New Plastic Ball Good or Bad?

I was told this was just a trial and nothing was confirmed.   From what I've heard I don't like it either. Less spin and less durable.  Sounds like more money!

This is not a trial. Thus action needs to be taken now.

Please see the ball review link posted above... it is very telling on the preview ball.

Less spin? is the ITTF the reduce the coolest thing of this sport?

Here is an EXCELLENT article written by Greg Letts about his PROTEST of the New Plastic Ball:

http://tabletennis.about.com/od/rants-opinions-philosophy/a/Protesting-Against-Plastic-Ping-Pong-Balls.htm

Imparting, reading and dealing with SPIN is an art for those who play and love our game called Table Tennis.  I PERSONALLY STRONGLY PROTESTING AGAINST ANYTHING WITH LESS SPIN.  If ITTF changes to poly balls, the characteristics of the new balls must be very very similar to the current celluloid balls.  

But, who is going to listen to us.

I also would not like to see the amount of spin in the game lessened through the introduction of a new ball. The surface of one new poly ball prototype was reported to be much smoother than the current celluloid ball, so that may be the reason that there's less spin, i.e. the rubber isn't able to grip the ball as well. I wonder if a very minute pattern or texture, similar to the celluloid ball, could be printed on the surface of the poly ball. This might help the spin issue and also help the flight of the ball, similar to the indentations on a golf ball.

I was a little mystified by why celluloid is being phased out (ITTF's current plan is that the new poly ball will be in use from 1st of July 2014). The reason is because celluloid is an extremely dangerous material to manufacture. It's highly flammable and, like asbestos, has super-fine particles which, if inhaled, can cause lung disease. A full explanation is given in the link below from Adham Sharara, ITTF President:

http://www.tabletennisdaily.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?1883-Worldwide-ban-of-celluloid-quot-Proof-quot

William Henzell tries out new plastic balls

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tzo-PmL8IjA

Compared - New Prototype Ball vs 40mm vs 38mm Table Tennis Balls

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rv_XlZvpm0g

Thanks for that Martin.  I hope the manufacturers will get it right.  I think it will just be a matter of time.

Well Martin and others.....this celluloid ban baloney that Sharara has put forth is just that..There is no such thing and has been discussed at length.Please go to the the first link above for more in depth discussion about  this move to plastic. I am still quite shocked that pingskills doesn't have more of their finger on this subject .

We are just waiting to see what comes out first.  We are more concerned with helping players improve their games.  I am certainly interested in the outcome.

I think old is gold....just stick to the celloid balls.
I love burning them after they crash

If the ITTF wants to invent a new game, do not call it Table Tennis. Or better yet. Why don't they change their own name to PBTF (Plastic Boring Tennis Federation)? If they think less spin will make the game more appealing for TV, all they will get is killing our love for the sport. My sympathy for them was already pretty low.

Hello again. I want to apologize for expressing myself so harshly in a public discussion. Table Tennis have been part of my life for many years.

All the talk about Poly balls, exactly what sort of plastic is it and is it a monomer (made from oil) or biopolymer (made from renewable materials). It would seem sensible that the material should be renewable, otherwise we will be back where we started when the oil runs out.

Polystyrene

Polyester

Polyethylene

Polyvinyl chloride 

Polytetrafluoroethylene

Polyvinylidine Chloride

Polyethylene terephthalate

Plenty to choose from, anyone know which one the proposed balls will be made from.

Also it has been mentioned the new balls are smooth, which will effect contact, spin and flight through the air. Surely the technology exists where the surface contours of the celluloid ball can be replicated by the manufacturers so it more closely mimics the current ball. After all it is smooth because the mold used inthe process of manufacturing the ball is smooth. 

I don't like changes where there is none needed. All I can smell is some fat tycoon from the oil industry wanting more money. Let's hope Mr. Sharara will not change us for money. Also if worse comes to worst, let's tell the current TT industry we will keep consuming what they are providing us right now. As for me we don't need no ITTF.

Hey Martin hows things, not long till the vets tour starts up.

