How do you cope with varying ball sizes?

Flex

Flex

Banger
Silver Member
There are various cue balls out there: Centennial blue circle, red circle, Super Aramith Pro, Aramith, measles ball, and so on. My experience has been that they all play differently, if in subtle ways. It's true they're round, and all roll. That being said, the degree of throw they impart on an object ball may vary, perhaps due to changing environmental factors, such as whether they are clean or dirty, polished or worn down, etc.

Compensating for these differences is part of pool, and most serious players I know prefer one ball over another.

However, the differences between the object balls is not often spoken of, and variations in their size can also wreak havoc on the knowledgeable and unsuspecting alike. Many times the one ball is much undersize, as it, along with the cue ball, gets a lot of pounding, especially in nine ball. Other balls may be undersize too. Yesterday I put a rack of balls 1-9 on the table at Chris's Billiards in Chicago, and checked their sizes with a rack. What I found was most interesting. The 3 ball and 7 ball were undrsize, by approximately 1/16 of an inch compared to most of the other balls. Musta seen lots of action. The lady at the counter told me they have no sets of balls that are over 10 years old, but that some customers help them by replacing balls. :eek:

Compensating for these variations will probably not make a difference on straight in shots, but on cut shots, the cut angle changes, enough at times when the object ball is more than a diamond away from the pocket to miss the shot.

What do you do to compensate for this stuff? Or do you just not take it into consideration?

Flex
 
I get a different set of balls and bring my own red circle cb.
 
That's what I do now, check the balls before taking them from the counter and ask to exchange the bad ones. However, it may occur in a tournament where the balls are supplied and it's not always easy to swap them. What would you do if you noticed while you were in the middle of a game and were getting down on a ball that was noticeably undersize? At that point you can't swap the ball, unless your opponent allows it, and some might not.

When I notice that sort of thing, I make a mental note about which ball it is, and stick it in the back of my mind for the time I'm on that ball, and compensate accordingly.

The difference in the way the shot plays can make or break a match, as it did a few months ago in a tournament I played in. The 3 ball was a generic ball, the others were Centennials. My opponent dogged that ball 3 times in 9 games...
 
Lol.. now imagine having slightly different balls while trying to play a game..

the worse part is.. having 2 slightly smaller balls is a nightmare to get a tight rack.. there is no way to get the entire rack right when this happens.. if you have one ball that is smaller.. well..you can rack it in the back.. but two just plain suck! lol
 
Bar Boxes are notorious for mix and match sized balls. (Hint: It makes it very hard to rack without gaps between the balls.)
 
Flex said:
However, the differences between the object balls is not often spoken of, and variations in their size can also wreak havoc on the knowledgeable and unsuspecting alike. Many times the one ball is much undersize, as it, along with the cue ball, gets a lot of pounding, especially in nine ball. Other balls may be undersize too.
Click to expand...
In regards cut angle, I don't think that very minimal differences in OB size are as problemmatic as other factors, such as dryness/humidity, and whether the balls are clean or dirty. For example, when the balls are dirty or sticky after long hours of play without cleaning, then most angled shots must be "over cut". When the balls are clean and dry, then the contact point can be relaxed a little.

If the OBs were noticeably smaller in relation to the CB, then I suppose they'd have to be over cut as well, to accommodate the relatively larger size of the CB. I remember playing with the large CB on some of the old bar boxes, and it seems like many shots needed to be over cut.

The worst problem with erratically sized balls is trying to rack them tightly. In one-pocket or straight pool it's simple enough to put the less often used striped balls up front. In 9-ball or other rotation games, one has no choice. For that reason it's sometimes impossible to get a tight rack.

Doc
 
gulfportdoc said:
In regards cut angle, I don't think that very minimal differences in OB size are as problemmatic as other factors, such as dryness/humidity, and whether the balls are clean or dirty. For example, when the balls are dirty or sticky after long hours of play without cleaning, then most angled shots must be "over cut". When the balls are clean and dry, then the contact point can be relaxed a little.

If the OBs were noticeably smaller in relation to the CB, then I suppose they'd have to be over cut as well, to accommodate the relatively larger size of the CB. I remember playing with the large CB on some of the old bar boxes, and it seems like many shots needed to be over cut.

The worst problem with erratically sized balls is trying to rack them tightly. In one-pocket or straight pool it's simple enough to put the less often used striped balls up front. In 9-ball or other rotation games, one has no choice. For that reason it's sometimes impossible to get a tight rack.

Doc
Click to expand...

A lot has been said about the difficulty in getting a tight rack, and I acknowledge the point.

From my point of view, however, the worst situation presents itself in a hill-hill match, when you're on a tough key ball, in whatever game is being played. At that point, if the shot is dogged...

Flex
 
Flex said:
There are various cue balls out there: Centennial blue circle, red circle, Super Aramith Pro, Aramith, measles ball, and so on. My experience has been that they all play differently, if in subtle ways. It's true they're round, and all roll. That being said, the degree of throw they impart on an object ball may vary, perhaps due to changing environmental factors, such as whether they are clean or dirty, polished or worn down, etc.

Compensating for these differences is part of pool, and most serious players I know prefer one ball over another.

However, the differences between the object balls is not often spoken of, and variations in their size can also wreak havoc on the knowledgeable and unsuspecting alike. Many times the one ball is much undersize, as it, along with the cue ball, gets a lot of pounding, especially in nine ball. Other balls may be undersize too. Yesterday I put a rack of balls 1-9 on the table at Chris's Billiards in Chicago, and checked their sizes with a rack. What I found was most interesting. The 3 ball and 7 ball were undrsize, by approximately 1/16 of an inch compared to most of the other balls. Musta seen lots of action. The lady at the counter told me they have no sets of balls that are over 10 years old, but that some customers help them by replacing balls. :eek:

Compensating for these variations will probably not make a difference on straight in shots, but on cut shots, the cut angle changes, enough at times when the object ball is more than a diamond away from the pocket to miss the shot.

What do you do to compensate for this stuff? Or do you just not take it into consideration?

Flex
Click to expand...

I don't have a problem. I usually aim the part of the cue ball that with contact the object ball at the OB, so it kind of works it self out.
 
It could be worse

When you leave America, you may play on an English style table with round pockets, the object balls are 2" and the cue ball is 1 7/8 "....!
Quite interesting...
 
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