Get Rid of that Measle Ball!

The Measle ball is the "new" post flag Masters Chalk, it makes no difference except to the conspiracy theorists ;)
 
Adding the spots on the cueball has been done for TV and introduced in 3-cushion, pool and blackball (english pool). The similarity with the history of the tennis ball (white until 1972) is that they were both changed for TV.

And like snooker who's the only cuesport not using the measle ball, Wimbledon kept on using the white ball until 1986... Aahhh those Brits :)

Furthermore, the cloth color mostly chosen for TV (Simonis "Tour blue") has been created for its ability to work efficiently with human vision. It was the result of a research from the Pantone company paid for by Greg Sullivan. Exactly like the yellow tennis ball was a result of a research that showed yellow is the color best spotted by a human eye on changing backgrounds.


I'm not able to judge how different the measle cueball is to a plain ball, but what I'm sure about is that it is a major improvement for the images created, both moving and stills. These spots give the feel of speed, spin and look good.


Now, like it's possible to buy green, orange, and white tennis balls and play with whatever you please, you can play with a white cueball. But I believe that anything that's aimed at an audience should be played with the measle cueball.


And as far as Karl goes, he hasn't asked for half the cue ball cleaning a 3-cushion player would have. This is a game of precision. Cohen lost his last game to a skid on the 8-ball. There you go.
 
the BLUE CIRCLE, or even the BLUE DOT play the best

You're right, the BLUE CIRCLE, or even the BLUE DOT play the best - always has and probably always will.

The "Measle Ball" is "gaffey," and changes the game.....it's actually easier for many players to move around the table because it's heavier, yet still lively (it seems to draw easy for it's weight).


KMRUNOUT said:
3 cushion? You mean the game that is played with 3 balls that are *larger* than pool balls?

I agree the measle ball has its quirks. Also, the red circle ball has its quirks. It bounces off the object balls and plays too light. Generally, the ball that goes with a ball set plays the best with that set. Blue circle with centennials and super aramith pro with that set. The red circle doesn't go with any set...it is not the same composition as other ball sets. I don't dislike it, it just doesn't play 100% right.

KMRUNOUT
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Fast Lenny said:
After watching Karl Boyes have cue ball cleaned nearly every rack and sometimes twice. I have watched a bunch of the matches the past few days from the World 9 Ball Championships and if you added all the cue ball cleaning during all the others it would not even come close. Lets just say he lost some fans, probably a few hundred easily.

Here is my solution for them to stop using this stupid training ball in pro events, it grabs chalk more then any other cue ball. Not sure why people are playing with this ball that was just used on ESPN to show spin to viewers many years ago but everyone jumped on it. It is time a cue ball is made that has a coating that resist holding chalk better without spots all over it, it is diseased! Players should demand that and the masses will buy that cue ball because it will be the best, a no or lower skid cue ball that has higher resistance to chalk. There could be more chalk sticking with the new chalks that are supposed to stick to your tip better but that also means more on the cue ball. There is no guarantees because skids are not always caused by the chalk and a bad stroke I believe.

You can send me a royalty check or thank me when it comes out. Leave the measle ball to ESPN, pool instructors and the carnival gaff pool tables.
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I agree! No more polka dotted cue balls. I never really cared too much till recently but you know what, they do skid more and it's a circus act. Leave it for the circus!

Like Pretty Boy Floyd says... "Do you think Tiger Woods would take it if they made him put polka dots on his golf ball?"

Time for the pros to take back the sport!

Aramith may be a great company... but they are not the ones out there playing.

Thanks,
Max
 
I like the blue circle and blue dot just fine... I like the aramith logo ball. My favorite is the red circle though :)
 
maxeberle said:
I like the blue circle and blue dot just fine... I like the aramith logo ball. My favorite is the red circle though :)
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The red circle makes moving the CB around much easier. In terms of that, I like it better as well.

However, pool loses a sense of symmetry playing with the red circle CB. If one has ever shot with an object ball used as the CB, the OB plays much more heavy than the red circle (even though they can weigh exactly the same). It doesn't seem right to me that the CB should have significant differences in properties than the rest of the OBs. The measles CB, in my experience, plays much more closely to an OB than the red circle.

But then again, the measles CB doesn't play exactly like an OB either. And playing with an OB as the CB makes the game feel miserable, at least for me. So I don't think I would enjoy it either if the CB played exactly as the the OBs (at least in my Super Aramith Pro set). I think the measles is a good compromise.

I haven't played with the blue circle, blue dot, or aramith logo for any length of time to form an opinion on those.
 
Need

The thing they need to get rid of is not the cue ball but that magic rack , it traps the 9 ball every time .
 
tonemachine said:
I just happened to order a new ball the other day since one of my friends who isn't a regular pool player found the measles ball distracting (as I did for about the first 3 minutes that I played with it when I got it). Then I happened to see this thread and wondered if I should be concerned over differences in play...

So I started doing a test of taking the same shot over and over again, chalking and switching CB's each shot. After about 5 minutes of that, it became clear that chalk marks were getting erased in the process because neither ball was accumulating a lot of marks even though after the first few shots I could see that chalk was sticking...

So then I decided to simplify- take 5 shots on each ball, straight left English and straight into a rail. You can see the results for yourself. Don't ask me what chalk or what tip, if you do, you're crazier than I am for even testing this ridiculous proposition. The level at which I struck the CB's was comfortably below the level of the point of the rail and with straight left spin, there was no chance for the felt to erase any marks.

