An observation about chalk/miscues

Rodney had a miscue in the match with Oscar, that could have cost him the match. It definitely effected his momentum and gave Oscar an easy win in that game. I also noticed that throughout the afternoon, there were 2 pieces for what looked like Predator chalk that remained on the TV table near the lower corner. Seemed everyone just left those there and used their own chalk. I haven't had any issues using chalk from my 20 year old box of triangle chalk, I'm not changing either.

TATE said:

Just played in the Swanee in San Diego. Predator chalk seems to be getting quite popular.

Toward the afternoon and evening the room humidity was quite high. Three good players I played had a lot of problems with miscues. All three were using Predator chalk. This is not the first time I noticed miscues in humid conditions with Predator and Master chalk, had the same problem myself previously. We were using the measle ball, which is fine.

I don't know if my observation has any merit, but I brought my own Blue Diamond and had no issues, so I'm not changing.

Click to expand...

And since we have crowned you the "King of Clean Cue Shafts" on AZB, the Blue Diamond is the way to go! Lol!

I had switched to tan Masters, but think I'll go back to Blue Diamond now, since I am armed with Magic Erasers and parchment paper.

Thanks!

I had the same issue in a tournament last year using predator chalk. It was in a smoke room with no good ventilation. I went right back to my blue diamond chalk (Ole faithful).

Sent from my SM-N910T using Tapatalk

i just tried some Russian magic chalk.
Very good chalk and pretty clean to use.
The only downside was it kept jumping off my table trying to invade the tables next to me.

measureman said:

i just tried some Russian magic chalk.
Very good chalk and pretty clean to use.
The only downside was it kept jumping off my table trying to invade the tables next to me.

Click to expand...

LOL. Thanks for your honesty. Glad you liked Magic Chalk. We try to tell each cube to play nice, but a little vodka goes a long way, and all they want to do is WIN at all costs. Hey, not a bad thing, right

Chris,

I'm sure you get some humidity in Cali, probably not terrible but enough. The exact same thing except worse happens here in Houston. I don't know if there is a correlation between glazing and wet chalk/glazing and his conditions but humidity can be a real *****. I have had more issues with predator chalk than master doing it which I would venture to guess is due too particle size?

I can't wait till my magic chalk comes in. Been checking the mail box everyday. Lol

I'm in New Orleans & when I was trying out shafts & intending to sell the shafts that I did not want to keep, I purchased a 12 pack of Tan Masters Chalk so the shafts would not get 'blued' up.

The tan chalk seems to be more dry.

Anyway, I was having a bit of a miscue issue one day & a guy gave me a cube of Blue Diamond. I tried it & liked it but not the tacky feel because I chalk before every shot.

What I later did was to prep my tips & apply a generous coat of Blue Diamond & then used the Tan Masters over it.

I've almost never miscued since.

A similar thing I noticed was while playing in a weekend long tourney, by the end of the tourney my chalk stopped adhering to my tip. I figured it was because it was getting damp from being stuck in sweaty pocket all weekend.

Just a theory though.

Several thing to note here just to get started...

A little moisture actually will help chalk adhere and perform up to a point... Most indoor rooms with HVAC will not get your chalk past that point as the moisture will only penetrate the outer surface. Outdoors in the Philippines bets are off...

As far as noticing it from Predator this begs some questions... I took a hard look at all of the premiums when formulating our Great White.. Predator used graded abrasives and a good quantity of them so suddenly having the chalk start to miss cue would have me questioning maybe if something has not changed... Particle size should not be an issue otherwise.....

Outsville battles month to month to get/keep consistency and we run a small batch setup so we can maintain QC and keep a handle on changes... Even doing that I have discarded batches that went south. Would suck if it were a 10000 piece run I bet....

So I cannot imagine the same thing doesn't happen on a larger scale by accident or on purpose... Someone is making the chalk for them so maybe a corner was cut and fewer abrasives or a lower grade was used. Someone makes a mistake commits it to memory as the right way and suddenly everything changes.. This is the main reason I laugh when friend tell me how I should have someone make ours for us... If I am making it and there is a problem then I am the cause and the solution... I am the Key Masterrrrr err Gate Keeper not sure which is relevant but ghost busters is always relevant...

I have been recommending most all of the premiums besides Lava on the basis that for the other premiums personal preference and confidence is key to what you should use.... Yes even ours.. Use what you like and trust... There are enough differences you will find what you prefer....

If this is an issue tho it needs to be out in the open and broadcast.... I will no longer keep predator on my list of good premiums to choose from until something can be determined...

If anyone has a piece that is doing this PM me and I will have you mail it to me and I can make some slides and look at it under magnification... I still have all of my standard boxed up in airtight storage.......

Chris

Simple use Magic chalk and don't look back. :thumbup: