BCAPL: The Official Final Phenolic Tip Ruling
- Thread starter Holly
- Start date
New Rulebook is posted on playbca.com
Here is the Measel ball from my buddies table. It has experienced damage but it has never been hit with a phenolic tip.
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Either the balls are soft or the darn dog must have g10 teeth.
and the funny thing is ive got a cue ball that looks like new even though ive practiced breaking for up to 3 hours stragith with a phenolic tip. I think some of the balls are crap and it has nothing to do with the tips.
Here is the Measel ball from my buddies table. It has experienced damage but it has never been hit with a phenolic tip.
View attachment 100390
Either the balls are soft or the darn dog must have g10 teeth.
The measle cue ball is a polyester cue ball, whereas the red circle cue ball is phenolic...did you know that, which means the measle cue balls are softer than the red circle cue balls
No Glen, I was not aware of that. I will give the dog a red circle and report back.The measle cue ball is a polyester cue ball, whereas the red circle cue ball is phenolic...did you know that, which means the measle cue balls are softer than the red circle cue balls
Thanks for the info.:thumbup2:
No wonder the red circle plays better.
Glen,
Would you please explain the differences in the two plastic compounds 'Polyester and Phenolic" thanks.
Who makes the Polyester red circle cue ball?
Who makes the Pro Cup cue ball?
Who makes Centennials? and Who makes Brunswick Anniversaries?
Would you please explain the differences in the two plastic compounds 'Polyester and Phenolic" thanks.
Who makes the Polyester red circle cue ball?
Who makes the Pro Cup cue ball?
Who makes Centennials? and Who makes Brunswick Anniversaries?
The measle cue ball is a polyester cue ball, whereas the red circle cue ball is phenolic...did you know that, which means the measle cue balls are softer than the red circle cue balls
I have gotten quite a chuckle out of many of the responses to the new BCAPL ruling on Phenolic tips (altho' I'm not the 1st to make a more reasoned comment ... CBI1000 and StuckArt come to mind).
Once your done "pinching a loaf" over this issue, you might consider the following ...
You don't have to toss out your $400 break cue or bust it over 'BCA' Bill Stock's head down in Henderson (altho' you might enjoy the emotional release from doing so) ...
You might choose to take that $25 you won last night sharkin' the rubes down at the local dive bar and have a cue mechanic put a super hard leather (or other legal) tip on your break cue. That way, you don't flatten out your fancy playing cue's tip with your bad ass mojo. (FYI, I'm not a cue mechanic fishin' for clients).
Even if you have a combination phenolic tip/ferrule, a cue mechanic can use a lathe to grind off the tip portion and apply said replacement tip.
I don't think I'll be changing tips any time soon. The day after I let a cue repair mechanice gring off the tip portion of my combination phenolic tip/ferrule, I'm sure they will recind this rule.
I've played a pretty fair game of pool for nearly 40 years now, and in spite of being a skinny old fart pushing 60 years old, most folks I play would kill (or, preferably, swap their Sledgehammer:smilefor either my 8 Ball or my 9 Ball break.
BTW, I break with my "playing" cue (adorned with a Tiger Everest medium hard tip, dressed with [OMG, here's another excuse for you to pinch a loaf] Silver Cup Chalk!) and rely on some carefully selected modest spin to drop a ball to two and leave myself either a look at the 1 Ball or mid table shape in 8 Ball.
Can you say, "technique" ... ?
Technique is definitely more important than the cue.
If you want to "buy" your game, try spending some of your lunch money on lessons and practice time. (FYI again, I am a coach, but since one of the luxuries of being in biz for yourself is the option to pick and choose one's clientele AND I choose not to coach whiners, I ain't fishin' for business here either).
Take a look at the game of golf. With the new driver clubheads approaching the size of a small BMW, tons of folks can now hit a drive 280 yards or more (and probably even deeper into the "woods" (pun intended) than ever before!).
What's the result? Tiger Woods now hits driver/wedge to a "long" par 5 as do several other pros and some of the better amateurs. The installed base of courses around the country are now "obsolete" except for producing "stats" that only an idiot would compare to Sam Snead's, or Jack Nicklaus' accomplishments.
