Results from experiments showed that coating the SKH51 balls without previously shot peening resulted in less wear rate compared with the shot peening followed by coating. In addition, the results from scratch tests showed that coating the SKH51 balls with AlCrN-PVD, without previously shot peening, resulted in the maximum adhesion strength to SKH51 substrate material. As a result, coating with AlCrN-PVD gave the best result in terms of minimum wear rate.