Ball weights

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Dave Nelson

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I'm watching the videos of the 2012 Predator world 14.1 tournament. One of the player/commentators, Joey Landi, stated that he had been playing with some new Aramith balls recently and that it took him some time too get used to them because they were lighter. Is this so? Did Aramith arbitrarily, or in agreement with the governing body and other interested parties, reduce the weight of the balls or is Landi mistaken?

this is of interest to me because I intend to buy a new set of top of the line balls in the near future.

Dave Nelson
 
the most exacting tolerances

Despite all their talk of precision, I was hard pressed to find any indication of their tolerances... weight or diameter or the 5 other parameters they mention. I hope others respond with some hard information. I'm curious.
This all started when I noticed some weight differences in my set of Super Pros purchased about 8 years ago from a reputable dealer.
Question was.... so what's "exacting"?
Hey there Saluc....If you're going to talk about tight tolerances please tell me what they are!
 
I find the Measel a little heavier that the centennial CB.

maybe he had gotten an imposter measel ball !

-Steve
 
I also feel the measles ball is a bit heavier, but when I weigh it, it doesn't really have much variance from the rest of the centennials I use.

I think it has much more to do with the composition of the plastic. To exaggerate, imagine dropping a 5 oz pool ball and a 5 oz super ball from the same height.

I sure don't know this is accurate, it's just what I think is happening with different balls. :)
 
Weight

It's not that the measle is heavier than the OB's; it's that the damn red circle is lighter. By up to 1/2 ounce on my scale.
 
Dave Nelson said:
I'm watching the videos of the 2012 Predator world 14.1 tournament. One of the player/commentators, Joey Landi, stated that he had been playing with some new Aramith balls recently and that it took him some time too get used to them because they were lighter. Is this so? Did Aramith arbitrarily, or in agreement with the governing body and other interested parties, reduce the weight of the balls or is Landi mistaken?

this is of interest to me because I intend to buy a new set of top of the line balls in the near future.

Dave Nelson
Click to expand...
Without the player stating an actual number it's hard to tell what's going on. The condition of the surface of the cue ball can make a huge difference in perceived ball weight if the player doesn't know how to separate out the various factors.

The equipment specifications are on the WPA website www.wpa-pool.com and allow a variation of about +-5% in weight (156 to 170 grams). All of the actual measurements I've seen posted for new balls have much smaller variation than that. Far more important than the exact weight is the variation within a set including the weight of the cue ball. There is no separate specification for weight matching.

Personally, I doubt that Aramith would change their formula. Bad things happen when you "fix" something that is working.
 
Totally ridiculous !

it's just crazy that there is no standard, written in stone, size and weight specs for pool balls. Do you think the golfers would put up with this ?

Aramith, and Sulac were just too lazy to take a position because of marketing.

Let's demand something better !!
 
Just weighed some balls.

2 year old Super Pro Aramith - 168 to 169 grams.

8 year old Super Pro Aramith - 168 grams

19 year old Centennials - 166 grams

2 measles cue balls - both 168 grams

Super Aramith standard cue ball - 168 grams

Blue circle cue ball that came with the Centennials - 166 grams

2 red circle cue balls - one 168 grams, one 162 grams


Pretty close tolerances spanning almost 20 years.
 
New Balls

Dave Nelson said:
I'm watching the videos of the 2012 Predator world 14.1 tournament. One of the player/commentators, Joey Landi, stated that he had been playing with some new Aramith balls recently and that it took him some time too get used to them because they were lighter. Is this so? Did Aramith arbitrarily, or in agreement with the governing body and other interested parties, reduce the weight of the balls or is Landi mistaken?

this is of interest to me because I intend to buy a new set of top of the line balls in the near future.

Dave Nelson
Click to expand...

Dave: You always have players talking about how the cue balls react differently. Sometimes, it is based on fact and sometimes not.

Back to your getting new balls, I remember John Schmidt telling us at a seminar years ago, the most important thing for high runs was good clean balls and a clean table. This cannot hurt your quest for a high run.

Myself, I like the Aramith Tournament Balls best. Other smart guys in our leagues like Ed Latimer and Ron Shepard also feel they stay clean longer and break up better, so I might not be just kidding myself.
 
Marop said:
Just weighed some balls.

2 year old Super Pro Aramith - 168 to 169 grams.

8 year old Super Pro Aramith - 168 grams

19 year old Centennials - 166 grams

2 measles cue balls - both 168 grams

Super Aramith standard cue ball - 168 grams

Blue circle cue ball that came with the Centennials - 166 grams

2 red circle cue balls - one 168 grams, one 162 grams


Pretty close tolerances spanning almost 20 years.
Click to expand...


This has been my findings as well. I reiterate, I really think it is more about the plastic's elasticity composition rather than actual weight that produces the different reactions we can sense.

Who knows it could be from batch to batch, mfg. to mfg., or shipment of plastic to the mfg. from one time to another. Same for the glues, resins and die, and who knows what else goes into that 166 gram or so concoction that makes a pool ball. :)

Back to picturing that 166 gram super ball vs 166 gram pool ball. Two plastics with vastly different characteristics.

So even a tiny difference would be noticed when a CB contacts an OB. A less lively plastic may give the impression of being heavier and follow easier while a more lively plastic may give an impression of being lighter as it rebounds more from the OB allowing a little easier draw.
 
3andstop said:
This has been my findings as well. I reiterate, I really think it is more about the plastic's elasticity composition rather than actual weight that produces the different reactions we can sense. ...
Click to expand...
Elasticity is much harder to measure.

Sometimes the cue ball is visibly smaller than the object balls. I think in that situation -- which is not Bill's situation, I'm pretty sure -- the weight of the ball is important. An article that describes the relationship between weight differences and the ability to draw/follow is here: http://www.sfbilliards.com/articles/2005-12.pdf
 
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