Measle balls in practice
- Thread starter NathanDetroit
- Start date
Disagree,somewhat. The dots have 'some' place as far as watching a match but i don't think they help teaching/learning much. IMO most players learn how to use spin by watching the cb's reactions/movements and not looking at the ball spinning. Pool was played a gillion yrs before this thing came out, you really think players have improved because of it? How did Efren, Earl, Mosconi,Buddy, etcetcetc ever get so good without one?
JABSolstice
Well-known member
No one is claiming it is necessary. Do you think the measle ball is the only way to get better?
It is just a tool that can be used to learn.
Again, i do not agree here. How many players do you think stare at the cb to learn using english?? I'd bet pretty good not very many. Aramith invented it for watching tv/streams, not a teaching aid, and even then unless you're sitting a foot from the table you can't see anything. If they went away tomorrow do really think it would have an effect on pool? Please. If you like them fine but don't fool yourself into believing they are a teaching aid.
JABSolstice
Well-known member
I think that it CAN be useful for some players. Just because you can't figure out how to learn from it, doesn't make it useless.
On that rare occasion that I teach pool, I will often ask my student to announce their stroke choice in advance. The measles help me to determine whether they successfully executed that stroke. If I said to my student "you did not have any left english on that stroke" and they say they did, one of my go-to lines was "the measles do not lie." As the greats of the past have shown, you can become extremely proficient without the measles, but the measles have definitely made the instructor's job easier, and todays instructors are leaps and bounds above those of yesteryear. It can be, similarly, argued that those that developed a very high level of proficiency without the measle ball would have gotten there slightly faster with it, although we can never be sure.
It is regularly contended on this forum that improvements in technology, equipment and teaching/training aids are a big part of the explanation of why players today shoot so much straighter than their counterparts of the golden age of pool. To me, the measle ball fits right into that discussion.
To sum, yes, I do believe that the "spin feedback" offered by the measles has helped players to improve. Your suggestion that a top player may be able to sense/read the spin anyway based on other factors is logical, but do you really think that the developing amateur player can do the same? My experience says no, and to them the measle ball offers great value.
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I've been playing pool an embarrassingly long time, and there are still times and situations when I watch the cue ball spin after I took a shot and wonder how the hell I did that. I'll make the same shot over and over until I understand what's going on. The pure white ball guards its secrets jealously.
I have a collection of cue balls…..probably over 2 dozen……and the measle cue ball plays better than other cue balls.
I have red dot, blue dot, black dot Aramith cue balls, Arcos Predator II, Raschig, Centennial, red dot, circle dot, no dot cue balls and 4-5 training cue balls including Rempe, both Elephant balls, Raschig, and a few others. I pretty much have all the popular cue balls used in the past and today, even 2 ivory cue balls. The measle design is the best of any cue ball design.
I have red dot, blue dot, black dot Aramith cue balls, Arcos Predator II, Raschig, Centennial, red dot, circle dot, no dot cue balls and 4-5 training cue balls including Rempe, both Elephant balls, Raschig, and a few others. I pretty much have all the popular cue balls used in the past and today, even 2 ivory cue balls. The measle design is the best of any cue ball design.
I don't think anybody has said you need it - just that you can, and probably do (yes, even you) learn from it.
I believe you when you say you're not aware of learning from it - that's why they call it "subconscious".
pj
chgo
I think I was one of the first to buy the Aramith tournament set with the measle ball in my country. I never liked it. I guess I don't like anything new, as far as pool is concerned, doesn't mean I can't perform with them.
1. I don't like the measle ball or tv colours.
2. I don't like Diamond tables.
3. I don't like blue cloth.
4. I don't like carbon cues.
5. I don't like Simonis 860
6. Needless to say the Aramith "black" set with the purple 5 can take a long drive off a short pier.
Give me centennial balls with the blue circle cue ball, Brunswick GC tables, green cloth (NOT f-ing 860!), some good old wood shafts and Simonis 760. Most of the above changes were made for the benefit of Americans playing 9 ball on bar boxes. I'm European and I like 14.1. You can take all the "innovations" in pool sincee the early 2000's and shove them, as far as I'm concerned.
As far as practise, IMO you should practise with the equipment you must compete on, which sadly means I have to play and practise under conditions I find non-ideal. It is what it is.
1. I don't like the measle ball or tv colours.
2. I don't like Diamond tables.
3. I don't like blue cloth.
4. I don't like carbon cues.
5. I don't like Simonis 860
6. Needless to say the Aramith "black" set with the purple 5 can take a long drive off a short pier.
Give me centennial balls with the blue circle cue ball, Brunswick GC tables, green cloth (NOT f-ing 860!), some good old wood shafts and Simonis 760. Most of the above changes were made for the benefit of Americans playing 9 ball on bar boxes. I'm European and I like 14.1. You can take all the "innovations" in pool sincee the early 2000's and shove them, as far as I'm concerned.
As far as practise, IMO you should practise with the equipment you must compete on, which sadly means I have to play and practise under conditions I find non-ideal. It is what it is.
So something that facilitates your understanding of and feel for the effects of different tip positions - like having a visual of spin speed/direction to go with the result - would be a good thing, right?
pj
chgo
I pick a very small target for my cue ball on a shot to shot basis & the appropriate speed & tip position to achieve hitting that target.
What the cue ball looks like isn't very important to me.
It's not a bad thing, but imo it isn't necessary either.
The type of game & table that game is being played on has a big impact on how one looks at things as well.
dquarasr
Registered
When I started doing the Mighty X drill I often got a perfectly still CB, albeit one that is spinning counterclockwise. I know I have a perception problem where I hit the CB ever so slightly right of dead center. I never would have realized that with a plain white cue ball.
I think the measles ball is an extremely useful tool for students of the game and spectators alike.
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