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.
| Metric | Cheetah M45 | Dura Fast 40 | Franklin X-40 |
|---|---|---|---|
| One-Piece | YES | YES | YES |
| Seamless | YES | YES | YES |
| Hardness | 45 | 50 | 50 |
| Compression | Medium | High | High |
| Diameter (mm) | 74 | 75 | 74 |
| Weight (g) | 26 | 26 | 26 |
| Holes | 40 | 40 | 40 |
| Bounce (inches) | 32 | 32 | 32 |