Ball check valve is a check valve in which the disc, the movable part to block the flow is a spherical ball. They are employed to automatically stop flow in the back direction when the fluid in the line reverses. The interior surface of the seats of ball check valves are more or less conically-tapered to guide the ball into the seat and/or form a positive seal when stopping reverse flow. They are commonly used in liquid or gel mini-pump dispenser spigots, spray devices, some rubber bulbs for pumping air, manual air pumps as well as refillable dispensing syringes. High pressure HPLC pumps use small inlet and outlet ball check valves with balls made of artificial ruby and seats made of artificial sapphire, both for hardness and chemical resistance.

Ball control valves have been adapted from the automation of simple on-off valves to automatic control valves designed specifically to accurately control the process. Ball control valve handles a rangeability of 300 to 1, notably higher than butterfly control valves that offer 20 to 1. They are also suited for slurry applications or those processes with fibrous content (such as wood pulp). The rotary action of the ball provides a shearing action against the seal, which allows for clean separation of the process during closure. Tight shut off is a characteristic of ball control valves, since the ball remains in continual contact with its seal.