Now I recently own these cue balls: Aramith red measle ball, Predator Arcos II cue ball, Centinnial Cue ball, and now just ordered the Aramith Black Measle cue ball (from what I've read on this web site). I have my own tests but I would love to read what others who know how the best cue ball reacts. Please let me (and us) know what your tests are. Many thanks.
I have to write that the stroke is the most concerned in this contest. My pool teacher (Robin Dreyer) has a stroke about equal to Earl. He can bend the cue ball twice as far as I can with high english on a rail. THAT, I think is the magic to pool.
But, besides all the "stroke" issues, tell us how you rate the cue balls that are available.
What tests would show which one is "better" or "worse" in this case? It's very likely what you think of those is not what others think of them and vice versa. What are we looking for exactly? How long they roll off a ramp? How shiny they are? Logo and how it looks when you are aiming at it? First we need a "good" range of results and what is a "bad" range, that has been gathered over the years as good qualities to have. And we also need to keep the table variances out of it, much of how the cueball or the balls in general react has to do with the table they are used on, cloth wear, cloth brand/model, how it's installed, how the rails are, temperature, humidity levels, and so on. What are the test constraints?
About the only two thing I can think of that you can measure without subjective criteria is you can do a crushing test in a hydraulic press and use a microscope to find out which surface is smoothest. Strongest and smoothest are likely to be the "best". Although I have to say I would not want my cueball to be too smooth as you want friction to stop it and grab spin off the rails. One that is overly smooth would play weird like when polished with silicone or something.
If the cueball is matches in size and weight to the object balls, that is the only criteria I really look for, that it does not take odd paths off the tangent line. Of course, we are talking about newer good quality balls, not comparing 5 yr old dinged up $50 ball sets to anything we would look at as good enough to use.
Of the balls you have, they are all equal in quality, the Centennial is likely to play a bit heavier, needing more force to move around from my experience with a lot of different sets. But some players may think that is a bonus. The Tournament set from Aramith is similar to the Centennial set.
