Differences between popular pickleballs and what you should get
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- Äas pĆidĂĄn 5. 09. 2024
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What kind of pickleballs should you buy? This is one of the most common questions that I get. Luckily, the answers aren't too complicated and I'm going to take you through the wonderful world of pickleballs today.
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Thank you for the distinction between âindoorâ of the surface being wood or hard like outdoor courts. I had been using indoor balls on an indoor concrete surface and they were not lasting long at all. Thank you for the great videos
I'm a big fan of the Franklin X-40. I understand that the advanced players don't like it as much because it's not as hard & fast, but I enjoy the way it plays, and it's economical.
And there's nothing wrong with that at all. It's nice having a softer ball ever now and then and the Franklin plays an important roll filling that segment.
Franklin X40âs! for outdoor rec play!
My favorite outdoor ball is the Onyx 2. I like the fact that it is softer, which makes it easier to control. For indoors, the place I go to provides the balls and they are Jugs.
I like Cheetah balls for outdoor play. Onix orange for indoor play.
Found out the hard way about the characteristics of different brands. I played tennis for about 25 years but I'm new to Pickleball having only played about 5 games.
Recently I played with some guys who were playing in a tournament the next morning at the 3.5 level and I was pretty happy with how well I played. I hit lots of good dinks, volleys and winners. We lost the first game just barely 12-10. The second game somebody grabbed a Durafast 40 and I sucked. The ball didn't bounce as high as I thought it would and didn't fly as far when hit. I wiffed on at least 5 serves because I was reading the trajectory and expecting the ball to bounce and it did not. It was embarrassing.
My advice would be to get the Durafast and learn the bounce and characteristics of a solid ball with little bounce versus learning to play with a a springy ball with lots of bounce that flies off the paddle face.
You should have put an affilate link in the description its easy money for your channel.
Barrett thanks so much for doing these videos. They are always thorough well thought-out. Appreciate the effort.
My pleasure!
My favorite outdoor ball is Fila. I like that it has a good bounce to it and you don't have to hit it so hard. The only thing that annoys me is that when I play with people who never played with it before, think it's an indoor ball because of the way it is made. The plastic is a little thicker and it looks different than the other balls they are used to.
Same experience here. I like it.
That's cool, I'll check those out.
Played in an outdoor tournament pre-Covid and used the Engage Tour. No out-of-rounds or breaks/cracks. Nice ball. For indoors, I've gravitated to the Penn 26 in the Hot Lava color. Very visible and responds very similar to the Onix fuse.
Is it mainly a color choice with the Penn ball? The Engage ball is too soft for me personally.
@@PickleballKitchen Yep, I can really see the Hot Lava color even better than the orange Fuse. But not all agree as the Fuse is still king of indoors around here in Birmingham, AL. Playing outdoors a couple of weeks ago, I tried the Wilson 32 hole ball. Good visibility, handled the slight wind well, but softer than the Dura and Engage. Are we growing to a level that golf ball manufactures have achieved? Lots of choices!
Yeah the Fuse is still king here too. Keeping track of the ball indoor can be tough, especially for colorblind people.
NEED AN UPDATED VIDEO ON THIS>LOTS OF NEW ONES OUT THERE!
Great video. Can you do a 2023 video of the new pickle balks like the OSO pickle ball that claims itâs the best
Try the Penn hot pink indoor balls . U can really see them better. They are soft though and do not last long. Great for control game.
My thoughts as well... I play with any ball, as long as it isn't cracked. Some people only play with the harder vs a softer pickleball. I just want to play!
To add further confusion, we play indoors on an âoutdoorâ surface court. I assume the outdoor ball is the best choice?
Yes, exactly.
With all your subs and upvotes, how did you not buy one of each ball to show us??
