Own Cue Ball?

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vjmehra

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I have a set of Amaranth Pro Cup TV balls for practice, but sometimes after work on a crowded train its tricky to carry around cues and a set of balls (or I'm just lazy, take your pick :)

Either way, is it worth taking just a cue ball and using the house balls (standard, pretty rubbish type that you get in any club), or would that simply make no difference without the full set?

I know in an ideal world you should always try to practice with the best possible equipment, but I'm just curious if on occasions this is a viable workaround?
 
PETROBOY

PETROBOY

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Do you play many tournaments or in a league? I find its good to use different types of tables and balls so I find it easy to change from one to another if I have to. Carrying balls would be to inconvenient for me and unless they were the same as what I played tournaments on then there is no advantage in my eyes anyway.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
V

vjmehra

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I used to play on the GB9 tour over here and a local(ish) league as well as the odd (very) low stakes cash games (basically just playing to see who pays for the table).

I hadn't picked up a cue for about two years until last month and it just got me thinking of ways to get back into practice, but without carrying around loads of kit.

But I think to answer your point, yeah any tournaments I play in are likely to use pro cup tv balls (hence I was hoping using just the cue ball would be better than using the house cue ball even if not as good as the full set).
 
R

ronscuba

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I have my own measles ball.

The halls I regularly play in for league and tournaments all use new quality ball sets. I used to practice at a hall that had mixtures of all different kinds of balls, all old. The difference in the balls from practice to league reeked havoc on my CB control. So I decided to buy my own CB for when I practice at halls with old balls.
 
pt109

pt109

WO double hemlock
Silver Member
If I play with cheap object balls, I'd rather play with the cue ball that matches the set.
 
V

vjmehra

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
pt109 said:
If I play with cheap object balls, I'd rather play with the cue ball that matches the set.
Click to expand...

Well this is the dilemma, I wouldn't play tournaments with cheap object balls and if I can have a cue ball that responds 'normally' then is this not a good compromise (short of always carrying around a full set of balls of course)?
 
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pdcue

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
vjmehra said:
Well this is the dilemma, I wouldn't play tournaments with cheap object balls and if I can have a cue ball that responds 'normally' then is this not a good compromise (short of always carrying around a full set of balls of course)?
Click to expand...

IMHO - a 'good' cue ball with 'bad' object balls will still have some serious drawbacks.

As others have said, ideally, one would prefer the CB to be matched with the OBs for consistent play.
For practice - I should think it is a matter of which aspects of the game you are attempting to fine tune.

If working on position play, realistically, the action of a non-matched CB might be different enough to be problematical.
For shot making(potting), not so much.

Or, could you utilize a backpack? :)

Dale
 
V

vjmehra

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
pdcue said:
IMHO - a 'good' cue ball with 'bad' object balls will still have some serious drawbacks.

As others have said, ideally, one would prefer the CB to be matched with the OBs for consistent play.
For practice - I should think it is a matter of which aspects of the game you are attempting to fine tune.

If working on position play, realistically, the action of a non-matched CB might be different enough to be problematical.
For shot making(potting), not so much.

Or, could you utilize a backpack? :)

Dale
Click to expand...

Yeah, it's just really annoying on a very crowded tube train (metro if you're from the US), with 3 cues already on your back!
 
Bavafongoul

Bavafongoul

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I carry 8 cue balls (2 of which are Measles)........red aramith logo, blue dot, red dot, black dot, Centennial cue ball and plain cue ball (sans dot)..........If I know what cue ball will be used for a tournament, then I pick the cue ball that matches......I mainly play with the Centennial Cue Ball & Measles Cue Ball because the weight matches the weight of the balls in my Centennial set.......cue balls and object balls that weigh the same play differently than with mismatched weights.

Matt B.
 
M.G.

M.G.

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Another thought:

A good (own) cueball will reduce unwanted side effects that shitty ball sets have (adhesion aka excessive throw, dead contacts, uneven roll) despite being played with the same shitty ball set.

That's why I have my own dotted Aramith ball and I can recommend simply doing that.
Don't overthink, though ;)

Cheers,
M
 
7

7forlife

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I'm not skilled enough to know the differences in ball sets, I just play. What I do pay attention too is are the balls clean or dirty and is the table clean or dirty.
I have my own measles ball, which i use back and forth depending on what i'm doing. The measles ball is heavier than the red dot and circle so I like the fact that I have to stroke it more (it's kind of like playing on slow cloth) then sometimes i use the lite ball when i want to move it, but it all depends on if i'm practicing or not
 
Patrick Johnson

Patrick Johnson

Fish of the Day
Silver Member
The most noticeable thing will be the comparative weights of the CB and OBs. If your tournaments use worn sets of balls with original CBs, then the CBs will be a little smaller/lighter than the OBs, so that's what you should practice with. A personal CB which isn't used in a busy pool hall will probably be heavier than those CBs.

pj
chgo
 
V

vjmehra

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I think the consensus seems to be that its still worthwhile to get a good cud ball, even If Its not part of a matched set, with the measles ball looking like the best option!
 
9Ballr

9Ballr

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
vjmehra said:
I have a set of Amaranth Pro Cup TV balls for practice, but sometimes after work on a crowded train its tricky to carry around cues and a set of balls (or I'm just lazy, take your pick :)

Either way, is it worth taking just a cue ball and using the house balls (standard, pretty rubbish type that you get in any club), or would that simply make no difference without the full set?

I know in an ideal world you should always try to practice with the best possible equipment, but I'm just curious if on occasions this is a viable workaround?
Click to expand...



I always take my own cue ball with me and mostly play with house balls.
It lives in my Instroke case plenty of room on top of the cues.
Works for me, it gives a consistent feel night to night, and I'm happy.
Go for it.
 
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