A little bit of errant spin probably won't cause a miss. I think one major concern with hitting around center ball is not crossing the center line and applying english opposite to your intentions.
40" minimum seems to be the standard. Still even touring players only spend a few hours per stop actually confined by the rules. 'Nother argument about cloth damage - the lighter, the less. If it works better for a player then who cares?
It's a captive mob mentality. They do get hot but only as the local culture requires. I'm particularly enamored of Brazilian jazz musicians and particularly those that have expanded into electric guitar. There's more international exposure at that strata and they sound to be prepared to gig...
There used to be a toy shop near one of the bars here and one night some lady brought out a latex one about that length and twice as thick. Gigantic but flexible. That thing Fedor is signing looks like a torture toy. :ROFLMAO: