Probably a flaw in the manufacturing of the ball. something foreign introduced into the plastic, whatever. No big disaster when it happens to a pool ball. Now I'll scare you a bit. Counterfeit fasteners (nuts and bolts) are on the market. This means fasteners not up to their strength ratings. These are being discovered everywhere, even in the aircraft industry. A Porsche engine builder told me of rod bolts failing...bolts torqued properly using a stretch gauge and purchased from a Porsche dealership as the real deal. He took the bad bolts to be tested...yep, counterfeit, even though they came out of a sealed Porsche factory parts box. Just something to think about as you're sitting in an airliner seat, waiting for takeoff.
I understand the old ivory balls used to break apart into pieces occasionally. Heard a story about World Champion, Frank Taberski, playing someone 14.1 to 125 pts. The score was tied at 124-124, with Frank's opponent shooting. The shooter hit the ball firm and it broke in half, One of the halves went into the called pocket and the other was wobbling on the table. The ref gave the shooter a half ball credit and turned the table over to Frank who proceeded to make the winning ball. Final score, 125-124 1/2.
Einstein, that's hilarious!
Some 4 or 5 years back my pal practicing 9-ball ghost at the next table approached me with a 1-ball which lost its one-thirdth after the break. The balls were Aramith Premier.
I suppose it could happen to any ball if the pockets are nailed wrong. The balls get deep scratches at first, and if it is a ball which is hit most (like 1 in 9-ball) it could eventually fall into pieces.
Some 4 or 5 years back my pal practicing 9-ball ghost at the next table approached me with a 1-ball which lost its one-thirdth after the break. The balls were Aramith Premier.
I suppose it could happen to any ball if the pockets are nailed wrong. The balls get deep scratches at first, and if it is a ball which is hit most (like 1 in 9-ball) it could eventually fall into pieces.
whitey2 said:
I believe it's possible (under certain circumstances) purely because of the characteristics of leather. At the point of highest pressure at the highest level of compression on the leather tip I believe it becomes extremely dense but doesn't split (at least not with the force generated by a human being). This would be more than enough to chip an older or otherwise unstable cueball.
For anyone to break a cueball I believe it would have to be unstable by necessity since the tip material is not harder than the cue ball material despite the compression.
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Yep.I broke at my mothers old tavern and shattered the one ball.It just scattered all over the place like broken glass.Weird.I think it was because the ball was defective or had a weak spot in it.It certainly wasn't because of how hard I hit it.