What brand of TT balls do you prefer?

[Sims]

well D40+ they're pretty decent, and are cheaper even with the 10 ball per box presentation.

As for other comments, I agree with Nittaku/Butterfly been too smooth, also they're very light and flight like the old celluloid balls which yearn, but i dont want to readjust.

The Nittaku are actually heavier than the DHS D40 3*

 

[Tony's Table Tennis]

well D40+ they're pretty decent, and are cheaper even with the 10 ball per box presentation.

As for other comments, I agree with Nittaku/Butterfly been too smooth, also they're very light and flight like the old celluloid balls which yearn, but i dont want to readjust.

nittaku premium, made in japan one, is that the one everyone is talking about as light?
or the nittaku nsd made in china one?

 

[Tony's Table Tennis]

The Nittaku are actually heavier than the DHS D40 3*

yep, that is my experience too.
nsd is light

 

[Jan_]

I like Stiga and butterfly ones. They both have gripper surface than the rest on the market.

 

[SenseiJM]

Stiga, Butterfly and Nittaku are the ones I hate the most. Stiga breaks after just a few matches played.As for the Butterfly and Nittaku balls, they just feel like they weigh a ton and a half.
My favourites are DHS, Gewo and Hanno.
I'm talking about the 3* balls for each brand

 

[Der_Echte]

weirdos at my club would rather play with their smooth ass nittaku than my brand new DHS ball. losers IMO lol.

I call these people NTB.

NITAKKU
BALL
SNOB

We both know several of these NTB in our region, they insist on playing ONLY with Nitakku Premium *** and nothing else.

mess with them occasionally and slip in a Joola training ball during pickup matches and see how long it takes for them to realize their precious Nitakku 3 star ball somehow got replaced.

 

[Der_Echte]

nittaku premium, made in japan one, is that the one everyone is talking about as light?
or the nittaku nsd made in china one?

I will do a weight test of 5 of the Nitakku Premium and see for myself.
I did weight tests on nexy training, Joola training, and DHD D40 (DJ - the WTT version)...

All of these balls are DHS D40 balls with different levels of actual QC.

All three of the DHS made balls came out to 2.68 grams per ball... right below the max spec tolerance of 2.7 grams.

The diameter of the ball is closer to the 40.5 end of the tolerance... while it is know that Nittaku Premium are on the smaller end of the spec low end of the tolerance near 40.0 mm.

The kind of plastic Nitakku uses feels the closest to a 40 mm celluloid ball more than any other ball on the market... and that is why they were initially popular in the early days of 40+ balls, also the non Nitakku balls had horrible QC and performance for years.

However, from 3 years ago, the later gen of DHS made balls that had any actual QC applied have been outstanding balls with consistent bounce.

Another property of the later gen DHS balls is that is SO MUCH EASIER to hit through spin, I mean way easier.

This is nudging even low level players with time to adjust to playing and effectively executing what was only a few years ago 2200+ kind of rallies.

For example, now you see Cali 1000-1200 rated players with some training do a serve, a flip, a counter of the flip, and a counter to the counter that was just done on the flip... you never saw such rallies attempted so much or done so consistently so much in years past by U2200 level players, let alone 1200 rated players. 1600 Cali rated players are all over this too.

Since it is so much more easy and consistent to play aggressive shots vs attacks, it has turned many a player's play style into counter attacking players who stay near the table or a step off it.

 

[Der_Echte]

As for weight of Nitakku Premium, I would suspect they will be closer to 2.6 grams than 2.7 grams... but I still gotta do the test I promised on 5 balls to know for sure.

My own empirical testing and experience shows the Nitakku Premium has a much lighter feel at impact and it gets slippery very soon, often after a game or two in a match. Even though the smaller diameter should make it easier to make higher levels of spin, on the ground, it is actually more difficult to spin well... ball just gets too slippery too soon. Only reliable way for heavier spin is to pound the dog crap outta a tiny bit off center...