My group all fell in love with the smooth Gamma indoor balls after the gym used them for a tournament in March of â19. Hard and long lasting. We used the Onix ball for outdoor play. More holes, thicker hide, heavier. We ran low on indoor balls after coming back from the break so 5-6 weeks ago so I ordered 6 of the indoor Gammas from Amazon and threw them in the ball bag. Two weeks ago another guy bought 60 of what Gamma was calling an âindoor/outdoorâ ball. Kind of a hybrid, it has holes like outdoor balls, a thinner hide like their indoor balls, more texture and theyâre lighter than outdoor balls, more like the old indoor Gammas. I donât think youâll find the indoor balls much longer, I could barely find any on Amazon the other day but I have to say the indoor/outdoor balls play (indoors) almost exactly like the old indoor balls. Slightly different color (sort of an orange-y yellow), which is the only reason some people noticed and freaked out about it. Really, calm down, they play almost the same as the old (obsolete?) indoor balls.
And our experimentation after that tournament in â19 showed that the Juggs balls we used to that point were fine for a 3-4 days before they got too soft to use but the Gammas would stay hard right up until they cracked, often lasting a couple of weeks. The Gammas were a better deal based on longevity and playability right up to the end.
Thanks for this, great comment! Have you seen a lot of indoor tournaments using the Photon?
Pickleball Kitchen No, sorry. I stopped playing in tournaments after that. It was a bad experience for someone with only a couple of monthsâ playing experience. Nobodyâs fault, due to a lack of Câs they mixed us in with the Bâs and we got pummeled. It also showed me the players who were sandbagging and should have been bumped up in class. An all-around unpleasant time was had.
Sorry to hear that, Jake. I hope you'll give it another try!
@@PickleballKitchen Turns out those Gammas weâve been using for almost a year now are the Gamma Photon 40âs. Spectacular for indoor play but they are âindoor weightâ so Iâm not sure how well they would do for outdoor play.
Another ball I tried a few weeks ago is the Franklin X 40. Just a smidge too heavy for indoor play but Iâll bet they are spectacular outdoors. It would be very nice if Franklin made an Indoor X 40, that seamless construction seemed like the catâs meow for a pickleball. For now we are sticking with the Photon 40. Work great, last forever.
Onix outdoor balls with larger holes are not affected by the wind as much as Franklin's and Cut a balls with smaller hole.
More ball surface allows the wind to push on it more.Bigger holes let the wind pass through..
We only play outdoors and the indoor ball would either catch the wind easily or accentuate any spin put on the ball. The wind was the worst as it would move the ball several feet on a straight shot. Once we switched to the outdoor dura 40, play is a lot faster and more fun.
Nice! Yeah, the wind is the worst!
I play outdoor and have a 16mm CRBN1... my main play area has exclusively Franklin X40s (So Cal temperatures) and WOW, can I feel the difference between a fresh X40 and an old one... the Dura40 is sharp crisp and $$$. But I like it better.
Extremely helpful in giving options and advice. 2 thumbs up!!!
Thank you for the very informative video. My Onix Pure 2 ball went slightly oblong. It was fun to throw it into the warm up part of the game kind of like a trick golf ball.
Try the hot pink indoor Penn balls. Great when you have trouble seeing the yellow balls on very light courts.
The dark orange and purple work for me too.
Blue is pretty good also
I had no idea there were different types of balls. Thank you!
Now you know!
Thanks for your awesome job on a tough review subject đ€
Very helpful video, thanks for the information.
What an excellent and timely update!
Awesome! Timely because you're currently shopping for balls?
Core balls are awesome - they fly great .
DuraBreakFast 40
I wish Barrett had put the names of the vendors in the show notes. Listing at 2Ă all I can hear him say is "grab yourself some Jugs, they're soft, and they play well".
New pickleballer here, and a new subscriber. you have some great content, keep it up!
With the Franklin, I have a difficult time using my Kennex. I have to use my Poach paddle. However, my Kennex loves the Onix. Weird...frustrating...the way it is. ;)
What about the Wilson Tru32 pickleballs balls and the Selkirk S1 Pro pickleball? Can you do a review on these two balls.
