Cue ball always drifts and sits close to the rail....reasons for this??? help please

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philly7

New member
I recently played in a tourney over this past weekend. The tables were terrible. The rails were super bouncy, the felt was worn and as a result played fast as well, and I also noticed this other problem. On many shots, the cue ball always tended to come to rest on or near the rail, no matter how much cue ball control I asserted. I have been told before, by a player who I'd consider better than myself and def with more knowledge, that this occurs sometimes as a result of room conditions, i.e. humidity, moisture,etc.
Does anyone have a solid explanation for this? I believe what my friend had told me, but would like a concrete answer/explanation. Tried to explain it to a couple people at the tourney, but you could tell they all thought i was just making excuses for having lost. Any rational explanations would be much appreciated. Thanks!!
 
Cue Ball Drifts

philly7 said:
I recently played in a tourney over this past weekend. The tables were terrible. The rails were super bouncy, the felt was worn and as a result played fast as well, and I also noticed this other problem. On many shots, the cue ball always tended to come to rest on or near the rail, no matter how much cue ball control I asserted. I have been told before, by a player who I'd consider better than myself and def with more knowledge, that this occurs sometimes as a result of room conditions, i.e. humidity, moisture,etc.
Does anyone have a solid explanation for this? I believe what my friend had told me, but would like a concrete answer/explanation. Tried to explain it to a couple people at the tourney, but you could tell they all thought i was just making excuses for having lost. Any rational explanations would be much appreciated. Thanks!!
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Old cloth usually has tracks or gullys where balls have been shot down the rails the cue ball seems to settle into them a lot. At least that was the explanation I remember.
 
philly7 said:
I recently played in a tourney over this past weekend. The tables were terrible. The rails were super bouncy, the felt was worn and as a result played fast as well, and I also noticed this other problem. On many shots, the cue ball always tended to come to rest on or near the rail, no matter how much cue ball control I asserted. I have been told before, by a player who I'd consider better than myself and def with more knowledge, that this occurs sometimes as a result of room conditions, i.e. humidity, moisture,etc.
Does anyone have a solid explanation for this? I believe what my friend had told me, but would like a concrete answer/explanation. Tried to explain it to a couple people at the tourney, but you could tell they all thought i was just making excuses for having lost. Any rational explanations would be much appreciated. Thanks!!
Click to expand...

There could be other reasons, what kind of tables are we talking about here, and what kind of cloth? These answers help to come up with a reason;)
 
hi

philly7 said:
I recently played in a tourney over this past weekend. The tables were terrible. The rails were super bouncy, the felt was worn and as a result played fast as well, and I also noticed this other problem. On many shots, the cue ball always tended to come to rest on or near the rail, no matter how much cue ball control I asserted. I have been told before, by a player who I'd consider better than myself and def with more knowledge, that this occurs sometimes as a result of room conditions, i.e. humidity, moisture,etc.
Does anyone have a solid explanation for this? I believe what my friend had told me, but would like a concrete answer/explanation. Tried to explain it to a couple people at the tourney, but you could tell they all thought i was just making excuses for having lost. Any rational explanations would be much appreciated. Thanks!!
Click to expand...

the table is lean and needs to be leveled and the clothe needs to change as well
 
philly7 said:
I recently played in a tourney over this past weekend. The tables were terrible. The rails were super bouncy, the felt was worn and as a result played fast as well, and I also noticed this other problem. On many shots, the cue ball always tended to come to rest on or near the rail, no matter how much cue ball control I asserted. I have been told before, by a player who I'd consider better than myself and def with more knowledge, that this occurs sometimes as a result of room conditions, i.e. humidity, moisture,etc.
Does anyone have a solid explanation for this? I believe what my friend had told me, but would like a concrete answer/explanation. Tried to explain it to a couple people at the tourney, but you could tell they all thought i was just making excuses for having lost. Any rational explanations would be much appreciated. Thanks!!
Click to expand...

Perfect since I always seem to end up there anyway it make the game more even LOL . I think the hummidity does effect it.
 
the tables were old gold crowns, probably 4's, I'm not 100% certain what make of brunswick they were. The cloth was simonis probably, but was so worn I really have no idea.
 
there r many reason to cause table awful....
bad workmanship....
curshion need to replace....
cloth made too tide or too lose......
useaging problems......
 