Tiger Woods clearly dominates the modern game of golf using this kind of equipment. Take away the gihugic clubheads and guess what, Tiger would still dominate the game of golf, probably even more so, because all of his competitors play by the same rules.
Tiger's got game, character and the mental edge to dominate, not to mention "touch" around the greens, all of which don't rely on equipment.
Hmmmm ... Perhaps the same might be true of billiards. You think Johnny Archer might be able to "spread 'em" without a phenolic tip ...?
I do.
The people with a more legitimate gripe about the new BCAPL ruling include the equipment manufacturers (and to a lesser degree retailers) who have a large investment in selling you your "game".
But even these folks can at least recover some (sorry, the R & D and promotional costs associated with the phenolic tip) are what beancounters like to call "sunk" costs) of their investment by retrofitting their inventory with legal tips.
If I were a manufacturer or a dealer, I would be putting my letter to the BCA in the mail tomorrow morning.
Lastly, I do indeed cry a river for the poor guy/gal/'combo' who has a Break/Jump 'combo' with a phenolic tip. I guess you're going to have to either get a job ("OMG"?) in order to afford a new break-only cue, have someone make a 2nd shaft with legal break tip for your combo cue or simply ...
Pull up your panties and get some game so you don't need an equipment advantage to earn your lunch money down at the local pub OR in the next BCA event.
Remember, your competition will be "saddled" with the same rules you have to play by ..
Well, it seems that I've run out of apostrophes and parentheses, so I'll guess I'll have to go now.
EnglishProfessor :groucho: aka "capn.curmudgeon" :nanner:
I don't use a phenolic tip to get an equipment advantage over others. I have a few years under my belt and I have had shoulder problems for many years. The phenolic tips only let me get close to the breaks of others.
I think it will hurt the BCA too.
I know the room owner, where I play, is currently contemplating bringing in a BCA in house league. This rule change has helped me make up my mind. I will definitely not be playing in that league.
I have two jump break cues, one with a phenolic tip and the other with a combination phenolic tip/ferrule. I waited quite a while before going with the phenolic, just in case they changed the rules. After waiting for a considerable length of time, and the BCA accepting the combination tip/ferrules, I purchased these cues. Why should I have them altered or replaced now just to play in the BCA. Their league isn't that good.
It's very obvious when there is a phenolic tip used on a break cue. Sounds sort of like a rifle goin off.
Interesting that you would not play in the league because of the tip you have to use on your break cue. Good luck in your other leagues.
BVal
The measle cue ball is a polyester cue ball, whereas the red circle cue ball is phenolic...did you know that, which means the measle cue balls are softer than the red circle cue balls
Not according to Saluc.
According to them measles CBs , AKA Aramith Pro Cup Cue balls, are made of the exact same phenolic resin compound.
In fact they state that thier resin compound far excedes that of any polyester and as such , is why they use thier phenolic resin.
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So the BCAPL must have assumed that the brokest population of any sport are going to run out and buy new cues so they can keep playing at the national events?
These are the guys that can't pay their weekly dues because they lost their last dollar gambling. They aren't all going to run out and buy new cues.
Guys like me who can easily afford a new cue aren't going to be happy playing with a foreign cue when I will always be playing league and gambling with my BK2.
These are the guys that can't pay their weekly dues because they lost their last dollar gambling. They aren't all going to run out and buy new cues.
Guys like me who can easily afford a new cue aren't going to be happy playing with a foreign cue when I will always be playing league and gambling with my BK2.
In my area, the BCAPL has a very small presence. Their leagues are few and far between.
On the other hand, I live on the boarder between two of the largest APA areas in the country. There is pleanty of competition in the APA leagues in this area with some players being pro caliber. It is not like some of the small town APA areas you read about on this forum. I play in a totally in house league, on 9' Diamond and Gold Crown tables and there is a minimum of sharking and sandbagging.
IMHO, in this area, the BCAPL needs me more than I need them. There is no real incentive for me to play in the BCAPL, especially if I have to buy a new break cue just for that league.
The point that really bothers me about the BCAPL is that they just up and changed the rules without any concern for their thousands of members who have been using phenolic tips for many years.
If all of the other league systems and pool organizations ban phenolic tips, none of us will have a choice. Until then, I still have a choice and right now I will choose not to join the BCAPL.