Which poly ball should you choose?

[Baal]

Yesterday I was hitting with a partner using my bucket of training balls because I was working on one very specific thing that required a ton of repetition. It is about 98% XSF, a few Nittaku Japan 2-stars, one ridiculously worn Nittaku Japan 3-star 40+ (very very shiny with too many hours of play on it), exactly ONE original but barely used Joola 40+ and ONE quite recent and maybe once-used DHS 40+.

Periodically while playing yesterday a ball would just be ridiculous in its bounce or the way it played. So I would go and pick it up to see which one it was. EVERY SINGLE TIME it was either the Joola or the DHS, except for the one time it was the Nittaku 3-start 40+ which is so worn and shiny that I should just put it out of its misery.

At one point someone at another forum was screaming that none of us who complain would be able to discern in a blind test. Well, this was essentially a blind test because I would grab a handful of balls out of the bucket without paying any attention to what I was picking up. And I would only check what the ball was after something was clearly messed up in the way the ball behaved off the bounce.

Don't use Chinese seamed balls. They are terrible. The Butterfly 40+ (not the G40+) is a Chinese seamed ball. It is probably made by Double Fish as opposed to DHS, so may not be quite as bad. But I still don't like it.

 

[ttmonster]

Have you tried the new Butterfly off white practice balls, the one time I hit with them they seemed pretty decent. Not sure if there is a consistent supply or they are just supplying directly to their sponsored coaches...

Yesterday I was hitting with a partner using my bucket of training balls because I was working on one very specific thing that required a ton of repetition. It is about 98% XSF, a few Nittaku Japan 2-stars, one ridiculously worn Nittaku Japan 3-star 40+ (very very shiny with too many hours of play on it), exactly ONE original but barely used Joola 40+ and ONE quite recent and maybe once-used DHS 40+.

Periodically while playing yesterday a ball would just be ridiculous in its bounce or the way it played. So I would go and pick it up to see which one it was. EVERY SINGLE TIME it was either the Joola or the DHS, except for the one time it was the Nittaku 3-start 40+ which is so worn and shiny that I should just put it out of its misery.

At one point someone at another forum was screaming that none of us who complain would be able to discern in a blind test. Well, this was essentially a blind test because I would grab a handful of balls out of the bucket without paying any attention to what I was picking up. And I would only check what the ball was after something was clearly messed up in the way the ball behaved off the bounce.

Don't use Chinese seamed balls. They are terrible. The Butterfly 40+ (not the G40+) is a Chinese seamed ball. It is probably made by Double Fish as opposed to DHS, so may not be quite as bad. But I still don't like it.

 

[Baal]

Have you tried the new Butterfly off white practice balls, the one time I hit with them they seemed pretty decent. Not sure if there is a consistent supply or they are just supplying directly to their sponsored coaches...

Somebody had one the other day. Not too bad.

 

[UpSideDownCarl]

Let me just say, going on two years since the 40+ Poly Ball era began, the state of things is really just sad: perhaps pathetic is more the word I am looking for.

In the 40mm celluloid era, if I took a Nittaku Premium, a Nittaku 3 star, a DHS 3 star, a Double Fish 3 star, a Joola 3 star--go ahead choose any other brands you like--and then I took 2 star, 1 star and/or training balls from all of those companies, they all would play acceptably. I could adapt from any of the best ones to any of the worst within 1 min hitting max.

Even among those 40+ Poly balls that ITTF is allowing the title of "3 star", the quality, roundness, bounce consistency and durability, just the difference between branded balls is huge.

After 2 years, you'd think they'd have figured out how to sort these issues out. Or at least accept that varied plastic materials cannot produce as consistent a product as a uniform material like celluloid can. Or even the same version of plastic could.

I'm fine with the Nittaku Premium 40+, the Butterfly G40+, and the seamless. But I don't love the idea of playing with a different one each time I play because they really just are sooooo different.

And I have to be honest, the Chinese seamed balls are really much more like torture than PLAYING table tennis ever should be.

And, after 2 years, where are the ORANGE 40+ Poly balls???

Oh well. That's my thought of the day.


Sent from Deep Space by Abacus

 

[joelifigo]

A chinese brand named YINHE has good 40+ seamed balls, for practice and common use.
For matches, DHS & Nittaku are perfect I think.

 

[AndySmith]

New ball on the list today:

Kokutaku - Seamless - Made in China - White

Nothing special, move along.

