Seeing the spin itself is new, more detailed information than simply seeing how the CB reacts. If you think you already know all there is to know about CB action, go ahead and ignore this new info. It's your game.
pj
chgo
What is the fascination with the "measles" ball??
- Thread starter Shortside K
- Start date
Seeing the spin itself is new, more detailed information than simply seeing how the CB reacts. If you think you already know all there is to know about CB action, go ahead and ignore this new info. It's your game.
pj
chgo
I like the measel ball because not only can I see if I am putting the correct english on the ball, but if I am watching better players I can see what english they use on certain shots too. I like that it weighs a little more than the red circle CB because that forces you to stroke the ball more since its tougher to move a heavier ball around, JMO.
Southpaw
Southpaw
When they were both brand new, my measle ball actually weighed 1 gram less than the red logo aramith cue ball that came with the set. Kookie.
To me, it seems that the measles ball plays slightly different but not enough that I can't adjust, easily. Still, I don't like it playing against anyone. I don't want people to know how I get my position. I'm Ok with it in practice though.
Shortside K said:
I wanted one because I thought they looked cool, and they do, and yes being able to visulize the spin is useful..
Even with the ball being "BIG" it doesnt effect my game at all, if anything I have a better underdstanding of what Im doing and why..
SPINDOKTOR
Shortside K said:
Well, as noted above, I will be at DCC and since action matches have been known to take place there, it may not be the best idea for me to overstate my speed so, I admit it...I lied...I can't come anywhere close to the above statistics! (-:
Seriously though, we are all better and worse at various playing skills. Some are killer shot makers and weak position players and vice versa...so you can't rate anyone's speed based on any one particular skill...especially a drill that they have practiced for years.
Regards,
Jim
smashmouth said:
No it's not. It is made by the exact same company that makes the regular Super Pro balls for Aramith (and Brunswick) and there is no way on earth that they would create a different formula or manufacturing process for one specific ball that sells a TINY number of balls vs. their other Super Pro balls.
Do you have any facts to support your thesis?
Regards,
Jim
TX Poolnut said:
Right...and if you bought another standard or measle ball they would likely bel of different weights too. But given 28.47 grams to the ounce and given the "standard" 6 oz. weight of pool balls then 1 gram is about 1/171 and would be meaningless to playability.
But PROPS to you for actually weighing the balls and not succumbing to "urban legend" mythology on this subject.
Regards,
Jim
I don't have a 'Measles' ball yet, but I will be getting one in the near future. I have a wife and 2 kids that are learning to play and I believe that it will be easier to show them how a shot can be done, and how they actually stroked a ball with that one. As far as whether I will use it for myself, yeah, I will, it will be nice to see just how far off on my contact point I was during practicing.
I learned something with the ball....
I bought one for two reasons 1) some pool rooms use these balls and I wanted to get used to it, because I found it distracting at first, and 2) to see if there are any training benefits. I started using one for the first time at Hollywood Billiards.
I found it weighs and plays exactly the same as the Brunswick centennial cue ball that came with my set (5.9 ounces). I believe it has improved my game. It's hard to explain, but on slow rolled shots, you can see the rotation you are putting on the ball better after contact. This gives you some additional feedback on each shot, more feedback than just watching the angle. I find I can direct the cue ball better now by slow rolling with spin and estimating how much cut to take and how the cut affects the direction the cue ball takes off the rail. Previously I was using draw a lot to kill the speed, now I slow roll more and I think it's more accurate.
The other thing I like it for is center ball shots with a small amount of english. You can see the side english take the rail after contact. It's no big deal, but I think I am using spin a little better on the slow rolled shots and stun shots due to practicing with the measels ball. In other words, I have the cue ball coming off the rail more accurately after contact.
Chris
Shortside K said:Around here, it seems that a lot of people are fascinated with using the measles CB.
I don't understand it.
Yes, I know that it is being used a lot in the big tournaments, especially when they are televised.
