Nittaku 3-Star SHA 40+ Ball

These are 3-star balls and I was happy to get these at a low price!

I am fairly new to the poly balls, so I have been testing different balls out. So far the Nittaku premium 3 star, the Nittaku 2 star, the Nittaku j top, the Nittaku 3 star SHA and some newgy roboballs. All of the Nittaku balls played very well except the SHA 3 star. To me they feel light, soft and dead. Even the jtop and the 2 star balls felt better to me.

- Mark, TX

Some break in one game and others last longer than celluloid all from the same sleeve of three balls. Balls wobble and are not round. Found seamless poly balls to be far better. One good thing is that when they break you know it since they split in half instead of a small crack. Dont waste your money. Order the made in Japan ball or buy the seamless poly balls. ITTF screwed this up.

This is a correction to the previous reviewer -- the SHA ball is made in China, not Japan. It is true at this time that no ball made in China has the high quality of the Nittaku Japanese-made balls. For players who want the best, I recommend the Nittaku 3-star Premium 40+ ball, item # BNAPR, made in Japan. For a lower cost alternative, I recommend the Nittaku 2-Star Superior Ball, also made in Japan, item# BNAEX.

- Judy Hoarfrost, OR

Quality is still not there, despite being made in Japan. Ball cracked after about 2 hours of play. Quite disappointed.

John

Well, despite the promises of the plastic balls being cheaper and more durable, so far none of these has lived up to the promises. It ends up being almost twice as expensive if you consider these balls last so much shorter. Even if one has the money, one would be hard pressed to find any of these elusive 40+ balls. ITTF and USATT shouldnt have made these switch until the manufacturers have shown that these balls are actually BETTER !

Chong

Ball will deceive you with no true bounce. Product not worth the money. Table Tennis balls is table tennis and lets not forget that. The development of the 40mm ball was awesome and we need to keep the balls ENGINEERED as they were. Bring back the old BALL ENGINEERS that spent time and effort in developing a perfect ball.

- Tom, OH

I have not talked to a single player in Las Vegas or at Tournaments who is in favor of this change. The ball is more expensive; does not bounce the same; requires changes in our play style, and requires changes to our stock of balls. So why treat us like this?

Buddy Caples

This ball is so different from the *** Premium Ball that I will not use it.

I am retiring from table tennis tournaments and stop playing seriously because of the new balls. Absolutely no fun spot at all. The new ball is heavy, less spins, less bounces, and slower than the old style ball. Why ITTF controls us. I am thinking about to quite after 20+ years. Together, we can boycott ITTF. We don't have to join them! Lets continue play the celluloid ball.

- Frank, WA

Good News - I have played with the new Japanese Nittaku Premium 40+ which will be available hopefully in January 2015. Yes, the Chinese ball breaks. Last Tuesday night I broke 3 !! Yes, the Chinese ball does not appear to be perfectly round !! Yes, the new ball does tend to keep a little low off the bounce. The Japanese ball is perfectly round !! I have played 7 hours with the Japanese ball and it has not broken yet !! The new ball bounces slower off the table with less spin and as I am a 1997 rated player who is 57 years old, the new ball is really helping me with blocking loops off my Butterfly Anti backhand and Sriver EL 1.9mm forehand as well as service return. I am able to execute the same huge forearm loop with the new ball. We will all get used to the new ball, just we all got used to the 40mm ball, just as we got used to not hiding serves. The old ball is made of plastic that is banned in many countries and hence there is no option but to change to the new ball. Happy Holidays, Happy New Year.

- Aharon Shapiro, CA

Play wasn't very different but a. 3pack of balls lasted only a few days.

This is one of the site that having the most reviews of the new 40+ balls. Paddle Palace : Please send all the reviews to the ITTF because changing to this new balls sucks and take out many funs from us!! (I think many of the general players have the same feeling.) As some reviewers stated, this change will not affect the professional players but for the other 95% amateur players like us, it is a big change and lot of adjustment to get the same techniques back. Why is ITTF doing this bad decision to the sport?

- Allan from Canada, AB

Using technology geared for the non-plastic 40mm ball, and the fact that these new plastic balls are accommodated by a temporary rule change till 2016 or longer, it's hard to give this an objective review. Since the ball is slightly bigger, it's going to be slower with less spin, just like there is less spin and speed with 38mm balls from 30mm, and also just like 40mm balls from 38mm balls. So here is what I can tell you about the new plastic ball...I begin my first test of the ball using my all-around Donic blade with very fast with spinny rubber, which is rated at 9.6 speed and 9.6 spin. The sound is different, I found it too slow for my paddle and rubber. Looping wasn't a problem because with the less spin, it was easier to attack, it took a little bit to adapt to how to spin the ball more effectively but still slower than the non-plastic balls. When I switched to an offensive blade, the difference of speed faded a bit. I didn't notice as much. I had no problem looping, chopping, and I did have better control with it. So I like it better with a faster blade along with my fast and spinny rubber. Since new technology geared for this ball is scarce and since this ball doesn't match the original specs as it remains a work in progress, I don't believe this is a game changer for the better or worse. This ball is not going to react as good for technology that wasn't meant for it, but I do believe it still worth playing with! :)

Mike

We used these balls in our tournament and two broke in middle of the matches! I had to go through 2 boxes to find a perfectly round ball. I hope the quality gets improved in time. Too bad we don't have any choice!