That is not my preferred way to loop in a rally (unless I am attempting a fast loop, which is under 20% of the time)... so that does not make Nitakku Premium to go to the top of my list.

Maybe 10 years ago when nearly every plastic ball not named Nitakku sucked, 7 years ago some got a little better (with good QC) and 3 yrs ago the DHS with good QC were real good. I could understand playing Nitakku balls 5-10 years ago, but now, i really hate on the Nitakku balls. they just get too slippery too soon.

Don't anyone get me started on the Nitakku SHA ball... SHA was codeword for Shytty Horrible Abomination of a ball. Worst feel and bounce of a Nitakku ball ever.

The BTY balls USED to be an abomination to the sport. The G40 set records for poor performance, poor durability, and the most annoying sound of a ball in the history of the sport.

As a private joke, I would find an empty Nitakku 3*** ball case and fill it with BTY G40+ ball and give it to one of my high level TT friends as a gift all wrapped up in gift wrap paper...

Watching the look on his face when he realizes he was fooled was so precious.

However now, the BTY R40 ball has good enough bounce, feel and performance to use as a match ball for pickup games or sanctioned matches.

 

[ttarc]

I think I've posted this somewhere before:
The Difference of the Stroke Effect between Two Types of New Material Seamed Plastic Table Tennis Ball: A Case Study of Nittaku and DHS, Jiajie Tian et al., 2023

The Difference of the Stroke Effect between Two Types of New Material Seamed Plastic Table Tennis Ball: A Case Study of Nittaku and DHS

Background: Nittaku 40+ and DHS D40+ are new material seamed plastic table tennis balls, both of which are designated as official match balls and widely us

papers.ssrn.com

It can be concluded that both the ball speed and spin speed of the Nittaku 40+ plastic ball were reduced compared with the DHS 40+ plastic ball, with the average spin speed reduced by 3.05% and the ball speed reduced by 2.74% (Table 2&3). This meant that when hitting the DHS D40+ and Nittaku 40+ plastic balls with the same strength and racket, the spin speed of the Nittaku 40+ plastic ball decreased more obviously than the ball speed.

So for me DHS balls like D40+ or some derivatives (e.g. Andro 3S afair) even if they sound broken or the even better DJ40+ or Andro zeroT. Nittaku Premium balls are also the worst in high humidity conditions. Thin ball contact and the ball just slips from the rubber. Whereas playing with ZeroT or DJ40+ in these conditions is a real pleasure.

Edit: Maybe these nano coated Nittaku Premium Clean balls are better but I doubt it

Jスター クリーン 3個入 | Nittaku(ニッタク) 日本卓球 | 卓球用品の総合メーカーNittaku(ニッタク) 日本卓球株式会社の公式ホームページ

日本卓球(ニッタク=Nittaku) は卓球用品の総合メーカーです。公式ホームページでは卓球のラバーやラケットなどの卓球用品/卓球製品の紹介や、卓球の動画や全国の卓球場検索などのコンテンツなど盛り沢山です。

www.nittaku.com

https://www.nittaku.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/42c2274b8349193b890b1d6e235b8520.pdf

 

[\_Kairos_/]

I think I've posted this somewhere before:
The Difference of the Stroke Effect between Two Types of New Material Seamed Plastic Table Tennis Ball: A Case Study of Nittaku and DHS, Jiajie Tian et al., 2023

The Difference of the Stroke Effect between Two Types of New Material Seamed Plastic Table Tennis Ball: A Case Study of Nittaku and DHS

Background: Nittaku 40+ and DHS D40+ are new material seamed plastic table tennis balls, both of which are designated as official match balls and widely us

papers.ssrn.com

...