I propose during the transitional period (hopefully the new ball doesn't make it that far) where both balls are available for play we simply vote with our money and only play tournaments that use the current ball. That should force TTV and Table tennis Australia to put a word to t he ITTF that their meddling with such serious rule changes without consultation from players is not acceptable. In fact I'll go so far as to say the game would be better off if we insist on rolling back to a 38 or 39 mm  ball while we are here to repair the whole offensive and defensive imbalance we currently have, that's only going to get worse with a bigger slower ball.

Sad :(...I wish the proposed rule is not enforced. The fun in TT is spin, reflexes and skill. I hope TT does not turn in to more of a power oriented game rather than skill based.

Most of people know that plastic ball will be introduce at ITTF events as July 2014. test player check the ball, every one fells it so good. I choose some chapter from ITTF test report for everybady above.

Details: Player's subjective results from tryouts

The plastic ball seems to be more slowly. Also at full power it doesn't give the dynamic of a celluloid ball.

The rebound of the ball changed. The plastic ball has got a higher rebound from the table. This is comfortable for the player after the adaption on the behaviour during tryout.

The sound of the ball changed. Sounds like a defect ball at the beginning but players are able to adapt during one test session.

The feeling of the ball during the tryout is hard and constant. Control and feeling during the rally are very good.

Test players expect to get longer rallies. Because of the good feeling and control together with higher rebound it will be easier to avoid mistakes and due to the expected slower speed the time to react will increase.

With the plastic ball the spin production decreases. Especially after service and at topspin against push the plastic ball seems to have less spin. Due to the higher rebound from the table it is easier to receive.

Good behaviour at spin rallies due to the hardness of the ball.

The new plastic ball is good and it is easy to adapt to the sound and the higher rebound.

Maybe the defensive players will have an advantage from the overall behaviour.

Additional measurements for rebound on table

Interesting that the test report suggests defensive players will have an advantage with the new plastic ball.  Perhaps blockers might benefit, but less spin would actually be disadvantageous to LP choppers.  I suspect, from what I've read, hitters would benefit the most.

The report was pulled from the ITTF website. Why? No one really knows. But maybe it's because it has come to light that the FIT will not sell the ball to those countries that honor the patent.

In the report, the "test players" remarks were contradictory to how the ball actually played. Slower, less spinny, ball sounded cracked, etc. Yet, they found it "good".

In Sook Yoo, who is apparently the patent owner of the poly ball, is the wife of Joachim Kuhn, the ITTF equipment committee member in charge of ball testing and approvals.

And some wonder...why the ball change? It's a bit obvious that someone at the ITTF is going to gain financially.

The FIT, the table tennis manufacturers association, wrote this letter to Pres. Sharara of the ITTF:

____________________

“Dear Mr. Sharara,

All FIT companies believe that the plastic ball, made by DHS and DF, seems to have such high quality that it takes over the celluloid ball easily.

However, as far as Mrs. Kuhn keeps the patent right, no FIT companies, including all FIT Board members, will start selling the plastic ball in the countries where her patent is valid. It is too risky for us to market and sell it from the viewpoints of both legality and the patent charge. 

For a smooth implementation of the plastic ball world-wide, our industry is obliged that the patent issue will be solved within 14 days. Authorization by the ITTF, receiving orders and delivering in a large number need a long lead time. 

This message is signed by all FIT members who attended our Annual General Assembly 2013. 

Needless to say, we do look forward to close collaboration with the ITTF. However, the unsolved patent issue is so risky for us that we were forced to take the above-mentioned step. 

We will appreciate your initiative in finding the solution.

Best regards,

FIT General Assembly 2013”

It's become quite obvious in recent weeks that the plastic ball saga is a conflict of interest by the ITTF in the highest degree. I very much doubt we will ever see it at this stage given that the ITTF have gone totally silent on the issue and pulled the report from their website which quite dubious and contrary to private tests in the first place. There are a lot of things going on with the ITTF at the moment that look very shady FIFA style, it will be interesting to see how it all unfolds.

I really have the test report from ITTF, it was issued by ITTF last month, which has 32 pages of total, who does want to view it? please give me your e-mail address, I can send the original report in PDF format to you.

