The pickleBALL Delia.
 

OK! First off this in not bitch thread. Most racket/paddle sports I ever played you have to furnish own balls.

Anybody notice the poor quality in pickleballs lately? Crack with couple games, egg shaped out of the package, or gets egg shaped after game or two, and some weird bounces. When compared to the Onix balls I play singles and doubles have over 75 plus games on one ball. Sure it scuffed up and when hot out it gets kind of soft, but the bounce is consistent.

IMO quantity over quality sometimes don't make sence or pays in the end, just my opinion. I don't know what the pickleball budget is in the districts but, I can guess it's Hugh with the amount of balls by the cases they go through? Ok ready for the flame jobs and I get it we all four are playing with the same ball. Durolast 40 balls are fine IMO, I just notice large amount of new balls not lasting many games with out cracking.

I play at Saddlebrook every morning and for at least 2 months we have noticed the same problem. Don't know if The Villages switched suppliers but the current pickleballs they are supplying are not lasting. Hopefully when they see that they are going through many more balls than normal they will investigate.

Get it done before November..I'll be playing at Mulberry!

Most of us have noticed the same thing...thought it might have been a bad batch, but it seems to have persisted for some time now. I have had games where I had to replace 2 or 3 balls in a single game because they have cracked. And you're right, there also seems to be a problem with balls that quickly loose their spherical shape.

We have noticed people bringing their own pickleballs. They are more of a mustard yellow than the ones furnished by TV. The people using them claim they last longer. Does anyone know the brand or where they got them? We don't see these people anymore.

I also noticed at Saddlebrook about a month ago that a batch of new balls bore the name "Pickle-Ball". They seemed to be as bad as the recent Dura-40's, the subject of this thread.

What is the process for exerting influence on the powers-that-be to possibly buy another brand ball such as the Onyx Pure 2?

Where I live we have switched to the Onyx Pure 2. They do last longer......cost more, but when the wear factor is considered the cost seems to even out.

I bought 2 dozen of my own for when I play public courts....I bought mine at pickleballcentral. Other places may be better.

I also bought a dozen orange ones just to try...most folks seem to prefer the mustard colored ones.

Frank

Has anyone notified the Rec Center managers where this is happening? Or you could contact the top guy in the Recreation Department.

VCDD Recreation

Recreation News

Same problem at Big Cypress. The manager has asked us to save the cracked balls to be sent back to the manufacturer. There have been different issues for the last few months. i'm sure one day they will make a change.

I have been here long enough to realize we have very little influence regarding the free amenities (this case Pickleballs) The Villages offers us. With that said they usually will repair or correct issues once they are aware of the problem, so I am relatively confident once they see the unusually large quantity of balls they are going through a remedy will be in the works.

The onyx 2 are about 3.25 each retail. I doubt they will ever spent that amount, which probably at least 3 times the cost, unless they get discounts for bulk? For us that want consistency it's personal investment. Some players refuse to play with onyx, for reason tournaments are played with other ball or blame the ball for poor technique.

IMO it's not cracked balls, but the egg shaped balls. Cracks ball could be from hitting the fence, pebble the court, cool conditions, manufacture process making them too brittle. Clipping ball with the edge of the paddle, just name few possibilities. IMO egg shaped is unacceptable.