Balls - An argument in a club about what type...

[jigsaw333]

Tried the measles ball to see if it runs further than a normal 1G (both 142g)
Straight black into corner black pocket. It ran less than 1cm further. Tried a few times. Don't think it really made any difference, maybe I just hit it slightly harder.

Tried the same with the 'club' balls and cue ball (129g old style composites) and it ran just less than half the distance.

This was on a clean table. not uphill and wind either...

[jigsaw333]

In that case it must be less positive for screw shots.? Or maybe not?
Haven't had a full practice session with one yet.
I'll try that out on Thursday. Have to do that purely by feel though.
As for the 45 degree stun round the table, well I'm not as good as I used to be and have only just got back to playing after an 8 year lay off. So i don't think I could assess a difference in distance on that one correctly.
Give it a go though.

[jigsaw333]

Rifle,
I was the same although that was 40 years ago. You changed tac and play a stun game with top, I had to because as you get older you lose that strength and timing to play the flash snooker.
I also changed tac because it lost me matches. Not to bad in a first or second round, but when you put so much effort in a tournament and try and screw the lights off in the semi or final, you never get your name in the Winners book. So through experience or age you end up with an all round better and more consistent game. I knocked in three 60's in the three frames I played yesterday just rolling the balls around.
I'm not a slow player by any means, and I've notice my shot selection has changed since using the 142g ball. That has also forced me use less screw.

Playing with side also seems exaggerated with the 1G balls. So I leave it alone as much as possible and concentrate on getting the pace right.

Had eight centuries since I started playing again, so something must still work.
and the overriding factor is that I can still enjoy it.

Put on a new Kanui MH yesterday (don't know why I took off the old one!) and its as Dead as a dodo. Another reason for less screw but I compensated.

[vmax4steve]

Have you got the ebay link for the original SCs mate?

No, but you only have to log on to ebay and type Super Crystalate snooker balls into their search engine and you can find them all.

[sharkster63]

Sberry is right.

You can make centuries with C/SC/Economy balls/TC/1G/Ivory etc. have done so myself, NOT the ivory ones though I'm not THAT old... yet.
Made many centuries in my local club with the standard balls there. Don't even think they are SC. But you definitely really struggle breaking the pack. It can be done. The balls will spread much easier with the TC/1G and nudges and kisses around the black are much better especially in forward motion. Running of the edge of the pack etc. You can top the balls around the angles easily.

There is also not a great deal of difference between the 129g (Premier) and the 142g (TC/1G) Not that most players would notice.

My original issue is going from an old composite 129g practice ball (as supplied) to 142g TC in matches. The difference is undeniable.

The point is, I want to try and stop players using one compound and weight ball for practice and another weight and compound for matches.
A lot of their practice time is wasted switching between the two. Having to adjust all the time. Believe me the difference between the two (practice and match balls) in our club in very pronounced.
And find out if other clubs had overcome this problem yet and if there was a 'recommended' and endorsed standard. Obviously not by reading your comments.

If I ran a club again, I would want the best from the players, see their break building ability improve, match play improve, overall enjoyment of the game improve.
Switching balls all the time is only making a hard game harder.

I agree, i had a very hard time to addapt to the heavier balls when first confronted with them, I knew immediately that something was wrong, i now only practice with the heavier balls, much easier to play with light after practice with heavy balls. Cheers,

[jigsaw333]

Rifle,

Tried out the 142g Measles (Mumps you say...) ball today.
It's great. Very nice to play with.
Only when you swap back to the ordinary cue ball it seems dull and hard. Don't know why, if they are supposed to both be phenolic resin.
Perhaps the measles ball has a slightly softer coating over where they imprint the spots.
I know I can't play as I used to, and lost a bit of feel but I'm going to stick with the ordinary cue ball for now. Didn't like the feel when I switched back.
If I go from one to the other before a competitive game it might numb by confidence. And it doesn't need any more numbing...

[Terry Davidson]

I got out my spotted cueball yesterday and weighed both of them and they were almost exactly the same at around 141.5gm. I did notice the spotted ball had the yellowish tint and in comparison my regular cueball looked nice and white.

I played a couple of frames with the spotted and to tell the truth I couldn't detect a difference between them.

[jigsaw333]

Hi Terry,

I've been away from the game for eight years.
Started again last year. Didn't realise I'd missed it so much.
Just happy to play now... Been trying to practice with the 1G or TC and finding them a little 'heavy' at the moment. (Standard club balls are vv old)
Shot selection has altered a little to play a middle ball game instead of a stun game.
As long as I can still make the 'odd' century I don't mind.

Regards,

[Vic Flange]

I have the measles balls too, a 129g and 142g Aramith and they are both the same off white as a TC/1G ball.
Picked up the 129g off of jcr750 a few days ago. I've not really used either yet. So will give it a go today.

Anybody have a trick white they want to sell?

Mine has gone a dark creamy colour. Mine you, its about 40 years old..
Want to use it on a particular committee member... Just for giggles

You can still buy them new.

http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item...d=201120977115

[Master Blaster]

It appears that the Aramith 1G measles ball has an extra hard coating. This makes it smoother it will roll further. The question then becomes, why aren't all TCs and TC 1Gs coated with the same material. If the measles ball is the ultimate ball (?) why haven't Aramith made an entire set the same?