I am thinking the Selkirk S1 Pro might better ball than the Wilson Tru32 ball for outdoor and for indoors event because of their consistent bounce both indoor and outdoor surfaces even if people do not want the balls to bounce consistently
For indoor I use the Onix fuse indoor ball and do not like how low the balls bounce when playing indoors. I wish they made indoor balls bounce with more consistency then they bounce now. The only problem is indoor players do not want to try other balls like some of the outdoor balls like the ones I asked about above. which is drag which seem to have a more consistent bounce.
How come that you didn't show the indoor pickel ball for comparison & how it looks like ! đ€
Hum, I would think that the "advanced" players and tournaments use Dura because Dura paid huge sponsorships. Franklin has now starting putting up the money and they are getting into more tournaments. Dura's balls likely cost more because of the sponsorships. I do appreciate your comments on the differences in the balls hardness and cracking. Thanks
My pleasure, thanks for stopping by.
Appreciate the suggestions!
My pleasure, thanks for stopping by!
Lots of quality issues with Selkirk balls - holes not machined fully so have leftover plastic, irregular raised seams, and out of round balls. Surprising given Selkirkâs reputation. Their customer service was excellent though.
Also we play indoor on a LVL padded basketball court that is padded for noise dappening. The Franklin x26 are cracking like crazy on us. Not a single person in the gym dinks its absurd. gunna try some fuse indoors some duras and some x40s in pink need red duras
Iâve read that the main difference between indoor and outdoor balls isnât necessarily the number of holes, but itâs more about the density of the balls. Is this true in your experience?
I think it's less density because of the bigger holes. That's how I've understood it.
I'm really surprised the balls aren't more standardized. I play outdoors with the Onix and Franklin X-40. The X-40 doesn't bounce as well (do a drop test) but spins better. Some players will only play with the ball they like. I don't like having to practice with both or having a different paddle for each. Can you imagine a baseball, softball, raquetball, lacrosse, etc., team walking onto a court or field saying. "Hey guys, our team has been practicing with this softer ball we really like so we're going to use this today." They would get laughed out of the arena.
Actually thatâs not completely true as most softball leagues and tournaments you hit your own ball. worth GoldDot hit very different than an Evil. Same Cor and Compression different covers, seams, etc
What about Penn40 ball they advertised as outdoor ball is soft and big holes...???
Should an outdoor ball be used on an indoor tennis court ?
Correct!
What about the Penn outdoor ball?
Itâs not uspba approved. It has a rubber like feel that grips like a tennis ball on strings. Really fun to use; but since their not allowed in tournaments, most people donât use them.
They are too soft!
They will purposely hit your Penn ball out of the court and start playing with a real ballđ
@@wtcb7892 lol...that was 2 years ago when I just started playing. I now use the Franklin ball
I don't hear anyone talking about how Franklin and Duro because of their hardness and sharp holes ruin your paddle.
Well done
Thanks!
that was helpful.
Glad to hear!
What about the best ball for a teaching basket?
Great stuff. Thanks
Why are balls not standardized, i.e. hardness, bounce, etc.?
Quick question, have you noticed the difference in diameter of balls? The Onix is actually smaller than the Franklin. I took a 'Level' that you would use for construction, and it leaned down on the side of the Onix. Why is this legal and why is there any variation in ball size? Speaking outdoor balls only
I actually haven't noticed at all, but I'll look into it.
I need some help clarifying in issue a friend and I are discussing. He insists that if the holes in a ball aren't perfectly round the ball is garbage. I rarely find any brand of ball that has every hole perfectly round even with a new ball. I think we are 3.0 to 3.5 players. Personally I cannot tell the difference no matter if the holes are a little out of round. Thanks
Yeah I don't think that's true at all. I've never heard that in the 6 years that I've been playing.
Our club sells Wilson balls (for outdoor play) how do these compare?
The franklin I see often played with does not have evenly spaced holes and seems light...anyone else?