10/24/2014 I watched the Ball Behavior very closely during a "Test Match" between 2 players at my club last night - the Match went to 4 games. Typically these 2 players Loop. Serve and Set up as usual, but when going for a Loop Kill - the ball did not break and dip down onto the table - like a normal celluloid ball does. Most shots went long and out. I thought I was seeing things, but it happened again and again all thru the Test Match. It happened consistently with nearly every Loop Kill situation throughout the 4 games of the "Test Match" -no downward curve onto the table. I estimate the on the table ration was about 1 out of 3, maybe even as bad as 1 out of 4. Seeing this really bothered me a lot. I know both these players and no-way they just missed all these easy shots. Both can Nail their Loops consistently with a Normal Celluloid Ball. After the "TEST Match" -both agreed - It was the Ball. Well we all agreed that "some adjustment" in technique might be needed to compensate for LESS Spin. But WHY. Less Spin = Less FUN to me. SPIN is what makes Table Tennis what it is and what makes this game so fun. So MORE SPIN Nittaku. MORE SPIN. You spend months and years developing your Serves, Shots, and Loops -and then the ITTF changes the Ball to have LESS Spin and now the new Ball dosen't break down onto the table with a Topspin Loop - This is UNACCEPTABLE. I know it's new and is still very much a work in progress, so I'll wait and see how the new balls act in 2015 and going forward from there. Hopefully Nittaku will Improve the Formula to make the Ball 1.) At Least as Spinny as the Celluloid Ball we all love and are used to playing with. 2.)Make a Ball with MORE Spin. Make it BETTER than the Celluloid Ball. Is what I would like to see. 3.) Less Surface Grip = Less Spin. On Serves and Shots. Anyway these are my early observations on the new Ball and I hope that Nittaku will find this feedback helpful in their development of the new ball.

- Frank White, MD

I have just returned from a five week stay in China. The new ball has been available there for about a month so I had a chance to ask most of the Chinese players how they liked the ball. All of them said the ball was slower and did not bounce as high as the three star celluloid balls. They also said that they know why this change was made, for the same reason there was a change from the 38 to the 40mm ball. They all said it would make no difference, the new ball will not change China's dominance in the sport. After visiting their national training center, I couldn't agree more. American players also noticed a slowing of the ball's speed and rotation. No one has said they like it. It is a disgrace that the ITTF uses these kinds of tactics to slow down the game and to stop China's domination. If you want to change China's domination, you need to practice as hard as the Chinese. Period. Less game playing and more drills.

- keith, OK

Good control and feel. The said ball does feel different, however its not a big deal if you are using proper form in the swing. Im using a Primorac/ T05FX 2.3 FH, Hammond P Beta 2.1 BH.

Joe

ball feels light and is not perfectly round. I don't like it because there's no point of using an expensive blade when all you feel is the rubbers. ball just doesn't go through to the blades.

- RJ, CA

The ITTF is destroying the sport of Table Tennis.

First impression...another 10 percent drop in speed and spin as did the increase in ball size affected going to the 40mm. As far as playability, you have to help it more on touch shots. As far as durability...it fails miserably. I played one and a half matches and it was destroyed. Leave the balls as is or go back to the proving grounds and come up with a better quality product. An all around player and defenders will again like the change....such as myself...but...it still needs work.

- Rick Sullivan, SC

When I play, I felt the new balls are too light, but it's Ok when I play soft. But when I smash very hard, I have a feeling that the ball doesn't go to the direction it supposed to. I think it needs more improvement.

- Joe Park, CA

As with the other reviewer, I affirm that these balls are light and fluffy, and less fun.. They seem a bit erratic. They do not "pop" pf the racket like celluloid. I have read why the ITTF is changing.. but now I am worried about the bureaucracy making bad decisions. Of course there is always the question of why?.. and what is REALLY behind the decision. I do not like the new balls.

Richard

What is the ittf doing to the sport of table tennis? These polyballs feel light and you get no satisfaction from hitting. Also the 40s are more consistent than these. These balls will wobble on you even the perfectly round one. I hope premium balls are better but i doubt it will. To tabletennis federation. Dont fix what isnt broken . The 40 balls are way better . With the polyballs you can say good bye to the sound of tabletennis .

I just played with this ball last night. I bought a dozen balls and distributed them to my friends at the SPTTC. Here is the feedback I have received and my own assessment about this new ball; Some of the balls are not perfectly round which can sometimes result in an unpredictable wobble. The balls are not as bouncy and do not rotate as quickly when spin is applied. There was less spin on the serves as well as on the shots. The balls are a little slower and have a somewhat lower trajectory resulting in more net shots. Imparting spin and speed takes more effort. Sometimes the ball feels very light especially on drop and touch shots. Overall, the difference is not that big and I am sure we will adapt to it. It seems to lead to longer rallies where ball placement is more important than speed/spin. Generally speaking, the defenders (especially ones using long pips) might stand to benefit from this ball although they will have to adjust their strokes too. Short pips players are not too thrilled with the speed and low trajectory, but appreciate greater control. Finesse double loopers and older players like me, who place more emphasis on spin and placement than speed will appreciate the better control and less speed, but will lament the loss of spin. Ultimately, I am confident the manufacturers will come up with rubbers that will make up for the loss of spin and speed. The balls need better quality control to make sure they are perfectly round. No one appreciated the occasional wobble in one or two balls.

James R