New Cheetah M45 Pickleball

The new Cheetah® M45 pickleball is a one-piece, mid-compression pickleball, designed to perform on outdoor surfaces and in outdoor conditions.

It meets all USA Pickleball requirements for tournament play and has been approved by USA Pickleball.

The Cheetah® M45 uses a rotation molding process that achieves seamless and even wall thickness. The M45s play fast, fly straight and have predictable bounces off the court and hits off your paddle.

The M in M45 stands for mid-compression. The 45 is the actual measurement of a Shore D Durometer, a device used to measure plastic hardness. The Durometer scale is from 1 to 100. The higher the number, the harder the plastic. USA Pickleball requires that pickleballs have a level of 40 to 50.

The other tournament-style balls have a Durometer measure of 50, making them high-compression pickleballs. Some people find them hard to hit and describe them as “hollow rocks”.

The Cheetah® M45s are fast and perform as well as the other tournament-style pickleballs but are more comfortable to play with. They can be compared to the Dura Fast 40 and Franklin X-40 pickleballs (see below).

Now recreational and competitive players can benefit from the performance of a one-piece, seamless pickleball and enjoy the feel of mid-compression.

MetricCheetah M45Dura Fast 40Franklin X-40
One-PieceYESYESYES
SeamlessYESYESYES
Hardness455050
CompressionMediumHighHigh
Diameter (mm)747574
Weight (g)262626
Holes404040
Bounce (inches)323232