as far as i experienced this with the 1.7 beta, the delay between catching and (alt-)firing the ball is almost gone.
which is bad for the gameplay i assume:
-people (ppl that aren't stupid - just for the record) have no vulnerable moment then. i could pass to a mate with low health, even if some enemy is close to him because he can rid himself of the ball immediately... sure, he might have to look for another mate to pass to, but still.
-still in 1.6, some ppl complained about altfire scoring, because they thought it was, while being reasonably strong, very quick to do. i thought it was balanced. now it's gonna be as strong but even quicker... won't that make bounce/body volley or even some normal volleys (only some, they are superior in strength of course) redundant?
oh, and se7en, i don't think that fumbling with weaponswitch needs to be done with the new version so close.