can someone tell me why a player would want to use his own cueball? it is mentioned in the beard's book and i played a guy today and didnt realize until 3 racks in that it wasnt the usual cueball at the pool hall. we were just playing to play, no money but i'm curious what advantage that is? thanks
bring your own cueball???
- Thread starter nick55
- Start date
Cueballs can vary in size, weight, and density by brand and type (especially on a coin-op table)- playing with one that is significantly (or even slightly, depending on the skill level of a player) different from what he is used to can adversely affect play until the player gets accustomed to it and adjusts his stroke (if he ever does).
dont forget as well the cue ball is the only ball that ever touches your tip, and a nice clean brand new cue ball will play much better than one with 20 year old chalk marks and dents in it.
if you're going to bring one extra accessory - your own cue ball is probably your best choice.
if you're going to bring one extra accessory - your own cue ball is probably your best choice.
you know your own ball
As said, cue balls vary. Even if the same brand, age, usage, and even the cure of the cue ball when it was made makes it play differently. Having your own cue ball in the game gives you an edge, especially playing games like banks and one-pocket. Equally important, it gives you a mental edge.
Back when balls were ivory or clay a big part of matching up at billiards was whose ball set they would play with or would it be with a neutral set. Note that John Schmidt still totes his own set of balls to the straight pool challenge. He let others use them too but I suspect he had first go with his clean comparatively new balls.
Hu
nick55 said:
As said, cue balls vary. Even if the same brand, age, usage, and even the cure of the cue ball when it was made makes it play differently. Having your own cue ball in the game gives you an edge, especially playing games like banks and one-pocket. Equally important, it gives you a mental edge.
Back when balls were ivory or clay a big part of matching up at billiards was whose ball set they would play with or would it be with a neutral set. Note that John Schmidt still totes his own set of balls to the straight pool challenge. He let others use them too but I suspect he had first go with his clean comparatively new balls.
Hu
I appreciate it when I'm playing league on coin op tables and someone has a cue ball. I have a good draw stroke and I recently played on a table where I couldn't make the cue ball move no matter what I did. Having a good quality cue ball makes all the difference in the world in that situation. I lost the first two games before I could adjust my play to handle the idea of using no draw.
mudballs are unacceptable. I carry a red dot everywhere I go.
Bring your own cueball ?
On coin-op bar tables (newer ones), the standard size cueball is the regular size (2 1/4"), and has some iron in it, either a round core or particles throughout the balls surrounding area. The bar table magnetically sorts the cueball from the rest. The newest bar tables, (and still rarely seen), have an optic scanner to identify the cue ball marking and sort it that way. The old "rock" ball, now seen rarely on coin-op tables certainly should be replaced, no matter what the consequent other problems are created.
The problem with bringing out your own (pretty new) cue ball is that it is not worn down like the rest of the object balls, consequently it is both bigger and heavier. This creates a real problem to get used to the cue ball going too far (more mass) and, becauer its center is higher off the table, you can potentially jump the object ball off the table or off the rail onto the floor and foul.
Those that practice, (usually on a drop pocket bigger table), like the "measles" balls because they can see the spin and tell if the cueball was struck right.
On coin-op bar tables (newer ones), the standard size cueball is the regular size (2 1/4"), and has some iron in it, either a round core or particles throughout the balls surrounding area. The bar table magnetically sorts the cueball from the rest. The newest bar tables, (and still rarely seen), have an optic scanner to identify the cue ball marking and sort it that way. The old "rock" ball, now seen rarely on coin-op tables certainly should be replaced, no matter what the consequent other problems are created.
The problem with bringing out your own (pretty new) cue ball is that it is not worn down like the rest of the object balls, consequently it is both bigger and heavier. This creates a real problem to get used to the cue ball going too far (more mass) and, becauer its center is higher off the table, you can potentially jump the object ball off the table or off the rail onto the floor and foul.
Those that practice, (usually on a drop pocket bigger table), like the "measles" balls because they can see the spin and tell if the cueball was struck right.
I carry a measle ball in my case. I usually don't pull it out on coin op tables as it does not have the metal inside to get pulled out of the chute. I will use it for practice when I am playing somewhere with open or non coin op tables.
