Customer Reviews

Molten GL7 Official FIBA Olympic Leather Indoor 29.5 Basketball

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This basketball will deceive you when you first receive it because it does feel like a cheap, synthetic outdoor ball. It will also be very slick; I guarantee you that on more than one occasion it will slip right out of your hands when going up for the shot, especially if your hands are sweaty. And nobody will want to play pick-up games with it either.

That being said however, one must remember that this is a leather basketball and it must be broken in. My brother has the NBA ball and when it was new, it was just as slick and "cheap" feeling as the Molten ball. But once these balls are broken in, they're the best basketballs you'll ever play with. Leather basketballs are practically the opposite of synthetic balls -- a synthetic ball feels great when new, but becomes hardened and slick over time; a leather ball feels hardened and slick when new, but ends up feeling great over time. Even better than great: the more you use it, the more it is bounced and played with, the more the ball absorbs the properties of the gym, the better it becomes.

So here's my advice if you get this ball: go to the gym and work on your dribbling and work on your shot. Ironically, because it lacks the grip of synthetic balls (until it's broken in), it actually forces you to properly shoot and dribble the ball. And once it's broken in, you'll wonder how you ever played the game all those times with the synthetic balls.

I have a blog about review the research on products that I recently purchased and one of my latest entries is about The Top Indoor Basketball Ball. At the time I have never played with a Molten ball but just yesterday I got my chance to play with one and I must say it is definetly one of the best balls on the market. I still think the Wilson Evolution is the best ball for indoor basketball but the Molten GL7 is up there with the Evolution.

To check out my list of Top Indoor Basketballs please check out my blog:

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I received this item at the end of November 2011. Fantastic packaging, secure. I was concerned about the ball being warped in transit.

When you first open and handle the Molten GL7 Indoor Leather Basketball 29.5, you it feels like it's a fake because it is so slick. You search all over the internet for reviews and images to vet it's authenticity.

After that, I decided to give it a try and shoot with it. I have spent a month practicing with it 3 to 4 times a week. Needless to say, I have grown accustomed to the feel and I love it. I have read where it has been described as a 'shooters ball' and I tend to agree with them. It has 12 panels instead of 8 which allows your finger tips the extra channels to increase the rotation. It doesn't have the tac that new micro composite basketballs have, but I agree with one reviewer and this ball forces you to shoot correctly (using your legs with elbow in and high release with the extra rotation that the extra channels provide).

With all this said, I still haven't convinced any groups that I play with twice a week to try it in our pick up games.

The fiba ball is as good as advertised. If you're looking for authentic leather you won't find it because these balls are composite leather.

I was pretty excited to buy this ball because of the olympics and it's awesome looks. It still looks good, and shoots well, but it feels plasticy. I had a lot of people tell me that it must be an outdoor ball, and it does feel kind of cheap.

This is supposed to be the softest genuine leather on a basketball available... but out of the box it feels like a rock. There is absolutely no grip and for a second I thought it might be plastic. It has good weight and I like shooting it, but dribbling, passing and rebounding this ball is annoying. Absolutely NOT worth the $80. Even though I despise Wilson, I suggest an Evolution.

This feels like a cheap vinyl outdoor ball. I don't see how they can call this an Indoor Leather ball. It's not leather and it does not have a good feel like a typical indoor leather ball.