PMS said:
the ball isnt true, The Ball's a LIAR! :)
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Yep, sounds like the cue ball is out of round. The harder you hit it, the less it will drift off-line. Untrue cue balls benefit the banger, it's almost like giving up a spot!
 
philly7 said:
... On many shots, the cue ball always tended to come to rest on or near the rail, no matter how much cue ball control I asserted. ..
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Were other players having the same problem? Did the local players have this problem?
 
Sounds like one of those arguments where everybody is right. Just one problem. only one guy in this forum was there so unless we are all willing to travel to this room and the exact table its all speculation.
 
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I was wondering about the seemingly magnetic rails some tables seem to have. I thought it was mostly poor execution on my part. But I found it to be more the condition of the table. Same room. Two tables next to each other. One in good shape. The other not so good. The nice table I can consistently put the CB back to middle of the table. The other not so consistently. Still probably due to my limited ability. But interesting non the less.
 
I think the table you were playing on could have been the problem, or it could have just been u.

Myself, I can never freeze the ball when im lagging. But let me be playing position to a certain area and the cueball freezes up against that rail in that area sooooo many times. really pisses me off lol.
 
Honestly guys I was looking for a serious answer, not some bs saying I was the problem. I have no problem admitting if I am not playing well; I am not a "champion", but I do have alot of ability and play fairly well. I'm not a hack or "banger", or whatever anyone wants to call a novice player. I've been playing seriously for 20 years and have accumulated knowledge from various people, be it pros or average joes over the years. When the rails are super bouncy, plus the felt is worn to make it even faster, it only makes playing conditions worse when the ball settles on or near the rail for most shots. This makes it obviously much tougher to play a consistent game.
I wasn't playing for position on the rail, or subconsciously causing myself to be left on the rail. There is a condition which is caused by humidity or moisture in the air in a pool room sometimes that causes the cue ball to often rest near or on the rail. I wanted clarification and a better explanation from someone who actually knew what I was talking about. If there isn't anyone on here who really knows what I'm explaining than I would be shocked.
 
philly7 said:
Honestly guys I was looking for a serious answer, not some bs saying I was the problem. I have no problem admitting if I am not playing well; I am not a "champion", but I do have alot of ability and play fairly well. I'm not a hack or "banger", or whatever anyone wants to call a novice player. I've been playing seriously for 20 years and have accumulated knowledge from various people, be it pros or average joes over the years. When the rails are super bouncy, plus the felt is worn to make it even faster, it only makes playing conditions worse when the ball settles on or near the rail for most shots. This makes it obviously much tougher to play a consistent game.
I wasn't playing for position on the rail, or subconsciously causing myself to be left on the rail. There is a condition which is caused by humidity or moisture in the air in a pool room sometimes that causes the cue ball to often rest near or on the rail. I wanted clarification and a better explanation from someone who actually knew what I was talking about. If there isn't anyone on here who really knows what I'm explaining than I would be shocked.
Click to expand...

There could be a lot of reasons why you had your described cue ball problems, but humidity is not one of them, as that effects the whole playing surface by adding more cling/grab to all the balls.

If I were to guess, I'd have to say that if the cue ball...or object balls had a tendency to drift toward the cushions as they were coming to rest...I'd either say the table was either out of level to one side...or if the cue ball/object balls had the same tendency's on both sides of the table...that the slates were crowned...higher in the middle than the edges...which would in fact cause the balls to drift toward the cushions as they came to rest.

The cloth, being a worsted wool would not have been the problem either, as it's woven so tightly that it leaves little chance of forming ditches in the thickness of the cloth that could track the balls.

Chances are also that the tables are not vacuumed very much if at all, and that lack of cleaning creates a problem all on it's own. The chalk dust that collects under the cloth does how ever create high areas on the slate in different spots...which in turn will cause speed bump areas so to speak that can cause the cue ball to have to roll off of the built up chalk areas...which for the most part...start forming about 2-4 inches out from the nose of the cushions....then clear out more toward the center area of the playing surface...a major sign of not keeping the tables cleaned, and in serious need of changing the cloth....so that's an ownership problem.

