The Best Ping Pong Balls: Reviews and Buying Guide for 2024

#1 JOOLA 3-Star Training Balls (Pack of 60/120)

Specifications:

• Classification — 3-star
• Material — Plastic
• Color — Orange
• ITTF approved? — No

If you’re after cheap training balls from a reputable table tennis name, you need look no further than the JOOLA 3-star training ball bundle. They are remarkably cheap and come in sets of either 60 or 120. The more you buy, the greater your savings! I like the fact that they are available in orange as there just isn’t enough orange ball availability these days.

While these balls meet ITTF guidelines, they are not officially approved. Therefore they are best reserved for training, your opponents might kick up a fuss if you use them in a local league setting, for instance.

Ping Pong Ball Buying Guide

What things do you need to look for in the best table tennis ball? Below I’ll cover everything you need to know when looking to buy some new balls.

Ping Pong Ball Star Ratings: What Do They Mean?

Table tennis balls are given a number of stars from 1 to 3. Balls with 3 stars are of the best quality ping pong balls and are the most durable, while 1-star balls will break or lose their shape quicker. Novelty balls, toy balls, beer pong balls, and table tennis balls intended for children often don’t have any stars at all.

It’s important to know that these star ratings are not official or standardized. Each manufacturer assigns its own star ratings, so stars aren’t an independent measure of quality. An ITTF-approved stamp is a much better sign of a good ball. These have gone through rigorous tests and meet official ITTF regulations for tournament play. That being said 1 and 2-star balls, are usually much lower in quality than 3-star balls. They are best used for training sessions. Finally, balls without a star rating have no quality assurance, are wildly inconsistent, and are much more likely to get damaged.

ITTF Requirements for Table Tennis Balls

The ITTF has very strict requirements for table tennis balls with small allowances for variation during manufacturing. Competition table tennis balls must conform to these standards:

• The ball should be 40 mm in diameter
• The ball should weigh 2.7 grams
• Table tennis balls must be round
• They must not veer
• They must have a consistent bounce
• They must have a uniform hardness
• They must be of the correct thickness

Popular Ping Pong Ball Brands

Here are some of the top brands for table tennis balls, in no particular order:

Nittaku

Based in Japan, Nittaku has been making table tennis equipment since 1920. Many consider their high-quality ping pong balls to be some of the best in the world, and they have supplied competition balls for 13 World Championships, 3 Olympic Games, and 7 years of European Championships.

JOOLA

JOOLA is based in Germany and is one of the brands responsible for the first table tennis tables in the early 1950s. In 2018, American company Sport Squad Inc. acquired them. JOOLA table tennis balls draw consistently high praise from experts and amateurs alike.

DHS

DHS stands for “Double Happiness Shanghai,” and they are one of the largest manufacturers of table tennis balls in the world. Founded in 1959, the company was the official table tennis ball of the 2008, 2012, and 2014 World Championships.

Butterfly

Another Japanese brand that’s found in every lineup of top table tennis manufacturers is Butterfly. While only one of their balls made my list, they make several of the top-rated ping pong balls on the market.

How Ping Pong Ball Size Has Changed Over Time

Table tennis was invented in the late 1800s in Victorian England (read more about the history of table tennis here). The first ping pong balls were made out of rubber and cork but some improvised and even played with golf balls or balls of string.

In 1901, Englishman James Gibb was traveling in the United States and discovered some lightweight celluloid balls that he thought would be perfect for playing ping pong. In 1926, the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) formed, and competition table tennis balls were standardized as being 38 mm in diameter and made of celluloid.

Over time, advances in rackets made the game faster and faster to play. For the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, the ITTF increased the size of the ball from 38 mm to 40 mm. The intention here was to make the ball easier to see for television cameras and slow down gameplay to make the game more entertaining for spectators. You can easily identify these balls by their labeling which specifies 40 mm.

Then in 2014, the ITTF changed table tennis ball material from celluloid to non-flammable plastic. As a result, the balls became slightly larger in diameter than the old celluloid balls which is why you’ll see them labeled as 40+. To learn more, read our post What Are Ping Pong Balls Made Of?

Conclusion

There are many different types of ping pong balls to choose from and what you need depends on your ability and goals. If you’re playing in tournaments and competitions you’ll want to practice with the best ping pong balls. In this case, I recommend the Nittaku 3-Star Premium 40+. It really is a cracking ball (no pun intended) and is widely considered the best among players. The only issue with it is the cost.

If you would rather save money but still play with a high-quality 3-star ball, I recommend the JOOLA Prime 3-Star ball instead. It is still a great ball and isn’t wildly different from Nittaku’s. I also strongly advise you pick up some training balls to save your wallet. Buy one box of these and you won’t have to think about table tennis balls again for a long time, JOOLA 3-Star Training balls are my favorite in this category.

Enjoy this post? You can learn everything else there is to know about ping pong balls here.

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