For the patent, I'd like to advance my opinion in this matter: the non-celluloid balls made of new material have two types. One is non-celluloid seamless ball, the other is non-celluloid seam ball. as far as I know, the seamless ball made of plastic has no connexion with the patent, the seamless ball can be quite produced and sold. you can check it from Chinese and international patent authorities.

Moreover, everbody knows the material of plastic ball is safe than of celluloid ball, I think that's why ITTF want to change the old ball.

The safety story is smoke and mirrors. There is no ban on celluloid, there hasn't been any disasters producing table tennis balls.

The poly ball is coming, no matter what. What a shame. Get ready to buy new equipment (The main reason for the ball change, no doubt about it). Most people will probably need faster blades, faster and spinnier rubbers, to offset the playing properties of the new poly ball.

Whether or not the balls are safe, Australian Importers of balls pay a very large insurance  premium for delivery and have to have balls shipped as dangerous goods. Greatly increasing the price of balls. It will be interesting to see if they do become cheaper if the new ball is introduced. I would be betting that the price won't drop.

As far as I can see, the change they want does not respond to an improvement to the sport, but to very personal interests of people that happen to be in a privileged position. If they were motivated by a good reason, we, the players, would have known the need for the change. But it's not the case. Someone suddenly decides to make changes nobody needs. And there you have it: An unpleasant surprise. At least for me is obvious that the sport will suffer falling behind at least 50 years.   

My opinion is that the material change was nothing more than a way to increase the ball size on the sly and slow the game down even more and make some money on patents. Plastic balls have always been legal, the only thing that's changed now is a ball size increase and enforcing a ban on celluloid balls (which was an amendment after the rule was written). It's nothing more than a big scam, I'm pretty disapointed people actually believe it. Anyway I really doubt the new ball will ever happen.

The insurance premium on shipping (if any) cannot be all that large.  In the U.S. I can purchase two star balls for as little as $.25 US (bag of 72). Clearly any premium paid to ship a celluloid ball is well below 25 cents per ball.  After all, the retailer must turn a profit and the manufacturer has to make money.  And there are the real costs (sans premium) of shipping as well.  So how much could it be?  Maybe five cents per ball? Given that high quality three star balls typically cost between 80 cents and $2 each (depends on quantity purchased), any shipping insurance premium cannot be a significant portion of cost for high quality three star balls.

I say, whatever is the real reason, it is not for the benefit of the sport nor us. Moreover, if they take away the spin from table tennis it will be death of one beautiful sport and the rise of a very different one that only God knows who will play it.

As far as I know the price of the new plastic ball - Polyball isn't much different from celluloid ball. I found the test report issured by ITTF at ETTA website as following, http://etta.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Poly_Celluloid_Balls_Testing.pdf

Palio has put out a plastic ball already at $7.99 for 3. However, that ball is not an ITTF approved ball and it has mixed reviews from the few people that gave bought them.

Most agree that it is slower and less spinny and sounds broken.

The durabilty is still in question along with wondering if the ball gets "smoother" as play gets longer.  Meaning..it gets even less spinny and starts to float a bit. But I haven't read any actual report on that part yet.

OOAK forum has good discussion from those that have bought the Palio ball.

Hi everyone! 
I have a best idea to protest against this ball.
ITTF official page is present on facebook.
if all of us unitely protest against it their than ittf will see it directly that it is not like by the players. and steps may be taken. :)
who's with me?

here's a link to that.

www.facebook.com/ITTFWorld

This change will make robots obsolete items? Is there some robots that will support this change in the ball?

Plastic ball good or bad?? What a question!!! BAD!!!!!! Very BAAAD!

dear alois,

is it true that they made this ball to beat china in table tennis?

No I don't think that it's true.

The success of table tennis as we know it today is not due to the similarity with tennis but to the invention of the celluloid ball.  The success of our sport is due to the dynamics that the celluloid ball imparts to the game. Table tennis is by itself a very popular sport because we fall in love with what it can be done with that celluloid ball in a table tennis match. If Mr. Sharara for whatever reason wants to substitute the celluloid with another material, please, make that ball IDENTICAL to the celluloid ball. Whatever you do, Mr. Sharara, DON'T HURT MY SPORT!!!!!

dear alois, 

if beating china is not the reason what is the reason of this ball

?????

