When it comes to outdoor pickleballs, the Franklin X40 pickleball has long been a favorite for clubs and tournaments — but it’s not the only game in town. CORE recently introduced the Impact, a ball designed to match the X40’s feel, bounce, and performance, but at a lower cost. I spent over 10 hours play-testing it in different colors and conditions to see if it truly stacks up.
Review
I’m a big fan of CORE’s ‘normal’ outdoor ball. It is now my go to ball as it plays almost as firm as a DuraFast 40 but lasts much longer. CORE has a second ball, the Impact, that was designed as an X40 competitor and CORE was nice enough to send me a 3 pack of each color to play test. The colors are green, yellow, and orange.
Physical Comparison to the Franklin X40
The balls, across all colors, averaged 26.1 grams. The lightest was 25.8 grams and the highest 26.3 grams which I’ve found to be a pretty common spread regardless of brand when it comes to roto-molded balls. CORE was not kidding when they said the ball was produced as an X40 competitor. Holding green versions of both balls side by side, one would have an extremely hard time knowing which was which. Out of the box, both have a slightly textured/matte finish; the CORE ball is every so slightly more matte (X40s came direct from Franklin, ones I’ve bought at Walmart have been shiny). The hole pattern is identical to the X40 which is different from CORE’s normal ball. Bounce height from 78” was identical to the X40 as well. The translucency and the smell of the plastic used was indistinguishable from the X40 and the hardness of the plastic was the same on my durometer.
On-Court Performance
I’ve now got about 10 hours of play time with the Impact, rotating it in with an X40. Just like with the physical similarities between the two balls, they played exactly the same. There was no way I could have distinguished which ball was which during play. I also played a small amount with the yellow and orange versions just to make sure they played the same and they do. I can’t really speak to durability other than to say that I didn’t have one crack during testing. The X40 I was using as a control also didn’t crack. Temps were between 70 and 90 degrees for all play sessions.
My Recommendation
For me personally, the Impact and Franklin X40 are a bit too soft for my liking and I’ll be sticking with the normal CORE ball. However, if your club uses X40s or you like the X40 then you should really give the CORE Impact a try.
