A bocce ball set is one of the few lawn games that works for a toddler, a grandparent and a competitive uncle at the same time, and the set you buy decides whether it survives more than one summer. The differences are not cosmetic: ball size changes how far kids can throw, ball material changes whether a drop on the patio chips it or not, and the case decides whether the set goes to the beach or lives in the garage. We looked at 10 sets from Trademark Games, Water Sports, GoSports and more, sorted by ball diameter, material and what actually comes in the bag.
Our top pick is the GoSports 90mm Bocce Ball Set for pairing a family-friendly ball size with resin construction that shrugs off concrete, and a carry case with a measuring rope that settles arguments. Below we sort the field by size and material so you can match a set to the people who will actually throw it. For cornhole, ladder toss and the rest of the backyard, our sports and outdoors section covers the adjacent games.
Pros
- 90mm balls are light enough for children and older players
- Solid resin rolls true on grass and sand
- Measuring rope settles close calls
- Reinforced carry case survives beach trips
Cons
- Resin can chip if dropped on concrete
- Lighter than 100mm sets for adults who want a regulation feel
GoSports' 90mm set is the one most families end up with, and for good reason. The balls are solid resin at a size that a child can throw underhand and an adult can still play seriously, and they roll consistently on lawn and sand.
The extras are the useful ones: a bright pallino, a measuring rope for the arguments, and a case with a handle that actually holds eight balls without the seams giving up. Owners report sets lasting many summers with the balls stored in the case.
The only real caution is surface. Resin chips on concrete, so keep it on grass, sand or a proper court.
Bottom line: the best all-round set for mixed ages and mixed surfaces.
- Ball diameter: 90mm
- Material: solid poly-resin
- Contents: 8 balls, 1 pallino, measuring rope
- Case: nylon carry case with handle
- Colours: 2 team colours, 4 balls each
- Recommended surface: grass, sand, dirt
Families with children, backyard barbecues and anyone who wants a set the whole group can throw comfortably.
Keep off concrete to avoid chips. Rinse sand off after beach play and dry before packing. Store in the case out of direct sun.
Pros
- Heavier 100mm balls roll and stop like a proper court game
- Same measuring rope and sturdy case as the 90mm set
- Well balanced resin
Cons
- Too heavy for young children
- Resin chips on hard surfaces
This is the GoSports set for adults. The 100mm balls carry real weight, which means they plough through longer grass, stop where they land and reward a good throw rather than a lucky one.
Everything else matches the 90mm set: rope, pallino, and a case that holds up. Owners who play regularly with other adults consistently prefer this size.
It is not a set for small children, and it needs a soft surface.
Bottom line: the pick for serious backyard play.
- Ball diameter: 100mm
- Material: solid poly-resin
- Contents: 8 balls, 1 pallino, measuring rope
- Case: nylon carry case
- Colours: 2 team colours
- Recommended surface: grass, sand, court
Adults who play often and want a heavier, more authentic ball, and anyone building a permanent backyard court.
Play on short grass or a stone court for the truest roll. Throw underhand with the fingers over the ball. Use the rope for every close call to keep the game friendly.
Pros
- Traditional red and green colours
- Solid resin balls with good balance
- Carry case included
- Long-established set with a big owner base
Cons
- No measuring rope
- Case handle is the weak point under heavy use
Trademark Games' complete set is the traditional look: four red, four green, a pallino and a case. The balls are solid resin and balanced well enough that owners rarely mention curving.
It lacks a measuring rope, which is easily solved with a tape measure, and the case is adequate rather than rugged.
It has been sold for years and the owner base is large, which is a good sign for consistency.
Bottom line: a solid traditional set for adults who want the classic colours.
- Contents: 8 balls, 1 pallino
- Material: solid resin
- Colours: 4 red, 4 green
- Case: carrying case included
- Size: adult
- Surface: grass, sand
Players who want the classic red and green set and do not need extras.
Add a tape measure or rope for close calls. Keep the set on soft surfaces and store it in the case.
Pros
- All-weather shell resists fading and chips
- Trusted sports brand
- Good colour contrast on grass
Cons
- Case is basic
- No measuring rope
Franklin's set leans on durability. The all-weather balls have a tougher outer shell than plain resin, which helps at the beach and on rougher ground, and the colours stay bright.
The bag is simple and there is no rope, so it is a set for people who care about the balls more than the accessories.
Owners like the durability and the brand's consistency.
Bottom line: a tough set from a known sports brand for beach and lawn.
- Contents: 8 balls, 1 pallino
- Material: all-weather resin
- Colours: 2 teams
- Bag: included
- Use: beach, backyard, lawn
- Brand: Franklin Sports
Beach players and anyone who wants a set that holds up to rough treatment.
Rinse off sand and salt after the beach. Keep out of the sun in storage. Avoid concrete.