[Mike B]

My Aramith "Measels Ball" as you so accurately describe it weighs 136 grams, My aramith set weigh 140-142 grams (all weighed on my digital kitchen scales!! So the measels ball is too light. Aramith 1G are supposed to be all 142grams +/- 1 gram

[DeanH]

Aramith TCs can be in any range from approximately 139g to 142g
the 1Gs are specifically a set of balls with a maximum difference of 1g only but they could be 139g or 141g, or could be 143g, as long as the set is within 1g tolerance.

Even Aramith do not state that their TC or 1Gs are all 142g.

[chunkis]

For the last 18 months ive switched from tournament champion to the premier set, I must say that I enjoy playing with the lighter balls more. Mostly what others have said about moving the white around the table, my cue is 18oz / 9mm so I can get a lot of action/ reaction from the white and I like being able to move the white around the table with ease. Especially on days when the cloth is playing slow.

However, it is noticeable that the lighter balls don't behave in the same way, the heavier balls definitely give you a little more accuracy, as strange as that sounds, what I mean to say is that the lighter balls tend to go off course more, because there lighter if that makes sense. The heavier balls are better for accuracy but because the cloths I use are not super super fast I enjoy the lighter balls, also because am a bit of ball banger I feel there is less chance of doing damage to my cue with the light white.

[vmax]

For the last 18 months ive switched from tournament champion to the premier set, I must say that I enjoy playing with the lighter balls more. Mostly what others have said about moving the white around the table, my cue is 18oz / 9mm so I can get a lot of action/ reaction from the white and I like being able to move the white around the table with ease. Especially on days when the cloth is playing slow.

However, it is noticeable that the lighter balls don't behave in the same way, the heavier balls definitely give you a little more accuracy, as strange as that sounds, what I mean to say is that the lighter balls tend to go off course more, because there lighter if that makes sense. The heavier balls are better for accuracy but because the cloths I use are not super super fast I enjoy the lighter balls, also because am a bit of ball banger I feel there is less chance of doing damage to my cue with the light white.

Our league has just bought two sets of premiers to give to two clubs with old sets of SC balls thinking that will make the game better, they're wrong because a lighter ball made with a softer material that can't be so well polished on a well napped cloth will have more resistance between the balls on contact, increasing friction, thus leading to a lot more bad contacts and kicks, that's your less accuracy problem in a nutshell. You may think you've payed a poor shot but in many cases you've gotten a bad contact and the pot is missed or the cue ball doesn't react as it should.

This is the reason why the pro game has moved to very finely napped cloths and one must question why Aramith produce three different sets of balls all made from the same material. How can two balls made from the same material and of the same size have a weight discrepancy of up to 16 grammes and have to be sorted into different sets with a price range of 1g's being double the price of the premiers. Do the workers who sort and pack the 1g's earn twice as much as the ones who do the premiers ? Of course not, we're all being taken for a ride here and have been since Saluc bought out the Composite Ball Co, created Aramith and stopped production of super crystalate balls for their own inferior phenolic resin. Back in the day you bought a set of super crystalate balls, end of, no different sets, and you got a quality item.

I have two sets of my own balls, one an old set of genuine SC's and one a new set of Aramith SC's that are in fact made from their phenolic resin and simply badged as SC's because Aramith own the patent for the material and the name, yes I was taken in and realised when I read the small print. I no longer use the Aramith SC's as the genuine ones are far better and me and my mate play so much better using the type of ball we learned the game on. We play about seven frames a session with about one or two kicks a session compared with three or four kicks a frame with the clubs Aramith TC's.
My genuine SC's all weigh between 140 and 142 grammes, it's a harder material so can be more highly polished, there's a more defined sharper click to the sound they make on contact and the cleaner contact makes position more consistant, especially on run throughs, a better game all round than the lottery of kicks and bad contacts with the Aramith balls.

[Cue crafty]

Our league has just bought two sets of premiers to give to two clubs with old sets of SC balls thinking that will make the game better, they're wrong because a lighter ball made with a softer material that can't be so well polished on a well napped cloth will have more resistance between the balls on contact, increasing friction, thus leading to a lot more bad contacts and kicks, that's your less accuracy problem in a nutshell. You may think you've payed a poor shot but in many cases you've gotten a bad contact and the pot is missed or the cue ball doesn't react as it should.

This is the reason why the pro game has moved to very finely napped cloths and one must question why Aramith produce three different sets of balls all made from the same material. How can two balls made from the same material and of the same size have a weight discrepancy of up to 16 grammes and have to be sorted into different sets with a price range of 1g's being double the price of the premiers. Do the workers who sort and pack the 1g's earn twice as much as the ones who do the premiers ? Of course not, we're all being taken for a ride here and have been since Saluc bought out the Composite Ball Co, created Aramith and stopped production of super crystalate balls for their own inferior phenolic resin. Back in the day you bought a set of super crystalate balls, end of, no different sets, and you got a quality item.

I have two sets of my own balls, one an old set of genuine SC's and one a new set of Aramith SC's that are in fact made from their phenolic resin and simply badged as SC's because Aramith own the patent for the material and the name, yes I was taken in and realised when I read the small print. I no longer use the Aramith SC's as the genuine ones are far better and me and my mate play so much better using the type of ball we learned the game on. We play about seven frames a session with about one or two kicks a session compared with three or four kicks a frame with the clubs Aramith TC's.
My genuine SC's all weigh between 140 and 142 grammes, it's a harder material so can be more highly polished, there's a more defined sharper click to the sound they make on contact and the cleaner contact makes position more consistant, especially on run throughs, a better game all round than the lottery of kicks and bad contacts with the Aramith balls.

If I was playing snooker 35 years ago in a working man's club, what balls would I have been likely to play with Vmax? Assuming SC's.

Thanks.