Templates and slow rolling balls....

The Renfro

The Renfro

Outsville.com
Silver Member
I had someone complain about the Accu-Racks and Magic Racks and I guess pretty much every template last week.....

The complaint had to do with a slow rolling ball that rolled over the rack during the break... All templates may cause the ball to change directions in this case...

My 1st observation is that the layout after the break is pretty much random regardless of the ball rolling off... If you had not seen the ball roll off a small amount you would not have even given it a second thought....

2nd observation: The ball rolling off could hurt or help.... So it's 50/50 ie random which goes along with the fact that the balls are never exactly the same place after the break

3rd Observation: During the Efren/Shane match the players left the template on the table for the whole game and shot ball over it and out of it... So how much difference did it really make if it was even left on the table.....

Most of the complaints I have gotten over the last few years are from the guys I know would never give you a good rack if their lives depended on it... They think they should be able to slug or mechanic as they see fit... I think the ball rolling off is just a point they want to use to make it seem like a regular rack should always be used....

So would you rather nit pick at a ball rolling off an eight or quarter inch or would you rather have a rack they is not frozen and can be manipulated to alter the chances of pocketing balls???

I am still in favor of good balls, good cloth, good racks and rack your own... But since the racking shenanigans seem to only be getting worse templates have to be the only proper course of action going forward..

You still have to pocket the ball with a good break, control the 1ball and the cueball with the proper hit and speed to come up with a shot and run out after it.... All that's required is a rule in place that keeps them from soft breaking like they did with the MBR in a few tournaments last year... They tried the soft break at the Music City on the Accu-Rack 9ball template last year and no one could get it to work consistently to do large packages.....

Just food for thought....

Chris
 
Paper or Plastic?

I made a paper template last week. Just using a sheet of typing paper and a hole punch. It works fine and has minimal affect on a rolling ball. Should be fine as long as I do not spill my beer on it.:grin: Pretty easy and cheap to make more now that I have a template.:wink:
 
gregcantrall said:
I made a paper template last week. Just using a sheet of typing paper and a hole punch. It works fine and has minimal affect on a rolling ball. Should be fine as long as I do not spill my beer on it.:grin: Pretty easy and cheap to make more now that I have a template.:wink:
Click to expand...

Bob Jewett actually has a template you can printout and hole punch... Works pretty nifty on the cheap so I like it =) http://www.sfbilliards.com/Misc/template.pdf

What it won't do and what the other templates won't do is rack a set of missmatched balls... The geometry on the accu-racks will do that =) Bob has seen my templates and I think was pleased by the innovation....

Anywho enough sales blabber... If your ballset is in good shape the template you made may be every bit as good as one you buy.....

Chris
 
I ordered a 9b rack when I got the tips from you. Had a lot of people try it, the biggest complain was the large area in the center and often the 9b was still on that area after the break. This requires the rack to remain in place. I gave the accu-rack to the local pool hall. Can not seem to get anyone to use it over the majic rack. They do like the material your racks are made from over the m.r.
 
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The Renfro said:
Bob Jewett actually has a template you can printout and hole punch... Works pretty nifty on the cheap so I like it =) http://www.sfbilliards.com/Misc/template.pdf
Click to expand...
If I had known about that, I would not have had so much fun spending an evening with the trial and error. :thumbup:
What it won't do and what the other templates won't do is rack a set of missmatched balls... The geometry on the accu-racks will do that =) Bob has seen my templates and I think was pleased by the innovation....

Anywho enough sales blabber... If your ballset is in good shape the template you made may be every bit as good as one you buy.....

Chris
Click to expand...
I was wondering about that. The one place we play has a five ball that looks like a punkin. I always put it at the very back when playing nine ball.
 
The only way to get a fair rack is with a template. Period. Racking has become the most important part of rotation games in the last 10 years. For all the wrong reasons. Every major tournament, worldwide, should have a neutral racker using a template. Those that insist against it do so in order to cheat.
 
mcsock said:
I ordered a 9b rack when I got the tips from you. Had a lot of people try it, the biggest complain was the large area in the center and often the 9b was still on that area after the break. This requires the rack to remain in place. I gave the accu-rack to the local pool hall. Can not seem to get anyone to use it over the majic rack. They do like the material your racks are made from over the m.r.
Click to expand...

That's the number 1 complaint I get on the templates and am actually redesigning them to be less spidery and eliminate the solid center section... I never take the template off the table and don't think twice about it because it sticks pretty good to the surface and you can draw off of it or whatever you want todo like it's normal cloth... people not used to seeing it don't like it and I can understand that completely....


I am testing new designs and the geometry and material seem to overcome having the money ball on the table while all the other balls are on the template.. This should cause ramping and launching of the balls around the moneyball but apparently the money ball's equator has to be significantly under the other balls to cause the issue... New picks coming soon :)

And thanks for the feedback..

Chris
 
I agree with you about the randomness of break...except we have a way of forgetting the good rolls and only remembering the bad ones. I guess pain makes a bigger impression on us than pleasure.

Good luck with the redesign. Any chance you could incorporate an anti-CB-scratch function?
 
The Renfro said:
That's the number 1 complaint I get on the templates and am actually redesigning them to be less spidery and eliminate the solid center section... I never take the template off the table and don't think twice about it because it sticks pretty good to the surface and you can draw off of it or whatever you want todo like it's normal cloth...

Chris
Click to expand...

If there are no other balls in the immediate vicinity, which is usually the case, I just yank the thing from under the 9 ball. Kind of like pulling a table cloth out from under a fully set dining table. It works best if you pull from the "top" where you rack the 1 ball since there's less material along the "bottom" of the template. Most of the time the 9 ball stays in place. In the worst case scenario, the 9 ball moves about a millimeter. Only the pettiest of nits would complain about the movement of the ball.

The only minor complaint I have is that the head ball will roll off the rack into the divot that forms on the head spot from repeated breaking and/or bangers tapping the head ball. In cases where the divot is particularly deep I have to place the template so the bottom of the head ball cut-out is above the divot. I'm not sure if there's even a solution to this except to teach every banger in the world to stop pounding the head ball into the spot.

Otherwise, the thing works great, better than the Magic Rack.


Taek
 
They are using them in Reno this week and I heard several
complaints about Balls remaining on the template after the Break.
I rarely see them in use in the Sacramento area these days.

I definitely like the way they provide a tight rack on crappy tables,
but I stopped using them many months ago, just the same.
 
The future of pool: 15 tiny divots built into the slate, under the cloth, with little rods to fill them.
Push a button (maybe one button for 8, one for 9, one for 10)
and the rods drop a few millimeters, to allow for perfect racking.

After the break, they pop back up and make the surface under the cloth perfectly smooth again.
Bonus: they have sensors that detect breaks, and then they pop back up automatically.
 
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