with the old JOOLA ones.
I don't know about the new JOOLA balls.

Butterfly is okay? I think?

EDIT:
I feel that the biggest problem with the poly balls is that they are too different. Players have to adapt to each one.
I played NCTTA divisionals yesterday, and they were using the double fish poly ball. The first game I played was against this solid 2100 player. I lost the first two games simply because I wasn't used to the ball (I play mostly with the XuShaoFa balls). I had to adjust my technique and use more forearm, and then I proceeded to win the next three games.

songdavid98 said:

Xiom makes poly balls that play exactly like XushaoFa balls, but are more durable.

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Interesting. I thought they are all produced at the same factory.

Suga D said:

Interesting. I thought they are all produced at the same factory.

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If it is true, it could be that Xiom demands slightly different QC specs. This is not impossible, in fact I very much suspect that different seamless balls have different consistency according to brand.

However, I ordered some Xiom balls early on and never noticed any difference in durability (doesn't mean there wasn't one, but it didn't grab my intention). In fact I would not believe it without some carefully documented data on it. Impressions on stuff like this are easy to come by and easily wrong (which I don't intend with any disrespect to the songdavid98). I have just learned from work and from TT that stuff like this really need quantitative measures (and descriptions of what was measure and how).

By the way, I definitely have the impression that XSF had some quality control issues for awhile there and I have no idea if they have solved them because I ordered a bunch at the beginning and haven't gone through all of them. Of course, I can't document it with numbers either.

In general, seamless balls are the most durable 40+ balls, probably the most durable balls made since the start of the 40 mm era in the early 2000s. Nittaku Premium 40+ balls are average durability, not to different from their cellulloid, and far better than other seamless balls.

songdavid98 said:

Each one lasted more than a month? I can only assume that you don't hit very hard. Either that or you have balls of steel.

Nittaku premiums are better and longer lasting. But not the ones made in China.

Xiom makes poly balls that play exactly like XushaoFa balls, but are more durable.

Double fish poly balls and some DHS ones are a little soft. Same with the old JOOLA ones.
I don't know about the new JOOLA balls.

Butterfly is okay? I think?

EDIT:
I feel that the biggest problem with the poly balls is that they are too different. Players have to adapt to each one.
I played NCTTA divisionals yesterday, and they were using the double fish poly ball. The first game I played was against this solid 2100 player. I lost the first two games simply because I wasn't used to the ball (I play mostly with the XuShaoFa balls). I had to adjust my technique and use more forearm, and then I proceeded to win the next three games.

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Joola Flash are the same as XSF, if I am not mistaken. I like them. Not the spinniest of all as mentioned previously, and a Butterfly ball felt very lively after making the switch during the same session. The bounce was maybe a notch lower with the Bty, but it's not clear in my mind as arcs on spinny loops felt somewhat higher (statement to be taken with a pinch of salt).
Butterfly balls do get that shiny thin-skinned aspect after a little use, making them feel a little flimsy. Still playable, mind you. I had a Joola Flash that broke after just a couple of hours, but in general they feel a lot sturdier.

Other than that, things must have improved / I got used to them / I have a poor touch, because I really don't mind the seamed Stiga anymore, even the training ones. Not sure whether there is a consensus with regards to higher quality?

Baal said:

If it is true, it could be that Xiom demands slightly different QC specs.

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They do charge as though that is the case..

UpSideDownCarl said:

To my mind, the real question is why does the ITTF let those poor quality, not round, balls with an inconsistent bounce even get a 3-star label. They shouldn't even be 2-star. They are more like 1-star or 0-star in my book.

And, as far as I am concerned, the fact that they allowed balls that bad to receive a 3-star rating makes me question what 3-star means.

Butterfly G40+ would be okay if they were more consistently round. But they also wear out too fast.

Nittaku Premium 40+ is the one I like playing with best. It plays really nicely. You can also spin them better than the others. They are pretty durable. But not as durable as the seamless.

And the seamless balls: I like these too. How durable they are is a big plus. And they play pretty well even if I like the way the Nittaku Premiums play better.


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The seamless balls are more durable for you? Nittaku premium has actually been the one that's most durable for me, similar to BTY's celluloid durability. With XSF, if I hit 2 or 3 edges with my paddle, it's most probably a goner.

and I can't get used to how G40+ plays, it somewhat likes to rocket itself from the table and it sounds like a cracked ball all the time

laistrogian said:

The seamless balls are more durable for you? Nittaku premium has actually been the one that's most durable for me, similar to BTY's celluloid durability. With XSF, if I hit 2 or 3 edges with my paddle, it's most probably a goner.

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Yes no question. And I have been using seamless from the beginning, and Nittaku Premium too, and I have had several hundred seamless and lots of Nittaku also (but not as many). If you don't strike a seamless ball on an edge, it lasts forever. Edges can kill them in a dramatic and catostrophic manner. Mostly mine die by being stepped on or they get lost. Nittaku Premium durability is ok, not great, not bad either. Pretty much the same as their celluloids. The surface gets shiny very quickly. They can develop small cracks that are hard to see and at first they play ok even with the crack, and almost never shatter the way seamless do.

I also dislike G40+, though. To smooth on the surface and that has a bad effect on many things. They seem very durable. They play better than Chinese seamed balls, which is not saying much.

Ioiettino said:

They do charge as though that is the case..

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Yes, I have noticed that.

Actually my favorite ones these days are from Yinhe.

Baal said:

If it is true, it could be that Xiom demands slightly different QC specs..

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Well i'm not sure if this needs to be questioned. I think the chances are quite high that it could be true since there is only five ball producing factories for the 40+ balls worldwide.
1. Double Happiness/DHS
2. Double Fish
3. XushaoFa
4. Nittaku
5. Weener
according to ITTF Sheet.


https://www.google.de/url?sa=t&sour...D__9tI3Yxqqoa_fFg&sig2=ZDjEDdp9Ya6jWaXchnCkBw

But you could be right about the QC.
This here has been an interesting read:

http://www.equipmentjunkie.com/table-tennis-ball-reviews/

Baal said:

Nittaku Premium plays closer to celluloid (mainly because they are slightly smaller than seamless), costs more, and is less durable. It requires a little less of an adjustment. So a lot of people like them better from a purely playing perspective (I do). But if the seamless ball was the standard, I would be perfectly happy. They are consistent, round, and durable and they are the best value among plastic balls.

The thing we are all waiting for is the new DHS D40+. Supposedly made of the same material and by a process similar to the Nittaku Premium. Will it be as good? Where will they price it? I think we will know before too much longer. The current DHS 40+ is an embarrassment (or should be).

Click to expand...

Actually dhs d40+ are sold in tabletennis11. I'm very curious about the ball quality until now have few but good reviews

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No, just checked, those are the seamed 40+ plastic balls DHS has been selling ffrom the beginning. You had me quite excited so I went to buy some from TT11. But those are not the new D40+ balls made of the newest material and the micro seams (like Nittaku Premiun). And they are not very good unfortunately. The wait continues.