Should the USATT switch their ball choice

Baal wrote: The Asian TTC used Nittaku this year. WTTC used D40. Variou professional leagues around the world use other balls. Presently USATT does NOT dictate to organizers what ball they should use so your poll is misleading. I like the D40 but facts should be presesnted correctly.

Go back and read the starting poll Question:

"Should the USATT switch their ball choice from Nittaku Premium 40+ to another brand for the US Open and US Nationals ?"

The facts are stated correctly and the poll is not misleading.

mts388 wrote: LUCKYLOOP wrote: In my opinion, the USA tournaments should use whatever ball is used on the world professional tour. They shouldn't force the USA players to practice with the most expensive ball costing $2.50 - 3.00 per ball, ridiculous. The Nittaku Premium 40+ is mostly only used in Japan. Presently the poll majority supports the DHS D40+ which is used on the world professional tour. I think the USATT should use whatever ball the ball sponsor pays them to use, as long as it's a quality ball.  A month before a major tournament a participant can buy 3 expensive balls and practice with them before the tournament.  It's not that big of a deal.

We have different opinions.

Since the USA big tournaments use the NP 40+, they appear to set an example that a lot of clubs and other tournaments follow. We have 2 clubs in my area which use the the NP 40+ and the club I go to which uses the DHS D40+. A new ball last around 6 hours before the new liveliness wears off so it can be expensive to play simulated tournament matches with a new ball. I always play matches 6 hours before I change new balls, so presently costing me $.55 for 2 x a week vs $2.50 a week for a Nittaku Premium 40+. I like to use the money I save on balls for TT replacement rubber.

The other thing is that if you practice with D40 the switch to NP40 is pretty easy.

mts388 wrote: Our new balls last much longer than 6 hours.  I've never checked how long our balls last, but I'm guessing that they last 30+ hours.

From my experience, one club using NP 40+, say a ball new vs one used well over 6 hours, the service return is much easier with the used ball. I have always enjoyed bringing out a new ball to play vs players who practice with well used balls.

Edited by LUCKYLOOP - 10/01/2017 at 7:17pm

In any case before long we will mostly be using ABS balls made by DHS or Nittaku in US tournaments even if they have other labels. Eithe one is fine with me.

I think everyone who has been selling rebranded DHS cellulose acetate balls, including Joola and possibly Btfly (although Btfly may have been selling a DF ball) will before lomg sell rebranded DHS (or DF) ABS balls. They also know the cellulose acetate balls are bad but they didn't have a lot of options before. Joola eventually sold a seamless ball, and Btfly has their own G40 that is IMHO pretty disappointing. But as you say, we'll see. A lot of these companies had previous agreements with DHS so why not again in the future?

LUCKYLOOP wrote: Does anyone know what balls will be used for the men's and women's world cups this year ?

Again, this discussion is not taking into account whatever sponsorship agreements USATT may have to reduce their costs.

Since the DHS and Nittaku balls are not all that different, really USATT's costs should be the deciding factor.  We know that Nittaku balls are a lot more expensive for us but we don't know what kind of deal USATT may be getting.

I agree, I don't think the cost of the balls is an issue.  Sponsorship money would be important.  I also would like consistency.  I suspect that the NP has a multi year agreement.

mts388 wrote: LUCKYLOOP wrote: Then I think the USA should rotate the balls used yearly for the US Open and the US Nationals? So the Open and Nationals would use a different ball every year.  That means that ball sensitive players would also have to buy different balls for each tournament.  Would you be willing to make up the sponsorship money lost due to the changes?

Clarification, USATT should use the same ball for both tournaments in the same year, Nittaku Premium 40+ for 2017. I think they should use a different ball for 2018 tournaments, say the same ball to be used on the world tour for 2018.

Baal wrote: Again, this discussion is not taking into account whatever sponsorship agreements USATT may have to reduce their costs. Since the DHS and Nittaku balls are not all that different, really USATT's costs should be the deciding factor.  We know that Nittaku balls are a lot more expensive for us but we don't know what kind of deal USATT may be getting.

The USATT mission is to develop the National team for international competition. Then wouldn't it be appropriate to use a ball that their teams are most likely to encounter during the year. I don't think Nittaku should even be considered if they are not going to a competition that will be using it for a specific year.

Seriously, you can adjust between d40 and np40 in about one or two minutes. In the worst possible case, a day of training is enough. This is a non-issue. The only issue is cost. And that depends on what usatt pays, if anything. But if USATT did switch to d40 because they got a new sponsor I would be ok with it.

Baal wrote: Now this I don't understand.  If Nittaku donates balls to USATT for the two tournaments USATT organizes, somehow US players are getting fleeced as a result of Nittaku's generosity? You can train with D40+ and if you are really concerned you could play with Nittaku for a day or two before the event and be fine. Like I said, I like D40 balls, but in terms of quality control in general you get what you pay for.

WHAT IF it has generated an average of 10,000 or more ball sales per month in the USA ?

Edit Addition

Getting what you pay for:

Average hourly factory wage

Japan $7.30

China $2.00 usually do not get paid extra for overtime

Edited by LUCKYLOOP - 10/04/2017 at 11:53am

So what?  People should simply buy D40s for practice if they are concerned about the price of the ball.  It is the ball I use about 80% of the time.     

But bear in mind that the Nittaku is a very high quality ball.  It has the best playing properties of plastic balls (not 100% of people agree, but they would get more votes than any other ball).  So a lot of people are buying Nittaku who will never go to US Open or Nationals.  So it might be hard to claim that any particular sales figure they have is directly caused by their sponsorship of these events.

If Nittaku does get a sales bump from sponsoring these events, well that is the reason all manufacturers sponsor events.  And it makes the events better. 

All in all, this is some pretty crazy reasoning. I don't think we should criticize a company that donates balls to our national events, especially when a lot of people would say it is the best 40+ ball in existence.