Chalk gate at the open !!!!

[Jaden]

I don’t get this……….I have been playing pool for 65 years…….different cities, tables and cues down through the years.
And, of course, a variety of pool chalks have been used as you’d imagine. I have never had chalk on my fingers or hands and I use a closed bridge on 75-80% of my shots. If you get blue fingers, hands, ferrules or shafts, I have news you don’t want to hear. Apparently, they never learned how to chalk correctly and are like the cartoon character that hangs with Charles Schultz’s Charlie Brown……Pigpen. These players are just slobs and over chalk so it stains their hands, fingers and pool cue. This has never happened to me or any cue I’ve owned. This is so inept that it’s sad but comical at the same time.

Have you ever played pool for 15 hours straight??? I don't mean with an opponent where you share time at the table. I mean 15 hours of you at the table playing constantly. If not, then try it chalking normally with your bridge hand and get back to me.

 

[Bavafongoul]

Have you ever played pool for 15 hours straight??? I don't mean with an opponent where you share time at the table. I mean 15 hours of you at the table playing constantly. If not, then try it chalking normally with your bridge hand and get back to me.

No I haven’t but I have played for 12 hrs…, 10 am to 10 pm and my cue shaft and ferrules remained clean but the ferrules are ivory so that doesn’t count,

My fingers were clean and the only chalk accumulation, which wasn’t much to speak of, was on the heel and bottom palm area of my bridge hand. Surely during your marathon session of 15 hrs duration, there was occasion yo visit the bathroom.

Did washing your hands ever come to mind? When I played for 12 hours, I must have washed my hands 4-5X. So when I spot someone with dark blue fingers, it is a sure fire sign they are chalking incorrectly, IMO.


BTW. it tends to be older players most of the time from what I’ve observed.

 

[maha]

great bava, i am glad you are not on the dark side that needs to blame the chalk for problems.

too bad we lost most of the old timers on here that talked about pool and real things related to it.

 

[Jaden]

No I haven’t but I have played for 12 hrs…, 10 am to 10 pm and my cue shaft and ferrules remained clean but the ferrules are ivory so that doesn’t count,

My fingers were clean and the only chalk accumulation, which wasn’t much to speak of, was on the heel and bottom palm area of my bridge hand. Surely during your marathon session of 15 hrs duration, there was occasion yo visit the bathroom.

Did washing your hands ever come to mind? When I played for 12 hours, I must have washed my hands 4-5X. So when I spot someone with dark blue fingers, it is a sure fire sign they are chalking incorrectly, IMO.


BTW. it tends to be older players most of the time from what I’ve observed.

ACtually many times no, I wouldn't go to the bathroom, I'd just keep playing.

But people saying that always reminds me of a joke.

A sailor goes to the head and does his business and then goes to the sink and starts to wash his hands as a marine walks into the head and goes over to the urinal to do his business. The marine finishes and starts to walk out as the sailor is drying his hands and the sailor says to the marine "You know in the Navy, they teach us to wash our hands after urinating".

The marine responds, "In the marines, they teach us not to piss on our hands".

 

[GideonF]

ACtually many times no, I wouldn't go to the bathroom, I'd just keep playing.

But people saying that always reminds me of a joke.

A sailor goes to the head and does his business and then goes to the sink and starts to wash his hands as a marine walks into the head and goes over to the urinal to do his business. The marine finishes and starts to walk out as the sailor is drying his hands and the sailor says to the marine "You know in the Navy, they teach us to wash our hands after urinating".

The marine responds, "In the marines, they teach us not to piss on our hands".

And this is why I always go for the first bump before and after the game rather than a handshake. I’d estimate that at least half the guys I see in the pool hall don’t wash their hands after using the urinal.

 

[jay helfert]

I don’t get this……….I have been playing pool for 65 years…….different cities, tables and cues down through the years.
And, of course, a variety of pool chalks have been used as you’d imagine. I have never had chalk on my fingers or hands and I use a closed bridge on 75-80% of my shots. If you get blue fingers, hands, ferrules or shafts, I have news you don’t want to hear. Apparently, they never learned how to chalk correctly and are like the cartoon character that hangs with Charles Schultz’s Charlie Brown……Pigpen. These players are just slobs and over chalk so it stains their hands, fingers and pool cue. This has never happened to me or any cue I’ve owned. This is so inept that it’s sad but comical at the same time.

