Wall Ball, although a relatively new gym accessory, is now an essential product in commercial gym and training centers.
If you are looking to buy, we are here to help! With over 10 years of experience in the world of gym equipment and accessories, we have the knowledge to guide you on how you can buy the best wall balls for your gym. Our expert advice is something you would never want to miss!
Before we dive deep into the technicalities, be informed that you will find wall balls with multiple other names. Some of them are Functional Training ball, handball, and weight ball. So whatever you may hear, remember it means wall ball.
Table of Contents
Manufacturing Materials For Wall Ball
Wall balls are used every day in a commercial gym, hence their quality deteriorates over time. Their price ranges from $50 to $100. To ensure that your wall ball lives it’s expected life, choose a product that is manufactured using the best quality material.
- Cover
Wall balls are used by throwing them against the wall, therefore, they should be strong enough to bear that impact. The cover for wall balls can be made using a variety of materials such as synthetic leather (PVC and PU), kevlar, and vinyl.
To verify the strength of the wall ball cover, Yanre Strength sends them to third-party testers.
Kevlar
Kevlar is a newly developed organic fiber composite by Dupont. It is one of the best materials to be used as a wall ball cover. Their durability is because of their high strength, good tenacity, and low density.
As compared to the steel that is used in bulletproof vests, armored vehicles, tanks, and most of the other military equipment, Kevlar is 5 times stronger but has ⅕ of its density. Quality wall balls have a Kevlar covering.
However, there are multiple replicas of this material, so make sure the manufacturer is using the original kevlar.
Vinyl Coating
There are multiple features in vinyl coated wall balls that you should carefully check to verify its quality. It should be durable to bear the pounding impact against the wall.
It should be moisture and scratch-resistant so that it does not leave marks on the wall. Lastly, it should be strong enough to prevent cracks after continuous use.
Synthetic Leather
Synthetic leather provides a strong grip and is very durable. This property makes them perfect as wall ball cover because they can withstand the throwing impact. There are two types of synthetic leather: PVC and PU.
PVC synthetic leather is more durable than PU leather. It has an average lifespan of 2 to 3 years. PVC leather is manufactured in 3 grades i-e 500D, 600D, and 1000D. For best anti-slip performance and wear resistance, 1000D PVC leather is used.
PU provides the best feel and touch. It closely resembles natural leather. However, it is less durable than PVC leather and has a wear-resistant capability of fewer than 500 times. Due to this lower durability, its average lifespan is 1 year only. It is also very slippery so users’ hands can get wet after some use.
- Fillings
Two types of fillers are used in a wall ball:
- Shape-retaining filler
- Weight filler
Shape-Retaining Filler
Shape-Retaining fillers are meant to prevent wall balls from deforming. Rags, rubber, and polypropylene cotton are some of the most famous options for this purpose. Rag filling is uneven and deforms quickly due to its poor elasticity. A slightly better option is cotton wool. However, it also deforms after some usage.
The best type of shape-retaining filler is polypropylene cotton. Among all other types of fillings, it has the best plumpness, durability, and elasticity.
One of the many reasons why it is the best candidate for filler is its weight-transferring property. Instead of absorbing, it transfers moisture that makes it less prone to bacterial buildup and improves its capacity to prevent deformity. These qualities of polypropylene also make it desirable to be used as the first filter layer in water purifiers.
Yanre Strength uses polypropylene cotton fillers in their wall balls to ensure they do not deform and last a long time.
Polypropylene cotton is of two types i-e colored polypropylene cotton and pure white polypropylene cotton. You will find pure white polypropylene cotton in quality wall balls because of their durability. However, it is more expensive than its colored counterpart.
The elasticity of polypropylene also plays an important role in the quality of wall balls. To ensure maximum elasticity, make sure that the polypropylene is of the highest grade. Generally, a quality wall ball will have 7D to 15D polypropylene cotton for the best elasticity.
Weight Filler
Weight filler is used to increase the weight of the wall ball. Weight fillers can be of various types. Some of the popular options are rubber particles, mineral sand, yellow sand, and iron sand. The cheapest option for weight filler is yellow sand. Cheaper wall balls have a high proportion of sand to minimize production costs.
Yanre Strength promises not to use yellow sand as weight fillers in a wall ball.