Pros
- Full-size 100mm balls at the lowest cost here
- Solid resin construction
- Carry bag included
Cons
- Bag is thin
- Ball finish and balance are less consistent than GoSports
- No measuring rope
The Amazon Basics set gives you full-size 100mm balls for the least money in this group. The balls are solid resin and heavy enough for a proper game, and the pallino and bag are included.
Where it saves money is the finish and the bag. Some owners mention minor imbalance and a bag that tears under eight heavy balls. Neither ruins the game.
Bottom line: the value pick for adults who want big balls without paying for extras.
- Ball diameter: 100mm
- Material: solid resin
- Contents: 8 balls, 1 pallino
- Bag: nylon carry bag
- Colours: 2 teams
- Surface: grass, sand
Budget buyers and adults who want a regulation-size set for occasional play.
Consider replacing the bag with a sturdier tote if you travel with it. Keep it off concrete.
Pros
- Measuring rope included
- Full-size 100mm resin balls
- Bright, easy-to-see colours
Cons
- Bag is average
- Brand is less established than GoSports or Franklin
ApudArmis' 100mm set competes directly with GoSports' regulation set: heavy resin balls, a rope and a bag. The colours are bright and easy to track on grass, and owners report the balls roll true.
The bag is the usual nylon, fine for the garage and marginal for the beach.
Bottom line: a well-equipped full-size set at a competitive price.
- Ball diameter: 100mm
- Material: solid resin
- Contents: 8 balls, pallino, measuring rope
- Bag: carry bag
- Colours: 2 teams
- Surface: grass, sand
Adults who want a full-size set with a rope included.
Use the rope for close calls. Play on short grass. Store in the bag out of the sun.
Pros
- 90mm balls suit children and mixed groups
- Rope and case included
- Good value for a complete family set
Cons
- Lighter than 100mm sets for adults
- Resin chips on hard surfaces
ropoda's set is the closest rival to the GoSports 90mm: same size, same resin, same rope and case, at a friendly price. For families it is a very good buy.
The balls roll consistently on grass and sand, and the case does its job. Adults who want more heft should look at a 100mm set.
Bottom line: a strong family set that undercuts the leader.
- Ball diameter: 90mm
- Material: polyresin
- Contents: 8 balls, pallino, measuring rope
- Case: carry case
- Colours: 2 teams
- Surface: grass, sand
Families with children and casual players who want a complete kit.
Keep off concrete. Rinse and dry after the beach. Store in the case.
Pros
- Soft PE balls will not chip on concrete or hurt a child
- Very light and easy for small hands
- Rope and bag included
Cons
- Light balls do not roll like resin
- Not a competitive feel for adults
This ApudArmis set solves the concrete problem. The balls are soft polyethylene, so they will not chip on a driveway, will not mark a floor and will not hurt a toddler who gets in the way.
The cost is weight and roll. They are light and bouncy compared with resin, so the game feels different. For young kids and hard surfaces, that is a fair trade.
Bottom line: the set for driveways, patios and the youngest players.
- Ball diameter: 90mm
- Material: soft polyethylene
- Contents: 8 balls, pallino, rope
- Bag: carry bag
- Surface: concrete, indoors, lawn
- Weight: lightweight
Parents of young children and anyone whose only play space is a driveway or patio.
Throw gently on hard surfaces since the balls bounce. Works indoors on carpet or hard floors.
Pros
- Larger, heavier balls for a court-style game
- Classic red and green
- Case included
Cons
- Heavy for children
- No measuring rope
Trademark Games' regulation-size set steps up the ball size for players who want the game to feel like it does on a real court. The balls are solid resin and balanced well.
Like the brand's standard set, it skips the rope and uses a simple case.
Bottom line: a heavier traditional set for adult play.
- Contents: 8 balls, 1 pallino
- Material: solid resin
- Size: regulation style
- Colours: 4 red, 4 green
- Case: included
- Surface: grass, court
Adults who want a heavier traditional set and already know the game.
Add a tape or rope for close calls. Best on short grass or a stone court.
Pros
- Playable after dark
- Fun for camping and beach evenings
- Bright LEDs are easy to track
Cons
- Hollow, light balls do not roll like resin
- Needs batteries
- Not a competitive set
The Water Sports lighted set turns bocce into an evening game. Each ball lights up, so you can play on the beach or at a campsite long after sunset.
The balls are hollow to hold the electronics, which makes them lighter and bouncier than resin. Treat it as a novelty set alongside a proper one, not a replacement.
Bottom line: the set to pack for camping trips and evening parties.
- Contents: 8 lighted balls, lighted pallino
- Power: batteries
- Material: hollow plastic with LEDs
- Use: night play, camping, beach
- Colours: 2 teams
- Bag: included
Campers, beach-goers and party hosts who want a game that works after dark.
