When do you plan to use the new ball exclusively?

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When do you plan to use the new ball exclusively? Will you start using it now, or wait until you have to use it instantly? I think it would be good for a lot of us to practice with it now, so we are ready for the change.

What are you going to do. Are you practising with the new ball already?
 

JHB

says Aged and infirm of purpose
You will not get much if you start now. Everyone can adopt to it in few hours

I agree. The poly balls I had tried are not so very different. I slipped one into a friendly doubles match about 10 days ago and none of the other players noticed anything. :rolleyes:
 
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I see you also hang out at MyTT.
 
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That depends on seamed vs seamless. I'd go with the seamed ball because as most have said it's not a huge difference and I personally like that it slows it down a little bit. Gives me some more time to swing at the ball. However the seamless just hasn't been perfected yet. Its quality control just isn't there yet because the ball just doesn't come out to you like the seamed ball does. It's almost as if you're playing someone with long pips and the ball comes out shorter than expected.

For me it'll be hard to train with seamed as the US won't have many seamed options until later this year. Hopefully clubs will have transitioned to the poly ball in 1-2 years because honestly that's probably how long it'll take get everyone switching over.
 
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That depends on seamed vs seamless. I'd go with the seamed ball because as most have said it's not a huge difference and I personally like that it slows it down a little bit. Gives me some more time to swing at the ball. However the seamless just hasn't been perfected yet. Its quality control just isn't there yet because the ball just doesn't come out to you like the seamed ball does. It's almost as if you're playing someone with long pips and the ball comes out shorter than expected.

For me it'll be hard to train with seamed as the US won't have many seamed options until later this year. Hopefully clubs will have transitioned to the poly ball in 1-2 years because honestly that's probably how long it'll take get everyone switching over.

I would not underestimate the time needed to adjust to these and still play your best.
 
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Thanks for replies, seems like it shouldn't take to long to adapt to...

I see you also hang out at MyTT.

Sure is, it got me thinking that I need to start using the new ball soon.

I agree. The poly balls I had tried are not so very different. I slipped one into a friendly doubles match about 10 days ago and none of the other players noticed anything. :rolleyes:

I like this, giving a player the poly ball and see if they notice. I have read a few reviews now saying players did not notice playing with the poly ball when they were giving it without noticing.
 
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Thanks for replies, seems like it shouldn't take to long to adapt to...



Sure is, it got me thinking that I need to start using the new ball soon.



I like this, giving a player the poly ball and see if they notice. I have read a few reviews now saying players did not notice playing with the poly ball when they were giving it without noticing.

I did that experiment last Thursday with a Joola 40+ ball. My partner (about US 2050 level, SP penholder) noticed the difference on the second practice rally (about 45 seconds into our session) caught it, looked at it, and asked me if it was one of the new balls. He liked them a lot.

They are not as bad as I feared, but they will require some adjustments for everyone. The more you use them, the more you will see that you will need to make some changes. One thing for sure, after offensive shots you will need to really concentrate on being ready for the next ball, because there is a higher probability that there will be a next ball!

Yesterday I hit for 30 min with a made in Japan Nittaku 40+. This is the best of the plastic balls I have tried by far, but even those are a little less spinny and slower.

One thing that I am thinking is to try some T64 instead of T05 (my current FH rubber) for use with the new ball. I can see reasons why that might be better (and also why it might be worse) with new balls.
 
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Joola Super-P 3 stars: plastic

I just started using it last week... after all the tests I've done it's hard to tell the difference in my opinion. One day of playing and you're muscle memory will automatically be adjusted.

Joola Super-P 40+ 3 stars: plastic

Serves - Just as spinny as the celluloid balls, no difference.
Roundness - Perfectly round, good rotation with no movements.
Bounce - same as celluloid balls maybe no more than 5% difference.
Loops: Mid range 3 - 4 feet - A bit shorter, so slight adjustments needed either in your stroke or bad angle.
Loops: Long range 5 feet and beyond - Same as mid range. Needed slight adjustments.

Overall, the only thing I've noticed is that mid range and long range will need to be adjusted, but nothing you can't get used to in a day. Overall I feel it's at least 90% - 95% similar to the old balls.

Next I will get the Ittaku 40+ plastic 3 stars to test out.
 
