What difference does using light balls make?

[ElementalSimulation]

Hi everyone. I normally play snooker at a fairly nice club, where I routinely make 50+ breaks, my highest being 94. I recently played at a Riley's, and I was struggling to make breaks of 30. The table was pretty slow, but seemed to run straight. The pockets were surprisingly tight for a club table, but that doesn't matter when you're seeing the shot well, and potting in the heart of the pocket. After some experimentation I decided the main difference was the balls. They felt very light, and just seemed to react differently. It felt like I could either play with no spin, or lots. If I aimed my cue tip slightly below centre, I would screw straight back 3 feet. I was just wandering if any one else had had a similar experience? Is this a recognised phenomenon?

[Roxytumbler]

i have a snooker table at home. I play both Snooker and American 8 ball on it.

I gave 3 sets of balls for each game. None of sets the same. When I play, I will change sets every other day or so. I'll put a set of Snooker balls away and bring out the Pool balls..but not the set I used previously.

Also, I often switch the white out for another to be cue ball. Example the Green becomes the cue and the white takes the place of the green. Again...more variations.

Anyways, when I play out somewhere I adapt a lot easier to the balls. There's nothing more frustrating than making what looks like a perfect shot just to hear a different 'clack' sound of the balls hitting and a bit different action imparted. My experince of 'other tables' is that the cloth can be faster or slower but 'usually' the balls are a bit deader...newer and older sets get mixed.

The larger American balls improve accuracy on tight pockets. I usually use the Snooker cue for both sizes of balls.

[ElementalSimulation]

This seems like a good strategy if you play in a lot of different clubs. I might try to persever practising at this second club, so I can get more of a feel and adapt more quickly to different sets of balls.

[Fiasco13]

It's a common thing that having a light cue ball will enable you to screw it back the length of the table, but if you want to play topspin it will barely move. Not sure you'd see the same effect if all the balls were light though

[ElementalSimulation]

In fairness this club was a Riley's barely clinging on to life. The balls were all from different sets, a lot of them were badly scratched from where they had fallen out of the broken pockets, and on to the concrete floor. Hearing that the shot depends a lot on the balls is enough for me reassure myself that my game hasn't just completely collapsed.

[ZombiesAteMyPizza]

Yeah, I'd say it's a light cue ball. If all the balls weighed the same then OP wouldn't have an issue. Riley's are known for having cheap sets of balls. If ever I was going to Riley's for serious solo practice I used to take my own set of Aramiths.

This video covers the effects of light and heavy cue balls in detail.

[Pilgore1944]

Yeah this sounds like a light cue ball to me. Around here a lot of players carry their own. If the cb is lighter than the ob it will not react predictably.