I am not sure. Do you know anything else?

No,but I only know/guess that it is because they want to beat the china in table tennis

LOL.If beating the chinese was as easy changing the ball they wouldn't be no. 1 in the world.Even if they do change the ball its going to be an even change and considering how fast the chinese adapt compared to the rest of the world I wouldn't be surprised if the change in ball even gave them an edge(not that they require one).

The reason is a simple one. Money.

Think about it. The manufacturers will be making new equipment that is marketed just "for the new plastic ball".

Right now, there is a big big fight going on with the FIT and ITTF because of patents. Which by the way, the patent is held by the wife of the ITTF official.

Hmmmm....who's going to make money there?

Many people have played with the Palio plastic ball (not an official ITTF approved ball) and the reviews are mostly terrible.

Word is, that the FIT will not sell the plastic ball until the patent part is settled and that there is a manufacturer already threatening to sue over this. The ITTF is being urged, to put it lightly, to push back the July 1, 2014 date of implementation until all the legal battles are decided.

 Will the current celluloid ball manufacturers be forbidden to continue their production? As for me the ittf can EAT all the plastic balls they want.

I recently purchase three Palio 3 star plastic non seam balls.  Overall the only difference between them and existing balls is the sound.  Serves, loops chops, etc all seem the same.  Took them to a club on Sat and everybody had the same reaction-didn't like the sound but otherwise no big deal.  

Not a good enough quality yet. They wobble and, yes, they sound bad.

I have taken these  plastic balls now to two clubs and the only negative from the players has been the sound.  General agreement is that it plays the same as regular balls.  I am surprised by this as I read negative reviews about the plastic balls and how it was going to change the game etc and I worried about having to develop new strokes and buy different equipment but I have come to the realization that not much if anything will change.

Hi Ronald,

Where did you buy the Palio plastic balls from?

http://www.presports.com/index.php?controller=search&orderby=position&orderway=desc&search_query=balls&submit_search=

Sounds good, tension released a bit.  :)

Let's c the different brands when those will be available widely.

Hi Alois,

Could you get a box and give us some feedback on how they play?

Hope they come down in price though. $20 for 3 balls is expensive and will mean fees for playing will go up if that is a typical price.

Hi Neville,

We will get some.  I think that is in Malaysian Ringgit which is about AUD or USD $6.

Sorry... Mr. Caldwells findings are def. in the MINORITY. Of the Palio balls I've spread around, not many are happy with them. Of many of the reviews you can find online, most are not happy with them. There are also a few that don't see a big enough difference to worry about, except the sound too. Again, majority? Not so happy.

 you should let Palio know you thoughts via there website, best wishes. Also I have not found specific reviews for this ball can can you provide links?

18¥ =6pcs. 1 star | 44¥ =6pcs 3 Srar Totally favourable feedback from the domestic china users/buyers (pleasant ball feeling much similar to the celluloid,, longer rallies, better accuracy in the ball placement ).

Hello, Pingskillers.I saw people playing w/ those plastic balls in my club w/out knowing they were the "new balls". They were rejected in less than a minute for their sound and for not being round (they wobbled) At least for me it's evident that the motivation for the change is lucrative. Nothing in the world will turn them back from their decision.

I played with the plastic ball for several minutes and then I threw it out of the window.

It appears that it is possible to give it a spin,much stronger spin than int the case of an old good celluloid ball,but the spin vanishes extremely quickly,even sooner than the ball its the table.

I think it because I tried to just chop the ball in the air and it spinned like hell,but the spin vanished after less than a half of one second.

I do not know if it is really true because I cannot see it well but it appeared like that.

hello, Pingskillers. Again talking about something supposedly controversial. To me there's no controversy: They are plain bad. At the rate they brake they should be half the price.

In the league I play in the UK home team had the option of plastic or normal. The league provided each team with Joola plastic balls they are probably the worst ball I have ever come across. I have seen a brand new ball out of the box shatter after 10 mins play, mostly they just crack but you do get the odd one that literally explodes crossing the net.