 

[AndySmith]

Another new ball appeared on the list today:

Yasaka - SLB40+ - Seamless - Made in China - White

Looks like Yasaka have boarded the seamless train. Choo choo.

 

[Kokain]

G40 is my favorite ball and I won't let anyone disrespect it...

https://img1.picserver.eu/10000006710/001.jpg

It's e-sports ready

 

[Baal]

That's an interesting one. Out of curiosity, can I ask what was your regular celluloid ball before plastic balls came along ? For the last couple of years I played regularly with Nittaku premium 3-star celluloid balls and indeed our club still uses those for the "seniors" sessions. It's difficult to imagine that Butterfly have come up with a plastic ball which is even heavier than those were/are, but if they have then eeek ! Maybe it's time someone put a variety of new (and old) balls on a set of scales - does anyone here have access to the sort of scales that would be needed in order to do this ?

G40+ is on average 2.75g, exactly the same as XSF. Nittaku Japan are the lightest at around 2.68 g. Chinese seamed ball weight depends on when they are made, older ones around 2.80, now around 2.75. Funny thing is that how "heavy" they feel when you play with them doesn't just depend on how heavy they are. It also depends on hardness, outer diameter, and even smoothness to some extent.

Earlier celluloid balls were typically around 2.65-2.67 and were almost never found at 2.75.

 

[AndySmith]

New ball on the list today:

Guoqiu - Seamless - White - Made in China

Just another seamless ball.

 

[AndySmith]

Another new entry, slightly more interesting:

Nittaku NSD40+ - Seamed - White - Made in China

Possibly the Nittaku-branded version of the new DHS D40+?

 

[gmiller2233]

I've been charged with ordering 120 N40+ premium balls for my little club in the next month or so.

I was wondering what some of the best place people have found to order the N40+ premiums in bulk. I know the balls will not be majorly discounted anywhere there still to popular but I just thought would check. There out of stock now but at tt11 when they were in stock they were 268.00 US dollars.



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[ttmonster]

Did you check the recent offer in paddle palace, I just ordered 6 dozen yesterday.

 

[Baal]

At tt-Japan they are $30 per dozen and about $28/dozen at Paddle Palace.

I don't see any place where one gets a cheaper price on buying in bulk.

 

[gmiller2233]

Thanks guys $2.40 or so a ball is good I may just end up going with that. Tt11 are out at the moment but i guess it's would be worth a email to see if the expect them back in. there currently list the price of 120 for $270 which would be 2.25 a ball or so. And the dhs shipping seems pretty reasonable/good from them.


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[Der_Echte]

Whatever brand of GOOD poly ball you buy, in the long run, it is likely cheaper...
even at 1.5x - 2x the original prices of celluloid balls.

I sold a pack of Nexy Poly balls to a club member. He plays 3x a week for 3 hrs. He is still on his first ball... 3 months after he bought them.

 

[AndySmith]

Ball updates are coming thick and fast now.

Donic P40+ - Seamed - White - Made in China
Double Fish V40+ - Seamed - White - Made in China
Tmount Prime 40+ - Seamed - White - Made in China

I'd never heard of Tmount, but they appear to be a South Korean TT store.

 

[Der_Echte]

In USA, every tourney must announce which ball they will use.

The most common ones are Joola (yuck !), DHS (Yuck !), BTY G40 (Yuck, but at least short bounce is ok), Nittaku Premium, XSF, and in some southern areas, Nexy.

That is a lot of balls and if you are in an area with a lot of different tourney, you might see ALL of them (like Pokemon) in a short time.

USA players like to get the ball of the tourney and hit with it for a week or two before the tourney.

I see where these players are coming from, they want to have time to adapt to its bounce. Problem with that is.... there are WAY more factors than the ball itself. You got the floor and the table as the two biggest things. The you got the lighting and table placement/spacing and overall area noise that are different factors that contribute to how you play.

I do not think it takes so long to adapt to how one ball bounces over another. If you have hit enough with them all, you pretty much know the properties. Getting used to the different table, venue, lighting, and environment is much trickier... and when you go to a tourney, you are doing that anyway.

Players who stress out over trying to get used to a certain ball miss out on other opportunities to adapt.

My crappy 1/2 cent opinion. Feel free to drop dimes on me.

 

[BlueSkies]

Players who stress out over trying to get used to a certain ball miss out on other opportunities to adapt.

Completely agree.

 

[AndySmith]

Ball list update...

...but it's only to remove the balls with expired approvals. A few celluloid balls have vanished, and no more Adidas balls of any type.