The Sound of Good Pool

[lfigueroa]

I don't know if you've noticed, but if you close your eyes, you can
often tell the difference between players, purely by the sound of the
balls. OK, I know that the better player's shots will more often be
followed by the sound of the ball hitting the pocket vice a rail, but
what I'm talking about is the sound of the cue ball hitting the object
ball, and, all other things being equal, the sound the ball makes when
it hits the pocket.

I was discussing this yesterday with another player and we were talking
about how the balls sound different when you're playing well. And, it's
not just a matte of hitting them harder or softer (I don't think).

Has anyone else noticed this? And, perhaps for the science guys, what
would explain this?

Lou Figueroa

[PatH]

I have a friend who plays pretty good. A number of years back we were
in a bar playing in a tournament and he made the comment that the
music was so loud he couldn't hear the balls hitting each other and so
he couldn't tell if he was hitting them good or not. My first
reaction was to laugh at a new excuse for playing bad but the more I
thought about it I could understand what he was talking about. When
you are playing good the balls just sound good when they contact each
other.

PatH...rarely hears that 'sweet' sound

[John Black]

In article <hejk9s$gvj$1...@news.eternal-september.org>, lfig...@att.net
says...

> OK, I know that the better player's shots will more often be
> followed by the sound of the ball hitting the pocket vice a rail, but
> what I'm talking about is the sound of the cue ball hitting the object
> ball, and, all other things being equal, the sound the ball makes when
> it hits the pocket.

I'm not saying all, but I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that
better players hit softer most of the time (with better cueball action) than
poor players. Poor players blast away especially when they need top or
bottom. They tend to think they have to hit real hard to achieve those (and
end up not getting much anyway), whereas with proper technique and
followthrough you can get nice action with a medium speed controlled hit.
The ball going into the pocket sounds different due to speed to since it
doesn't hit the back of the pocket or rattle. Its a soft drop in. And of
course the hit with the cue stick sounds different too.

John Black

[bk4...@hotmail.com]

It's been mentioned before how many things in pool occur in threes -
like the sound.
1-cue stick hits CB
2-CB hits OB
3-OB hits pocket
Possibly when amateurs play there are more incidental ball collisions
creating more noise?

Bob Keller

[lfigueroa]

When they hit each other and when the OB hits the pocket.

Lou Figueroa

[lfigueroa]

I'm thinking one component is that when struck better , the OB hits the
back of the pocket more cleanly, and that's one of the sounds you hear
differently.

Lou Figueroa

[risky biz]

I usually close my eyes on the final stroke. Thanks for the suggestion.
This might be easier than trying to figure out if there are any balls
which aren't on the table anymore.

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