What's a Bocce Ball Made of ??
Perfetta Club Pro Balls shown in both red and green on the left are made from high grade solid resin plastic. Balls made in China are the 4 balls on the right. These are from 2 different Chinese manufacturers and are made from inferior materials. As you can see, the balls second from the right are filled with recycled materials. The balls to the far right are solid but made from low grade materials and are therefore prone to scuffing and cracking. When cutting both examples of the Chinese made balls the smell was exactly like the odor given out from auto body fillers. The stuff that that is known as Bondo and used as ding/dent filler when doing panel repairs on a car involved in a wreck. Look closely at where the groove patterns are cut in the balls and you'll see they they are white and powdery looking. Compare those to the Perfetta balls ( The 4 balls on the left side ) that have a consistent and deep color.
- If a ball is listed on a website as Imported but does not say from where or does not mention the country of origin at all then you can assume it is from China. After all any copywriter or marketer would leap at the opportunity to state Made in Italy.
- Almost every bocce set that is mass marketed in the USA by the "name brands" and are seen in the chain sports stores, come out of China.
- The "beauty" of the balls are barely skin deep. 1 days worth of play on any natural outdoor surface like, crushed granite, oystershell etc will knock the skin off and leave you with chalky looking balls that are very difficult to tell apart.
- In addition to this turning chalky the softer material means that the balls wear down in size very quickly.
- They often don't roll true, due to the uneven skins and materials in the balls. ( see pics )
- Are very prone to cracking and splitting.
- Have short or limited warranties that cover "workmanship"
If none of those things is important to you or you are a very occasional player then the cheap prices may be the best deal for you.
Look at the balls to the left below. The creamy material is just ding repair material that binds together the scraps from recycled materials. The big orangey slug in the middle is off center and the green materiel on the outside is thinner on one side, so this means the ball will not roll in a straight line!! Both balls could be cut with a hacksaw quite easily and the shiny surface was just that, on the surface. Not surprising these sorts of balls typically have a 90 day warranty and in some cases stretch to 1 year. But only against workmanship!! As they say beauty is only skin deep.
Below are Perfetta Club Pro Balls. It took a heck of a long time to cut these in half as the material is so hard. This consistent high quality material is why we give these balls a 10 Year Warranty against splitting or cracking!! Of course they roll true. The biggest surprise is that even though they are made in Italy, are clearly a superior ball, from the supplier to the World Bocce Champs held in Europe, 10 year warranty, they are not much more expensive than the rubbish that masquerades as a quality bocce ball, as seen above.
Some other examples of Chinese made sets that are very cheap.