And Yes, it does kind of look neat when a bunch of siding is put on the CB, but realistically, the shooter already knows what is going on with the CB and he's the only one that really cares.
I think we all agree that the measles CB plays differently than our regular CB. Why? This remains unclear and we all have our opinions.
Many, many people here have bought their own measles CB and want to use it all the time. They even bring it to local tournaments and expect their opponents to agree to use it in their matches. How silly is that? Why would any opponent want to bring a new variable into their matches?
Its so bad, that many of these guys that own the measles CB are offended when they are told that no one wants to use their "special" CB.
If I bring my own CB to a match (maybe I get one that is extra heavy, or extra light) should I expect everyone to accept using it? I think not.
Anyway, maybe someone can explain to me just why people think the measles CB is so wonderful.
I bought one for two reasons 1) some pool rooms use these balls and I wanted to get used to it, because I found it distracting at first, and 2) to see if there are any training benefits. I started using one for the first time at Hollywood Billiards.
I found it weighs and plays exactly the same as the Brunswick centennial cue ball that came with my set (5.9 ounces). I believe it has improved my game. It's hard to explain, but on slow rolled shots, you can see the rotation you are putting on the ball better after contact. This gives you some additional feedback on each shot, more feedback than just watching the angle. I find I can direct the cue ball better now by slow rolling with spin and estimating how much cut to take and how the cut affects the direction the cue ball takes off the rail. Previously I was using draw a lot to kill the speed, now I slow roll more and I think it's more accurate.
The other thing I like it for is center ball shots with a small amount of english. You can see the side english take the rail after contact. It's no big deal, but I think I am using spin a little better on the slow rolled shots and stun shots due to practicing with the measels ball. In other words, I have the cue ball coming off the rail more accurately after contact.
Chris
Good to see that others have issues with these as well. Much has been mentioned already in this thread,
but I hope my addition may help. In our club one guy came with the spotted ball. My first impression was that
this looked bigger than what we used. I had to use more power to get english and this frustrated me.
Since every body else seemed convinced that the balls was the same I took it with me to do a measurement
at work and this was the conclusion:
The red spotted ball was larger in diameter !
The red spotted ball was by far heavier !
The exact number is noted in my book at work, so if there is any interest I can be back with these. Exactly which
Aramith balls we have at our club, I also need to come back with. My results was pretty convincing for our club
and members, so those having one of these cue balls put it on the shelf.
This outcome might be the same for many of you, but this would depend on which set of balls use in you?re club.
To convince you that this could make a difference, picture you OB and CB lying frozen to the cushion where one
is much smaller (snooker) and one is bigger (pool). Where would the contact point be when you use the bigger to
put the smaller ball? If the difference in diameter is large enough you would have problems putting a OB with a CB
where the OB would drift away from the cushion.....That was my experience at least. Doing rail shots (OB frozen
to cushion, CB diagonal and on the other side of the table) was also different for me.
It might be that there are set?s of pool balls having cue ball with spots where all have the same weight and the
same diameter, but in case these should be supplied in a pool club/tournament. No one should be able to drag
along a cue ball from they?r pockets and expect that the opponent should except. What if a player comes with
one of those "spider net" look-alike training balls? I would not even consider to leave my chair.
Sorry for a post which was growing to be this long.
N
but I hope my addition may help. In our club one guy came with the spotted ball. My first impression was that
this looked bigger than what we used. I had to use more power to get english and this frustrated me.
Since every body else seemed convinced that the balls was the same I took it with me to do a measurement
at work and this was the conclusion:
The red spotted ball was larger in diameter !
The red spotted ball was by far heavier !
The exact number is noted in my book at work, so if there is any interest I can be back with these. Exactly which
Aramith balls we have at our club, I also need to come back with. My results was pretty convincing for our club
and members, so those having one of these cue balls put it on the shelf.
This outcome might be the same for many of you, but this would depend on which set of balls use in you?re club.
