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I only play outdoor pickleball here in the bay area, so I have been able to test many balls to find the best outdoor pickleball balls. And because I enjoy balls so much, I try to play with a new ball almost every single game to really understand how different balls play on the court.
Here’s my top outdoor pickleball ball choices:
- Overall Best Outdoor Pickleball Ball: Franklin Sports Outdoor Pickleballs – X-40 – Check Price on Amazon
- Best Outdoor Pickleball Ball for Spin: Core Pickleball Ball – Check Price on Amazon
- Runner-Up Outdoor Pickleball Ball: Onix Pure 2 Outdoor Pickleball Balls – Check Price on Amazon
- Best Budget Outdoor Pickleball Ball: AiteFeir Pickleball Balls – Check Price on Amazon
- Best Runner Up Budget Outdoor Pickleball Ball: Asbocar USAPA Approved Pickleballs – Check Price on Amazon
Thankfully, when you look on Amazon or wherever else you are looking, you generally will find a much bigger discount if you purchase in bulk. For example, at the time of this writing, a Franklin Sports Outdoor Pickleballs – X-40 3-pack cost $9.47 on Amazon, but a 100-pack cost $147.43, which reduces the cost per ball from $3.16 per ball to $1.47 per ball.
In terms of budget balls, I was able to find outdoor pickleball balls in the $0.60 – $0.70 range recently that I will discuss later.
That’s a lot of balls though. That said, I just purchased the famous Erne pickleball machine that houses 150 outdoor pickleball balls, so I guess it’s not out of the realm of reason. For that purchase though, I may purchase the absolute cheapest outdoor pickleball balls I could find.
How Long Do Outdoor Pickleball balls supposedly last?
I play my balls for a while, but I recently read that pickleball balls have a maximum performance of 3-5 games. That said, I have played many more games than that with the same balls.
That said, I cannot find myself purchasing pickleballs as often as tennis balls, so I took that with a grain of salt.
For example, I have been playing many matches with my X-40’s and haven’t seen much variability in game use.
1. Best Outdoor Pickleball Ball: Franklin Outdoor Pickleballs X-40
The Franklin outdoor X-40 may be one of the most marketed pickleball balls out there, but is it worth the hype?
I believe so.
The ball is lighter than other balls I’ve played with in the past, but the bounce profile feels really good.
Also, this ball has quite a bit of pop to it, which makes a fun playing experience, and overall my favorite ball.
Finally, when purchasing in bulk, its actually comparable to my favorite budget ball, so I’ve considered going 50/50 with a friend and purchasing 100 balls.
2. Best Outdoor Pickleball Ball For Spin
I like to compete pickleball balls against each other to see which has the best characteristics. Recently, I was testing Core outdoor pickleball balls with my new Core Reaction Pro Paddle.
I have never seen a spin on a pickleball like the core pickleball balls, and I have played with a lot of outdoor balls.
One memory, in particular, is that I was on the left line returning a serve, and I was able to put a spin that was barely missed the back left line, but it had such a huge spin that it nearly hit the fence.
I have never done that before with any ball, which is why I believe the Core outdoor pickleball balls are the best right now for spin.
Runner-Up Outdoor Pickleball Ball: Onix Pure 2 Outdoor Pickleball Balls
The Onix pure 2 outdoor pickleball definitely feels like the heaviest ball I’ve played with recently. Per Amazon, the ball weighs 27.2 grams, which was noticably heavier than the Franklin X-40s that are 25.99 grams.
Because of the weight, my friend noted that the Onix pure 2 played more like a tennis ball, which was great for him with a tennis background. I played racquetball, so I wasn’t able to capture the same advantage of him, and he was able to beat me 11-9 with this ball.
Best Budget Outdoor Pickleball Ball:
The Asbocar USAPA Approved Pickleballs were previously the top outdoor budget pickleball, but I believe the AiteFeir outdoor pickleball balls currently dethroned that.
The AiteFeir balls were .$75 per ball and were competing against another ultra-budget ball: Navona 48 Pack that was $.62 per ball.
The play didn’t even come close. The Novona’s should work fine for my Erne pickleball machine, but I would not use that in gameplay. The balls felt small and the bounce was way too high compared to most outdoor pickleball balls.
On the other hand, the AiteFeir’s played similar to other outdoor balls, and at that price point, I don’t think you can find a better ball.
I believe the price for both of these balls would also compete with Alibaba and AliExpress where I had been looking before.
Runner Up Budget Ball: Asbocar USAPA Approved Pickleballs
I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this pickleball ball, but the price didn’t rival the AiteFeir’s which is why these moved to the runner up budget ball.
I found that this ball had quite a bit more bounce than the Franklin Sports X-40, the Onix Pure 2 Outdoor pickleball, and other balls that I tested.
So, if you like a big bounce to your outdoor pickleball play, then this ball is for you. I will also note that I won a very close match with this ball with a close friend that I had never won before.
And, I did that with this asbocar picklelball ball, and my favorite beginner pickleball paddle, which is less than $30 on Amazon.
So, while it’s a budget ball, I really love this ball and can’t wait to play with it again.
Differences Between Outdoor Pickleballs and Indoor Pickleballs
If you are playing mainly indoor pickleball, these pickleball balls may not apply to you. While you can play with outdoor pickleball balls, indoor pickleball balls have more holes and are often lighter because the balls don’t have to live up to the elements of wind, rain, etc. in outdoor play.
There are numerous differences between the balls, including that outdoor pickleball balls have 40 small holes while indoor pickleball balls have 26 large holes. While I could write out the differences, I found that Net World Sports graphic in their article does more justice, so I wanted to provide a picture and link to it if you’d like to learn more.
Conclusion
There are numerous differences between outdoor pickleballs, which make choosing the right ball essential to your game. If you are like me, check out some of the best outdoor pickleballs out there and figure out which one works best for your game.
Sources:
- Title: “How Long Do Pickleballs Last?” Retrieved on April 9, 2024. URL: https://www.justpaddles.com/blog/post/how-long-do-pickleballs-last/
- Title: “THE ULTIMATE GUIDE TO PICKLEBALL BALLS” Retrieved on April 12, 2024. URL: https://www.networldsports.com/buyers-guides/pickleball-ball-guide