Ping pong ball ratings

I've recently started playing again and bought some ping pong balls at the grocery checkout. They are terrible. They bounce funny, sound different every bounce. I went online to see about buying more and noticed they have a star rating system.  What is the difference between these balls?

Hi Ronald,

The 3 star balls tend to be harder with more regular shape as well.  Often the balls you buy that are cheap will be closer to an egg shape than a sphere...  They will also tend to be very soft as you have found.

I think for most players something in between the grocery store ball and the 3 star is the way to go.  There are good quality training balls that do the job well and are a little cheaper than the 3 star balls.

We do have an old video on Choosing a Ball that may help as well.