It’s amazing how much Pickleball Ball Color affects visibility and play. With so many different colors available, how do you choose the best pickleball equipment for you? We delve into the Science behind the color of Pickleball balls. AND we also reveal which pickleball ball uses the exact same color as a tennis ball specification. For real… can you guess which one? Let’s take a look.
Do Pickleball Ball Colors Affect Visibility and Play?
The simple answer is YES, pickleball ball color affects visibility and play. It also impacts the way spectators enjoy the game.
Regulation pickleball balls must use an optimal color for high visibility on all court surfaces and lighting conditions. But what is that color? And how can it impact your performance on the court? Let’s take a look, and start with the official pickleball equipment colors.
What Is The Official Color of Pickleball Balls?
There is no “official color” for Pickleball balls. But the USAPA regulations clearly state that a pickleball must be one solid color to be approved for Pickleball Tournament Play. This applies to indoor pickleball and outdoor pickleball play.
The Pickleballs used in tournaments, such as Major League Pickleball (MLP) or the Carvana PPA Tour, have approved ball sponsors. These pickleballs can vary between tournaments, and they can have a different feel and design, but they are all generally one color. Let’s look at what that is…
The History of Yellow Pickleball Balls
It’s not surprising that Pickleball has taken its most used ball color from its bigger racquet sport brother, tennis. All Pickleball tournament balls are yellow, and there is a reason for that.
When tennis first started out, tennis balls were white. In 1972 the International Tennis Federation (ITF) introduced yellow tennis balls into the rules of tennis. Research found the optimum color to increase ball visibility for television viewers was the yellow ball.
The new yellow ball was tested on all court surfaces, and it provided the best contrast on grass, clay or hard courts. The change in ball color improved the ball visibility for TV viewers, spectators at the game and of course, tennis players.
This same research and standard can be applied to Pickleball. The yellow ball has the most visibility on all court surfaces, indoor or outdoor. And most importantly, it is highly visible for TV viewership and spectators at the game. And that is because of the contrast of the ball and court surface.
READ MORE: Interested in the History of Pickleball Balls, Check out this Super Post about the evolution of the Pickleball ball.
Contrast Between Ball Color and Court Surface
Pickleball is unique where it can be played anywhere. The courts are so small, and do not need to be purpose built. So Pickleball can be played on tennis courts, basketball courts, churches, halls and malls. A high contrast, visible ball is important for this reason.
Pickleball venues are all different, and can have different floor surfaces and variable lighting. And that is why the color of the ball is so important.
These visibility factors can impact the game for some players. A ball color that can remain visible and can create a contrast on the ground, the roof and surrounding areas is important. Luckily there are a few options to help with ball visibility.
Let’s take a look at the best ball colors and their advantages.
Popular Pickleball Ball Colors and Their Advantages
Pickleball balls come in almost any color you like. Most players can happily play with any color, with yellow being the standard color. But other ball colors are worth considering if the court environment isn’t ideal or if the player has a visual acuity impairment. Let’s look at a few choices.
1. Yellow: The Classic Choice
- The yellow pickleball is a classic color, inherited from tennis.
- It has the best contrast on most court types.
- The official ITP tennis ball color is called “optic yellow”.
- All Pickleballs are a shade of yellow, but the Franklin X-40 and X-26 both use the “optic yellow” color. This little known fact is another direct link between Pickleball and tennis.
2. Red & Orange: High Visibility Option
- Red and Orange balls are great alternatives for those with low vision.
- Solid colors such as red, orange (and yellow) are the easiest to see because of their ability to reflect light.
- These colors work well for indoor play and outdoor play.
3. Green: The Hi-Vis Choice
- Green balls are known as a “hi-vis”, or neon green color.
- They can have better visibility under artificial lighting conditions.
- Hi-Vis balls can also be effective in outdoor games.
There are so many colors available. Yellow, red, orange and green pickleballs are the most visible of all the colors for most lighting and environmental conditions.
Now let’s take a look at why these colors are the best choices, using some color science.
