Potting with Light Whites

[matt926_uk]

In the club that i play at, on five out of the six tables there is a light white, it is not the same size as the other balls.
I know this affects your ability to get position on the next ball but does it affect your ability to pot balls too?
Does it mean more missed pots as well as making it virtually impossible to judge spin and angles?
I really struggled to make a break above twenty today after having a great week of snooker down in Devon.
I do have a set of Aramith TC but its not possible to use them all the time, like when it gets busy at the club and i have to keep swapping tables.
Anybody else have this problem? sometimes i feel like giving up because i can't get any consistency

[Byrom]

Yes nothing worse - Lots of snooker clubs are in the dark ages when it comes to good playing conditions - Many think they just need a table with cheap cloth and cheap balls and for the most part they do as eight per cent of players do not notice that playing with a light ping pong white does effect consistency. It is really only when you get to a good standard you begin to notice that the professional game and playing conditions bear little resemblance to the game we all mostly have to put up with. You could tell the club to buy the TC's off you and bin the other balls or you are off to another club and get other players of the same mind to complain too. Good Luck

[cueman]

They can affect your game no doubt, as you pointed out positionally its more difficult to judge the speed. IMO so long as the white is the same weight as the other balls I have no problem, like you mentioned, its when you are using a cueball that is lighter than the rest or smaller in some cases when they use an 8 ball pool white, even in a tournament I played in once!

On the other hand whilst TC balls are far better to use this can also be detrimental on some tables where the cloth is old or heavy or the cushions are dead, its very difficult to impart spin so I can understand some players preferring to use the lighter balls such as the aramith premier as they are more suited to club tables.

[Terry Davidson]

If your club was wiling to invest in buying 5 new cueballs the problem would be solved. I know they cost around 15GBP here in Canada so they should be a little cheaper over there, especially when they buy 5 at a time. Of course 5 new sets of balls would be better though.

The lighter and smaller should not cause any problems with potting however it causes all kinds of problems on the positional side of the house. Easier to screw and harder to run-through and this is amplified on a slower cloth.

Terry

[matt926_uk]

were lucky at our club to have had all six tables recovered recently with strachan 6811 tournament cloths, its just a shame that the playing experience is ruined slightly by the light whites, but i'm going to do my best to get this sorted out.

[cyclone crouch]

Stephen hendry calls them a rogue in his master class book,,, I used to hate playing with them, specially in a tournament, like most have said it changes the angles,, I would play with screw on MOST shots, the money clubs now charge per hour, it's the least they should provide,, a matching set of balls

[tedisbill]

Why not just take your own cue ball to the club with you? Use it on whatever table you're on, and then if you have to move table, take your cue ball with you?

No more light white

[matt926_uk]

thanks tedisbill, thats a good idea!

[magicman]

Trouble with that is if the white is heavier than the set of balls then you get the reverse problem that Terry described - you can get loads of follow thru but struggle to screw back.

I can't really understand clubs that don't look after their members, tables, balls etc. It seems very short-sighted and in the end they'll pay the price when their business fails.

[Thinslice]

glad to read this post ,thought it was just me who complained about light whites and small whites .

[itsnoteasy]

Don't know what's wrong with the balls at our club but any pace and the red jumps up off the bed of the table, sometimes by half an inch, it does my head in, thought about buying my own set, but I wouldn't want anyone else to play with them and would look a right miserable git lol.

[matt926_uk]

Don't know what's wrong with the balls at our club but any pace and the red jumps up off the bed of the table, sometimes by half an inch, it does my head in, thought about buying my own set, but I wouldn't want anyone else to play with them and would look a right miserable git lol.

This happens to me at our club too, the balls seem to jump for no reason on certain shots. I have my own set of balls, but get a lot of unwanted comments from other members when i use them, like 'oh, are our balls not good enough for you?' simple answer to that would be, yes they are not good enough but I don't really want to say that in case i look ungratefull

[tedisbill]

Why did you get your own set of balls if you've got no intention of using them?

Forget what people say in the club. Just walk, head held high, and get your balls out! Then put them on the table

[matt926_uk]

Why did you get your own set of balls if you've got no intention of using them?

Forget what people say in the club. Just walk, head held high, and get your balls out! Then put them on the table

i got some balls because when i first started playing i played at a rileys and the balls there were terrible, with chunks out of them, different sizes etc, they even gave us a pool white once

[tedisbill]

I'd never use club balls now. They're rubbish. I don't care who's looking. I just whip my balls out.