Remove batteries for long storage. Keep the balls dry and avoid throwing them hard on rocks.
How to Choose a Bocce Ball Set
Every set here has eight balls, a pallino and some way to carry them. The decisions that matter are the diameter, the material and whether the extras are things you will use. Start with size, because it decides who can play.
90mm or 100mm: Size Decides Who Gets to Play
Regulation bocce balls are 107mm and weigh close to a kilogram each, which is why almost nobody sells that size for backyard use. The two sizes that dominate the market are 100mm and 90mm. The 100mm balls from GoSports, Amazon Basics and ApudArmis feel substantial in an adult hand and roll with authority on grass; the 90mm balls from GoSports, ropoda and the ApudArmis soft set are light enough for children and older players to throw underhand without strain.
The honest answer for most families is 90mm. A ten millimetre difference sounds trivial, but the weight difference is roughly a third, and that is what separates a game the whole family plays from one where the kids give up after two throws. Adults who want a more serious feel and mostly play with other adults should go 100mm.
Grip matters as much as weight. A 100mm ball fills an adult palm and is thrown with the fingers spread over the top; a 90mm ball can be cupped, which is how children and players with smaller hands naturally throw. If the set will be shared between adults who play often and children who play sometimes, the smaller ball is the compromise that keeps everyone in the game.
Do not mix sizes across sets. A 90mm ball and a 100mm ball on the same court is unfair in ways that show up immediately, so buy the size you will stick with and replace the set as a whole if you change your mind.
Resin, Composite or Soft Polyethylene
Most sets here use poly-resin, a dense cast plastic that gives the balls their weight and a hard, glossy surface. It is the right material for grass, sand and dirt, and it holds up well to being knocked together. Its weakness is concrete: a resin ball dropped on a patio can chip, and a chipped ball never rolls true again. GoSports, Trademark Games, ropoda and Amazon Basics all use resin.
Franklin’s all-weather balls and the harder ApudArmis set are marketed for durability, which in practice means a slightly tougher outer shell. The ApudArmis soft PE set goes the other way entirely: lightweight polyethylene balls that will not chip, will not hurt a child, and will not roll with the same authority. It is the set for a driveway or an indoor floor.
The Water Sports lighted set uses hollow balls with LEDs inside, which changes the game into something that works after dark and at the beach. They are lighter and bouncier than resin, so treat them as a novelty set rather than a competitive one.
Weight, Balance and Whether the Balls Roll True
A bocce ball needs to be balanced, or it will curve on its own and the game becomes luck. Solid resin balls are naturally balanced because the material is uniform; hollow balls and balls with internal electronics can be slightly off. Owners of the better resin sets rarely mention curving; owners of lighted and very cheap sets mention it often.
Weight also affects how the game plays on different surfaces. Heavy 100mm balls plough through longer grass and stop where they land; lighter 90mm balls skip and run further on hard ground. If your lawn is long or uneven, heavier balls give a more predictable game. On sand, everything stops fast and the difference matters less.
Check that the two colours are the same weight. Better makers cast both sets from the same mould and material; a few budget sets have one colour noticeably heavier than the other, which owners discover the first time two balls collide.
The Pallino, the Rope and the Case
The pallino is the small target ball, and every set includes one. Look for a bright colour that shows up on grass; white pallinos vanish in clover. A measuring rope, included by GoSports, ropoda and ApudArmis, ends the argument about which ball is closer, and it is the accessory people are happiest to have.
The case is where sets differ most. Eight resin balls weigh a lot, and a thin nylon bag with a single handle will tear at the seams within a season. Sturdy cases with reinforced handles, like the GoSports and Trademark Games cases, survive being carried to the beach and thrown in a trunk. A hard case is rare at this level and not necessary.
Some sets include a scoring card or printed rules on the case, which is useful for the first few games and irrelevant afterward. Do not pay extra for it.
Colour and Visibility on the Lawn
Traditional sets use two colours of four balls each. Red and green is the classic pairing, and it works on grass. Some sets use four colours of two balls each, which lets four people play individually instead of in pairs; it is a nice option for families and a nuisance for team play, so decide how you will play before buying.
Contrast against the surface matters. Dark green balls on a lawn are hard to find at dusk, and blue balls disappear against a pool deck. Bright, saturated colours with a pattern or stripe are easiest to track, especially for children.
Lighted sets solve the visibility problem completely after dark, at the cost of ball quality and batteries. They are the right set for camping and evening beach games, and the wrong set for a proper backyard court.
How Much Space You Need and What Surface Plays Best
A regulation court is about 90 feet long, and nobody in a backyard has that. The good news is that the game scales down gracefully: a strip of lawn 30 to 40 feet long and 8 to 10 feet wide gives a proper game with 90mm or 100mm balls, and a shorter space still works if you agree to throw the pallino a set distance. What matters more than length is that the strip is reasonably flat, because a slope turns every roll into a guess.