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I tried the poly-ball tonight. I don't know about others but my playing partner immediately noticed the difference. His nice spinny loops could not bring the ball onto the table until he practised really big strokes. The ball also had this floatish wobblish nature on pushes where the ball seems to carry for longer than expected. By the end of our match I was hitting the ball with the same open-bat stroke as in hardbat.
Unlike what others say, I found the difference with the C-ball to be very significant and will cause big changes in the way players serve and play aggressively.
I also think that that this ball will separate the elite player from the very good to a greater extent than now. Great spin and speed can be generated but players will have to be more powerfully built to generate that speed and spin or possess really good technique.
Personally, I don't like the change but C'est la vie.

One great feature that I really enjoyed was that going loop to loop from distance was really easy. I can see a lot more happening even in low level matches.
 
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I tried the poly-ball tonight. I don't know about others but my playing partner immediately noticed the difference. His nice spinny loops could not bring the ball onto the table until he practised really big strokes. The ball also had this floatish wobblish nature on pushes where the ball seems to carry for longer than expected. By the end of our match I was hitting the ball with the same open-bat stroke as in hardbat.
Unlike what others say, I found the difference with the C-ball to be very significant and will cause big changes in the way players serve and play aggressively.
I also think that that this ball will separate the elite player from the very good to a greater extent than now. Great spin and speed can be generated but players will have to be more powerfully built to generate that speed and spin or possess really good technique.
Personally, I don't like the change but C'est la vie.

One great feature that I really enjoyed was that going loop to loop from distance was really easy. I can see a lot more happening even in low level matches.

What brand were you guys using?? I've been seeing mixed reviews between different brands so I suppose that will make a difference in quality of play.
 
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I've used the JOOLA Super P balls for a while now and they definitely bounce lower than the celluloid and have less spin than the celluloid probably about 10% less. Serves are easier to return meaning there's less spin on the serve. It's a bit heavier when looping from a chop or push and it takes some time to adjust to the bounce, but not too much time. The seamed ball definitely has more spin than the seamless ball though which gives it in my opinion a much better rating than the seamless.
 
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I did that experiment last Thursday with a Joola 40+ ball. My partner (about US 2050 level, SP penholder) noticed the difference on the second practice rally (about 45 seconds into our session) caught it, looked at it, and asked me if it was one of the new balls. He liked them a lot.

They are not as bad as I feared, but they will require some adjustments for everyone. The more you use them, the more you will see that you will need to make some changes. One thing for sure, after offensive shots you will need to really concentrate on being ready for the next ball, because there is a higher probability that there will be a next ball!

Yesterday I hit for 30 min with a made in Japan Nittaku 40+. This is the best of the plastic balls I have tried by far, but even those are a little less spinny and slower.

One thing that I am thinking is to try some T64 instead of T05 (my current FH rubber) for use with the new ball. I can see reasons why that might be better (and also why it might be worse) with new balls.

Yeah, I think more experienced players will notice the change of the ball under a condition that they are using the new ball without knowing.

It seems the new ball will take more practice than existing changes in table tennis. I think players will need a greater fitness due to more balls coming back. I would like to try the Japan Nittaku 40+ ball because I think their celluloid ball is the best out there!
 
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My thinking regarding T64 and T05 with the new ball is as follows: New ball is larger and a little slower, so faster rubber like T64 may compensate for this, but also the newer ball tends to fly straighter even on topspin shots, so loss of arc with T64 compared to T05 could be counterproductive. Only way to know is to try. Xiom already has a bunch of new blades that they are marketing as being "designed for the new ball", so that didn't take long. This sounds like a marketing ploy to me and I will not change my blade.

One other thing; it's not just that the new balls bounce lower, but the Joola ones at least tend to sink faster, so we may all end up playing a little closer to the table.
 
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My very short review of the Xushaofa plastic ball:

-Less spin->Longer rallies
-Easier to attack backspin,easier to retopspin
-Ball doesn't skid-->easier topspin vs block,but it's also easier to block
-Long exchanges in mid distance.

I like the change,because I can play more spectacular points and matches.Furthermore the players will make less mistakes on receive and opening.
I needed like 1-2 hours to really adjust to it.It's not small change from the C-ball,but it's not like it completely changes the sport.My thought is that fitness and footwork will play larger role that they do even now.And defenders are doomed because I found this ball (XUSHAOFA 3***) to be very easy to lift from backspin.

I can't wait till everybody will play this ball. (but I know that not everybody is so excited ;) )
 
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Xushaofa ball = badminton:cool:
 
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