CB and OB Ball Weights

K

kilimanj99

New member
Hello,

I just received a new set of balls and to my surprise they felt super light. I weighed them and they came up at 120g. I read regulation balls are 160-170g. I tried to find out why you would want lighter balls and all I could find was info about the Cue ball mainly around coin operated tables. So I have to ask, why would someone want a full set of lighter balls (including the CB)? How would it affect practice and your game? I figure going back and forth would be weird and not good.

These are beautiful Japer Bees pearl colored balls. Besides some Chinese brand (which I will not buy), I cannot find any pearl ones of regulation weight. I ended up buying the Aramith stone collection which is similar and looks nice.

Any reason to keep the lighter ones?

Also curious why some of the training CB's are also a 4oz ball rather than a standard 6oz CB.

Thanks in advance
 
kilimanj99 said:
... Any reason to keep the lighter ones?

Also curious why some of the training CB's are also a 4oz ball rather than a standard 6oz CB.

Thanks in advance
Click to expand...
Aramith balls would be lighter if they did not use some kind of filler to get up to 160+ grams. Maybe even as light as the Japer balls. I found the Japer balls on Amazon but not enough info there to tell what they are made from.

The only reason I can think of to make balls lighter is because the process is cheaper. Well, one other is that if they want the balls to be partly clear, they can't put in a standard opaque filler. Pretty and useless.

If you don't need a beautiful decoration for your pool room, get rid of the Japer balls
 
kilimanj99 said:
Hello,

I just received a new set of balls and to my surprise they felt super light. I weighed them and they came up at 120g. I read regulation balls are 160-170g. I tried to find out why you would want lighter balls and all I could find was info about the Cue ball mainly around coin operated tables. So I have to ask, why would someone want a full set of lighter balls (including the CB)? How would it affect practice and your game? I figure going back and forth would be weird and not good.

These are beautiful Japer Bees pearl colored balls. Besides some Chinese brand (which I will not buy), I cannot find any pearl ones of regulation weight. I ended up buying the Aramith stone collection which is similar and looks nice.

Any reason to keep the lighter ones?

Also curious why some of the training CB's are also a 4oz ball rather than a standard 6oz CB.

Thanks in advance
Click to expand...
Get some quality standard color balls and quit jackin' around with those goofy pearl/stone/camo crap. Just my $.02.
 
Thanks guys, I hear ya garczar, already have a pair of nice balls ;) ha... no really I have a nice set, I just wanted a pretty set when guests come over. Most of them dont really play pool except for fun. And when drinking. But I still wanted a real regulation set of balls.
 
kilimanj99 said:
Hello,

I just received a new set of balls and to my surprise they felt super light. I weighed them and they came up at 120g. I read regulation balls are 160-170g. I tried to find out why you would want lighter balls and all I could find was info about the Cue ball mainly around coin operated tables. So I have to ask, why would someone want a full set of lighter balls (including the CB)? How would it affect practice and your game? I figure going back and forth would be weird and not good.

These are beautiful Japer Bees pearl colored balls. Besides some Chinese brand (which I will not buy), I cannot find any pearl ones of regulation weight. I ended up buying the Aramith stone collection which is similar and looks nice.

Any reason to keep the lighter ones?

Also curious why some of the training CB's are also a 4oz ball rather than a standard 6oz CB.

Thanks in advance
Click to expand...

The answer is, you would not want any lighter or heavier balls in the set, it changes how they react on shots. Heavier cueball would plow through the balls, lighter cueball would bounce back more, neither of those are good things. Although I've shot shots that I knew would be impossible with normal weight balls on a bar table to my advantage, like getting through an angle between two balls without hitting them, I used the heavy ball physics to plan the shot and it actually worked. If it was a normal weight cueball it would have hit one of the balls but the heavy cueball tangent line is different.

A heavier cueball would make you use a harder hit or more spin for draw or a stop shot, but less force for a follow shot. A stop shot you would actually need to hit with a draw shot when using a cueball heavier than the object balls. Note all the players that make an 8 ball near the pocket to follow the cueball into the pocket using a heavy bar table cueball and lose the game.

If all the balls were of the same ligher or heavier weight, it would just feel different than what a good regulation weight set would feel like. The collisions would still take off at the correct angles, but you would just get more ball movement with lighter balls, easier to move the cueball around the table. Tends to make players think they are good, makes the game easier to play.
 
Hang-the-9 that was exactly what I was looking for, thanks!

Funny thing, I decided to give them a try so I played one game with them. All the balls are the same 120 grams. On the break the balls definitely moved around the table more than I'm used too and in the end I ended up scoring better than my average. I think I actually came close to my best game ever and that was my first round with no warm up. I'm going to play with them a few more times. I'm actually thinking of keeping them after that, not for practice, but for guests and the rest of my family who aren't so good. When I play with the family the games take forever with balls just moving around. This could make it more fun while the non playing team is just watching and like you said the players feel like they are better than they are. Perception is reality, even if its fake and momentarily. I still have the new set coming which are premium Aramith balls, regulation size and weight. So that will be good. Thanks everyone.
 
Here's the link for the lighter balls: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07D1RFXCB/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Here are the new standard weight balls: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00430OGDA/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Here are my everyday balls: https://www.amazon.com/Aramith-Prem...ing-goods&sprefix=aramith,sporting,150&sr=1-4

I have to say the light balls play really well, I was surprised. Keeping them for fun and when playing with people who cant play well since it seems to improve their game. Tested with the family, and it worked. Lighter balls = easier. Will practice and play with standard balls for myself though.
 
The first thing they mention in the link is that they are light, so your surprise should not have been LOL

"DO NOT Buy if You are Looking for a Regulation Billiard Ball, Attention This Gorgeous Ball is 3/4 Weight of Regulation Balls, The Weight Difference is Noticeable。"

I don't think I would have spend money on such a set just for a fancy look, it's like paying $50 for a McDonalds burger because they stuck gold leaf on it and used truffle shavings.

Even people that don't play pool will have a hard time damaging or wearing out a proper set of pool balls.
 
kilimanj99 said:
Thanks guys, I hear ya garczar, already have a pair of nice balls ;) ha... no really I have a nice set, I just wanted a pretty set when guests come over. Most of them dont really play pool except for fun. And when drinking. But I still wanted a real regulation set of balls.
Click to expand...
You can't hurt pool balls. Don't worry about it.
 
I just bought A set of Aramith balls and I like them, they are thr best. I like the increased ability to draw the light cue ball . But I'll stick with the heavier Aramith balls.
 
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