Is It Possible To Establish Ball Cleaning Guidelines

[realkingcobra]

az member randytabares started a thread asking what the best ball polishing method was and it opened quite a can of worms.

see that thread here:

http://forums.azbilliards.com/showthread.php?t=410410

there were a lot of opinions (including mine) and products discussed there and even a rule posted that stated balls should not be waxed.

I think there should be some guidelines (or at least guidance) on what products are acceptable and which are not.

Especially confusing was that Aramith ball polish, it was posted, contains some wax in their formula so is that product actually against the rules?

Inquiring minds want to know.

best,
brian kc

Brian, cleaning guidelines for the balls means nothing when you can roll a nice shinning ball from one end of the table to the other, and it clearly shows a nice dirt ring around the ball from just rolling it once. Clean cloth = much cleaner balls overall.

 

[alstl]

What I don't understand is how whatever wax or silicone you put on the balls won't get on the cloth. If it does get on the cloth then what do you do?

I use soap, water and paper towels.

 

[Kickin' Chicken]

Brian, I think new balls play terrible....so the last thing I want is a ball-cleaning method
that makes balls play like they're new.
I want the balls CLEAN, without any residue from a cleaning product.
A player needs a certain amount of friction to play their best game.
I put nothing in the ball cleaner for 25 years

I might try something resembling what Albatross does, though.

One match that Alex and Dennis were playing, they asked that the balls NOT be cleaned
at the break interval.

ps...I have couple anecdotes supporting this point of view, if anyone is interested

I will happily revise what I wrote because I agree with you.

When I referred to wanting balls, after cleaning, to be just like they came out of the box, there was the consideration (re a luxury I have at home) to do with being able to play some racks with the balls to get them to not be so slidey (is that a word?). When playing in tourneys, etc, we don't always have that luxury.

Also, the cloth being just cleaned also adds to balls banking and kicking long similar to how brand new cloth does when first installed. I prefer some time be on the cloth so it performs 'better'. :wink:

best,
brian kc

 

[Sloppy Pockets]

Brian, I think new balls play terrible....so the last thing I want is a ball-cleaning method
that makes balls play like they're new.
I want the balls CLEAN, without any residue from a cleaning product.
A player needs a certain amount of friction to play their best game.
I put nothing in the ball cleaner for 25 years

Then this would put tournament players at a distinct disadvantage over playing their best game in the beginning rounds. Maybe it's the brand new balls that are changing as the tournament progresses rather than the cloth.

I don't know about all events, but I know Mike Zuglan starts out the TS events with 16 sets of brand-new balls and sells them at a good discount at the end of the tourney. I almost grabbed set of slightly used (barely broken in?) Aramith Tournament balls with the new Duramith coating, but figured I'd probably still want to play with my Centennials.

On a related note, does anyone know how well the Duramith balls hold up under use? How about the Cyclop balls? Do they still play well after extensive use?

It should be noted that all of these different resins are going to have different throw characteristics because they have different molecular compositions. Maybe a light waxing on the outside turns out to be the great equalizer among different balls sets.

Just curious... Has Dr. Dave done any throw experiments with the Duramith or Cyclop balls?

 

[Kickin' Chicken]

I edited my post above to clarify what was coming from my typing fingers.

a hopefully clearer thought:

When I referred to wanting balls, after cleaning, to be just like they came out of the box, there was the consideration (re a luxury I have at home) to do with being able to play some racks with the balls to get them to not be so slidey (is that a word?). When playing in tourneys, etc, we don't always have that luxury.