The Never-Ending Ball Debate (and One That Surprised Us)

We’ve Heard It All—Until This One Came Into Play

If you’ve played more than three games of pickleball, you’ve probably had a conversation—or ten—about balls.

Not the strategy. Not the score. Not the dink rally of the century.

Balls.

“Is this cracked?”
“Is this the indoor or outdoor one?”
“Why does it bounce weird?”
“Who brought this mushy ball?”
“Wait, is this a Dura or an Onix?”
“Has anyone seen my Franklin?”
And so it goes.

There’s something borderline comical about how invested we all get in what’s essentially a piece of plastic with holes. But when you think about it, it makes sense. The ball affects everything—how fast the game feels, how high (or not) it bounces, how well it holds up after a few heated matches. So the quest for the perfect pickleball is, understandably, a kind of holy grail.

Recently, my regular pickleball crew and I decided to take a new ball for a test drive: The LT Pickleball.

We heard it was patent-pending and had some pretty clever design features, including evenly spaced holes and chamfered edges—which, in regular-person speak, means it’s built to move predictably, bounce consistently, and not crack after two games in the sun. A nice promise, right?

And you know what? After a few rounds, we actually noticed the difference.

There was a noticeable reliability to the bounce—no weird skids or mystery hops. It just moved the way you expected it to. Fast when you drilled it, soft when you dropped it. And unlike some balls that start to feel warped or dead halfway through a session, this one kept its shape and feel. No one on our crew called it “life-changing,” but no one asked to swap it out either. That’s saying something.

Of course, there’s no one perfect ball for every player or every game. That’s part of the charm (and chaos) of pickleball. But for those of us who spend an inordinate amount of time inspecting for cracks and chasing a “clean bounce,” the LT Pickleball is worth a try.