Warm balls

TheThaiger

TheThaiger

Banned
No jokes please!

I keep a set of balls behind the bar of my local hall. The staff have installed a new heating system and must've put the balls very close to it, because they were warm/hot when I took them out of the box. It may have been my imagination but the balls broke a ton and flew around the table. They seemed much easier to pot.

So, does warming the balls make the game easier?
 
Without further investigation, I would tend to think not. I can't imagine how being warm would make them easier to pot. Easier to break, perhaps. Then again, I have never played with warm/hot balls :embarrassed2: ...
 
TheThaiger said:
No jokes please!

I keep a set of balls behind the bar of my local hall. The staff have installed a new heating system and must've put the balls very close to it, because they were warm/hot when I took them out of the box. It may have been my imagination but the balls broke a ton and flew around the table. They seemed much easier to pot.

So, does warming the balls make the game easier?
Click to expand...

Yes. A warm, dry set of balls have different frictional characteristics than a cold set. A little cold condensation around the cue ball surface quickly causes it to pick up a fine layer of chalk dust which is a recipe for increasing throw and creating a higher potential for "cling".

From Wikipedia's Glossary of cue sport terms:
Cling

Phenomenon where two balls, (usually the cue ball and an object ball) have some foreign material (often residual chalk or dirt picked up from unbrushed cloth) between them at the point of contact, resulting in the struck object ball being thrown offline from the expected trajectory, and often also affecting the post-impact path of the cue ball. A typical precaution against cling is to ask for the cue ball and/or object ball to be cleaned by the referee in order to remove chalk that is already on the ball prior to the shot. The table cloth should also be clean. However, no precaution can ward against cling resulting from chalk transferred from the cue tip to the cue ball during a single shot. Coincidental cling can therefore cause unpredictable play and occasionally lead to rudimentary shots being missed at even the highest levels of the game.[24] "Cling" (and derived words like "clung", "clinger", "clinging", etc.) may be used as a mass noun, less commonly as a count noun, as a verb, and rarely as an adjective ("cling is annoying", "two clings in one frame", "they clung", "unintentional cling shot", respectively). Also known as skid, or in the UK, kick (sense 2). See also dead ball, sense 2.

-Ira
 
iralee said:
Yes. A warm, dry set of balls have different frictional characteristics than a cold set. A little cold condensation around the cue ball surface quickly causes it to pick up a fine layer of chalk dust which is a recipe for increasing throw and creating a higher potential for "cling".

From Wikipedia's Glossary of cue sport terms:
Cling

Phenomenon where two balls, (usually the cue ball and an object ball) have some foreign material (often residual chalk or dirt picked up from unbrushed cloth) between them at the point of contact, resulting in the struck object ball being thrown offline from the expected trajectory, and often also affecting the post-impact path of the cue ball. A typical precaution against cling is to ask for the cue ball and/or object ball to be cleaned by the referee in order to remove chalk that is already on the ball prior to the shot. The table cloth should also be clean. However, no precaution can ward against cling resulting from chalk transferred from the cue tip to the cue ball during a single shot. Coincidental cling can therefore cause unpredictable play and occasionally lead to rudimentary shots being missed at even the highest levels of the game.[24] "Cling" (and derived words like "clung", "clinger", "clinging", etc.) may be used as a mass noun, less commonly as a count noun, as a verb, and rarely as an adjective ("cling is annoying", "two clings in one frame", "they clung", "unintentional cling shot", respectively). Also known as skid, or in the UK, kick (sense 2). See also dead ball, sense 2.

-Ira
Click to expand...

Hmm, straying off topic a bit but I've never been convinced by conventional theories on kicks. Snooker venues are notorious for being warm, and kicks are very common. I'm sure chalk, dust etc can have an effect, but kicks are caused more by bad cueing or forcing shots IMO, which makes the CB bounce on leaving the tip. The BBC show fantastic super slo-mo shots, which clearly shows how much the CB bounces before getting to the OB. I also suspect some balls "settle" into the bed of table more than others, which causes a bit of a bounce on contact. I just can't see a speck of chalk causing two comparatively massive pool balls to jump off the cloth.
 
I'm skeptical, but will note that back in the 70's, hockey pucks would be kept in a bucket of ice during a game. When the ref needed one, it would come out of the ice bucket. Theory was that the cold pucks had better response off sticks and the boards than warm ones.

So temperature could be a factor ... but for giving the balls better zip, I would vote for cold over hot.
 
