What do you think is the best tournament ball?

loerting · Sep 21, 2022

You can definitely feel the difference. I did an experiment to check if it is only psychologically. I did a slow multi ball topspin session with different 3 star balls and I could name the ball that was played by feeling most of the time . Try it out yourself with seamless balls, hard balls, etc.

Also in a match the difference is extremely noticable. E.g. I have to adjust my BH flick technique for Donic P40+ balls, as they "fall faster" (more spin possible with P40+?) and I would hit 75% in the air. Same goes for red / blue Joola. Red Joola (Prime) play similarly (bad) to P40.

If I play with used Nittaku balls e.g., a FH underspin serve to opponent FH short will sometimes go into the net.

I agree that differences should not matter that much in a match, but I challenge you to train with Joola Flash and then play a tournament with Donic P40+ balls.😁

PingBirdPong · Sep 21, 2022

lodro said:
""""""""
2.7g The official rules of table tennis state that the ball shall be: spherical, with a diameter of 40mm and. weigh 2.7g and. be made of celluloid or similar plastics material and. """"""

If all 6 balls weigh 2 grams they are all rubbish and underweight. 😁
I suggest your scales might be rubbish instead. 😁

I play in 2 clubs and they both use the seamless STAG balls from India , but of course made in China.
In the 3 years I play in the clubs and the tournaments I have never seen one cracked in half. There is the odd one
that will develop a small crack of course but that is rare.

Final impression of these balls is : They play like a bloody table tennis ball. 😁

Sorry I meant 2.7😂

Zwill · Sep 21, 2022

Quite frankly the Joola Flash with the old Joola logo and with the new logo aren't 100% the same either. The difference is quite subtle but the new ones seem a bit faster. And they might be more round too. Biggest issue with the seamless balls was that many of them are not round. Even Nittaku or DHS training balls are more consistently round than the Flash was in the past.

2 years ago I played with the old Joola Prime, Tibhar Syntt NG and some Donic ball (can't remember which one) and they felt soft, and they seemed to deaccelerate very quickly. To me they were the same ball with a different label. They felt light too and I'm talking compared to the XSF or Joola Flash ball. Because of their softness on contact they act differently than a hard ball, they deform more and possibly the contact time is longer too.

One small club I visit sometimes uses Sanwei ABS balls, they are rather heavy and hard. It's hard to spin them to be honest, or I never feel like they spin much but at least they are fast. One good thing about these that they are near indestructible.

I think the biggest problem with the variety of the balls is that they are made from different materials and some rubber-ball combinations don't cope well. Like with the XSF/flash ball Butterfly rubbers have issues. Not D09c, but Tenergy, other Dignics, Rozena, they can slip especially if the ball is a bit worn and shiny. ESN rubbers are better especially the older generation ones that don't have that top layer coating the newest ones have.

Probably it would be better if there was only one ball, be it DHS, XSF, etc and everyone would relabel them. Rubber manufacturers could develop for those balls specifically and players wouldn't need to adjust either. But this is not how the world works.

AndyK · Sep 21, 2022

I've only seen Nittaku and Butterfly balls at the tournaments that I've played in. Almost everyone I've met in club & tournament play in Cali prefers Nittaku to Butterfly. Butterfly gets too shiny and smooth and develops an unpredictable bounce over time in my opinion. I personally use XSF in club matches when I can, but most of the time my opponents insist on using Niitaku. XSF is a little lighter than Nittaku but plays well in my experience, and comes at a more palatable price point.

lodro · Sep 21, 2022

AndyK said:
I've only seen Nittaku and Butterfly balls at the tournaments that I've played in. Almost everyone I've met in club & tournament play in Cali prefers Nittaku to Butterfly. Butterfly gets too shiny and smooth and develops an unpredictable bounce over time in my opinion. I personally use XSF in club matches when I can, but most of the time my opponents insist on using Niitaku. XSF is a little lighter than Nittaku but plays well in my experience, and comes at a more palatable price point.

XSF is a little lighter than Nittaku

Is this a "feeling"" or have you actually measured the balls ?
I would be keen to have the weight in grams for comparison.

Some guy once proudly brought some of the most expensive Butterfly to the club night and these
felt like floating when held in my hand but on the scales they were still correct.