Having said the above this was at the start of 2014-2015 season and the later plastic balls DHS, Donic, Butterfly seem much better with a more consistent bounce and sound like the original 40 ball. The main draw back like everything in table tennis is the cost of these new balls which seem far more expensive than they should be.  

When do you remember to have seen players in an international match breaking the ball twice? Well, it is happening now with the the famous plastic balls.

Come on, consider what a small price this is to pay to save the planet! (dropping millions of tons of pesticides on our veggies and stuffing our meat with antibiotics, that's no biggy, but beware of those deadly toxic table tennis balls!!!)

And since when is it bad that a product for which there is no alternative on the market (or in the regulations) needs to be replaced as often as possible? That's textbook marketing.

Sorry, I'm still not over it...

Yes. By the time we save the planet, somebody will be rich selling good for nothing plastic balls. By the way, how much "safer" is plastic than celluloid?

Just been watching the English Nationals and even though there only seems to be one table on camera feed I saw a match where at least 3 poly balls had to be replaced. Luckily Butterfly are sponsoring the tournament and providing all the balls, this seems to be the way to go, get a manufacture to sponsor your local league and supply all the balls.

Not only the financial aspect is annoying, although it'll soon become cheaper to play golf than table tennis. Breaking a ball in the middle of a game is also pretty disruptive and forces some kind of "time out" that nobody wanted. You have to check if it's really broken or not (the poorer the receiving club, the longer this will take), decide whether or not the last point played should be replayed, etc. It's easy to lose your concentration in those circumstances. So if it happens once every 20 matches like before, ok, but 3 times in a single match??? Come on! Plus, as this is not really good advertising for Butterfly or the others, I guess they start with a new ball for every match to reduce the risks... Man, would anybody imagine what would happen if a manufacturer would sell soccer balls that can't withstand one match?

Let's hope that one manufacturer dares to break the rules of nurturing a profitable consensus situation and starts providing stronger balls to steal the market, which will then force the others to follow.

Hi JB,

Apparently there is a Nittaku Premium ball that is better quality built from better material.  I haven’t played with one but have seen one.  They look a different colour more cream than white and by reports play more like a celluloid ball.

Hello Alois,

That would be good news. Thanks for the information. Please keep us updated if you get a chance to play it and/or find its reference in their product range (for now, I see only one Nittaku 3* plastic ball in my usual dealers list "NITTAKU SHA 40+ 3*", and it doesn't look different from the other ones on the packaging).

Will be interesting to see if this develops.

Yes, Alois, interesting and necessary. Just in case I keep buying celluloid balls.

Am loving the fact that the new poly ball does'nt have as much spin as the old 40mm ball.

When we played with the old 38mm ball the guys with the skill could get slightly extra spin with wrist movements etc.

The serve was based on a bigger influence with deception and thought patterns and no advantage with the ball.

To improve you needed the sheer determination of solid training to advance even one point.The introduction of the 40mm ball was a complete injustice to hard training players as lesser opponents who i could once beat with one foot in a bucket and a frying pan were now giving causing me so much trouble.

You had to have lots of different skills with a less spinny ball and the long rallies with guys playing away from the table more was fantastic and lots of fun.

Fantastic to have a less spinny ball back and you newer guys will soon get to love the longer rallies,so better get fitter now.

This has some advantages,but any serve or stroke that is focused on spin will become nearly useless.

The game will probably return to the past in the meaning that it will contain exchanges like "serve-return-kill" because pushes,chops,slow loops and spinny serves will lose effects

Forgot to mention  the durability is so poor on some brands of the new plastic balls.Have currently been breaking between 6 and 9 in a 2 hour session and have had to continue on with some old balls.

Have not found one that is not out of round yet over several different leading brands as the distinct wobble is quite off putting.

Has anyone tried the nittaku brand yet? If so I would like some feedback if possible as I have found in the past they make the best ball and would hope theirs are closer to what we expect.

Thankyou for any replies.

I have played w/. A plastic Nittaku ball and it was round as you can expect. But the owner said it broke easy like the others. Today I played w/. a "Nexy" ball and I think it was OK.

Thankyou for your feed back EDUARDO.