5 shots on each, 5 marks each- on average, the same amount of chalk on each but my gas spectrophotometer is broken so I couldn't vaporize the chalk for precise measurements for you, OP. Sorry. But seriously- there is your photographic evidence that the same ball- one with measles, one without, hold the same amount of chalk. If you have a non-measles ball that doesn't hold the chalk like that then it is probably an inferior level aramith like "ideologist" mentioned. And fell free to use that ball, nothing wrong with it. Just be sure to note that there are non-measles balls that are of the EXACT SAME composition as the measles ball, and that composition is used in tournaments the world over before you knock the composition of the measles ball. I don't care either way other than prolonging my felt life. Gimme a bar ball and I'll still be able to play...

As soon as I can find the wife's little food scale, I will weigh the balls and report. Clearly they are different colors. I assumed they would be of the same material and according to descriptions, they should be. The bottom line is that both balls seem to play the same. According to what I read about aramith pro series when I first bought balls, their formula "burns" the felt less than their lower level formulas. The red circle is $1 less and not described as "as used in tournaments all over the county....," as both the measles ball and the SAPCB are so I assume that the red dot it is of a lesser quality to some degree- at least for burning the felt, if we are to believe the Aramith description- and I see no reason not to. I see that "ideologist" above says that the circle ball is garbage and to use the red logo ball... it didn't make the pic but the ball on the left is the red logo ball.

http://www.ozonebilliards.com/suarprocueba.html- here you can see the Aramith Pro CB that I bought and comparison to the red dot and the measles ball. I bought mine at Nielsen's, though.

So, OP- should I now worry that I got a counterfeit Aramith ball since it is clearly more yellow than the other ball? lol.
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Multiply by .0352 for ounces. Tare weight of paper towel is 2.8 grams.

Top ball is Super aramith pro
Middle is measles from super aramith pro cup set
bottom is Jim Tempe practice ball
 
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Here's a good reason to use the measle ball other then for tv.....in a timed game (30 second shot clock), the time keeper can tell if the cue ball is still spinning. All the haters of the measle ball will change their tunes if the shot clock was started 5 seconds before the cue ball actually stopped. People would be raising a fit that the time keeper sgould be fired or needs to get glasses. A clean cue ball is tough to see the spin from 10 feet away. Hence....an event like the Mosconi Cup it is necessary to use the measle ball.
 
After several months of lots of play and switching between the measle and the red dot, I find no difference in play of the balls nor differences in each's holding chalk. I have no opinion on tournament play but for practice and seeing how/how much the cue ball spins has been invaluable in speeding up the process of getting different hits burned into my brain because one can easily directly see small differences in cue ball spin when practicing any given shot over and over. It gives very valuable direct feedback and it has helped improve my game tremendously. I was previously just a good shot maker but my cue ball control was always very slow-going. And now when I'm not working on cue ball control and just playing, the extra dots don't bother me at all. I would encourage any learners to use the measle ball for increased learning efficiency... but don't forget to stay in the habit of looking at the OB for aiming. My shooting got all messed up on anything but the easiest of shots when my eyes got in the habit of looking at the CB rather than the OB right before stroking. Balance study is everything, learned that the hard way. Good luck.
 
I agree, the dotted ball is terrible. also, why would you want the viewer to see the spin, it takes away the mystery behind the game. "WOW, HOW DOES HE DO THAT?" is gone.
 
I agree.. I remember watching great players play back when I was just starting out and there was no measles ball yet.
Seeing the cue ball suddenly speed up or completely die off the rail, or take off in unexpected directions was almost like magic, and you just don't get that anymore with the measles ball...
 
Damn wish I was good enough that the cue ball made that much difference.
Personally we do change to a measle ball at our local room and no one seems to mind.
 
CJ Wiley said:
You're right, the BLUE CIRCLE, or even the BLUE DOT play the best - always has and probably always will.

The "Measle Ball" is "gaffey," and changes the game.....it's actually easier for many players to move around the table because it's heavier, yet still lively (it seems to draw easy for it's weight).
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The blue circle doesn't bounce around like the measles and other cue balls. Standardize the game and use one cue ball and one set of balls. The blue circle would be my choice.

Until the game has tighter equipment standards, playing on different tables will always be a crap shoot. Pocket sizes, cue balls and ball sets, cues and chalk, should be a level playing field with rules and restrictions for each area.

Best,
Mike
 
maxeberle said:
I agree! No more polka dotted cue balls. I never really cared too much till recently but you know what, they do skid more and it's a circus act. Leave it for the circus!

Like Pretty Boy Floyd says... "Do you think Tiger Woods would take it if they made him put polka dots on his golf ball?"

Time for the pros to take back the sport!

Aramith may be a great company... but they are not the ones out there playing.

Thanks,
Max
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Well said, Max. But, we all know why we play with what ever equipment is put in front of us. Sadly, we're beggars not choosers. When a sponsor offers up a new piece of equipment, be it the cloth, balls, chalk, cues, or even the table itself, we begrudgingly take it and offer little resistance.

After all, despite being the best in the world, our pros can't hardly make a living let alone dictate the playing standards. We've become whores for the biggest paycheck and sold our pride to make ends meet.

You obviously do what you have to do to survive, no knock on the best in our game (you included). Hopefully that will change in the near future!

Best,
Mike
 
I've never used a blue circle or blue dot, or red circle, I haven't a clue which is the best, I'm currently using a Aramith tourney, seems great, but never compared it to the others..?
 
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