Does Practicing on Fast Cloth (760) Make You Better on Standard Speed Cloth (860HR)?

[FeelDaShot]

In baseball, a batter typically uses a weighted ring (aka donut) around the bat during his warm up swings. This is thought to help increase bat speed once the weighted ring is removed.

Similarly in pool, some might think that practicing on very fast cloth would help with speed control on normal speed cloth. For example, would it be beneficial to install Simonis 760 on your home table when all of your local tournaments are played on Simonis 860HR?

Pool is a little different because you would have to learn to adjust quickly to the slower cloth each time you match up. So I'm not sure if the "juice is worth the squeeze", as they say. For me, it's always been easier to adjust to slower cloth than it is to adjust to faster cloth so the adjustment might not be too difficult.

What do you guys think?

 

[iusedtoberich]

My home room had new 760 installed every 6 month for 20 years. All the other rooms in the area were 860. I found no issues going between the two. I think the difference is overblown. IMO

 

[FeelDaShot]

My home room had new 760 installed every 6 month for 20 years. All the other rooms in the area were 860. I found no issues going between the two. I think the difference is overblown. IMO

Maybe 760 was a bad example. Are there any faster cloths than 760?

 

[tim913]

Maybe if the batter practiced in the mountains where the air is thinner or the pool player practiced with a 5 lb cue would be more of an apples to apples comparison, but to the question.
No it will not help you play better moving from a fast cloth to a slower one or vice versa. You should be able to adjust to speed, humidity or whatever in a short time

 

[pt109]

Maybe 760 was a bad example. Are there any faster cloths than 760?

300 is carom cloth..very fast
But practising on anything is great.
we had swing weights at golf…but I thought they were over-rated….hitting balls did more good.

 

[iusedtoberich]

Maybe 760 was a bad example. Are there any faster cloths than 760?

I do believe 760 is the fastest "pool" cloth. My point though was even when going from 760 to the local pub carpet with beer stains, pool is pool. It's not much of a difference. IMO

 

[iusedtoberich]

300 is carom cloth..very fast
But practising on anything is great.
we had swing weights at golf…but I thought they were over-rated….hitting balls did more good.

One pool room brought in a carom table for a few months as an experiment. I think it was a GC carom table, but it's been 20 years now and I may be remembering wrong. Anyway, they put 760 on it instead of 300 carom cloth. It played dead. I guess I'm contradicting myself on this one, ha ha.

 

[Powderclayfelt]

It’s common to tighten up during competition. Hence bat/club weights, heavier boxing gloves and tighter tennis racket tensions for practice. Therefore, practicing on slower cloth than during competition may make sense. I personally struggle practicing on fast cloth then competing on carpet.

 

[MattPoland]

I have a general thought that faster cloth mandates a finesse stroke. And that is a healthy component to your game. Even on slow cloth, having that kind of control and light touch in your stroke helps when playing 8-ball and needing to move the cueball minimally to hold the pattern.

 

[Tautologist]

In my humble opinion, playing on faster cloth teaches a specific level of speed control. More precise speed control works on any cloth once you have it in your tool bag. Adjusting to other tables in general is a different skillset.

 

[bbb]

I would offer the other approach
meaning on slow cloth. One needs a strong stroke to get the cue ball around
. I think it’s easier to dial down your stroke than it is to amp it up when you need it.
And maybe you don’t have a strong stroke because you’ve never needed to develop it on the faster cloth
Jmho
Icbw

 

[straightline]

I would offer the other approach
meaning on slow cloth. One needs a strong stroke to get the cue ball around
. I think it’s easier to dial down your stroke than it is to amp it up when you need it.
And maybe don’t have it because you’ve never needed to develop it on the faster cloth
Jmho
Icbw

There is that stroke accuracy problem as you hit harder. For those that have always played on fast tables, the transition to slow cloth may take a while The transition from slow to fast may not carry this issue.
If you have issues hitting harder, try the big ball for a while.

 

[poolplayher]

300 is carom cloth..very fast
But practising on anything is great.
we had swing weights at golf…but I thought they were over-rated….hitting balls did more good.

Is 300 very fast or is the fastness due to table being heated? I’m not familiar with the cloth but bend towards the table being heated.


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[Cornerman]

I would offer the other approach
meaning on slow cloth. One needs a strong stroke to get the cue ball around
. I think it’s easier to dial down your stroke than it is to amp it up when you need it.
And maybe you don’t have a strong stroke because you’ve never needed to develop it on the faster cloth
Jmho
Icbw

I’m with you on this.

 

[Cameron Smith]

I’m not sure it works quite like that. Different cloth speeds usually necessitate different approaches to position play. For example, on slow cloth you can kill the cue ball even with some pretty thin angles, whereas you may need to go up and down table or side to side on faster cloth. You may also draw a table length and a half on fast cloth, but on slower cloth you may need to stop the ball and just take the awkward cut. So my concern would likely be getting accustomed to shot selections that wouldn’t work on a normal table. If anything, you could get some benefit from practicing on slower cloth just to get help you develop more cue power.

 

[pt109]

Is 300 very fast or is the fastness due to table being heated? I’m not familiar with the cloth but bend towards the table being heated.


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If you’ve played on 860 and then 760, the numbers mean something speedwise….so 300 is very significant.
…..the biggest difference, personally, is how long the spin stays on….if you load it up, you can keep it spinning on the fifth rail.

 

[pt109]

I would offer the other approach
meaning on slow cloth. One needs a strong stroke to get the cue ball around
. I think it’s easier to dial down your stroke than it is to amp it up when you need it.
And maybe you don’t have a strong stroke because you’ve never needed to develop it on the faster cloth
Jmho
Icbw

I find slow cloth takes so much out of the game….the hits tend to be brutal…if you watch snooker from the 80s on slo-mo, you’ll see how often the balls are air-born, even on medium speed shots.
and I’m going to assert my experience here…pool players would think 24 ounce cloth to be slow…I’ve played in British clubs on 42 ounce…
it takes so much away from the game.

 

[poolplayher]

If you’ve played on 860 and then 760, the numbers mean something speedwise….so 300 is very significant.
…..the biggest difference, personally, is how long the spin stays on….if you load it up, you can keep it spinning on the fifth rail.

Ok I see. Yes I have 860 on my table.


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[pt109]

I’m not sure it works quite like that. Different cloth speeds usually necessitate different approaches to position play. For example, on slow cloth you can kill the cue ball even with some pretty thin angles, whereas you may need to go up and down table or side to side on faster cloth. You may also draw a table length and a half on fast cloth, but on slower cloth you may need to stop the ball and just take the awkward cut. So my concern would likely be getting accustomed to shot selections that wouldn’t work on a normal table. If anything, you could get some benefit from practicing on slower cloth just to get help you develop more cue power.

I found when I played in Britain in the 80s on slow cloth, it was much harder to hold a ball on thinner cuts….
….the problem is the object ball has to be hit harder to get to the pocket…
…so I was coming from 26 ounce cloth where I could hold the ball to having to go up and back down the table on 38 ounce cloth.

 

[garczar]

760's speed depends a LOT on where its at as in humidity levels. In a dry climate its fast new and stays fast. Put it in a humid room and speed can drop a lot. I remember when it first came out late 80's-ish and we all hated it. Way too fast for 9b imo. 860 is much better but again humidity can slow 860 to a mudlike speed. 760 in a place like Lousiana or south Texas or Oklahoma summers plays just fine.