The outside dimensions of racks vary...the inside doesn’t.
The 15 balls should determine the size of the triangle.
I remember reading instructions years ago that if the triangle interfered with the break ball
...the balls should be racked by hand.
Rack outline on table bed
- Thread starter ThinSlice
- Start date
The outside dimensions of racks vary...the inside doesn’t.
The 15 balls should determine the size of the triangle.
I remember reading instructions years ago that if the triangle interfered with the break ball
...the balls should be racked by hand.
LOL. Pool hall should have consistent racking hardware.
Rack by hand...could you imaging a shaky varner having to do that?
I think the rack needs to determine the side of the triangle
World Standardized Rules for 14.1 - Version 21.12.2007
4.8 Special Racking Situations
When the cue ball or fifteenth object ball interferes with racking fourteen balls for a new rack, the following special rules apply. A ball is considered to interfere with the rack if it is within or overlaps the outline of the rack. The referee will state when asked whether a ball interferes with the rack.
Note that there is no mention of the inside of the triangle - just the outline. You would clearly avoid the extra large/thick racks pictured when playing 14.1.
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You need to re-read the rule book. Either it or your memory has changed.
The rules require the outside of the rack to be marked.
Among other issues with marking the inside, there are positions for the break ball near the rack that would be unplayable by that method.
The Dritz fabric pencil wears off in a few weeks. There are other kinds of chalk pencils that are thicker. I used to have a mechanical one that had 2mm chalk refills, but they tended to break a lot. There are also wood pencils with about 2mm chalk leads.
I think thinner is better because it is less conspicuous. It is still visible when you need to see it.
I had made the rule suggestion to be able to use a ball marker in order to rack the balls if the last ball or cue ball interfered with the rack but not the racked balls. Seems like in today's world, that would be an easy rule modification rather than fight with the "different size racks" challenge.
Traditionally, that has mostly been the accepted attitude. I mean, really, how important IS. the precision ball placement that the spots & lines on the table allow?
Honorable competitors will try their best to judge a ball to be fairly in, or out of play, and will try to rack them straight & tight, and in the approximately proper location. In the absence of a referee, good faith judgement calls by your opponent should not be contested, and the same will apply when he is shooting. No spot or line on the cloth is absolutely essential if the rail diamonds are visible. They are merely guides that tend to speed up play.
I like the crosshairs as shown in the photo, except that the vertical cross hair needs to extend up beyond the top exterior of the wood triangle, as an additional way to check to confirm the rack is perfectly squared up. For someone that asked, the horizontal crosshair line extending from the center of the foot spot a few inches beyond the exterior sides of the rack on both sides is useful in confirming the head ball is on the center of the spot, and not high or low on the spot. I wouldn’t necessarily recommend the rack outline unless you play/practice alot of 14.1.
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It is legal to place the base of the head ball anywhere on the spot though, so 'center' can vary.
Unless there is no head ball in the rack.
If I read anything about straight pool it would’ve been in the 70s...and about the racking...You need to re-read the rule book. Either it or your memory has changed.
The rules require the outside of the rack to be marked.
Among other issues with marking the inside, there are positions for the break ball near the rack that would be unplayable by that method.
The Dritz fabric pencil wears off in a few weeks. There are other kinds of chalk pencils that are thicker. I used to have a mechanical one that had 2mm chalk refills, but they tended to break a lot. There are also wood pencils with about 2mm chalk leads.
I think thinner is better because it is less conspicuous. It is still visible when you need to see it.
..it was an article in a magazine. Haven’t played a serious money game for decades...
..and only played two tournaments in my life...both in the middle 80s.
So my observations are not official by any means....but I think they make sense.
To me, if an object ball is one mm away from a racked ball, it is not in the rack.
‘Course, I have disagreed with the rules before. I ran some qualifying tournaments in ‘91
for the Dufferin Open...I told the players that any object ball off the table was a foul...
...but it wouldn’t be in the main tournament.
That's false. The foot spot is a point, not a round sticker.
However, if the spot is dented and worn, you have to do the best you can when spotting or racking. Sometimes that means pushing the rack forward to match the craters.
I remember the old days when a ball onto the floor was not a foul. It just spotted up and the game continued. At US 3-cushion, there were a few fancy/demo shots where sending the first object ball onto the floor was a way to avoid a kiss. And of course at one pocket, if you could blast your opponent's hung ball off the table and didn't send the cue ball off as well, you were not penalized a point.
I believe that ball onto the floor is a foul in all cue sports now.
May not help you for 14.1, but with my Delta rack I set in on the table with the 1-ball in it's normal 1-ball position, place it perfectly on the spot, then precisely measured the distance from the back corners of the rack to the short rail. When it was all lined up perfectly, I took a black Sharpie and put a dot right in the center of each of the three circles on the corners of the Delta.
Now all I have to do is get the head ball on the spot and get the two back holes in the rack to line up perfectly with the two rear dots on the table.
Perfect rack placement and you won't have a bunch of unsightly lines all over your table. Like I said, it's not optimum for 14.1, but then, you're only PRACTICING 14.1, so perfect ball placement is not mandatory.
Just an option.
Maniac