Bob Jewett said:

The reason I asked is that when you use draw along with the sidespin, the effective amount of sidespin increases during each inch of cue ball travel to the object ball. That continues until the cue ball starts rolling smoothly or it hits the object ball.

With follow and side, on the other hand, that spin multiplying effect is much less, as the cue ball is rolling smoothly much sooner.

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That is good to know. I'll go to the table and work with this.

sjm said:

The cream rises to the top. Sofia got Margaret's "A" game and really had no shot in this one. The runouts are coming easy for the top two, who have been competing on equipment tighter than this during the past two events in Asia.

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Yep, Sofia missed a few shots she should've made and didn't have the break. The way Styer was playing I don't think it would've changed the ending. I was thinking the same thing about Asia, those that played there are definitely more in stroke.

Cord said:

Margaret wins 8-1. Kristina currently up 7-0 on Meyman, in a race to 8.

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The cream rises to the top. Sofia got Margaret's "A" game and really had no shot in this one. The runouts are coming easy for the top two, who have been competing on equipment tighter than this during the past two events in Asia.

Margaret wins 8-1. Kristina currently up 7-0 on Meyman, in a race to 8.

Chili Palmer said:

I also remember reading something about Cortland gets tighter and stronger if it gets wet. I wonder if getting it wet would help preserve it. I'd have to look into it more, again, but that rings a bell.

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It's funny you mention getting the linen wet. I can turn an average piece of green spot linen to look and feel like Cortland by getting it a bit wet. Never soaking it, as there's glue underneath the wrap. I make a solution of one part bleach to ten parts of warm water, wring out a wash cloth, and go over the wrap, time after time, letting it dry completely each time, never soaking it. When I think I've got the look down, then there's the finishing. Some wraps respond fine to just a glass rod rub, others need extra fine sandpaper to finish it off.

But Cortland, I don't think I would ever put any water on it. I would just make sure to get my hands on it, play it now and then.

I also wouldn't get an old spool of Cortland wet. If it's really old, it's dry rot, and no amount of water will bring it to life.

If you see somebody pattern racking when the rules say random, start taking pictures of racks. Those pattern racking usually know it is illegal and the images will tell the story.

I was sorely tempted to pattern rack playing barbox eight ball years ago. I was making four balls most breaks, rarely only three. With the accepted pattern I was making two solids, two stripes. That was enough to open up tables but I could have mapped which four balls were going and changed my rack to have all the balls that fell be of one group. That would have been discouraging!

With only five balls of each set on the table it was usually pretty easy to get out anyway.

Hu