Franklin is best
As someone who got banged in the jaw with a ball, ( no idead what brand), I hope someone will develop a ball that wonât do so much damage.
Yeah I understand. I've been hit between the eyes once!
Iâve had onyx fuse balls break in half down the seam before, while the onyx 2 has survived me accidentally stepping on it with all my weight.
maybe time for a more current review
Do you have any comment on Gamma balls?
I haven't tried them, but I've heard some great things according to the other commenters.
âA ball is a ball is a ball.â Is applicable to all balls except for the Monarch, which Dickâs love to hawk to beginners because they donât know any better. Beginners love the onix fuse or the pure 2, on my outdoor court at least. Intermediate players will almost always play with a Franklin because of their sponsorship monopoly on most tournaments in the area and their forgiving nature. The challenge court will only play with Duras with the exception that the upcoming tournament is sponsored by Franklin about a week in advance. Iâm only 3.0 but can hold my own on a challenge court if their using a Franklin; especially since Iâve perfected my own version of the spin toss serve. Personally, I favor the Fuse for the exact reasons stated in this video. Itâs just the closes thing to playing giant ping pong on a court. Which is why I started playing pickleball in the first place.
Great overview! Where do yo buy your equipment?
Pickleball Central mainly
Hello, thanks for this video. Do you have an opinion about the Onix Pure 2 Outdoor?
I'm not a fan personally, but they sure are durable!
@@PickleballKitchen Thanks.
@@PickleballKitchen good to know the pros for the Onix 2 (durability) but what are the cons in your opinion? why are you not a fan, the specifics are more helpful to us newbies than a general statement like not a fan...thanks!
The gamma photon is a harder style indoor ball.
Have you seen it in any indoor tournaments? I personally haven't around here.
@@PickleballKitchen No but I have played with it, and if you you primarily play with a dura type ball outside, it is the closest indoor ball {that I know of } to it.
@@PickleballKitchen Tournaments should start using them.
You did not mention ball weight (grams) or one piece, seamless, or molded w/holes or holes drilled after being molded. There are also a few more manufacturers out there that continue to solve the balls issues. Rubber to plastic ratio from different manufacturers makes a big difference in integrity of a ball. Just saying.
Also the name for the measure of "softness/hardness" is called "durometor" It's a printing term for measuring rubber ink rollers to know when they need to be replaced or in what position in the "ink train" a roller can be placed. Any printers out there?
Yeah this is just a basic guide to pickleballs. However your comment makes me think I should do an interview with some of the manufacturers. I think that would be cool.
Gamma Photon is the best indoor ball in my opinion. Also I would choose the Penn 26 over the Fuse.
Opposite experience for us with the Penn balls. Dura 40 outdoors & Onix Fuse Indoors
@@nodsavid7340 Obviously the Dura Fast 40 is the best outdoor ball. The Penn and the Onix indoor are basically the same ball except for the color. The Gamma Photon plays the fastest of any indoor ball so that's why I feel it is the best. It makes it so it's not such a huge transition from indoor to outdoor.
Thank for this guide. I appreciate your videos and knowledge. On this particular topic, though, I wonder if youâve missed a consideration. It kind of sounds like you havenât thought about the impact of all the waste that comes from those Duras you go through like crazy. I would have for cracked pickleball to become the new plastic straw debacle. Maybe longer lasting balls are a more responsible option?
I've never seen a Jugs be cracked.
Lol talking about "not wanting to get the most expensive ball", I'm out here like this is too expensive where are the cheap balls?
Franklin X40 gang gang
This video is about two types of balls but you only have one type to show? What the heck?
But u talk so slow. Just want the facts.
2x speed recommended, dude talks like a snail lol
They are NOT pickleballs. Pickleball is the game. You use a pickleball ball!
Don't you play tennisball?
that description has a lot of balls
Just curious, what do you call Basketballs or Footballs? Pretty sure using the common vernacular of Pickleball is just fine, Gayle.
Great info. Thanks!
My pleasure.