Mikasa BV550C Update (How's the new ball once it's worn in?) 

Haha yeah.. "I was even thinking I had a fake one" kinda says it all.. 😅 Let's hope this ball just becomes a shorter 1-2 year semi-failed experiment in the history of beach volleyball, rather than a 12 (or whatever) year long era like the previous ball..

Thanks! :)

Agree with you here, with the addon that the feeling of the BV550c gets better with time once it loses its "newness". But I do like the fact that the new ball floats a bit less and "drops" a bit more with topspin, probably because of the dimples. I think the perfect ball would basically be a hybrid between these two, a ball with the material of the VLS300 but the dimples from the new ball..!

Interesting! I'll try it out! I have for the time being gone into a period of "only jump topspin serves" to the point that I get a lot of reps of it even if it sometimes puts me at a disadvantage. But when I find the topspin serves they produce a fair bit of aces which is cool, I'm thinking it might be a real weapon once I get my consistency up a bit more! But I will definitely explore other serves as well, new ball=new areas to explore!

Interesting! I don't think I have played with this ball in heavy rain yet, but I guess it will happen soon enough.. Were you playing with a brand new ball or a couple months old ball when you observed this?

@@LearnBeachVolleyballFast I’m pretty sure the balls were new because it was in the challenge of Itapema

@@gabrielsantiago648 Ah yes makes sense! I think they will be better in terms of slipperiness once they are worn in a bit more, but I guess as I said in the video, I feel a bit sorry for the players who will always be playing with brand new balls at events.. 😅

Hey! Thanks for the commemt, I had to look it up because I had never heard about the ball! It seems to me (actually this website says so: sportraffic.com/product/mikasa-training-beach-volleyball-ball/) that this is the new version of the VXT30 ball.. VXT30 was like a cheaper version of the VLS300, but not a ton cheaper and not super bad, it was still a very playable ball! So yeah, when it comes to you and what you should do, I'm not quite sure! If the quality is similar to the old VXT30, it's definitely a playable ball, except that some people maybe wont play with it just because its not the official one.. On the other side, for example Wilson tends to make these cheap "replica" balls that are cheap copies of their real balls, and these tend to be really plastic etc and arent really nice at all to play with.. Not sure if I'm helping you with your decision. Does the surface of this ball have the dimples, in the same way as the Mikasa indoor balls and the BV550c?

Get the VLS300 :)

Hey! Good question! So my stance has changed a bit during the year the more experience I get with the new ball. In short, I am still critical tothe BV550c when it's new, simply I think its too plastic and not entirely round. However, after a few weeks of play it becomes way better. It becomes round enough in my opinion (maybe not 100% perfection round but not like you clearly see it's not round when the ball spins and you are about to handset it) and the material becomes much more like the VLS300 once its a bit worn in. In the beginning I seriously thought the ball was so bad that I thought it will get discontinued and replaced within a year or two. I still wouldn't be super surprized if that happened, but my guess is it will stay with us a few years. So in the end, if you live in a region where people generally play with the Mikasa brand, I'd get a BV550c and live a few weeks with the non-roundness and slipperiness of it, it becomes better after a while and the dimples do make serve receive a bit easier (still not as easy as the Wilson ball, but something inbetween the Wilson and VLS300), so in the end I think it is a slightly better ball than the VLS300. If the people in your area don't care whether you have a VLS300 or BV550c, and budget is an issue, and you just want a nice Mikasa ball to play with, I'd see if you can find a good discounted deal on a brand new VLS300. Some people also sell their used ones for a good price, grabbing one that is used but still in good condition is not a bad move either. Hope this helps! :)

@@LearnBeachVolleyballFast thank you for the fast and detailed answer, that greatly helped. I´ll try to strike a deal for a VLS300

@@Ollowayn Nice! Hope you end up happy with what you get!

Interesting! Never seen this ball, would love to hear from someone who has experience! :)

Yeah, that might be the case with those too, I guess people reacted more harshly to the "un-roundness" of these new ones, but I persanally kinda think they are both round enough to be good balls.

I was scared when I got mine. I have it at 3lb psi. I'm newer to the sport and am not used to this issue.

What?? Really? Where did you hear that??

This could be some very good news if it's true..

@@zerrrep Wow. This is groundbreaking if true. Any chance to talk with you for 5 minutes on a video call?

@Ozzy P Hahaha I like the edit! 😅 I understand, in case you want to get in contact for any reason: alex@learnbeachvolleyballfast.com

Hahahah! 😅😅 Maybe that's the way to do it... As long as you don't live in a rainy place, I think the Wilsons are fine. It's when they get waterlogged that those balls really show their ugly side..

@@LearnBeachVolleyballFast Yea they get super heavy. Do the new Mikasa balls get heavy or.. They have a pretty good repellant coating even after it's worn out?

@@MeepMeep88 Haven't experienced this new Mikasa in rain so much yet, but guessing it will be kinda like the old Mikasa, meaning hold up well. All balls seem to get heavy from salty oceanwater though if you let it dry in, I already saw one of these BV550C balls be heavy. But that's more the fault of the players than the balls. But in my experience the Wilsons get heavy even from fresh rainwater, and that I'm not a fan of..

Hahaha, oh man.. 😅 I'm not quite as negative as you, but in many ways it's a downgrade except for the dimples. I'd wanna see a VLS300 with dimples!

😂 hate that shit (sorry not sorry)