Going pro with the official Wilson AVP game volleyball
The Wilson AVP is the official beach volleyball of the American AVP Tour and probably the most popular outdoor volleyball in the US. And for good reason. It is a high quality product from a well-respected brand. There used to be some discussions regarding production in recent years. Obviously Wilson has been producing in China and Vietnam and customers repeatedly reported about quality issues with the Vietnam version. Wilson says they are now only producing in China and that all issues have been resolved.
The Wilson AVP volleyball comes as a microfiber composite leather ball. The material is supposed to provide greater resistance to dirt and less moisture absorbency. The 18 panel construction comes up with a modern design and graphics in yellow, grey and black that support easy ball spin detection.
What are the pros?
The Wilson AVP beach volleyball is probably the closest you can get to what the AVP professionals use. However, as Wilson states themselves, the game balls for the AVP Tour do still have different specifications and stricter quality controls.
Nevertheless, this ball convinced us in terms of quality, handling and ball control. We found clean hand-setting to be extremely easy with this ball. Moreover, for driving hard, repetitive attacks, this ball is extraordinary. And we didn’t find any pressure loss, air pressure of the Wilson AVP is very stable even after extended hours of play. Being an official game ball, you can be sure to get an official weight and size volleyball. Since we didn’t have any issues at all, we cannot comment on the Wilson customer service. But all sources we spoke to tell us that they have a strong customer relationship management and that all potential issues are usually being resolved professionally.
Any downsides to be mentioned?
Well personally, being used to playing the Mikasa VLS 300 most of the time, we found the Wilson to be slightly harder. Especially beginners might find that arms are slightly hurting after extended play. For more experienced players, this shouldn’t be an issue.
Regarding the above mentioned production topic, there might still be some Vietnam-produced versions out there in the distribution channels. So if you are unlucky enough to receive one of those, just send it back and request a new one. If it is “Made in Vietnam”, you can find the code “CJX“ above the barcode, for “Made in China” it is “BKZ”.
And since this is a premium product, it is definitely on the pricier side. We still think it is worth the invest considering life span and value you receive. And as usual, if you end up buying the Wilson AVP volleyball, let us know how it goes in the comments section below.
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