Glen

PS. A crowned slate would extend the distance the cue ball was going to travel if you were playing position in the direction of the rails...but planed on stopping shorter than you did...as they'd be rolling downhill...and once coming into contact with the cushion...would have a tendency to want to stay there because of the up hill roll to move away from the cushion.
 
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realkingcobra said:
There could be a lot of reasons why you had your described cue ball problems, but humidity is not one of them, as that effects the whole playing surface by adding more cling/grab to all the balls.

If I were to guess, I'd have to say that if the cue ball...or object balls had a tendency to drift toward the cushions as they were coming to rest...I'd either say the table was either out of level to one side...or if the cue ball/object balls had the same tendency's on both sides of the table...that the slates were crowned...higher in the middle than the edges...which would in fact cause the balls to drift toward the cushions as they came to rest.

The cloth, being a worsted wool would not have been the problem either, as it's woven so tightly that it leaves little chance of forming ditches in the thickness of the cloth that could track the balls.

Chances are also that the tables are not vacuumed very much if at all, and that lack of cleaning creates a problem all on it's own. The chalk dust that collects under the cloth does how ever create high areas on the slate in different spots...which in turn will cause speed bump areas so to speak that can cause the cue ball to have to roll off of the built up chalk areas...which for the most part...start forming about 2-4 inches out from the nose of the cushions....then clear out more toward the center area of the playing surface...a major sign of not keeping the tables cleaned, and in serious need of changing the cloth....so that's an ownership problem.

Glen

PS. A crowned slate would extend the distance the cue ball was going to travel if you were playing position in the direction of the rails...but planed on stopping shorter than you did...as they'd be rolling downhill...and once coming into contact with the cushion...would have a tendency to want to stay there because of the up hill roll to move away from the cushion.
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He mentioned that he thought the tables were GC 4s didn't they have an issue with crowning?
 
Dirt in the trenches!

philly7 said:
Honestly guys I was looking for a serious answer, not some bs saying I was the problem. I have no problem admitting if I am not playing well; I am not a "champion", but I do have alot of ability and play fairly well. I'm not a hack or "banger", or whatever anyone wants to call a novice player. I've been playing seriously for 20 years and have accumulated knowledge from various people, be it pros or average joes over the years. When the rails are super bouncy, plus the felt is worn to make it even faster, it only makes playing conditions worse when the ball settles on or near the rail for most shots. This makes it obviously much tougher to play a consistent game.
I wasn't playing for position on the rail, or subconsciously causing myself to be left on the rail. There is a condition which is caused by humidity or moisture in the air in a pool room sometimes that causes the cue ball to often rest near or on the rail. I wanted clarification and a better explanation from someone who actually knew what I was talking about. If there isn't anyone on here who really knows what I'm explaining than I would be shocked.
Click to expand...

Chances are also that the tables are not vacuumed very much if at all, and that lack of cleaning creates a problem all on it's own. The chalk dust that collects under the cloth does how ever create high areas on the slate in different spots...which in turn will cause speed bump areas so to speak that can cause the cue ball to have to roll off of the built up chalk areas...which for the most part...start forming about 2-4 inches out from the nose of the cushions....then clear out more toward the center area of the playing surface...a major sign of not keeping the tables cleaned, and in serious need of changing the cloth....so that's an ownership problem.
RKC's quote here is pointing the way. When the cloth does develop trenches next to the rail, guess what substance is constantly being deposited from every shot hit in the vicinity. chalk! It does tend to collect next to the rails especially on the foot of the table if people play 1-hole on the table there. It really does anyway, because so many shots are hit on or near the rails.
I pulled a cloth off of a 9' Diamond that was used in the 2001 U.S.Open. The room owner told me that the table needed to have work done on the frame because a slowly rolled ball moved away from the rails toward the center of the table on both sides. Now that's weird if you don't consider chalk dust. Most folks trapped in this spot think the frame is sagging. Having grown-up around a couple of large rooms in Ohio, I new to look underneath the worn out cloth first. Sure enough, it look like a sand trap at the end where they played one-pocket. Cleaned, a new cloth, and a little TLC on a seam, and the table plays true to this day. CHALK DUST can be a big deal with a table that rolls out toward the rails as well, depends on the wear. So don't sweat it, just work on your game anyway! Your stroke will thank you for it, someday.
 
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