Last week I was digging through some old sports gear in my garage when I spotted that beat-up soft maple timber volleyball my cousin mailed me months ago. Looked fancy with its rubber coating and maple panels, but I’d never bothered to test it. Grabbed my gym bag and decided to give it a proper trial at Thursday’s beach practice session.

First touches

Unwrapped it right there on the sand – felt way lighter than the synthetic leather balls we normally use. Tossed it to Jake for a quick warm-up pass. Instant surprise: the grip was ridiculous. Even with sweaty palms, that rubber coating let us whip crazy spin serves without the ball slipping. Made my float serves dip harder too, like it cut through the air better.

Court testing

We ran full 6v6 scrimmages for two hours in brutal heat. Normally by this point, my forearms would be stinging from passing those heavy balls. This maple thing? Felt like passing clouds. Seriously. Less wrist strain when setting, and spiking didn’t bang up my palm bones like those rock-hard Mikasas. Even when Dave spiked one straight into my face (accident, he swears), it just smooshed instead of leaving a nose bruise.

Durability check

Figured it’d get wrecked by sand and sweat, but nah. After wiping it down, the seams looked solid. Dropped it from shoulder height on concrete – bounced straight up, no wobble. That maple core must be doing work. Played three more sessions this week, still holding shape while our club’s standard ball already needs pumping.

Why everyone’s obsessed

At post-game beers, our team listed why this thing rules:

• No more slippery disasters during humid night games
• Arm fatigue cut by half during marathon tournaments
• Spins like a demon but keeps flight path true
• That soft thwack sound when you ace someone? Pure satisfaction

Honestly thought the maple timber thing was hype before. Now I get why my pro buddies swear by it. Definitely becomes an extension of your hand instead of fighting you. Grabbing two more for next season – just hope the league doesn’t ban it for making serves too nasty!