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Post by southbay11 on Mar 31, 2021 17:07:57 GMT -5
I’d be really curious about which top level players you’re talking about because every indication I’ve ever heard is that the US players prefer the Wilson. Let’s put something quantitative rather than speaking generally! Sandcast hypes up the Wilson all day, so I took that as a preference of both Travis and Tri, but maybe that’s just money talking. Also hearing Carambula talk about how much more he can do with the Wilson vs. Mikasa was a strong indicator for me. Every US player who plays internationally always gripes about missing AVPs and says AVPs are the best events hands down. I always assumed the ball had something to do with this in addition to proximity, crowd, rivalry, and less Monster Block chants. "The Wilson roundtable show with Stafford Slick, the McKibbin Brothers, and Tri Bourne" Yea, I would say the Sandcast hype is a little bit about a money/sponsorship opportunity. I just left Travis’s house. Money makes the world go round. Guess who their biggest sponsor is? Come out to 16th street and watch no one play with the Wilson ball except Troy and Eric. Lol Does that tell you “what” high level players? Then you can come out before an AVP event and listen to them all complain how dead the ball is and acts like a rock
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Post by wilbur on Mar 31, 2021 22:52:57 GMT -5
"The Wilson roundtable show with Stafford Slick, the McKibbin Brothers, and Tri Bourne" Yea, I would say the Sandcast hype is a little bit about a money/sponsorship opportunity. I just left Travis’s house. Money makes the world go round. Guess who their biggest sponsor is? Come out to 16th street and watch no one play with the Wilson ball except Troy and Eric. Lol Does that tell you “what” high level players? Then you can come out before an AVP event and listen to them all complain how dead the ball is and acts like a rock The pros at Hermosa are training with what ever ball they are playing the next tourney with... and that ball is whichever manufacturer won the bid to sponsor that tour. The optix is not as live as the Mikasa but it is not a dead ball compared to many beach balls. Most of the upper level rec players in Hermosa that are buying their own balls are spending $ on the optix and perfectly happy with them. Get off your high horse...
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Post by stephenasinjin on Apr 1, 2021 8:18:44 GMT -5
"The Wilson roundtable show with Stafford Slick, the McKibbin Brothers, and Tri Bourne" Yea, I would say the Sandcast hype is a little bit about a money/sponsorship opportunity. I just left Travis’s house. Money makes the world go round. Guess who their biggest sponsor is? Come out to 16th street and watch no one play with the Wilson ball except Troy and Eric. Lol Does that tell you “what” high level players? Then you can come out before an AVP event and listen to them all complain how dead the ball is and acts like a rock Nice job being quantitative. If I wanted to you try and flex that you live in Cali and hang out with pros I would’ve just said so. Agree with Willbur that they are training with whatever their next event uses, and right now that’s fivb. Additionally, when honing ball control skills the mikasa is less forgiving. Let’s not confuse training objectives with preference. I’ve used the same tactic myself at an amateur level. Training with the mikasa made passing with the Wilson that much easier.
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Post by southbay11 on Apr 1, 2021 13:51:24 GMT -5
I just left Travis’s house. Money makes the world go round. Guess who their biggest sponsor is? Come out to 16th street and watch no one play with the Wilson ball except Troy and Eric. Lol Does that tell you “what” high level players? Then you can come out before an AVP event and listen to them all complain how dead the ball is and acts like a rock Nice job being quantitative. If I wanted to you try and flex that you live in Cali and hang out with pros I would’ve just said so. Agree with Willbur that they are training with whatever their next event uses, and right now that’s fivb. Additionally, when honing ball control skills the mikasa is less forgiving. Let’s not confuse training objectives with preference. I’ve used the same tactic myself at an amateur level. Training with the mikasa made passing with the Wilson that much easier. Can’t wait to meet you. That will be fun
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Post by wyomingpancake on Apr 1, 2021 14:48:48 GMT -5
Nice job being quantitative. If I wanted to you try and flex that you live in Cali and hang out with pros I would’ve just said so. Agree with Willbur that they are training with whatever their next event uses, and right now that’s fivb. Additionally, when honing ball control skills the mikasa is less forgiving. Let’s not confuse training objectives with preference. I’ve used the same tactic myself at an amateur level. Training with the mikasa made passing with the Wilson that much easier. Can’t wait to meet you. That will be fun Lmao southbay you are a dumb a s s
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Post by pepperclove on Apr 3, 2021 18:12:37 GMT -5
Totally agree that the top players (and really all serious players) train with the ball that their primary tour uses - or the tour that they consider most challenging - rather than the ball that they personally prefer. That's interesting if players have commented that they prefer the Mikasa though. I've always believed the statements that the American players prefer the Wilson over the Mikasa, but maybe I'm naively accepting what they say to please sponsors. I personally haven't played with a Mikasa in years, although I hated it many, many years ago when a friend from Europe showed up with one. I haven't been impressed with the Optx so far. The ones I've played with feel hard and dead compared to the yellow and white Wilsons - just not as much feel, if that makes sense. Maybe they aren't broken in yet though (stupid COVID).
ETA - I also think the Optx is ugly.
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Post by midwestbeachbum on Apr 3, 2021 19:30:56 GMT -5
AVP Optx Spalding KOB AVP Yellow Ball Mikasa International (Distant 4th)
Everything else isn't even close
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Post by volleyballjim on Apr 3, 2021 20:23:02 GMT -5
Santa Cruz is a "sea of OPTX" . . . They're kicking the Wilson Yellow/White off the court lately . . . kind of ridiculous...Love or hate the look, you cannot find yours on a sea of courts as balls move around . . . Doctor it up with a Sharpie, it will just be camoflauged . . . Crazy...