Warm balls play better than cold balls on my outside table. Years ago guys would put the balls in the freezer or icebox for a gaff. Maybe Jay or some of the older players on here can tell us why. I'm old but very honest, so I don't know. Want to buy a used car? Little old lady only drove it to church on Sunday's. Only has 11,000 miles on it. Don't worry about the odometer numbers not lining up. It's the only thing wrong with the car. Johnnyt
 
I doubt it. By the time you carried the balls to the table, racked them (touching them with your hands) and broke, they'd be back to room temperature long before you would notice a difference.
 
This is all based on assumptions. I don't think they would play much different but if they were heated to a high enough temperature I think the balls would absorb the hit more. I also think that when cutting a shot they would cut short. The temperature would have to much higher than a simple heater though.
 
Blue Hog ridr said:
I doubt it. By the time you carried the balls to the table, racked them (touching them with your hands) and broke, they'd be back to room temperature long before you would notice a difference.
Click to expand...

Not true. Put a set of balls in the fridge overnight and take them out and start playing. It takes about 30-45 minutes to get close to room temp. And they do play different cold. Johnnyt
 
I watched Earl hitting some trick shots....There was a shot that was not working...He put the CB in his pocket and started spinning it...warming it up...He said watch now the shot will work...(it did)

He then went on to say that the warm CB reacted different and changed some angles.


I did not question him on it...;)
 
Warm Balls

I also have seen Earl do the pocket "trick". I'm not sure if the purpose was to warm the cue ball or to clean the cue ball...either way, his action DOES have an effect on spin. A clean cue ball WILL spin more than a dirty one and his trick shots DO have A LOT of spin on them!

BRKNRUN said:
I watched Earl hitting some trick shots....There was a shot that was not working...He put the CB in his pocket and started spinning it...warming it up...He said watch now the shot will work...(it did)

He then went on to say that the warm CB reacted different and changed some angles.


I did not question him on it...;)
Click to expand...
 
nancewayne said:
I also have seen Earl do the pocket "trick". I'm not sure if the purpose was to warm the cue ball or to clean the cue ball...either way, his action DOES have an effect on spin. A clean cue ball WILL spin more than a dirty one and his trick shots DO have A LOT of spin on them!
Click to expand...


I was thinking like you when I saw him do it....He actually said he was warming the CB......He then went on about how pool tables should be heated etc. etc.

It may very well be a combination of both.....but again...Earl was "in rythum"....I was not about to disrupt his momentum at that particular point in time...;)
 
I have to concur on this. I keep a set in the trunk of my car. On cold mornings, they will start to sweat (condensation) when I take them out. I usually have to wipe them before I play, otherwise they won't break well.

Phenolic resin is a plastic, so I'm guessing they won't be as elastic in cold freezing temperature than warmed up to room temperature.

iralee said:
Yes. A warm, dry set of balls have different frictional characteristics than a cold set. A little cold condensation around the cue ball surface quickly causes it to pick up a fine layer of chalk dust which is a recipe for increasing throw and creating a higher potential for "cling".

From Wikipedia's Glossary of cue sport terms:
Cling

Phenomenon where two balls, (usually the cue ball and an object ball) have some foreign material (often residual chalk or dirt picked up from unbrushed cloth) between them at the point of contact, resulting in the struck object ball being thrown offline from the expected trajectory, and often also affecting the post-impact path of the cue ball. A typical precaution against cling is to ask for the cue ball and/or object ball to be cleaned by the referee in order to remove chalk that is already on the ball prior to the shot. The table cloth should also be clean. However, no precaution can ward against cling resulting from chalk transferred from the cue tip to the cue ball during a single shot. Coincidental cling can therefore cause unpredictable play and occasionally lead to rudimentary shots being missed at even the highest levels of the game.[24] "Cling" (and derived words like "clung", "clinger", "clinging", etc.) may be used as a mass noun, less commonly as a count noun, as a verb, and rarely as an adjective ("cling is annoying", "two clings in one frame", "they clung", "unintentional cling shot", respectively). Also known as skid, or in the UK, kick (sense 2). See also dead ball, sense 2.

-Ira
Click to expand...
 
Johnnyt said:
Not true. Put a set of balls in the fridge overnight and take them out and start playing. It takes about 30-45 minutes to get close to room temp. And they do play different cold. Johnnyt
Click to expand...

I'm inclined to agree with somebody else who mentioned condensation (although not in this context). Ice cold balls (a phrase I never thought I'd be typing on this forum) would DEFINITELY accrue some water condensation on them (and perhaps not be easily noticeable visually)--everywhere except perhaps in the desert. Water on balls would definitely change throw characteristics--and all hell would break loose in shooting them into pockets :D
 
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