MooseKnuckle
Registered
What benefits are there for an average player when using a higher quality set of balls?
Benefits of quality balls
- Thread starter MooseKnuckle
- Start date
And they don't put excessive burn marks on your cloth:thumbup:
That is the main reason I use high quality balls. The second reason is they stay cleaner than the cheap one.
Dating becomes easier :grinning-moose:
I think the first important thing is having a matching set. I've seen it a number of times in bars. The cueball is a different weight than the other balls and the cueball can either be overeager to draw or sluggish to draw. Or I've seen object balls that don't match where some are shiny and others are dull...some have numbers on the stripe and some have numbers off the stripe. That shouldn't matter until you go to rack the balls and find out they are of slightly different sizes and you cannot get a tight rack.
After that for me is durability. The older the balls are the more likely their surface starts to get worn and abrasive. That also gives more places on the surface of the ball to collect crud like chalk, increasing the number of times a shot might "skid" meaning the balls can have a high friction rub against each other during collision causing the object ball to throw more than usual on a cut or causing the cueball to climb the object ball slightly and dull out the spin you put on it. An informed player will be annoyed that the shot outcome was aversely affected by these types of conditions. An uninformed player could be confused thinking they did something wrong when it potentially wasn't their fault.
After that for me is the aesthetics. For me, I mostly appreciate familiarity. I prefer to practice in conditions similar to where I compete...and vice versa. Being in a traveling bar league, I'm obviously not seeking to bring bad playing conditions to my home table. But I would prefer to not own TV colors, marble elephant balls, or any other schemes that wildly differ what I'll likely encounter in competition. Some things like that can matter more to some than others. I bought a new set of balls to bring to league. It was interesting to see how many players commented on being unnerved playing with balls that were so shiny. Many different players from different teams over quite a few weeks made comments.
After that it's like picking a cue stick. Someone will say one stick has a good hit, or feel, or sound, or reaction, etc. over another stick. Then someone else will come and say something very similar but thing the other stick feels better. Then someone will go around telling everyone all the intangible reasons they think one is better, then other impressionable people will start repeating those anecdotes to others. Obviously there's a ton of faux experts in pool trying to raise their street cred by emphasizing something insignificant or pat out false. Similarly with balls, I just don't put much stock in those things. Generally speaking I think just about all the balls (in matching sets and good condition) will sound and react good enough for me to comfortably hop on a table, adapt, and have fun playing pool.
After that for me is durability. The older the balls are the more likely their surface starts to get worn and abrasive. That also gives more places on the surface of the ball to collect crud like chalk, increasing the number of times a shot might "skid" meaning the balls can have a high friction rub against each other during collision causing the object ball to throw more than usual on a cut or causing the cueball to climb the object ball slightly and dull out the spin you put on it. An informed player will be annoyed that the shot outcome was aversely affected by these types of conditions. An uninformed player could be confused thinking they did something wrong when it potentially wasn't their fault.
After that for me is the aesthetics. For me, I mostly appreciate familiarity. I prefer to practice in conditions similar to where I compete...and vice versa. Being in a traveling bar league, I'm obviously not seeking to bring bad playing conditions to my home table. But I would prefer to not own TV colors, marble elephant balls, or any other schemes that wildly differ what I'll likely encounter in competition. Some things like that can matter more to some than others. I bought a new set of balls to bring to league. It was interesting to see how many players commented on being unnerved playing with balls that were so shiny. Many different players from different teams over quite a few weeks made comments.
After that it's like picking a cue stick. Someone will say one stick has a good hit, or feel, or sound, or reaction, etc. over another stick. Then someone else will come and say something very similar but thing the other stick feels better. Then someone will go around telling everyone all the intangible reasons they think one is better, then other impressionable people will start repeating those anecdotes to others. Obviously there's a ton of faux experts in pool trying to raise their street cred by emphasizing something insignificant or pat out false. Similarly with balls, I just don't put much stock in those things. Generally speaking I think just about all the balls (in matching sets and good condition) will sound and react good enough for me to comfortably hop on a table, adapt, and have fun playing pool.
You will know it's you and not the balls when you blow a shot or position.
Lou Figueroa
Add to that, it’s much easier to rack the balls tightly, as they are all the same size/diameter.
Well price point balls are just that price point balls, if you have money to burn, go for the best. If on a budget get a price point set of balls that should last 4 - 5 years with light recreational use.
The high P rice of the ball set like Aramith, is from the money they spend on sponsorships, and also advertising. That the consumer pays for sponsorship & advertising costs.
We would all be rich if we had the annual advertising budget in our hands of Ford, GM, or KIA.
i have numerous sets (not junk balls) but older or much cheaper and tested the rolls and play with them and find very little difference in play ability from the best sets. even the cueballs.
and if you travel around and play thats the kind of balls you are going to find in many spots.
and if you travel around and play thats the kind of balls you are going to find in many spots.
Is this ball set for your table? Or?
Last edited:
Not even close!! To me being the same size "within reason" means that you can get a tight rack, I have played in tournaments where the table provider has all new balls but cheap ones and in every set I have played with you have shuffle balls in the rack to get a tight rack. I expect that with mismatched balls or very, very old sets but not with a relatively new set. I am very familiar with small measurements, I would bet money that some of the balls are at least .030 smaller than others, thats a lot for a pool ball.
The design, acoustics, finish, colors, true roll (consistent specs) but the most important one...........
YOUR OWN ENJOYMENT.
YOUR OWN ENJOYMENT.
FYI.......new Centennial pool balls are extremely consistent in mm width and grams weight.
I have never had a issue with the dozen sets I’ve owned nor the three sets I currently have.
More importantly, the sanctioned rules for pool competition permits specified variance in both
the weight & size of individual pool balls used in tournaments and the balls can’t be polished.
I have never had a issue with the dozen sets I’ve owned nor the three sets I currently have.
More importantly, the sanctioned rules for pool competition permits specified variance in both
the weight & size of individual pool balls used in tournaments and the balls can’t be polished.
Produces prettier kids.(that's what a real playa told me)
I collect billiard balls.. I’ve taken sets into our lab at work and measured size, density, symmetry, etc.
Not really any difference between newer sets of balls be be they $40 or $400. Individual balls are consistent within sets to within a 1000th and today is much more accurate than set from 35 years ago. Today with machine tooling and moulding via computer technology, Precision is beyond anything previously possible. The material going into making a set of balls is pennies so don’t be taken by claims Of better material going into expensive sets...the difference at most would be a dollar.
As has been mentioned, the most important variable is consistency within a set,
Not really any difference between newer sets of balls be be they $40 or $400. Individual balls are consistent within sets to within a 1000th and today is much more accurate than set from 35 years ago. Today with machine tooling and moulding via computer technology, Precision is beyond anything previously possible. The material going into making a set of balls is pennies so don’t be taken by claims Of better material going into expensive sets...the difference at most would be a dollar.
As has been mentioned, the most important variable is consistency within a set,
MooseKnuckle
Registered
Yes, looking to upgrade the cheap set that came with table.
If the Aramith Standard Pool Ball Set are good I wondered if I'd really notice the difference from the pro set.