AndyK · Sep 21, 2022

No, it's just my personal perception from playing with both brands extensively on the same table(s) for 18 months. I definitely haven't weighed XSF vs Nittaku on a scale. During club practice, we use both brands and I can definitely tell the difference even though I'm not the most perceptive person. The XSF ball appears to me to "float" a little more and bounce higher than the Nittaku ball.

lodro · Sep 21, 2022

AndyK said:
No, it's just my personal perception from playing with both brands extensively on the same table(s) for 18 months. I definitely haven't weighed XSF vs Nittaku on a scale. During club practice, we use both brands and I can definitely tell the difference even though I'm not the most perceptive person. The XSF ball appears to me to "float" a little more and bounce higher than the Nittaku ball.

this sort of "floating" is exactly how it felt to me when playing with the Butterfly balls. 😁
It felt like they'd like to go into orbit rather than let themselves being smashed onto the other side of the table.

Kolev · Sep 22, 2022

Since the change to P-ball the official ball in our club(and many others) was XSF, but two days ago our club switched to a new ball - Tibhar Syntt. Obviously XSF is no longer approved

Lazer · Sep 22, 2022

lodro said:
what makes you believe that just because your club is changing its ball supplier that then the previous ball has been removed from the ITTF ball list ??

Check NDS's post earlier in this thread...

Cheers
L-zr

lodro · Sep 22, 2022

Lazer said:
Check NDS's post earlier in this thread...

Cheers
L-zr

XuShaofa SEAMLESS Ball.
Would I be correct in assuming that the XSF ball was sold by the manufacturer The Minkow factory and
while they are still the only manufacturer of seamless balls they have given up actually selling them under their own brand ?

If my assumptions are correct, in future we should refer to the seamless balls
as Minkow-balls

Shifu · Sep 23, 2022

Kolev said:
Since the change to P-ball the official ball in our club(and many others) was XSF, but two days ago our club switched to a new ball - Tibhar Syntt. Obviously XSF is no longer approved

Tibhar Syntt is an old ball that no one should use. It’s from of an outdated material, CA, instead of ABS.
the Syntt NG is the ball you should use from Tibhar.

Attitude · Sep 23, 2022

Shifu said:
Tibhar Syntt is an old ball that no one should use. It’s from of an outdated material, CA, instead of ABS.
the Syntt NG is the ball you should use from Tibhar.

Unfortunatly both are garbage either way. In my experience Tibhar has one of the worst balls on the market

latej · Sep 23, 2022

lodro said:
XuShaofa SEAMLESS Ball.
Would I be correct in assuming that the XSF ball was sold by the manufacturer The Minkow factory and
while they are still the only manufacturer of seamless balls they have given up actually selling them under their own brand ?

If my assumptions are correct, in future we should refer to the seamless balls
as Minkow-balls

Old master lodro knows his stuff.

Attitude said:
Unfortunatly both are garbage either way. In my experience Tibhar has one of the worst balls on the market

I have no experience with Tibhar Syntt, but I vouch for Tibhar SL

Did you try it?

Zwill · Sep 23, 2022

I know this thread is about tournament balls, but are there any seamless training balls? I have never seen XSF or Flash equivalent training balls.

Attitude · Sep 23, 2022

latej said:
Old master lodro knows his stuff.

I have no experience with Tibhar Syntt, but I vouch for Tibhar SL Did you try it?

Only horrible experience with syntt NG, so no. But i still hope i wont have to experience them, because i am pretty happy with our nittaku balls which are even used in higher and international tournaments and because i am already punished enough with garbage balls from gewo and andro in our region 😭

IB66 · Sep 23, 2022

Double Fish V40+ is another good ball, maybe similar to Double Happiness balls?? Not sure as I haven’t used the DH balls!! Tried the Double Fish ball out of curiosity, I like them more than XFS ball.

chuckjordan2 · Sep 24, 2022

I've been happy using Sanwei ABS Pro. They're nearly identical to DHS DJ40+(?) and better quality.
I believe they're all spec'd from a few manufacturers.

Der_Echte · Sep 24, 2022

Latest gen DHS ABS ball that has ACTUAL Quality Control sorted. Period.

Poor QC (Many contracted brands) equals crappy ball that is more like an egg.

What do you think is the best tournament ball?

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