Alois and I go back a long way and he has the most wonderful touch and feeling for the ball of any player I know.

It is for this reason we are all waiting with baited breath for ALOIS to give us more of his thoughts in the future on the new ball.

As most of us are patient people EDUARDO we will have to wait to see what the future balls will be like in say the next 12 months or so.

From a coaching perspective it has been a little frustrating as you get your students to a certain level and you get their equipment just right for them over time and bang now this.

I honestly feel for the younger keen as guys as this would have drove me nuts when I was an up and coming player.

Good luck for the future and hope the new ball works out for all of us.

Thank you Peter Rixon. It is true that patience always rewards. But I'm not a sympathizer of people that use our patience. I still remember when the 40 mm ball came about there was a transition period before it was accepted officially. And  we understood the reason, while this time it's unjustified and there was very little done to provide a quality product on time.

    Now that the plastic balls have improved and we have some valid choices, our club has settled on the Xushaofa ball.  We have found them at a reasonable bulk price and they are mostly consistent and durable.  What we are especially interested in is a yellow colored version of a plastic ball that is consistently round and durable.  The walls in our club are light in color and the yellow ball would contrast better.  Has there been any news on a yellow version of the plastic ball?

I haven't heard anything.  I wonder if any of our readers have... I am sure they will have to come.

What about painting the walls matte light green or blue? If the yellow balls finally make it, it will still be a nice contrast. I still think the change was not justified. If the sport is so widely popular all over the world, and there are international championships of all kinds, what else do we need? TV? So the people that don't play can seat and watch like they do with all sports? I would definitely watch it, but if that is going to give the manufacturers of TT goods a pretext to sell them more expensive, I prefer to watch my sport on the internet. They should stop making changes.

As for the yellow plastic balls, I'm pretty sure they are doing all possible efforts to bring them into the market. My experience w/. the yellow celluloid balls is they broke easier than the whites.

http://minkow.en.alibaba.com/product/60370152870-802356814/New_coming_40_orange_plastic_table_tennis_balls.html

Yellow plastic now available for sale.  Do not hesitate to contact this manufacturer for a bulk shipping.

As none of the pictures show markings on any of the balls, I have asked them if they are ITTF approved 3 star balls.

I will let you know what their reply is when I get it, but that may not be for some time as it is the Chinese New Year.

My experience is that they have improved in quality and play much the same as the old balls. When our competition's A1 Grade used them, the balls broke frequently during play and the whole season's balls were used up in 4 rounds and celluloid balls had to be  used for the rest of the season.

On Monday I was surprised to see my very high miss hit ball land on the other side of the table and even more surprised to see it explode when it landed. 

We can only hope that they continue to improve.

I got a quick reply, that I have copied in below.

"These balls are 1 star training, they are not ITTF approved 3 star balls".

Thanks for the research Neville.

I have asked him to let me know when he has ITTF approved 3 star balls for sale.

Great.  Would be great if you can pass on the info when you get it.

Today I watched a regional level match.
They were using 3star Xu Shao Fa plastic balls.
Although they were all technical players,no bombers,they cracked 15 balls in total.
Does it seem like a durable ball? -_-

I've been to top level tournaments and rarely have I seen broken/cracked XFA balls.

As hard as Jim Butlers BH is, if the above case was so, he'd break a ball or balls every game. That just simply hasn't been the case.

The XFA 3* are most durable and play very well.

We are now using the Yinhe red stars and they are even a little better IMO., especially when you add cost as a factor.

Then how would you explain that the players I watched broke a ball every three sets in average?

All balls are not the same, even those branded the same.  At the Olympics and Paralympics they used DHS balls and I can't recall one being broken... However when I use DHS balls everywhere else they do break...

This seems strange to me.
THough,I do not know nothing about DHS plastic balls because I haven't seen them yet.

But as far as  celluloid DHS balls,I can say they are highly durable.
Some of the best District teams here use them.
One of them had bought 100 DHS celluloid balls at the beginning of the season (=september).
Now,there are still 100 DHS celluloid balls in the team's storage.

Mr. D K, I would definitely be playing w/. those 100 celluloid balls. in my club.