Chalk Habits and A Doozy of an AccuStats

Looks like the shot or a very close cousin. They seemed to be struggling a lot then I noticed the table pockets! On a pool table those shots aren't particularly difficult.

Hu

Mark Williams seems to make these all the time when he actually plays them in a match.

I know a couple of Canadian pool players who play this shot, most notably Erik Hjorleifson.
 
At my house with my beautiful maple wood cherry finished Diamond table, you get one warning if setting chalk upside down, after that you are not invited back. We do have one person not invited back.
I like this guy. Chalk up is so easy. You've never cleaned rails before if you put chalk down.
 
An older fellow that I've logged many hours playing against has a chalk habit when he first arrives to play.
He grabs 5 cubes of masters chalk and walks around the gold crown table placing one on all but one rail sections.
Then as he plays, he chalks up abundantly and sets the chalk face down on the rail. After 6.5 hours of play, the rails are a mess.

My chalk stays in my pocket and I'm constantly moving one or many of his chalks out of the way of my shot.
Then he complains that the masters chalks end up all grouped together at one end and redistributes them.
It makes me laugh.

Then I watched this video where Mike Sigel and Earl Strickland do THE EXACT SAME THING:


Maybe not chalk upside down all the time, but why so many chalks?!? And they end up all together...
Mike is so hard to like.
 
Do you think all chalk is created equal?
Clearly it’s not, but I also think there’s no great advantage gained by using these $20+ chalks over standards that have been around for a long time such as Master, Triangle etc.

I truthfully believe most of the exorbitantly priced chalks sales are driven by buzz of being the “hot new thing” than performance. At the end of the day, just have some courtesy and use a chalk of the color of the cloth you’re playing on out of respect of the room owner, seems simple enough.
 
I like this guy. Chalk up is so easy. You've never cleaned rails before if you put chalk down.

I clean rails at least once a day at the pool hall. I don't have a kitten if somebody else puts chalk face down though. As already mentioned perhaps the GOAT puts the chalk face down, deliberately. Has for a lifetime. I sometimes wonder if it is tongue in cheek towards all the people making a big deal out of face up. It certainly hasn't hurt his play!

Look at typical street play from the Philippines. A quarter cup or more of powder on one rail, chalk turned every which way, third parties jumping in to mark ball locations, hollering and whistling, bets shouted back and forth across the table while somebody is shooting, the list never ends. Doesn't keep the Philippines from turning out monsters, I think encourages it.

I think the US players being hothouse players that expect everything perfect and exactly the same as everywhere else they play has hurt their competitiveness worldwide. It doesn't take a Diamond in perfect climate control to play competitive pool. However, people who panic when conditions aren't exactly what they expect hurt their own chances and improve everyone else's.

I am a hothouse player just like most US players now. I expect conditions exactly to my taste. I have been this way for years. I think it is a serious handicap if I step into a ratty old place or just one with conditions I am not used to. I think playing in all conditions makes a more rounded player.

Hu
 
Clearly it’s not, but I also think there’s no great advantage gained by using these $20+ chalks over standards that have been around for a long time such as Master, Triangle etc.

I truthfully believe most of the exorbitantly priced chalks sales are driven by buzz of being the “hot new thing” than performance. At the end of the day, just have some courtesy and use a chalk of the color of the cloth you’re playing on out of respect of the room owner, seems simple enough.
I agree that most of the sales are for that reason. I've had a home table many times over the years, and they stay much cleaner with the Taom. To each their own, but $20 is nothing nowadays when everyone seems to have thousands of dollars worth of gear. My current piece has lasted me several months now and it's maybe halfway done.
 
I agree that most of the sales are for that reason. I've had a home table many times over the years, and they stay much cleaner with the Taom. To each their own, but $20 is nothing nowadays when everyone seems to have thousands of dollars worth of gear. My current piece has lasted me several months now and it's maybe halfway done.

A home table is a good reason for cleaner chalk and with what I have spent on other equipment I sure wouldn't grudge spending on equipment that made for better success competing if I still was. I have spent over a thousand dollars to gain less than a tenth of a second or a hundredth of an inch smaller groups.

I ended up with six pieces of one super chalk or another in my case. I kept using the Master. After toting the other stuff six months or longer I gave it all to a friend. Master has never seemed to handicap me. Some of the other classic brands seem more inclined to cause miscues so I don't use them.

Hu
 
I agree that most of the sales are for that reason. I've had a home table many times over the years, and they stay much cleaner with the Taom.

Yep, that's why I use it. It doesn't do anything magical to my tip or the cueball action, but it makes SO much less mess. Don't have to clean the balls or vacuum the table nearly as often.
 
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