Wall balls having yellow sand weight fillers are not allowed in some countries. These regulations are to avoid the entry of possible parasites in that country. Therefore, if you are looking to import wall balls filled with yellow sand, make sure to check the respective rules and regulations in your country.
Commercial quality wall balls below 9kg are filled with rubber particles, while wall balls above 9kg are filled with iron sand. Some manufacturers might mix mineral sand and yellow sand with rubber particles and iron sand to minimize the cost.
Weight fillers have a separate cover inside the wall ball to prevent them from scattering inside or outside the ball. You have to check the quality of that cover as well. Quality wall balls have a strong oxford bag to hold the weight fillers. Whereas, cheap wall balls have a plastic bag.
Buying Considerations
- Materials Used
Before buying a wall ball for your gym, ask for a sample product. Open the ball up to its last layer to check the quality of materials used in its manufacturing.
- Sewing Techniques
Since wall balls are continuously hit against the wall, the quality of its sewing plays a huge role in its durability. The sewing should have small and strong stitches to ensure they do not tear during pounding impact.
Quality manufacturers even used double or triple stitching to reinforce their strength. It makes the ball more durable and suitable for intensive and high-speed training.
Besides double or triple stitching, some manufacturers also use a special technique to reinforce the stitches. It involves folding the hem after the first stitch and sewing it again.
This type of stitching increases the firmness of the ball. If a wall ball has protruding stitches, it means that the wall ball is double stitched.
- Balance
The filling of a wall ball should be evenly distributed and densely filled to make a well-balanced wall ball whose internal components do not move during use. A balanced wall ball will move in a similar motion each time, reducing the risk of injury that might be caused due to irregular motion.
To test this feature, roll the ball for about 3 meters. If it travels in a straight line, it means that the wall ball is evenly balanced. You can also check this by throwing it against the wall. If it comes back to the throwing point, it means that the weight is evenly distributed and has an ideal center of gravity.
- Feel/ Grip
Wall balls should have excellent shock absorbance because of the nature of their use. It is significantly important in cases where a wall ball may be missed and hit another surface. If it has a high impact absorbance, it will reduce the risk of injuries.
- Impact Absorption
Carefully check the impact absorption of your wall ball. Since they are used by throwing them against the wall, there are times when the user misses catching them. In that case, if the wall ball has high impact absorption, it will reduce the chance of injuries.
- Warranty Period
Compare the warranty period and the falling test results of the wall balls from different manufacturers. Choose one that has the longest warranty period and has the maximum number of accepted falls. It will ensure that the wall ball is wear-resistant.
While checking the figures for the fall test, ask about the test height and number of falls. Ideally, it should have approximately 2000 repetitions from 4 meters high fall.
Manufacturing Process
The steps through which a product is manufactured using raw materials is known as the manufacturing process. Before buying a wall ball you should understand its manufacturing process. It will help you in inspecting the factory protocols and better negotiate with the seller. The more knowledge you have, the better you would be able to judge the quality of the product.
General Fitness Balls vs Wall Balls
At first glance, the wall ball, slam ball, and medicine ball look the same. However, they have multiple differences between them, mainly in their usage purpose, material, size, and grip.
- Wall Ball
A wall ball is used by throwing it against the wall. It is designed to absorb the pounding impact. They are filled with weight filler and shape fillers to increase their shock absorbance. It is important because wall balls bounce back towards the user after hitting the ball.
Therefore, they should be soft enough not to cause an injury. Wall balls are larger than slam balls and medicine balls.
- Medicine Ball
Medicine balls, as the name indicates, are used in medical settings to improve neuromuscular coordination and muscular strength. They are strong, heavy, and durable to bear heavy impact. Similar to slam balls, they are not bouncy.
- Slam Ball
Slam balls are heavier, durable, and harder than medicine balls and wall balls. They are smaller in size, having a diameter of around 10 to 11 inches. They are filled with gel or sand. They do not bounce a lot because they are designed to be dropped again and again.
So if a slam ball bounces a lot, it will be difficult to control its motion. They are manufactured using vinyl shells or hard rubber to bear constant force.
Conclusion
We hope that after reading our best wall ball buying guide, you now understand all of its important features and components. This knowledge will surely help you in making the best purchase. If you still have any questions, please feel free to contact us for more information.
Choose Yanre Strength’s affordable and quality wall balls for your commercial gym. We would be happy to send you a custom price quote.
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