SPORTSSTUFF Towable Booster Tube

This ball does exactly what it says it will do, keep the rope up out of the water on boats with low tow points and reduce the water spray in the eyes of the towable riders. It also greatly reduces the chance of submarining the towable, notice I did not say illuminates. Driver and rider experience has a lot to do with submarining too. Perfect and very well made. We tow the Big Mable couch style and chariot style with absolutely no issue (chariot style requires riders to distribute wait to rear until getting going, slow does not work well but haven't found a rider yet that wants to go slow chariot style anyway) behind a 23' pontoon with a 115 hp motor with tow points on the rear of the pontoons (maybe 1 to 1-1/2' max above water line). Prior to the ball I found it difficult to get a donut style, single rider tube outside the wake (even had a hotdog son that would stand on it and taunt me to knock him off) and my wife did nothing but complain about the rope spray in her eyes. Then I bought a Big Mable (two rider) tube and NEVER got it out of the wake, my adult sons (5 of them all over 23 yrs old) did nothing but complain that tubing behind a pontoon was for grandma's and would rather just anchor and swim. Then along came "the ball" (as we call it)!! Rope spray has become a non-issue for two reasons; 1) it is greatly reduced and 2) riders are too busy trying to stay on the tube (remember those 5 sons? LOL They now spend a lot of time and energy crawling back up on the tube! No matter which tube I am pulling and no matter couch direction or chariot direction, my pontoon is no longer being called a "grandma" boat). "The ball" now allows the tube to EASILY get outside the wake left and right and it kind of rolls across the water allowing for the exciting sliding of the tube left and right but keeping the rope taught so the severe rope snap is gone and no more whip lash! You want air? My wife refuses to ride chariot style after watching the boys but does get on couch style (grandma) and has not once complained of rope spray but then she is hanging on for dear life and exhausted when her turn is over so she's just laughing, smiling and too tired to complain of anything unless it's having to get off or going too fast! She has started riding more with the grandkids now because I won't try to dump them (they too will age and the ride will change! All in due time!). As for those that are experiencing the ball coming unzipped? Duh, turn it 180 degrees so that as the water is pushing the zipper up or so that it is being zipped up instead of being unzipped (or zipped down) by the water movement, seems like common sense to me! Have had absolutely no issues with it unzipping, just be conscience of what direction you are attaching it. Saw people complain of the size, really? Deflate it when you bring it in the boat, takes it less than 2 minutes to deflate (just be careful with the valve cause the inner bladder will move and the valve can be hard to find to inflate again, I hold onto the valve until it's totally deflated and folded up). Want to use it again, pull out your 12v air pump (Airhead AHP 12v High Output air pump) and wala in less than 3 minutes it's full once again. We store it under our small corner seat cushion on the pontoon with our ropes, takes up very little space. This was the best purchase since we bought the pontoon! Makes tubing with a pontoon viable and the tubes as exciting and fun as they are designed to be! I would have given this ball 100 stars if that was an option! If your having similar problems as I had just buy it and use you head when attaching and using it! Highly recommended! Take it from someone with 5 boys ages 23 to 39 that can make them all scream and yell during the ride, make them need to climb back on the tube many times in an hour and make them all complain of very sore muscles the next day! The grandkids not so much but as I said, they will age and the ride will change. Enjoy and safe boating!!