To convince you that this could make a difference, picture you OB and CB lying frozen to the cushion where one
is much smaller (snooker) and one is bigger (pool). Where would the contact point be when you use the bigger to
put the smaller ball? If the difference in diameter is large enough you would have problems putting a OB with a CB
where the OB would drift away from the cushion.....That was my experience at least. Doing rail shots (OB frozen
to cushion, CB diagonal and on the other side of the table) was also different for me.
It might be that there are set?s of pool balls having cue ball with spots where all have the same weight and the
same diameter, but in case these should be supplied in a pool club/tournament. No one should be able to drag
along a cue ball from they?r pockets and expect that the opponent should except. What if a player comes with
one of those "spider net" look-alike training balls? I would not even consider to leave my chair.
Sorry for a post which was growing to be this long.
N
Wow! hard to argue with your logic...
So... the spotted ball helps players who have trouble with English... please elaborate... if you don't know what is happening to the CB (without spots) I think you better stay on the rail... also, I think you will have the chance to learn a lot from your chair while I'm at the table... Oh yeah... get a comfortable chair... you could be there awhile...
... it's also made to more exacting standards with tighter tolerances... according to who?...
it also provides tv viewer with a much better view of shots with English...
which does what?
"this is one dumb thread"
.... please... please... I hope that we will meet some day... I dream of meeting guys like you...
Nah... I couldn't be that lucky...
smashmouth said:
So... the spotted ball helps players who have trouble with English... please elaborate... if you don't know what is happening to the CB (without spots) I think you better stay on the rail... also, I think you will have the chance to learn a lot from your chair while I'm at the table... Oh yeah... get a comfortable chair... you could be there awhile...
... it's also made to more exacting standards with tighter tolerances... according to who?...
it also provides tv viewer with a much better view of shots with English...
which does what?
"this is one dumb thread"
.... please... please... I hope that we will meet some day... I dream of meeting guys like you...
Nah... I couldn't be that lucky...
The size of the balls is specified in the WPA regulations. They must be 57.15mm in diameter within a tolerance of 0.127mm. I'm willing to bet that all of the object balls in your club are too small. They wear down with time. Perhaps you should replace them. If you do, I think you will find that the spotted cue ball is the correct size.Newton said:
An article about balls wearing down and such, as well as an accurate, easy way to measure how large/small the cue ball is can be found at: http://www.sfbilliards.com/articles/2005-12.pdf
Bob Jewett said:
Bob, it is larger, I have two, and a brand new Aramith Red Logo ball that is smaller, I checked my balls, all the ball sets at the hall, and a brand spanking new set the owner hadnt used, same result.
The first one, I had thought maybe I ordered the wrong one, it was bright white, so I called and ordered a new one, same thing except this one has a yellowish tint, they are the same weight and diameter...
SPINDOKTOR
sorry, should have said one dumb thread starter
twit
twit
SPINDOKTOR said:
But the issue is how much larger? As Bob noted, there is a tolerance. And what did you use to measure the diameter?
Recall that another poster mentioned a 1 gram weight difference wherein the measle was LIGHTER. But that is only about 1/174 of the entire weight and is therefore, functionally insignificant.
Regards,
Jim
av84fun said:
How much larger? I dont have an exact measurement, If you are leaning towards Optical illusion............, If thats the case these two balls are fooling a pretty big crowd. If you ask me, they are within tolerance, they were made to a differnt spec than previous designs for whatever reasons. Whitch still may be within the BCA rules. OR We the Consumers are buying Differnt cue balls than the ones used in competition play.
I was weary of this when I purchased mine, the first one I made no suggestions, the second I ask for the exact ball used, I did get a yellowish tint cue ball, the first one was super bright white, you can visualy tell a differance. They are the same diameter. weight, they seem to be the same to me. Why are they differnt in appearance? I dunno, and Im not going to anty up for another one to prove or disprove anything.
SPINDOKTOR