The Science Behind Ball Colors
Although Pickleballs are usually yellow, the most visible color for the human eye is considered to be green. This is because of how the human eye processes colors. The optimal color can differ depending on two scenarios.
1. Daytime Vision
For daytime vision, know as photopic vision, the human eye is most sensitive to light at a wavelength of 555 nanometers. This is a bright green, but the color sits right between green and yellow. That is why the yellow color of a tennis ball, can be mistaken for a green. Or vice versa.
2. Night Time Vision
For night time vision, known as scotopic vision, the human eye is most sensitive to light at a wavelength of 505 nanometers. This is right between green and blue.
The Visible Spectrum Chart
Let’s take a look at the visible spectrum chart from color expert, Jacob Olesen.
As you can see, the range for Indoor (555 nm) and outdoor (505 nm) pickleball colors are right in the middle of the spectrum. Using this chart for visibility, you can see the yellow and green colors are the best for high visibility.
All of the other colors are visible to the human eye and can be used for Pickleball. But yellow and green will be the most visible. Because of SCIENCE….
Choosing the Right Ball Color for Your Game
For most pickleball players, the trusty yellow pickleball will be fine under most lighting conditions. The color is designed to have the highest visibility and most players should have no issues playing with it.
However, visual impairments are common. With 8% of the US population aged 65 and older (almost 20 million Americans) with some form of visual impairment. And there are similar numbers around the globe for visual impairments.
Most players can adapt after playing a couple of games on a new surface, or in a venue where the lighting may not be great. But if seeing the standard yellow ball becomes an issue, it might be worth trying different colored balls.
If this doesn’t help, it could be a more serious visual issue. And this is where a visit to your local doctor is recommended,
Innovative Color Technologies in Pickleball Balls
Pickleball innovation is a never ending journey. Pickleball companies continue to develop the latest ball technology. And this includes ball colors.
Glow-in-the-dark pickleball balls for night play are new (and a bit of a novelty). But some great advancements have been made in ball colors from the new Vulcan V-Pro ball.
The hi-visibility color is a brighter yellow that leans more towards green. And looking back at the color spectrum, the color is closer to the optimum 555 nanometers. This makes the V-Pro technically more visible than other pickleball balls.
It would be great to test out these new balls and see if that slight color change makes any real difference on visibility. And ultimately, game enjoyment.
READ MORE: There is more to Pickleballs than their color. We recently had a look at what Pickleballs Are Made Of. It was a great look into the “special Sauce” that goes into making Pickleball balls.
Final Thoughts
There we have it. With so many colors to choose from, the optimal color for any pickleball ball is yellow or green. These colors sit closest to the 555 nonometers of the color spectrum that is most sensitive to the human eye.
But playing a game with a neon pink or pure white ball could be fun too. And the Bros must admit, we look forward to seeing the Vulcan VPro in action, in all its neon glory one day soon. But for any player, if you stick with the USAPA Approved Balls, or more specifically, the Pickleball Balls used in Tournaments, you should be fine.
If you have a fave color or maybe even a color you hate, let the Bros Know. We’d love to hear about it. Until then…
Pickle On!
The Aussie Pickleball Bros.
References:
There was research involved in understanding color theory and the science of seeing colors. We also spent some time on the history of tennis ball colors and how that relates to Pickleball balls.
- Color-Meanings.com: Visible Spectrum Overview Colors Wavelength
- MentalFloss.com: The Most Visible Color in the World
- Nasa Website: Visible Light
- ThoughtCo Website: Understand the Visible Spectrum
- Franklin Website: Optic Yellow X-40 Pickleball
- International Tennis Federation Website: History of Tennis Balls
- International Tennis Federation Website: Approved Tennis Balls Guide
- Foxsports Website: Reason Tennis Balls Are Yellow
- Quora.com: Most Visible Color to the Human Eye
- Live Free Healthcare Website: Colors Can Make a Difference to a Person with Low Vision
- Health Policy Institute: Data on Visual Impairments in the US