My theory on why they use a purple 5 ball

garczar

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
They wanted to sell more balls.

Billiard balls don't wear out. Once the entire pool population has a set how do you sell more? Change the colors.

I feel this was a cash grab that was rather unethical. If you can't run your business such that you can put your customers first and still make a profit then you're doing something wrong or shouldn't be in that business. I think it's gross, so while I play in tournaments with the purple five ball I won't be buying a new set. I vote with my wallet and while I understand it won't make a big impact I can't support this type of business practice.

I do appreciate they sponsor many events to varying degrees and there be more that I don't understand. But I'll stick with my set.
Emily at MR decided they had to have their own set. All i can say is she must be color-blind. They are are horrible.
 

alstl

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
They wanted to sell more balls.

Billiard balls don't wear out. Once the entire pool population has a set how do you sell more? Change the colors.

I feel this was a cash grab that was rather unethical. If you can't run your business such that you can put your customers first and still make a profit then you're doing something wrong or shouldn't be in that business. I think it's gross, so while I play in tournaments with the purple five ball I won't be buying a new set. I vote with my wallet and while I understand it won't make a big impact I can't support this type of business practice.

I do appreciate they sponsor many events to varying degrees and there be more that I don't understand. But I'll stick with my set.
It is undoubtedly related to sponsor cash but I agree with you. Are people going to buy a new set of these balls just because they see them on tv? If you gave me a set I wouldn't use them. I see nothing wrong with the old ones I already have.
 

BobTfromIL

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Said this before, what are the odds they will ever change the "colour" balls in snooker?
Personally I like the tv balls, hate the blacks.
 

buckshotshoey

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Aramith made the "Black" set primarily for 9 ball.... so its easier to distinguish from the one ball when viewed on small screen devices.

Do you know how many times I thought the 9 ball was the 8? Sometimes the black stripe is directly toward the camera and black is all you see.
 

Taxi

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
The TV problem could've been easily solved by lightening the blue of the 2 ball to distinguish it from the purple 4, and lightening the red of the 3 ball to distinguish it from the brown 7. I've never had a problem telling the 1 from the 9.
 

michael4

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Somebody screwed up and made a bunch of purple 5 balls. Instead of throwing them away they decided to use them.

Either that or they enjoy confusing people.
its so that the viewers have to listen to the commentators, to know which balls are which......
 

garczar

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I like the black spotted cueball much better than the red one, though. I use it with my traditional set-

-dj
Talking about the object balls. Didn't think i needed to add that. The cb is fine. I wouldn't pay the 50bux they're asking for one.
 
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fastone371

Certifiable
Silver Member
This is the story from Aramith:

While this colour scheme should provide the best contrast between balls, it was not the case in the reality of TV and video transmission, as dark blue, dark purple and maroon could be difficult to distinguish, especially with poor lighting conditions.

To improve this we created the Super Aramith Pro TV set, featuring pink and light brown colours instead of dark purple and maroon. It improved drastically the contrast, and the Super Aramith Pro TV and then the Aramith Tournament TV sets have been - and still are - used successfully in all major tournaments worldwide. Still, the regular Super Aramith Pro and Aramith Tournament sets feature the traditional colours.

In 2018 Matchroom Sport, a leader in the promotion of prestigious pool events, expressed the need to improve further the contrast between balls, especially the orange colour towards red and pink, and dark green towards dark blue.

Anticipating the need to better discern the balls on small screen devices, we developed a light purple to replace orange and a lighter green to replace the darker one, only in the new Aramith Tournament BLACK set. The pink 4-ball having become the reference in official tournaments with the Aramith Tournament TV set, we could not use the light purple for the 4-ball which would have been closer to tradition.

As for the black design on the striped balls , it was first designed for the nine-ball game to better distinguish the 9-ball with the 1-ball. Featured in all striped balls it gives an innovative and groundbreaking look (patent pending).

To me the short comings with the "black" set is that the 9 ball at times looks like the 1 or the 8. It can be almost impossible to distinguish the blue 2 from the purple 4. About all Matchroom accomplished was causing people to mix up different groups of balls from the traditional set. GREAT JOB MATCHROOM , YOU KNOCKED IT OUT OF THE PARK.!!!!!
 

JolietJames

Boot Party Coordinator
Silver Member
Coco... as soon as the balls come to a rest after the break, an experienced player sees the pattern, whether it’s a Cosmo or you have problems with blockers. Identifying the balls interferes with this process.
I played decent street chess.
I refused to play with pieces that weren’t Staunton design... it messes up your pattern recognition. I guess if you don’t play up to a certain level, it won’t matter too much. You’ll have to take a player’s word for it.
THIS!!!
So much this.
On all counts.
I'm sick of calling the pattern 1, 2, 3, pink 4, purple 4, 5, 6...
Chess the same.
It's just dumb to have a company change something so basic, simply because the have the money to force it down the world's throat.
 

Tin Man

AzB Gold Member
Gold Member
Silver Member
I wonder how many people in the tournament shoot the three ball and play position to get on the purple ball knowing it (would normally be a 4ball) and then realized it was the five. That would suck.
This was a real concern for me and my friend out here. The first set I had to use the 60 seconds after the break to very consciously identify the balls and do a check that I wasn't shooting them in the wrong order. I still had two times where I almost made this mistake. By the second set it didn't bother me.

Not a fan but I understand I have to fight on whatever turf they put me on.
 

8cree

Reverse Engineer
Silver Member
This was a real concern for me and my friend out here. The first set I had to use the 60 seconds after the break to very consciously identify the balls and do a check that I wasn't shooting them in the wrong order. I still had two times where I almost made this mistake. By the second set it didn't bother me.

Not a fan but I understand I have to fight on whatever turf they put me on.
JJ said he got used to it while playing quickly like you. However, while commentating, he made the mistake calling the position and just the number of the ball several times. Then he just referred to them by the color.

Me personally, I was making the mental mistake constantly while watching, thinking they played bad shape.

Stupid purple 5.
 

buckshotshoey

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
This was a real concern for me and my friend out here. The first set I had to use the 60 seconds after the break to very consciously identify the balls and do a check that I wasn't shooting them in the wrong order. I still had two times where I almost made this mistake. By the second set it didn't bother me.

Not a fan but I understand I have to fight on whatever turf they put me on.
You stated in post 15 you wouldn't buy a set of these balls. This post shows why you SHOULD buy a set. Practice with them for one month before the tournament.
 

Tin Man

AzB Gold Member
Gold Member
Silver Member
You stated in post 15 you wouldn't buy a set of these balls. This post shows why you SHOULD buy a set. Practice with them for one month before the tournament.
If they committed to using this set of balls for 10-20 years and this was standardized then I would. When each 1-2 years they come out with a new set with different quirks then I refuse to pay $250 annually to be a member of the 'ball of the month' club.
 

surffisher2a

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
If they committed to using this set of balls for 10-20 years and this was standardized then I would. When each 1-2 years they come out with a new set with different quirks then I refuse to pay $250 annually to be a member of the 'ball of the month' club.

$250 ??? those sets go for almost $400 dollars new...... I won't buy a set either, that purple 5 ball really annoys me.
 

buckshotshoey

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
If they committed to using this set of balls for 10-20 years and this was standardized then I would. When each 1-2 years they come out with a new set with different quirks then I refuse to pay $250 annually to be a member of the 'ball of the month' club.
I understand that. But if it could cost you a match, it's the smaller price to pay. Ball-of-the-month club. That's funny!

It would be nice to just buy a 9 or 10 ball set for less money. No need for the 11 through 15
 
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