Ball weight and how it effects play

tjlmbklr

tjlmbklr

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I don't want to open Pandora’s Box here again. But I had an issue a while back concerning my Simonis 860. It was between the Granito tournament 2000 clothe used at the hall where I shoot league and my Simonis. The speed difference is enormous. I still use the standard Aramith ball set that came with the table. Now I really like the look of the Brunswick Centennial balls and this is what Romines uses on all there tables. And I am sure keeping the balls polished (like Romines does) helps with the speed difference. I do try to keep my balls polished (by hand only). But I wonder if there is other factors involved that make the tables sooooo much faster at Romines vs my table at home. Is it possible the cue ball used at Romines is a tad lighter in weight vs. my standard Aramith (NO DOT) cue ball? I was looking into upgading my ball set, either Aramith super pro TV set, or Brunswick TV set (I like the pink 4 & 12 balls).

So my long winded question, do the good ball sets have lighter weighted cue balls? I know I have heard the Red dot Aramith is a fraction of an oz heavier, but compared to what? What about the blue dot, is this the lightest, vs. the red circle?

Just want to rely on my fellow AZ'ers for some sound advice.
 
tjlmbklr said:
I do try to keep my balls polished (by hand only).
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I am sorry - just too funny to me. :D
In all seriousness I am interested in hearing an answer to your question as well.

BVal
 
strange you're looking at the balls first, I'd assume one is faster due to the cloth. Tables play faster as they wear, so probably the granito is getting more wear. Either that or it's just a faster grade.
 
tjlmbklr said:
... So my long winded question, do the good ball sets have lighter weighted cue balls? I know I have heard the Red dot Aramith is a fraction of an oz heavier, but compared to what? What about the blue dot, is this the lightest, vs. the red circle?

Just want to rely on my fellow AZ'ers for some sound advice.
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A good ball set has a cue ball that is the same weight as the object balls. The "right angle" rule on caroms is wrong in direct proportion to how much the cue ball's weight is different. Cue balls should always be compared to the object balls they are being used with.

For specific problems with draw and follow due to heavy/large/light/small cue balls, see article 2005-12 (Dec. 2005) at http://www.sfbilliards.com/articles/BD_articles.html

For the most part, the weight difference you see in new cue balls is far smaller than you will see in the typical pool hall due to wear. Many red circle cue balls have turned into pink half-circle cue balls. They are really easy to draw.
 
tjlmbklr said:
... But I wonder if there is other factors involved that make the tables sooooo much faster at Romines vs my table at home. Is it possible the cue ball used at Romines is a tad lighter in weight vs. my standard Aramith (NO DOT) cue ball? ...
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Take your cue ball there and measure the apparent speed of the cloth with your ball versus the house ball. There is an easy way to measure cloth speed with a stop watch that is described in article 1995-04 (April 1995) at http://www.sfbilliards.com/articles/BD_articles.html

The method allows you to calculate the equivalent uphill slope in percent that the ball/cloth combination gives.
 
BVal said:
I am sorry - just too funny to me. :D
In all seriousness I am interested in hearing an answer to your question as well.

BVal
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BVal, the irony of your post is that, in your avatar, it looks like your balls are getting "polished" by hand even while the picture was being taken.:D :D :D

Maniac
 
BVal said:
I am sorry - just too funny to me. :D
In all seriousness I am interested in hearing an answer to your question as well.

BVal
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Funny you mentioned this, because I thought no matter how I stateded it it would sound bad. At least you and everyone else knows what I am talking about. If I were to talk about "stroke" or "polishing balls" with any of my non pool playing friends I would be sure to get a rise out of them....lol.
 
CreeDo said:
strange you're looking at the balls first, I'd assume one is faster due to the cloth. Tables play faster as they wear, so probably the granito is getting more wear. Either that or it's just a faster grade.
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By no means am I going to the balls first, this is why I stateded I didn't want to open Pandora's Box, because the whole dicussion of my clothe was beat to death in THIS thread, THIS thread or THIS thread......!
There might be more if I check, but you get the point I think.
 
Maniac said:
BVal, the irony of your post is that, in your avatar, it looks like your balls are getting "polished" by hand even while the picture was being taken.:D :D :D

Maniac
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TAP TAP TAP, good one!
 
Conditions

My experience has been that slight differences in weight of the cue ball will make a slight difference in momentum and in the appearent speed of the table but only a slight difference. I'm not sure about what has been discussed in previous threads but, I would suggest that besides cloth speed, relative humidity and temperature will effect speed A LOT!. Also the condition of your rail rubber may be a factor. But my experience has been that 860 is just slower than Granito tournament 2000.
 
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BVal, the irony of your post is that, in your avatar, it looks like your balls are getting "polished" by hand even while the picture was being taken.

Maniac
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ok... I wish I could see things through your eyes. You obviously have a different way of looking at things.

BVal
 
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