SnakebyteXX said:
In addition according to Saluc they make all their cue balls from the same phenolic resin EXCEPT the infamous red circle cue ball which is made from 'carom material' (a phenolic resin recipe designed specifically for carom balls'. The red circle cue balls tend to be somewhat lighter and (possibly no one seems to know for sure) more resilient because of this difference in materials used during the manufacturing process. It has been speculated that the extra lively nature of the red circle cue ball is due to these differences in how they are made.
On Fast Larry's advice, I went out and plunked down a sawbuck for a Super Aramith Pro Cue Ball, and set it up to be fast as greased lightening: First I used Meguiar's Carnauba Wax on it, and let it dry, rubbed the stuff off, polished it, then soaked the thing in WD-40 overnight, and wiped it dry. Slippery sucker. Want that baby to zing all over the place. Took it to a place nearby that has a free 9 foot Gold Crown and that had beat up old balls, some call 'em moon rocks, and we played with my Super Aramith. Wow..... drew and followed and zinged all over the place. Cool. Everybody loved it, except the best stick who said it threw him off, so after about a month when he showed up and was on the table as the winner he'd replace it with the moon rock.
Later I started playing in a local pool hall that has several different sets of balls (Go figure...) They have a set of Centennials with a red circle ball on the very best table; the other tables, or most of them anyways, have Aramith Premiers with a blue circle ball. They also have a few extra red circle balls. Well, I went out and bought a used set of Centennials at Chris's in Chicago, and insisted I get a red circle ball with the set. They obliged me, even though they told me they had to buy the red circle balls separately, and they cost them $15 each. My whole set of used Centennials set me back the incredible sum of $40. Not a bad deal, eh?
I used to bring my balls with me whereever I went to shoot, for consistency's sake, but now I first check and see if they have a set of Centennials to use before I show up with them. Bringing them in with me attracts a lot of attention, which is fine, as the better players assume you're more serious and thus may get a game with them more easily. But most of the time I'll make do with the equipment on the table, and do my best to adjust to the changing conditions. That's the REAL WORLD in pool, and no rule making body will be able to impose the purchase of a particular set of balls on anyone, there are so many out there, so just deal with it...
Why do the Super Aramith's and the Red Circle balls draw better? Higher polish on the ball, I think. The Super Aramith's draw just fine. However the blue circle ball, being heavier and of a lower degree of polish, requires a different stroke for drawing, other things being equal. That stroke will often have to either be shot harder or lower on the ball, thus increasing problems of squirt and deflection, no doubt, especially if shot with english. Also, for fine touch draws when playing a safety, what can happen with the blue circle is that the object ball will be hit further. No way around it. I don't prefer the red circle balls or Super Aramith more than the blue circle because of how long I've been playing (a little over a year) but because of HOW it plays. I think it plays better... JMHO
Flex