Although this paper certainly seems legit - while also supporting the general opinion of some (if not many) players -, I would feel more comfortable if this case study would have been conducted by a different institution, because when it comes to science, critical thinking and objectivity are essential.
A (perhaps overly critical?) person might conclude regarding this paper: Scientists from Shanghai found out that the product of a company - which is coincidentely also based in Shanghai - is superior to the product of a major competitor from a different country. OK...
The parameters examined are essential and therefore key parameters, but there are likely other parameters as well as other research methods.
Furthermore, the chances that there are connections of some sorts between DHS and the Shanghai University of Sport are rather high...one has to keep that in mind when "digesting" the results.
That being said, I wonder what japanese, german, swedish, american (or whatever) insitiutions would find out regarding this matter. They might very well come to the same conclusion as the people who released the paper, but still...well, as I said: I would feel more comfortable if it was conducted by another insitution, because then it would be an upgrade in credibilitity, so to speak.

I'm not defending the Nittaku Premium by the way. I like them a lot, yes, as long as they have not become slippery - and they become slippery awfully fast - as was previously explained by @Der_Echte. This effect is not as pronounced with the newest DHS DJ40+, which is why I currently prefer them (as long as I'm allowed to sneak them in at the club...).

 

[\_Kairos_/]

...
As a private joke, I would find an empty Nitakku 3*** ball case and fill it with BTY G40+ ball and give it to one of my high level TT friends as a gift all wrapped up in gift wrap paper...

Watching the look on his face when he realizes he was fooled was so precious.
...

Jesus mfking Christ. You are so cruel...
That G40+ was indeed the worst ball ever in the history of TT...by far.
Years ago when I played against an older dude, like 75-80, I changed the ball during the first game for an old 38mm celluloid, just for the fun of it and to see if he would notice the switch. He noticed a difference rather quickly, but never actually checked the ball. He was flabbergasted and wondered why the ball was so fast now and kept complaining and lamenting until the match was over. It was quite funny to observe.

 

[Jslick89]

As for weight of Nitakku Premium, I would suspect they will be closer to 2.6 grams than 2.7 grams... but I still gotta do the test I promised on 5 balls to know for sure.

My own empirical testing and experience shows the Nitakku Premium has a much lighter feel at impact and it gets slippery very soon, often after a game or two in a match. Even though the smaller diameter should make it easier to make higher levels of spin, on the ground, it is actually more difficult to spin well... ball just gets too slippery too soon. Only reliable way for heavier spin is to pound the dog crap outta a tiny bit off center...

That is not my preferred way to loop in a rally (unless I am attempting a fast loop, which is under 20% of the time)... so that does not make Nitakku Premium to go to the top of my list.

Maybe 10 years ago when nearly every plastic ball not named Nitakku sucked, 7 years ago some got a little better (with good QC) and 3 yrs ago the DHS with good QC were real good. I could understand playing Nitakku balls 5-10 years ago, but now, i really hate on the Nitakku balls. they just get too slippery too soon.

Don't anyone get me started on the Nitakku SHA ball... SHA was codeword for Shytty Horrible Abomination of a ball. Worst feel and bounce of a Nitakku ball ever.

The BTY balls USED to be an abomination to the sport. The G40 set records for poor performance, poor durability, and the most annoying sound of a ball in the history of the sport.

As a private joke, I would find an empty Nitakku 3*** ball case and fill it with BTY G40+ ball and give it to one of my high level TT friends as a gift all wrapped up in gift wrap paper...

Watching the look on his face when he realizes he was fooled was so precious.

However now, the BTY R40 ball has good enough bounce, feel and performance to use as a match ball for pickup games or sanctioned matches.

i agree that the DHS DJ40 balls feel heavier on the contact and better in imparting and receiving the spin. Overall, just a superior ball.

It's funny...there was this guy who started coming back to the club again after a 6 year brake. apparently he used to be rated 2000+. Anyways, we were warming up and i had a brand new DHS DJ40 ball i was using. we were making good rallys in warm up. then he messed up a shot. he picked up the ball that he hit into the net and saw that it wasn't a Nittaku. He stopped the warm up to get his Nittaku ball. thankfully he had one that was pretty new (not slippery). We played our match. He still lost lol.

Moral of the story- it's not the ball- it's you!!!