Short, dry grass is the ideal casual surface: the balls roll predictably and stop within a few feet. Long or damp grass slows everything down and favours heavier balls, which is one reason 100mm sets appeal to people with big lawns. Packed sand at the beach plays fast and flat near the water and slow up by the dunes, so pick the strip before you throw the pallino. Crushed stone or decomposed granite is what real courts use and what a permanent backyard court should be built from.
Boundaries help. Owners who play regularly often mark a court with rope, garden edging or a couple of boards, which keeps balls from disappearing under the hedge and makes the out-of-bounds call simple. None of the sets here include boundary markers, and none need to; a length of rope from the garage does the job.
Casual Set or Regulation Feel
If you want a set that feels like the game played on a proper court, buy 100mm resin balls with real weight: the GoSports 100mm regulation set or the Trademark Games regulation set. They roll and stop the way the game is meant to, and they reward skill.
If the set is for barbecues, kids and mixed groups, buy 90mm and prioritise durability and the case. The GoSports 90mm set and the ropoda set are the best all-round choices here, and the ApudArmis soft PE set is the right pick when the play surface is concrete.
Whatever you buy, store the balls out of the sun. Resin fades and can get brittle after years of UV exposure, and a set kept in its case in the garage will outlast one left on the deck. The patio and garden section covers the rest of the backyard setup.
| Set type | Ball size | Material | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Family all-rounder | 90mm | Solid resin | Mixed ages on grass or sand |
| Regulation feel | 100mm | Solid resin | Adults, backyard court |
| Soft set | 90mm | Polyethylene | Driveways, indoors, young children |
| Lighted set | Varies | Hollow with LEDs | Camping and evening beach games |
Our full article index lists every guide we publish, and the category directory covers the other outdoor games.
Why You Should Trust Us
We assembled this list by comparing the published specifications for each set, including ball diameter, material, ball count, case construction and included accessories, against the way owners describe using them over seasons of play. We looked for the patterns that repeat across thousands of owner reports: which balls chip, which cases tear, which sets roll true, and which ones families actually keep playing with.
We weighted durability and playability above accessories and marketing claims, and we favoured sets whose size and material match the way most families actually play. Where a maker’s description and owner experience diverged, particularly on case quality, we said so in the individual reviews.
Final Thoughts
The GoSports 90mm Bocce Ball Set is our best overall because it gets the three things right that decide whether a set gets used: a ball size that everyone in the family can throw, resin balls that hold up on grass and sand, and a case with a measuring rope that survives being carried around. It is the set to buy if you are not sure who will play.
The Amazon Basics 100mm Bocce Ball Set is the best value for adults who want full-size balls at the lowest cost and can live with a plainer case. For a regulation feel, the GoSports 100mm Regulation Bocce Set is the best for serious backyard play, the ApudArmis Soft PE set is the best for young children and hard surfaces, and the Water Sports Lighted Bocce Ball Set is the one to take camping.
Pick the size first, then the material, and keep the set out of the sun between games. The store list shows where each brand is currently discounted.
Bocce Ball Set FAQs
What size bocce balls should I buy?
For families and mixed groups, 90mm. They weigh roughly a third less than 100mm balls, which is the difference between a child or an older player enjoying the game and giving up. For adults who want the game to feel closer to a proper court, 100mm. Regulation balls are 107mm and rarely sold for backyard use. Whatever you choose, keep all your balls the same size; mixing sizes makes the game unfair immediately.
Can you play bocce on concrete or a driveway?
You can, but resin balls will chip on hard surfaces and a chipped ball stops rolling true. For concrete, a driveway or indoor floors, choose a soft polyethylene set like the ApudArmis soft PE balls, which will not chip and will not damage the floor. Resin sets belong on grass, sand, dirt or a proper bocce court of crushed stone.
How many people can play with one set?
A standard set of eight balls supports two players with four balls each, two teams of two with two balls each, or two teams of four with one ball each. Sets with four colours of two balls each also allow four individual players. For a large party, two sets played on separate courts works better than crowding one court.
How do I store bocce balls so they last?
Keep them in the case, in a garage or closet, out of direct sun. UV exposure fades resin and can make it brittle over years, and heat inside a car trunk can soften some balls. Rinse sand and dirt off after beach play and let them dry before packing them, since grit trapped in the case scratches the surface. Handled that way, a resin set lasts many seasons.
Are lighted bocce balls worth it?
For camping trips and evening beach games, yes; they turn a game that normally ends at dusk into something you can play in the dark. As a primary set, no. Lighted balls are hollow, lighter and less consistent than solid resin, and they need batteries. Most families who own one keep a resin set for the backyard and the lighted set for trips. The sports and outdoors section covers the camping gear that goes with it.
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