What causes cue ball to jump/skid?

shayla

shayla

BODY - MIND - SOUL
Silver Member
I've noticed while playing on my home table, my cue ball will jump just a little upon impact with the object ball. I'm not sure I've been able to figure out exactly what I'm doing to cause this, but I do notice it a lot with follow shots. And it seems like its when I am hitting a ball soft or pocket speed. Maybe it happens when I'm hitting it harder and I just don't see it?

I don't think I've ever seen this other than my home table.

I have a 9' Gold Crown III, Simonis 860 cloth, and the whole table just had a huge overhaul almost a year ago by RealKingCobra. Personally, I have a pretty smooth/level stroke and I do follow through on my stroke. I do not jab at the ball at all.

Any ideas of what causes this?
 
The same thing that happens with any other "skid". Some say it is usually a chalk spot. But I think it is most often something from the pockets stuck on a ball. Brunswick had very hard pocket linings, then went to soft, and back to hard I think. The soft ones will leave a residue on the balls whenever they hit the pocket hard.
 
unknownpro said:
The same thing that happens with any other "skid". Some say it is usually a chalk spot. But I think it is most often something from the pockets stuck on a ball. Brunswick had very hard pocket linings, then went to soft, and back to hard I think. The soft ones will leave a residue on the balls whenever they hit the pocket hard.
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good info here PRO!

I have a GC4 and I get all kinds of spots on the balls? I cant tell if it is from the pocket liners? or the contact point.......not my guess....or the ball cleaning process I use......brillianize?



G.
 
Whoops... that last post above made by akaTrigger was accidentally posted by me. My laptop was still logged into her azbilliards account.

....

Anywhooo..

I'll try cleaning the balls, but I hadn't thought about that. The table is always covered and has probably only seen play on it about once a month, so its not very dirty, but I'll definitely give it a shot.
 
Clean balls, clean cloth, and the back of your cue lower than the front for follow shots
 
Hi love. Another idea is the actual balls themselves. If your cue ball is under sized or under weight, strange things will happen.

A cue ball will also jump in the air at contact with an object ball if the cue ball is even slightly airborne.

Dirty balls could be another answer......randyg
 
Gerry said:
good info here PRO!

I have a GC4 and I get all kinds of spots on the balls? I cant tell if it is from the pocket liners? or the contact point.......not my guess....or the ball cleaning process I use......brillianize?



G.
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In general, imo, a cleaner table and cleaner balls will have more skids because there is less friction between the balls and the cloth so any increase in friction at the contact point will have a more disastrous result.

I think the GCIII's had the softer pockets and the IV's are better. But the Camel Tour had plenty of skids with leather pockets and new Simoniz. I'm not sure if there is any pocket lining that will not leave some sort of mark on the balls. Maybe lining the pockets with cloth would be better, but all I have is green and that might make the pockets a little hard to see.
 
As far as the jumping goes if the slate is not matched up where they come together the balls will jump a bit. If it's a three piece slate it would be at each third of the table. Just a thought.
 
Sounds like the cb is cliimbing the ob. So.. it seems to me there's something on one or both of them that grabs the other.
 
Gerry said:
good info here PRO!

I have a GC4 and I get all kinds of spots on the balls? I cant tell if it is from the pocket liners? or the contact point.......not my guess....or the ball cleaning process I use......brillianize?



G.
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Funny you should say that. I just started using brillianaize, but I see the spots too. I still like the stuff, but after polishing.....the balls do seem to attract these weird spots. The balls seem to build up dirt faster too.

But when it takes only 5 minutes to clean and polish, I dont mind cleaning every time I play. I might try an alternative plastic cleaner, someone mentioned one recently.
 
Darn that RandyG

randyg said:
Hi love. Another idea is the actual balls themselves. If your cue ball is under sized or under weight, strange things will happen.

A cue ball will also jump in the air at contact with an object ball if the cue ball is even slightly airborne.

Dirty balls could be another answer......randyg
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Hahahahaha!!! My first thought Randy was the cue ball out of round or undersized!! I have to put down the Blue Bell Banana Pudding Ice Cream long enough to hit the keyboard every once in a while.:thumbup:
That's why You da Man!!
 
cajunfats said:
Hahahahaha!!! My first thought Randy was the cue ball out of round or undersized!! I have to put down the Blue Bell Banana Pudding Ice Cream long enough to hit the keyboard every once in a while.:thumbup:
That's why You da Man!!
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Must be an inside joke here or something that I'm missing, unless you just like to hear people talk about dirty balls.

I'm using a fairly new set of brunswick balls with a red circle. I can try to see if it happens with another cue ball.
 
here's a thought. I"m trying to find the Accu-stats match where I think Jim Rempe talks about equipment from back in the day. He talked about "skids" and how it almost never happened years ago when they played with the old clay balls.

I'm no scientist......maybe it has something to do with the plastics used?

Here's an idea....someone talk to a pool fanatic at a plastics manufacturer and give them the "skid" problem to fix. Could you imagine how many sets of balls you would sell advertising that they NEVER skid! :)

MY IDEA!.....i got dibs on any royalties :)

G.
 
hmmm

If you are using follow and hitting hard, the cue ball is actually bouncing down the table the entire time. This is why you should never use follow on a break shot.

Put a few pennies in front of your cue ball, about 2 inches or so, and with a level stick and high follow, hit the cue ball hard., and the cue ball with skip over the pennies... see how many you go over ... I hit it over 5 pennies one time... but start with one or two, and if you hit the penny, move the cue ball back or forwards a little, and you will see how it skips over the pennies without a touch. Win a few beers at the bar with this one as well......
 
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cajunfats said:
Hahahahaha!!! My first thought Randy was the cue ball out of round or undersized!! I have to put down the Blue Bell Banana Pudding Ice Cream long enough to hit the keyboard every once in a while.:thumbup:
That's why You da Man!!
Click to expand...

Now I'm hungry.....SPF=randyg
 
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