 

[pong99]

Although this paper certainly seems legit - while also supporting the general opinion of some (if not many) players -, I would feel more comfortable if this case study would have been conducted by a different institution, because when it comes to science, critical thinking and objectivity are essential.
A (perhaps overly critical?) person might conclude regarding this paper: Scientists from Shanghai found out that the product of a company - which is coincidentely also based in Shanghai - is superior to the product of a major competitor from a different country. OK...
The parameters examined are essential and therefore key parameters, but there are likely other parameters as well as other research methods.
Furthermore, the chances that there are connections of some sorts between DHS and the Shanghai University of Sport are rather high...one has to keep that in mind when "digesting" the results.
That being said, I wonder what japanese, german, swedish, american (or whatever) insitiutions would find out regarding this matter. They might very well come to the same conclusion as the people who released the paper, but still...well, as I said: I would feel more comfortable if it was conducted by another insitution, because then it would be an upgrade in credibilitity, so to speak.

I'm not defending the Nittaku Premium by the way. I like them a lot, yes, as long as they have not become slippery - and they become slippery awfully fast - as was previously explained by @Der_Echte. This effect is not as pronounced with the newest DHS DJ40+, which is why I currently prefer them (as long as I'm allowed to sneak them in at the club...).

The paper was labeled preprint, so asking for feedback, not final and peer reviewed. I would give the following feedback:

Balls were shot to the players with a robot. There is no mention of the variability of the balls from the robot. It is not zero, they need to account for this. Player loops can be faster/slower due to the robot ball being faster/slower. What % of variability is due to the robot?

Why was BH only tested, no FH? Did the players know which ball they were hitting? Players knowing which ball they are hitting can introduce bias.

I would also have the players also hit a static ball and measure spin/speed. This can be done by putting the ball on a rubber golf tee. This eliminates robot variation.

Tinfoil hat conspiracy theories - could Shanghai U do some trickery? Sure, the paper doesn't mention things like environmental conditions. Were all tests done at the same time under identical conditions? Maybe one ball was tested when it was hot and humid and the other ball was tested after turning on the air conditioning. Were all balls new of out the box and kept at the same temp? Lots of opportunity for bias to be introduced if you have ill intent or just incompetent.

 

[ttarc]

The paper was labeled preprint, so asking for feedback, not final and peer reviewed. I would give the following feedback:

Balls were shot to the players with a robot. There is no mention of the variability of the balls from the robot. It is not zero, they need to account for this. Player loops can be faster/slower due to the robot ball being faster/slower. What % of variability is due to the robot?

Why was BH only tested, no FH? Did the players know which ball they were hitting? Players knowing which ball they are hitting can introduce bias.

I would also have the players also hit a static ball and measure spin/speed. This can be done by putting the ball on a rubber golf tee. This eliminates robot variation.

Tinfoil hat conspiracy theories - could Shanghai U do some trickery? Sure, the paper doesn't mention things like environmental conditions. Were all tests done at the same time under identical conditions? Maybe one ball was tested when it was hot and humid and the other ball was tested after turning on the air conditioning. Were all balls new of out the box and kept at the same temp? Lots of opportunity for bias to be introduced if you have ill intent or just incompetent.

Just take a fresh D(J)40+ or zeroT and NP ball and do a spin bounce test especially in humid conditions (for me this works if I'm sweating enough and humidity is otherwise below 60% rH). The NP ball will slip and rebound less with visibly less spin. Might not work with all rubbers.

 

[Der_Echte]

i agree that the DHS DJ40 balls feel heavier on the contact and better in imparting and receiving the spin. Overall, just a superior ball.

It's funny...there was this guy who started coming back to the club again after a 6 year brake. apparently he used to be rated 2000+. Anyways, we were warming up and i had a brand new DHS DJ40 ball i was using. we were making good rallys in warm up. then he messed up a shot. he picked up the ball that he hit into the net and saw that it wasn't a Nittaku. He stopped the warm up to get his Nittaku ball. thankfully he had one that was pretty new (not slippery). We played our match. He still lost lol.

