Friends and Affiliates
In the December 2018 Newsletter, I mentioned that in my opinion, the Jugs Indoor Lime Green ball felt only slightly lighter and only slightly softer than the now discontinued Onix Pure 2 Indoor ball.
The suggestion behind my opinion was that if you liked the playability of the Onix Pure 2 Indoor, then you'd probably like the playability of the Jugs Indoor Lime Green.
Little did I know that back in April 2017, one of our members, Petio Zahariev, had taken the time to dissect both balls and compare their specs!
Petio was kind enough to share his findings and his original article with us:
I wrote this article in April 2017, but with the return of the jugs ball at our club you may want to read it again.
Jugs ball was disapproved and later on reapproved by USPA.
PAO posted this document with all the approved balls, but does not recommend a specific one for play in Ontario: (http://pickleballontario.org/wpcontent/uploads/2015/04/ball_survey.pdf).
Onix ball was chosen as a game ball for 2017 tournaments in Kingston, Hamilton and London.
I dissected two new balls to find the difference. Here is the result:
| Specification | Jugs | Onix |
| Weight | 23 grams | 23 grams |
| Number of holes | 26 | 26 |
| Diameter of the holes | 11 mm | 11 mm |
| Diameter of the ball | 72 mm | 72 mm |
| Bounce from height of 78 inches | 36 inches | 36 inches |
| Material | plastic | plastic |
| Colour | lime green | orange |
| Price | $1.75 | $4.00 |
As you can see the only differences between the two balls are the colour and the price.
I am not going to discuss the price difference, as it is a no-brainer.
But the colour is probably the most important thing. You have to see the ball in order to hit it.
Ophthalmologists are saying that the most visible colour is light green. That is why the traffic lights are green and the traffic workers and cyclist are wearing lime green vests (http://mentalfloss.com/article/500751/most-visible-color-world).
I talked to a player who said that the Onix ball is heavier and flies faster. This is false. Any new ball will be a bit heavier and will fly faster.
Petio Zahariev
PAO member #1211