OOAK Table Tennis Forum

Yeah, on Monday night we were mostly playing with double fish 40+ and they were generally commented on as being sub par, and one that I was using was definitely out of round and either bouncing up higher or staying low almost once in each rally. Roulette anyone? Previous times they have been OK. Bad batch or change in manufacturing / QA?

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Retriever (sometimes golden, but often leaden)
Moderator, Inverted Retriever Technique sub-forum - http://ooakforum.com/viewforum.php?f=74

The orange Nittaku Nexcel has now appeared on the Japanese Nittaku website:
http://www.nittaku.com/products/detail/ ... php?id=987

It says available on October 1st.
Ironically, the picture looks the same as the supposedly fake one igorponger posted earlier in this thread.

The white Nexcel is still nowhere in sight, even though it appeared on the ITTF list earlier than the orange one.

Igor does post weird/dubious stuff now and then but it would make sense that the fake balls would look at least very much like the real thing.

Iskandar

SOME REPUTED MARKETPLACES TO OBTAIN ORANGE BALLS FROM

1. TAOBAO market, shipment inside China only

https://item.taobao.com/item.htm?id=42804009160

DHS D40+ orange 0.3 USD per one (shipping cost not included)

2. ALIExpress market, shipment worldwide

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/DHS-201 ... 26863.html

DHS D40+ orange 0.6 USD per one (shipping cost not included)


3. http://www.nittaku.com/products/detail/ ... php?id=987

NITTAKU 40+ NEXCEL orange 2.50 USD per one
Sales to start from October 1, 2018.


Be happy.

I quit the sport when the plastic balls were first released, because the first generation plastic balls were basically random number generators and turned the game into a game of chance instead of a sport. I took 4 years off to wait for them to standardize. When I came back, I noticed that overall quality and reliability of the balls had increased, but so too had the number of construction variants (seamless, seamed) and materials (cellulose acetate, poly, ABS and now these NexCells, what am i missing here?).

Frankly, I miss the old days where you only had to adjust your game to the quality of the table and the age of the playing surface (16mm to 25mm). Adding variability to the ball negatively affects the game in a multiplicative manner (if you play on different tables regularly). It makes it harder to practice because your spin, flightpath, bounce height and timing are all impacted.

When the DHS D40+ balls were launched, I was reasonably happy and thought they were "good enough substitutes for Nittaku Premiums". I could alternate between the two with little adjustment to my game. Now, I've noticed that their formula or Nittaku's Premium ball seems to have changed enough where the balls play nothing alike. The DHS D40+ is far spinnier on service and brush strokes, and the Nittaku Premium plays harder and has a far more direct and linear flight path (better for hitters).

The variation between the two balls is enough that I beat a regular opponent using DHS 40+ balls, and he beats me most of the time when we play with Nittaku Premiums. While far from scientific, the advantages that each ball imparts to the player is undeniable.

Table tennis players have truly allowed the ITTF and their partnership with manufacturers to break our sport.

I cant see the Nittaku Orange balls available anywhere yet?Any suggestions?

It's almost $30 for a dozen.. But it costs even more for shipping.

Sub-Total: RM80.00
Shipping Fee: RM83.00
Total: RM163.00

Maybe I'll wait for an Aussie dealer to get them in stock.

ok, I just ordered some from tt-japan.

https://tt-japan.net/index.php?main_pag ... ts_id=4019

Balls are a little more expensive at about $8 or $9 for a pack of 3. But shipping was $11.

Got my balls. Using Mantra H, as it's the only rubber i've used where I feel a significant difference between balls.

The feel is different to Nittaku Premium. On soft / medium shots they feel a bit more like DHS balls. Not as hard. On hard shots, they feel more 'flexible'. A bit more like celluloid balls.

On soft / medium shots they're not really different from other balls. Maybe a tiny bit higher arc compared to Premium, maybe a tiny bit slower as a consequence of that.

On hard shots the ball seems to have a slightly more noticeable arc. Off the bat, the arc is slightly higher. At the other side of the table, the ball arcs down a tiny bit more. Either the ball has more spin or it loses spin at a slower rate. It seems retain more spin after the bounce and return more of the existing spin when counter looping.

Blocking is tiny a bit more difficult because of the added 'flex', arc, spin etc. Apparently it's more controllable with pips too.

The difference is only slight though. And only on hard shots.

BLOODY ROBBERY ...OF YOUR MONEY.
Nittaku charges 2.50 USD per one. Somewhat disagreeable price, to say the least. Some highway robbery, indeed.