Moral of the story- it's not the ball- it's you!!!

I agree with you about the skill of the opponent, but a ball can make it easier or more difficult to do something... and if a player has no way to adjust, they are screwed, so it is the player in the end, yes, but equipment affects things for sure.

 

[Der_Echte]

Jesus mfking Christ. You are so cruel...
That G40+ was indeed the worst ball ever in the history of TT...by far.
Years ago when I played against an older dude, like 75-80, I changed the ball during the first game for an old 38mm celluloid, just for the fun of it and to see if he would notice the switch. He noticed a difference rather quickly, but never actually checked the ball. He was flabbergasted and wondered why the ball was so fast now and kept complaining and lamenting until the match was over. It was quite funny to observe.

YES.

My high level friend disliked those BTY G40+ balls even more than I did... and that is a damned difficult task to do. That is why G40+ balls in a Nitakku sleave all gift wrapped with care was an act of love to my friend. He would expect nothing less from me and would take my temperature to check for bad virus if I didn't do something like that every month.

 

[igorponger]

CHEAP AND SHABBY.

ITTF equipment experts got now worried about excessively reflective coating on DHS tables. Yes, the Chinese factory are purposely using some low-grade plastic to moderate production cost, with no respect of ITTF technical standards.

 

[Tony's Table Tennis]

CHEAP AND SHABBY.

ITTF equipment experts got now worried about excessively reflective coating on DHS tables. Yes, the Chinese factory are purposely using some low-grade plastic to moderate production cost, with no respect of ITTF technical standards.

you using 2015 photos igor
its 10 years later now.....
its almost 2025

 

[Sims]

Although this paper certainly seems legit - while also supporting the general opinion of some (if not many) players -, I would feel more comfortable if this case study would have been conducted by a different institution, because when it comes to science, critical thinking and objectivity are essential.
A (perhaps overly critical?) person might conclude regarding this paper: Scientists from Shanghai found out that the product of a company - which is coincidentely also based in Shanghai - is superior to the product of a major competitor from a different country. OK...
The parameters examined are essential and therefore key parameters, but there are likely other parameters as well as other research methods.
Furthermore, the chances that there are connections of some sorts between DHS and the Shanghai University of Sport are rather high...one has to keep that in mind when "digesting" the results.
That being said, I wonder what japanese, german, swedish, american (or whatever) insitiutions would find out regarding this matter. They might very well come to the same conclusion as the people who released the paper, but still...well, as I said: I would feel more comfortable if it was conducted by another insitution, because then it would be an upgrade in credibilitity, so to speak.

I'm not defending the Nittaku Premium by the way. I like them a lot, yes, as long as they have not become slippery - and they become slippery awfully fast - as was previously explained by @Der_Echte. This effect is not as pronounced with the newest DHS DJ40+, which is why I currently prefer them (as long as I'm allowed to sneak them in at the club...).

True enough about China China but I also think only the Chinese are avid enough to do tests on different ping pong balls 😂 you probably need a nation of addicted TT enthusiasts to do that!
I think 3% is about right though based on the Nittaku being that tiny bit heavier, it takes more firce/energy to spin a heavier (higher mass) object so it should stand to reason.
But I don't think the results point to one ball being better than the other because it's completely subjective as to whether slightly faster, slightly spinnier and lighter is actually better than 3% slower, less spinny and heavier.....
I played with both this week and apart from barely noticing the extra weight in my hand I couldn't tell which I preferred in play cos after 10 points I completely adjusted to the ball and couldn't notice 3% of anything, although there are definitely people who are more finely calibrated than I am!

 

[Tyce]

Honestly don't care much here. Other than some training balls full of skid marks that have clearly been used for over 5 years, most match grade balls play fine.
The butterfly balls have a slightly different bounce. But the new tables we have, or playing in a different venue, make much more difference.