Red Ping Pong Balls (And Why You Shouldn’t Buy Them)

Last Updated on April 25, 2024 by Alex Horscroft

For whatever reason, there seems to be quite a lot of demand for red ping pong balls. I can’t quite put my finger on the reasoning. Why not, yellow, green, or any other color? In any case, I thought I’d discuss red ping pong balls today.

The Rules Regarding Ball Color

While table tennis balls can come in any color, only two colors are used for competitive play: this is white and orange.

According to rule 2.3.3 of the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) “the ball shall be white or orange, and matt”

So this means you won’t see any other colored balls for serious matches. In fact, you seldom see orange for international events. It’s more commonly used at a lower level. Especially in venues with white backgrounds where you lose the ball easily. Even then some players refuse to use them.

The Quality Issues With Red Balls

As a result of red balls being classified as illegal under the current ruleset, quality manufacturers do not make red table tennis balls. This instead leaves non-reputable manufacturers to supply the puzzling demand.

You can garner a ball’s quality by its star rating (provided it has an ITTF logo on it). 3 stars is the highest with 1 as the lowest. However, red balls have no rating so you can’t immediately tell how good the balls are. But if I’m being realistic, no red balls are going to be very good for the reasons I have previously mentioned.

Why You Might Want Red Balls

Now that we’ve ascertained the quality of these balls to be very low, there are only a few use cases that remain. The first is as a novelty ball to surprise and wow other players you play with. Many will have not used one before. And it may lead to some funny interactions. Of course, this novelty will not last very long at all.

The second reason to buy red balls is if you are going to use them for beer pong. For this use, it really doesn’t matter about the quality of the balls so you can really buy whatever.

Some Options

Jedulin Red Ping Pong Balls

This listing is for a bundle of 50 balls, and they work out to $0.24 per ball which isn’t that bad. You can also pick up lots of other colors besides red. At the moment they are the most popular red balls on Amazon.

But remember you should only buy them for beer pong. There are quite a few comments from disappointed buyers who purchased them intending to use them for table tennis.

Game Over Red Ping Pong Balls

These are the true definition of novelty balls, but you’ll have to pay more for them. You get 6 balls per pack, and they work out to over a dollar per ball making them very overpriced in my opinion.

The benefit of using table tennis balls for beer pong as opposed to real table tennis is that they don’t take much punishment. As a result, they won’t crack. Even if they do, you can still use them provided the balls aren’t falling apart. Consequently, this 6-ball pack should last you a long time.

The Takeaway

While red ping pong balls look pretty funky, you should only ever buy them for beer pong, not for playing table tennis. Their quality is extremely lacking which will ultimately lead to disappointment if purchase them with the intention of training.