7 Best Pickleball Balls | Buyer’s Guide & Reviews

Like ping pong paddle and badminton, Pickleball is a sport for all ages and fun if you are playing with the appropriate equipment. Once you have brought your best pickleball paddle and the pickleball shoes then you need pickleball balls to start your game immediately. We will review different pickleball balls and their types in this well-researched guide because all the balls are not similar.

There are a lot of brands like Onix, Dura, and Gamma etc selling indoor and outdoor pickleball balls that is approved by the USAPA for tournament play.

Pickleball Balls

A pickleball ball is alike to a wiffle ball. Pickleball balls are made of resilient plastic and come in different colors. The balls are made through a rotatively shaped one-piece manufacture process, after cooling, holes are drilled beyond the ball. All the balls are not similar, some balls come with big holes and some are small. The ball has different weight and size. Many novices think that the balls need to swap on a consistent basis but it depends on your frequency of play.

If you don’t know How to play pickleball and its rules read more here.

Pickleball Balls Indoor vs Outdoor

There are two types of ball available in the market; the indoor and the outdoor balls; it is easier to differentiate when u recognized the ball a little more. Let’s explain

Indoor Pickleball Balls

The indoor balls are lighter (0.8 oz), softer and smaller than the outdoor balls. It has 26 larger holes because there is no need to fight weather or wind. The indoor balls are easier to control but more tough to hit hard. It is designed to play on wood or solid surface.
The indoor balls are available in almost all rainbow color; white, orange, green, blue, yellow, pink or black, each venue have a diverse color surface so choose the color which fit your venue.
The USAPA governed a legal bounce obligation for pickleball ball is that the ball once dropped from 78 inches height must bounce less than or equal to 34 inches.

The durability and bounce of the ball affected by many conditions like;

The indoor ball is used inside are and last longer than outdoor balls

Outdoor Pickleball Balls

The Outdoor balls are weightier (0.9 oz) than indoor balls, it also has a tendency to damage more rapid as compared to indoor balls due to disclosure from the sun and uneven court surface. It has a smaller 40 holes and especially design to hold the windy condition.
The sturdiness and the bounce of the ball is affected by many conditions like;

The outdoor balls are used outside the open area.

I know you have a lot of question in your mind about the material of the ball, its construction, its sturdiness, its brand etc. You will get all your answers in this guide just read it till the end, we will cover many aspects in the Buyers’ Guide section of this post.

Let’s look at the compiled list of the best pickleball balls of 2018

Best Pickleball Balls of 2018 | Indoor and Outdoor comparison Table

High Quality | USAPA Approved | Trusted & Tested

Product Name	Indoor/Outdoor	Weight (oz)	Price $$
Onix Pure 2 (Editor's Choice)	Outdoor	0.88
JUGS SPORTS	Indoor	0.81
TOP ball	Outdoor	0.88
AMAREY	Indoor/Outdoor
Dura Fast 40	Outdoor	0.91
Gamma	Indoor	0.71
Midnight Pickleballs	Indoor

Best Pickleball Balls 2018 Reviews

1. Onix Pure 2 – Best outdoor pickleball ball (Editor’s Choice)

If you are seeking a high-quality outdoor pickleball then I would like to recommend you the Onix Pure 2. Its yellow color is extremely visible. The small holes and heavyweight are extremely perfect for windy condition and fly straighter. It is ideal for outdoor use. We have tested its bounce while playing outdoor and it fulfills the USAPA obligation for the bounce rate and delivers the maximum unswerving and accurate bounce during the game. It gives a very enjoyable response when you smash the ball. It is recommended for outdoor use and aggressive play.

Let come to discuss its properties;

Feature

2. JUGS SPORTS – Best Selling Indoor Pickle balls

If you are searching for the indoor pickleball then the jugs sports might be the worthy choice. These balls are made of soft plastic with a big and uniform holes. It’s come in two different cheerful color pack; the lime-green and the white. When we test its bounce it comes to meet to USAPA requirements for bounce height of 37” and competitive play.

The construction & design of the ball is very precise and balanced. The Jugs claims that the ball will be last 30% longer than any other ball of its kind.

