Aramith Tournament Balls

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ssminn

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Aramith recently came out with a new set of balls manufactured with a different resin that Aramith claims will reduce wear of table cloth. The reduced cloth wear is because of less friction between the balls and the cloth. Reduced cloth wear is of course a positive but I am wondering if the reduced friction with the cloth would change how the balls react to english, follow and draw. It seem that reduced friction would cause the balls to slide more before the follow or draw takes affect and might give a different reaction when hitting the rails with english. Has anybody tried Aramith Tournament balls and noticed any difference with the way they play.
 
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Yes, the reduced friction will alter little sublties of spin on the CB.

You can experiment with this in reverse by having your current balls polished. If you do this, you will immediately see that the CB takes longer to slow down on drag shots, that the OB gets thrown less when using side spin on the CB, adn that the balls roll farther on the cloth (or take less energy.

I noticed this in reveres with my Aramith SuperPro balls in reverse. When new, there was little throw, and litte drag. After a year of use (600 hours of use) they were more like what you would find in the pool hall. A quick polish changed them back.
 
The Duramith balls...

The Duramith balls definitely leave less burn marks on the cloth when breaking rotation games. The technology also results in a reduced μ which seems most noticeable when drawing the cueball, which makes sense.
 
MitchAlsup said:
... You can experiment with this ... by having your current balls polished. If you do this, you will immediately see that the CB takes longer to slow down on drag shots, that the OB gets thrown less when using side spin ... A quick polish changed them back.
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Agreed. I've got 2 mos. on a new set of Aramith Tournament balls and new Simonis 860HR cloth.

No burn marks on the cloth yet and the biggest difference I notice is after I plunk the balls in my ball polisher once a week (i.e., draw galore and all balls roll much farther).
 
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WoodyJ said:
Agreed. I've got 2 mos. on a new set of Aramith Tournament balls and new Simonis 360HR cloth.

No burn marks on the cloth yet and the biggest difference I notice is after I plunk the balls in my ball polisher once a week (i.e., draw galore and all balls roll much farther).
Click to expand...


Out of curiosity, do you also have a regular set of Aramith balls... say, the Super Aramith Pro balls?

If so, do this test for me. It's a test for the relative Coefficient of Restituion (CoR) of the two formulas.

On a smooth concrete (garage) floor, simultaneously drop one of each formula balls from a height of your eyes. Which ball bounces higher? If they bounce the same height they have the same CoR. If they don't, that's another adjustment to make in the way that the new Tournament balls play.

And I assume that you have Simonis 860HR cloth, correct?
 
ssminn said:
Aramith recently came out with a new set of balls manufactured with a different resin that Aramith claims will reduce wear of table cloth. The reduced cloth wear is because of less friction between the balls and the cloth. Reduced cloth wear is of course a positive but I am wondering if the reduced friction with the cloth would change how the balls react to english, follow and draw. It seem that reduced friction would cause the balls to slide more before the follow or draw takes affect and might give a different reaction when hitting the rails with english. Has anybody tried Aramith Tournament balls and noticed any difference with the way they play.
Click to expand...

I played with them at Gem City. The cue seemed to play lighter than a measle ball. Didn't get enough time with them to determine if I liked them or not. For now I'll stick with the Super Pro Aramith set if I have a choice.
 
cigardave said:
Out of curiosity, do you also have a regular set of Aramith balls... say, the Super Aramith Pro balls?

If so, do this test for me. It's a test for the relative Coefficient of Restituion (CoR) of the two formulas.

On a smooth concrete (garage) floor, simultaneously drop one of each formula balls from a height of your eyes. Which ball bounces higher? If they bounce the same height they have the same CoR. If they don't, that's another adjustment to make in the way that the new Tournament balls play.

And I assume that you have Simonis 860HR cloth, correct?
Click to expand...

Yes, I do have a regular set of regular Aramith (premier) balls so it wouldn't be the drop test I assume most people would want -- that is, Super Aramith Pro versus the Tournament.

And, I corrected to say Simonis 860HR cloth.
 
Junkyarddog said:
... The cue seemed to play lighter than a measle ball.
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Tournament Cue Ball = 5.93 oz.
My Measle Cue Ball #1 = 5.95 oz.
My Measle Cue Ball #2 = 5.93 oz.

Edit: In a drop test between the tournament cue ball and measle cue ball #2, the measle cue ball bounced higher. That is, dropped 40" from the edge of a bench (i.e., measured from the bottom of the cue ball) the tournament cue ball bounced 31.5" and the measle cue ball bounced 32" (i.e., measured to the top of the cue ball).
 
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WoodyJ said:
Yes, I do have a regular set of regular Aramith (premier) balls so it wouldn't be the drop test I assume most people would want -- that is, Super Aramith Pro versus the Tournament.

And, I corrected to say Simonis 860HR cloth.
Click to expand...

But that's ok... do the test and let's see what the results are for starters.

Someone else may have a Pro set and a Premier set to compare those two.
 
WoodyJ said:
Tournament Cue Ball = 5.93 oz.
Measle Cue Ball = 5.95 oz.
Click to expand...

Woody - Two balls may weigh the same yet one can play "lighter" than the other if their CoR-s are different.

The ball with a lower CoR will seem to play "lighter" because the efficiency of each collision will be less.
 
WoodyJ said:
Tournament Cue Ball = 5.93 oz.
My Measle Cue Ball #1 = 5.95 oz.
My Measle Cue Ball #2 = 5.93 oz.

Edit: In a drop test between the tournament cue ball and measle cue ball #2, the measle cue ball bounced higher. That is, dropped 40" from the edge of a bench (i.e., measured from the bottom of the cue ball) the tournament cue ball bounced 31.5" and the measle cue ball bounced 32" (i.e., measured to the top of the cue ball).
Click to expand...

I was refering to how it felt with "less friction" or from different construction; not actual weight. As your measurements show it isn't acutally lighter than the new measle ball. Kind of how some cues feel heavier and lighter because of their balance despite being the same weight.
 
i have a set and for the past 25 years I have been Centannial guy, but when something new comes along i like to try it, these balls are the nuts, less whits dots on the cloth, they are a bit heavy or play that way, I love the cueball(except for the big black logo that looks like a smushed horse fly), They are superior to Centenialls-and I didnt think I'd ever say that. They are the best balls I have ever played with IMO, some pros I know dont like them some do. I dont care about table wear I recover my table a couple times a year anyways, it gets a ton of use for a home table, I'm positive these balls will last longer too because the white marks are from the balls, kinda like rug burn its your skin on the rug. Most of my friends who play here regularly like them as well.
 
pocketpared said:
hold them under a light and look at the spots they hit.
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That's why I only dropped them once, much less than eyeball height as suggested, my most used measle ball, none of my object balls and on very smooth concrete.

Edit: Can't find any nicks on the tournament cue ball. The measle ball has been well played but no obvious damage.
 
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My Duramith cueball...

My Duramith cueball was off the table twice onto a smooth, 2 coat painted concrete floor. I'll post some pics of it later.
 
pocketpared said:
hold them under a light and look at the spots they hit.
Click to expand...
I've conducted this test repeatedly from eye height using my Super Aramith Pro (red logo) CB, a red circle CB, a black circle CB, a (counterfeit) measles CB (it didn't bounce near as high) and even a couple of OBs from my Super Pro set with no issues/spots... fwiw.
 
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