G40+ versus Nittaku Premium 40+

That's what I was afraid of.  Made in July of this year.  Can you mention what you didn't like?  Is the bounce still too low?  Do they play like previous seamed balls?

hey, did you check your XSF bulk balls for lemons?

I had a small sample size for these, but here is what I am seeing for the few balls I had available to test.  Don't have any of the new Butterfly to test with yet.

I like the new G40+ BTY balls better than the nittaku prems. I still like the XSF balls the best and now the new Joola Flash as they are supposed to be XSF balls.

The flight of the ball is fantastic though. Everybody loves it. IT IS SO STABLE. Like an optically tracked, wire guided missile. Very easy to loop away from the table. I think this ball can increase the length of the rally by itself.

Having played with them a bit more, I can say they are durable and fast. They tend to dent and deteriorate over time. Occasional skidding does occur but cell balls did too so that I won't focus too heavily on yet

i think the differences between celluloid balls were negligible, nondefective balls of all manufacturers played about the same. That is when they were same weight and perfectly round. 

Victor_the_cleaner wrote: For those who like med and long distance rallies i can recommend the Bty ball, for close to table XSF is easier and cheaper.

I have not played BTY balls, so I can't comment on that. But I agree with XSF part of the statement from durability perspective. I can't stand the fact that during long distance rallies your big swing can break XSF balls easily if being hit by blade edge, no matter how new the ball is.

I have played with the G40+ on two kinds of tables now.  They were better on relatively new Butterfly tables, whereas the sliding was more apparent on older Tibhar Smash 28 tables which have slightly smoother surface.  This should probably not be too surprising but anyway, that's how it seems to me.  These tables are both very good, just a bit different.

Again,  my dominant impression from the start and continuing is that the G40+ are fast!

I haven't been able to play in a week.  Had an injury and travel.

Yes, G40+ comes out farthest and seems very straight.  The next in order for this property is NP40+ (but slightly lower initially, seems to arc a bit more on average).  All the other plastic balls tend to sink faster, even XSF which has an initially high bounce.

I notice sliding sometimes on hard loop drives, and any sort of flat hit.  Not so much when new.  Definitely after 90 minutes of use. 

The new version of DHS balls arrived today.  They were made in October 2015, and the claim is that they have changed their plastic formula.  I haven't been able to compare bounce (see below) but I did weigh 6 of them.  Average was 2.76 g with a standard deviation of 0.01, so ok for the ITTF rules that kick in on January 2016.  (Also exactly the same as G40+ and XSF, a little more than NP40+).  In the past DHS seemed unable to make a 40+ ball under 2.80g.  So they have made progress on that at least.  (They couldn't make one that was round, durable, or with a decent bounce either).

I will try to hit with them tomorrow.  I very much hope they are better than what they had before.

Edit:  Bounce test I just performed did not yield a happy outcome.  These new ones have the exact same bounce height as a Joola 40+ ball manufactured in June of 2014 (a ball manufactured by DHS)!  So even with their touted new material, they have not solved the problem of their very low bounce, and that is one of the things that people dislike the most about them.  I don't know if they will pass the ITTF test for bounce height, but it is quite likely that they will fail the "player choice" test based just on this.  I don't think I will be able to evaluate their durability if they play horribly because I won't be able to bring myself to play with them long enough.  Their weight is better and the ones I have seem reasonably round.  So that is better.  But the bottom lines is that these are afflicted with the same issue Acuda Dave found with some relatively recent Joola seamed 40+.

Edit 2.  Played with them for an hour tonight.  They are pretty much terrible, no different in terms of how they play than previous Chinese seamed balls.  Low bounce, doesn't come out, dips excessively in the air, slow ball flight, very soft ball, some very weird low bounces.  I see no improvement in playability than the Joola and DHS seamed 40+ balls that were made in June of 2014 except they do seem a bit rounder.  In short, I beg tournament and league directors, please don't use these crappy balls!!!!  After an hour I had seen enough, pulled out an NP40+ ball, and experienced instant relief! 

STILL WAITING FOR THE BETTER...


I am a criss_cross devouted blocker. I love the tempered DHS 40+ ball, not so swift, not so bouncy. I feel myself very much like a King Superior with the new DHS plastic. CrissCross deadly ball directions over the table`s sideline.

Yet, with all those playing benefits, I am not going to use the plastic ball till some later day that the selling price having dropped down to a better reasonable pricetag, better comparable with the celluloid current price, something like $0.5 a ball.

Prudence first. I am not a moneywaster anyway.

Good Luck/