Same here!

 

[maha]

as long as they have automatic faucets. other wise you are infecting yourself with what someone else left on the handle. ick.

and get infected again as soon as you touch the handle on the door. ick.

or the rack as he touched it and the cue ball. ick.

where do you stop with worrying about getting germs from someone.

 

[HawaiianEye]

the white hand chalk went away mostly with air conditioning.

sweaty hands it was hard to stroke smoothly.

gloves were considered not manly, and none were really smooth or fit right back them to be useful.

That cone chalk was BS.

I always carried and used baby powder.

 

[Jaden]

And this is why I always go for the first bump before and after the game rather than a handshake. I’d estimate that at least half the guys I see in the pool hall don’t wash their hands after using the urinal.

I guess, the first bump is better than the last bump.. whatever floats your boat.

 

[Jaden]

No I haven’t but I have played for 12 hrs…, 10 am to 10 pm and my cue shaft and ferrules remained clean but the ferrules are ivory so that doesn’t count,

My fingers were clean and the only chalk accumulation, which wasn’t much to speak of, was on the heel and bottom palm area of my bridge hand. Surely during your marathon session of 15 hrs duration, there was occasion yo visit the bathroom.

Did washing your hands ever come to mind? When I played for 12 hours, I must have washed my hands 4-5X. So when I spot someone with dark blue fingers, it is a sure fire sign they are chalking incorrectly, IMO.


BTW. it tends to be older players most of the time from what I’ve observed.

Do you chalk with your bridge hand or with your handle holding hand. That's where my first comment on this came from. Most people chalk with their primary hand, if they're right handed with their right hand, if left handed their left. It lends itself to being cleaner because you aren't sliding the leftover chalk back and forth through your hand when sliding the shaft through it.

I and I guess a couple of others as well, use our bridge hand to chalk. With me I blame my grandfather who started teaching me baseball when I was 5 and assumed I was right handed, even though he was left handed. So I ended up forcing myself to bat and throw right handed. I ended up doing almost everything right handed. The only thing I can do equally well with either hand is bowl but if I'm not playing regularly, I still get confused on the foot work for bowling left handed.

 

[Bavafongoul]

Do you chalk with your bridge hand or with your handle holding hand. That's where my first comment on this came from. Most people chalk with their primary hand, if they're right handed with their right hand, if left handed their left. It lends itself to being cleaner because you aren't sliding the leftover chalk back and forth through your hand when sliding the shaft through it.

I and I guess a couple of others as well, use our bridge hand to chalk. With me I blame my grandfather who started teaching me baseball when I was 5 and assumed I was right handed, even though he was left handed. So I ended up forcing myself to bat and throw right handed. I ended up doing almost everything right handed. The only thing I can do equally well with either hand is bowl but if I'm not playing regularly, I still get confused on the foot work for bowling left handed.

I chalk with my grip hand, not my bridge hand and I am right hand dominant.
I shoot lefty when I am too lazy to get a bridge or the shot is obviously easy.

It seems more natural to apply chalk since I’m not equally ambidextrous with both hands.
My right hand understandably has much more dexterity, strength and finger manipulation.

I brush my chalk on my cue tip and never grind, twist or rub circularly when I apply chalk.
I was taught at the age of 16 the correct way to apply chalk from my peers at pool rooms.

Been doing it ever since over the last 64 years and let me tell anyone on the fence about
using TAOM V10 or Pagulayan chalk. If you brush it on your cue tip, it lasts a very long time.

 

[GideonF]

as long as they have automatic faucets. other wise you are infecting yourself with what someone else left on the handle. ick.

and get infected again as soon as you touch the handle on the door. ick.

or the rack as he touched it and the cue ball. ick.

where do you stop with worrying about getting germs from someone.

Well, yes they have automatic faucets.

I mean look, I don’t want to touch another man’s junk, and I don’t want to shake his hand right after he’s holding it if he hasn’t washed his hands.

 

[ShootingArts]

Well, yes they have automatic faucets.

I mean look, I don’t want to touch another man’s junk, and I don’t want to shake his hand right after he’s holding it if he hasn’t washed his hands.