Feature

3. TOP ball – Best Budgeted Pickleballs

If you are looking for 40 holes high quality outdoor pickle balls then TOP ball would be good choice. It’s available in neon-green, white, orange and yellow colors. The ball flight straight and have a decent bounce. The design of ball is robust and you can smash it hard without feat of its breaking or cracking.
It is recommended for outdoor play on the concrete floor.

Features

4. AMAREY

If you are looking for pickleball balls that can be used both indoor and outdoor then I recommend you to go for Amarey brand. The design of the ball is similar to whiffle balls. The ‘hard plastic’ high quality material is used in manufacturing process to increase the life span of the ball.
It delivers a terrific straight flight even in windy condition and a good bounce rate. The exceptional joint welding offers better strength and resists splitting.

Suggested for indoor and outdoor use, and aggressive players.

Features:

5. Durafast 40 - Pickleball

The Dura is the oldest brand in the field of pickleball equipment’s and producing very high-quality equipment, they also invented the company named “Pickle-Ball, Inc”. Let move to discuss the pickleballs that are produced by the Dura.
The Dura balls are specially designed for outdoor use but they claim that you can use it as indoor. We have tested its plastic quality and it is superb. The ball is made by injecting hard liquid plastic into the mold. The mold is closed and rotated multi-directionally to feast the plastic equally round the walls of the mold and it's producing a strong 1 piece ball.

The ball is available in white, yellow, neon and orange colors. It is suggested for outdoor play off-the-cuff games and practices.

Features:

6. Gamma – Foam Quiet pickleball balls

If you are living in area with noise restriction or noise ordinance is imposed in that area and you want to play pickle ball without the ball making noise, then answer is simple you should go for the Gamma Foam quiet pickleball.
The ball is made out of foam which helps to reduce the noise level but the drawback is you would not get the plastic pickleballs features.

Also, the ball is whether restricted, if you used outside the wind and the rain can affect its flight.  The ball is available in yellow color and it is recommended for indoor use and practice sessions.

Features:

Best Pickleball Balls - Buyer’s Guide

The Pickleball balls selection Guide will help you to choose which ball is best for you? A ball is chosen according to different criteria. The first to take into account is your level:

1. Indoor/Outdoor

We discuss indoor and outdoor pickleball in the intro section of this post, kindly read it here.

2. Bounce

The USA Pickleball Association governed a legal bounce obligation for pickleball is less than or equal to 34” that the ball once dropped from 78 inches height. So before choosing the ball make sure it fulfills the USAPA obligation for bounce height.

3. Material

Most of the pickleball are manufactured from thermoset (hard) plastic like melamine, acrylic, epoxies etc.
High degree heat gives to these plastics and then successively cooled down and molded into product shape by drilling the holes. The higher grade plastic is more suitable for outdoor balls.

4. Manufacturing & Durability

The pickle balls are manufactured with two methods;

1. Injection molding (give 2 halve shape)
2. Rotational molding (give 1 piece shape)

Mostly the outdoor balls are made through injection molding, while indoor balls are made through rotational molding.
The outdoor balls are much robust while the indoor balls are softer. Outdoor balls frequently crack at the joined and indoor ball lose its outline with nonstop play.

5. Color

The pickleball comes in different rainbow colors like white, orange, yellow and green. The choice of color depend on different conditions; if you play in a sunny day then yellow is brighter and more visible while if you paly mid-night time then while would be suitable color. If you play in the evening with low lights then neon or lime-green would be appropriate.

6. USAPA/IFP Approved

The Pickleball must full fill all the obligation of the USAPA and IFP, read the official specification for pickle balls here.

7. Brand

As fame raises, many brands twinkling on the market and claiming that they provide the best quality pickleball. After thorough research and compiles the best brands and show you in the form of a list, that includes the Onix, Dura & Top for the outdoor ball while Jugs & Gamma for Indoor balls.

8. Price

The should also consider while choosing the pickleball, the cheaper balls would be low quality and break a lot and lead to losing your hard earned money, we have listed the balls with great prices, the list also contains the best-budgeted pickleball, if you are in tight budget.

What are the Provisions of an Official Pickleballs?

Here I extract the summery of the USAPA & IFP form their official website for Pickle balls, you can read full details here.

Pickleball Balls FAQs

Conclusion