There have been a few times when someone whants to play our match with it in league. I usually say that's fine, but I don't tell them of the drawbacks of playing with the measles. The first time I played after I got the measle ball, I was missing nearly every shot.
I figured out after a few games that I was so busy trying to watch the spin on the measles, that I was not concentrating on making my shot first.:embarrassed2: I quickly started making my shots then watching what the measles were doing, and was able to shoot again. :thumbup:
So, if you see someone wanting to play you using a measle ball, and you have not shot with one before, don't gamble with them or play a match game with them until you have practiced a bit with one.
There have been a few times when someone whants to play our match with it in league. I usually say that's fine, but I don't tell them of the drawbacks of playing with the measles. The first time I played after I got the measle ball, I was missing nearly every shot.
I figured out after a few games that I was so busy trying to watch the spin on the measles, that I was not concentrating on making my shot first.:embarrassed2: I quickly started making my shots then watching what the measles were doing, and was able to shoot again. :thumbup: So, if you see someone wanting to play you using a measle ball, and you have not shot with one before, don't gamble with them or play a match game with them until you have practiced a bit with one.
I carry a measles ball with me for practice time....
thanks for all the replies, he said it was because a big tournament he was playing in this weekend had that particular type of cueball, i guess i'm not good enough to notice the difference yet or i just havent payed attention to what types of cueballs i was using in the past.
The problem with the assumption that a consistent CB will give you an advantage is that the OBs are rarely the same from rack to rack...let alone PH to PH. My local PH has 3-4 different OBs types and 3-4 different CB types among their 30+ sets of balls. Worse yet, those OBs are often intermingled within the same set!
I took the time to weigh each type and each CB I found in their inventory. Then I compared that to my Super Pros.
For reference, sets of OB's varied from 5.61 ounces to 5.95 ounces, so the combination of CB & OB's your local PH uses can have a VERY significant impact on the overall experience.
CBs had a far greater range. A black lightning bolt was nearly 7 ounces. Aramith Green Logo CB weighed 5.94 ounces. It has a dull finish that seems to grab chalk and cause a lot of skids for me. The "measles" CB weighs in at 5.84 ounces. The Red Circle CB weighes in at 5.87 ounces, so its about 0.03 ounces heavier than the measles...not much of a difference.
BTW, new sets had consistent weight from 1 to 15. As the balls age, the 1 gets noticably lighter compared to the upper balls such as the 15. Even with the oldest, dingiest sets were in the 0.10 and lower ounce range between 1 & 15.
I took the time to weigh each type and each CB I found in their inventory. Then I compared that to my Super Pros.
For reference, sets of OB's varied from 5.61 ounces to 5.95 ounces, so the combination of CB & OB's your local PH uses can have a VERY significant impact on the overall experience.
CBs had a far greater range. A black lightning bolt was nearly 7 ounces. Aramith Green Logo CB weighed 5.94 ounces. It has a dull finish that seems to grab chalk and cause a lot of skids for me. The "measles" CB weighs in at 5.84 ounces. The Red Circle CB weighes in at 5.87 ounces, so its about 0.03 ounces heavier than the measles...not much of a difference.
BTW, new sets had consistent weight from 1 to 15. As the balls age, the 1 gets noticably lighter compared to the upper balls such as the 15. Even with the oldest, dingiest sets were in the 0.10 and lower ounce range between 1 & 15.
I think the pool hall I play at has 6 different cueballs red dot, blue dot, red circle, blue cirlcle, no circle and they are all different weights too. The owner jusy doesn't get it and doesn't care. If you mentioned this to him he might tell you to get lost. Don't get me started on the object balls. Some racks have 3-4 different types and ages of object balls such as Centennials, aramith, and some unknown brand. Very hard to freeze the balls in the rack.
I bring my own cueball, chalk and now I have to bring my own object balls. Pretty soon I'll have to just buy a table and not play on poor equipment. Some just don't get it.
I bring my own cueball, chalk and now I have to bring my own object balls. Pretty soon I'll have to just buy a table and not play on poor equipment. Some just don't get it.