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Post by Michael on May 12, 2021 8:51:42 GMT -5
Ok, so we're a couple months into the season, anyone change their mind or tried a new ball that they haven't played with before?
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Post by KAP on May 12, 2021 9:53:31 GMT -5
I think the results are pretty clear. Wilson is far and away the winner. A lot of people still like the Spaulding, but now that Mikasa took up the KoB mantle, no one is really interested. There are a few people who prefer the Mikasa FIVB, but they are a small minority. And any other ball is one that you would only play with if your local league or tournament has a sponsorship deal. The poll reflects exactly what my personal experience has been.
Seems like we are heading toward just Wilson and Mikasa as the two major ball manufacturers, with a few different version from each in circulation. I don't mind playing with the new Mikasa KoB. It reminds me of their NVL ball, and I have no complaints playing with it. Still prefer the Wilson, but if a league or tournament uses the new KoB, it doesn't bother me as much as, say, the Molten does.
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Post by ramo2653 on May 15, 2021 18:31:35 GMT -5
I tried to order more Spaulding KOBs for the bar league that I help run and we couldn't find any that weren't $75+ so we went with the Mikasa Beach Champ this year since they came in at $44 a piece. It's a small league since we rent the courts from the community center a block away from the bar and it's only 3 nights a week so it's not like we could get a group rate or anything.
It's fun to see the not as good teams try to play with the Mikasa since it doesn't punish you for bad form a little bit.
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Post by tafit on May 16, 2021 6:28:52 GMT -5
I can’t answer this personally but, every single top level player I talk to every day here in hermosa beach prefers the mikasa. They do nothing but complain about that Wilson ball. Lol Very strong indications that after this Quad the FIVB will switch to Wilson which nobody is happy about hope it doesn't happen, it would favour physicality over technique even more.
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Post by guest2 on May 16, 2021 6:37:11 GMT -5
I think the results are pretty clear. Wilson is far and away the winner. A lot of people still like the Spaulding, but now that Mikasa took up the KoB mantle, no one is really interested. There are a few people who prefer the Mikasa FIVB, but they are a small minority. And any other ball is one that you would only play with if your local league or tournament has a sponsorship deal. The poll reflects exactly what my personal experience has been. Seems like we are heading toward just Wilson and Mikasa as the two major ball manufacturers, with a few different version from each in circulation. I don't mind playing with the new Mikasa KoB. It reminds me of their NVL ball, and I have no complaints playing with it. Still prefer the Wilson, but if a league or tournament uses the new KoB, it doesn't bother me as much as, say, the Molten does. Its amazing that, after 30+ years of making awful volleyballs Mikasa is still in the mix (Most historians would mention the dangerous Suede Spike, but I particularly hated the beach ball-ish Mikasa beach pro the old 4 man tour used) Just goes to show that what really matters in BVB is who sponsors the pro tours. At the end of the day, no matter how bad the volleyball, people will play with it.
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Post by moderndaycoach on May 18, 2021 12:49:54 GMT -5
I can’t answer this personally but, every single top level player I talk to every day here in hermosa beach prefers the mikasa. They do nothing but complain about that Wilson ball. Lol Very strong indications that after this Quad the FIVB will switch to Wilson which nobody is happy about I’d be really curious about which top level players you’re talking about because every indication I’ve ever heard is that the US players prefer the Wilson. Let’s put something quantitative rather than speaking generally! Sandcast hypes up the Wilson all day, so I took that as a preference of both Travis and Tri, but maybe that’s just money talking. Also hearing Carambula talk about how much more he can do with the Wilson vs. Mikasa was a strong indicator for me. Every US player who plays internationally always gripes about missing AVPs and says AVPs are the best events hands down. I always assumed the ball had something to do with this in addition to proximity, crowd, rivalry, and less Monster Block chants. While I agree, both of those references get cut checks by Wilson...
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Post by stephenasinjin on May 18, 2021 13:49:34 GMT -5
I’d be really curious about which top level players you’re talking about because every indication I’ve ever heard is that the US players prefer the Wilson. Let’s put something quantitative rather than speaking generally! Sandcast hypes up the Wilson all day, so I took that as a preference of both Travis and Tri, but maybe that’s just money talking. Also hearing Carambula talk about how much more he can do with the Wilson vs. Mikasa was a strong indicator for me. Every US player who plays internationally always gripes about missing AVPs and says AVPs are the best events hands down. I always assumed the ball had something to do with this in addition to proximity, crowd, rivalry, and less Monster Block chants. While I agree, both of those references get cut checks by Wilson... So this actually got even more interesting for me. At the time responding to southbay11 I wasn’t aware of who that was. Knowing that now, I also follow the men’s side more religiously than the women’s. Southbay’s opinion actually makes a lot of sense to me because the players feel like they can put out that much more of a killer float serve on the women’s net vs. on a men’s net where the additional height of the net makes service pressure with a float serve that much harder, so topspin serves are utilized more, the mikasa is seen as poor. Additionally, I’d argue similarly when it comes to shotmaking, on the men’s side with the ridiculous physicality of blockers the Wilson allows more shotty players to compete and doesn’t force players to go bang every ball vs. on the women’s side where I’d argue more shooting occurs, it forces more precision of shots on a lower net where more and more shots seem untouchable. **edit** the mikasa forces more precise shotmaking on the women’s side on a comparatively lower net and slower defenders covering less court.
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