You certainly have a point and when in a multi-unit bathroom I note someone that dashes past the sinks, particularly after a visit to the porcelain throne. However, the people that don't wash touch things in ever widening circles. Research from years ago found that the kitchen had more human fecal matter than any room in the house including the bathroom!

I do my best to avoid contact with questionable surfaces including other people's hands. However, I think it is custom and manners to shake hands and I simply make a habit of cleaning my hands soon after shaking somebody's hand.

I reduce the amount of secondhand germs and simply materials I don't want on my hands but I don't think there is such a thing as maintaining perfectly clean and sterile conditions. I was having surgery in an internationally famous hospital. The first thing I noticed was that the self closing double doors to go into the operating room were in need of adjustment and forced the doors to stay apart four to six inches! Side note, operating rooms aren't sterile!

Very few things are as sanitary as we would like to think they are. Washing our hands frequently and avoiding likely surfaces are the best ways to avoid second hand nastiness. I always go by the bathroom going in a pool hall. I may be only washing my hands and I keep a handful of damp paper towels. They come in handy to wipe down the rails of the table so I keep the second ones after the ones I use to initially dry my hands.

Of course we all avoid the very nasty cloth on pool tables right?(grin) The GOAT made a habit of wiping boogers on the rails. He did it first out of personal habit but when he found it often sharked people from first world countries he often did it just to shark! He found and I guess still finds sharking funny and often sharks people without any chance of beating him.

Hu

 

[jay helfert]

as long as they have automatic faucets. other wise you are infecting yourself with what someone else left on the handle. ick.

and get infected again as soon as you touch the handle on the door. ick.

or the rack as he touched it and the cue ball. ick.

where do you stop with worrying about getting germs from someone.

I always carry a small bottle of hand sanitizer now, since Covid.

 

[ShootingArts]

I always carry a small bottle of hand sanitizer now, since Covid.

When meeting someone I used to act like I was doing some serious double knuckle gold mining then stick the hand out for a shake and keep it out. The looks on some people's faces was priceless but most eventually shook hands. Custom and courtesy are hard to ignore!

Hu

 

[Jaden]

When meeting someone I used to act like I was doing some serious double knuckle gold mining then stick the hand out for a shake and keep it out. The looks on some people's faces was priceless but most eventually shook hands. Custom and courtesy are hard to ignore!

Hu

Within a year of 2020, I saw people elbow slapping lol...

 

["Fast" Eddie López]

I chalk with my grip hand, not my bridge hand and I am right hand dominant.
I shoot lefty when I am too lazy to get a bridge or the shot is obviously easy.

It seems more natural to apply chalk since I’m not equally ambidextrous with both hands.
My right hand understandably has much more dexterity, strength and finger manipulation.

I brush my chalk on my cue tip and never grind, twist or rub circularly when I apply chalk.
I was taught at the age of 16 the correct way to apply chalk from my peers at pool rooms.

Been doing it ever since over the last 64 years and let me tell anyone on the fence about
using TAOM V10 or Pagulayan chalk. If you brush it on your cue tip, it lasts a very long time.

I have a similar habit when it comes to chalking. I am right handed. I hold my cue close to the joint, usually more towards the bumper, with my left hand and then brush the tip of the cue with chalk, whichever chalk I am using at the moment, with my right hand. I also hold the cue sort of "tilted" when I chalk, I would say the tip is a little lower if not at chest level when I am applying chalk.

I have also developed the habit of having a black hand towel hanging from my right pocket. I have extremely sweaty hands so I have integrated wiping my right hand with the "pocket towel" in my pre-shot routine, just after chalking, before getting down to take a shot. People look at me like I am nuts, but that is what works for me. I started hanging the neatly folded towel in my front right pocket around 15 years ago when I realized I was constantly drying the sweat off the palm of my hands on my pants, without thinking, while moving around the table. While at the seat I used a regular towel to wipe both the shafts and my hands, so I figured might as well fold a hand towel, hang it from the pocket, and dry my hand every single time before I take a shot. Control the sweat and whatever chalk residue is on my right hand.

I have been an aircraft mechanic most of my adult life, automotive before that, and having sweaty hands translates into a lot of hand tool corrosion prevention.