We have a lake house, 50mph tri-pontoon boat with a 200hp motor, and a jet ski. As such, we own a rediculous number of tubes, skis, knee boards, etc. When we're using a 2-point heavy tow harness connected to metal cleats on our pontoons (instead of a ski pole), the tow rope sits too low and drags through the water. Having the tow rope drag through the water does 2 things: 1) it increases drag on the boat (which can be a big deal either if you don't have a big motor, or if you're towing with a ski pole, because you can bend them if there's too much force / weight pulling from the tube). 2) it kicks water up in your face and eyes at 30mph, which is really, really, really unpleasant. Last year after a day of tubing and watching my kids get water painfully blown up in their faces, I got to thinking "man, someone should invent a big float you can attach to the tow rope, so it stays up out of the water". I started searching the web, and found the SportsStuff Booster Ball. WE LOVE IT. IT DOES JUST WHAT I WANT IT TO DO - it keeps the tow rope in the air instead of on the water, reduces drag on the boat and the tow harness or ski post, and ESPECIALLY it keeps water from flying up into your eyes at 30mph (if you want to know what this feels like, stand in your back yard and have someone spray your garden hose into your face at full force for about 3 minutes). We love the Booster Ball so much that we own 2 - one that we use and another as a backup still in the box, just in case the other one pops. And we use the Booster Ball when we're pulling with the tow harness AND when we're pulling with the ski pole (our boat has both). And this thing is very heavy duty - we've pulled some huge tubes with it, and have had several slowplow/nosedive badly, putting enormous force pulling against the Booster Ball, and it's held up and never leaked or popped. Like all tubes it requires having a little air added every few weeks. We love this. We'd buy it again if it were triple the price (don't tell SportsStuff). It does just what I want it to...

Works great! Keeps the rope up and out of the water. Dried quick So far a great product.

Quality is good. But if you have a post on the back of your boat the ball does not reach the water & it does not stop the water. Unfortunately the return window was closed before we used it. Hopefully this post can save someone some money.

My tube kept nose diving so I bought this and it’s been great ever since I think it helps make it more noticeable that you have tube riders in the water

OK, first of all, I have read a LOT of these reviews that give a person's opinion, but nothing to really base it on. Such as type of boat, size of engine what your pulling, etc. Some do include it, but most don't. To just say this is good or bad isn't enough to make a decision on in my opinion. So, with that said... -2011 Bass Tracker with 60HP engine, not exactly a competition ski boat. Some would say I shouldn't even be trying to pull anything with this boat. However, it's the boat I have and the kids want to play, so here we are. -We have an O'Brien Super Screamer Inflatable Tow Tube, 70-Inch and a SPORTSSTUFF 53-1818 Gyro Tumbling Action Towable. -Tube riders have ranged anywhere from about 110lbs up to about 260lbs. Pulling the tubes with a standard rope was doable, but you could certainly feel the drag on the boat. The spray from the rope hitting the water was a constant complaint from the people on the tube. Making turns with out dropping a lot of speed was tough as the rope would catch in the wake and create more drag. Adding this booster to our collection was one of the better boating decisions we have made. I am able to reach plane in the boat faster, maintain speed in turns better, there is less spray on the riders from the rope catching in the water and a LOT less drag on the boat. One major improvement was when coming out of a turn and the rider is getting that "slingshot" effect and swinging out beside the wake, the standard rope would always catch in the wake and it would create slack as the rider came around. If I didn't let off the throttle, when the boat took out the slack, it would result in a very strong "jerk" on the line (and I am not talking about the person on the tube). This booster rolls across the surface of the wake, allowing the rider to go even faster, since the line is held out ot the water, there is no slack and therefore no jerk on the line. If you have a really powerful ski boat with one of those racks that allow you to hook the tow line really high, this might not be an issue. However, if you a one of us with a fishing boat you are trying to pull a tube with, this thing is an awesome investment.

I had to come on here and leave a review because I have 4 TEENS and they all said at different times that this “works so well” “100% worth it” “oh yeah, that was a great buy” It reduces spray AND you don’t have to hold the rope after they fall off lol. It keeps it away from motor.

Our old one lasted about 6 years, so this is a pretty durable item. It works great if your tow point is low, because it raises the rope up out of the water (required if you're towing a tube behind a (3 seat) jet ski. It holds air very well.

Having towed using the jet ski with and with the booster ball, there is a massive difference in drag reduction using the ball. It also helps in keeping the rope outstretched, preventing it from being sucked into the engine. The product itself is great quality.

Actually reduces rope drag on the boat noticeably, very happy with the performance of this product and is very robust.