Break Cloth

nksmfamjp

nksmfamjp

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Help me understand. The new pool room/ber that opened up near me requires you use a break cloth. It is a piece of cloth under the cue ball which they require when you are breaking.

Why is this?

According to the guy running the show, it is to prevent wear under the cue ball because the cue skids when it is hit! I don't think that is it, but I would be interested in understanding this practice and some possible why's. . .
 
nksmfamjp said:
Help me understand. The new pool room/ber that opened up near me requires you use a break cloth. It is a piece of cloth under the cue ball which they require when you are breaking.

Why is this?

According to the guy running the show, it is to prevent wear under the cue ball because the cue skids when it is hit! I don't think that is it, but I would be interested in understanding this practice and some possible why's. . .
Click to expand...

If you don't use a break cloth and everybody breaks from the same area near the side rail, the cloth gets worn through, thins out and eventually wears right through - even though the rest of the cloth might still be fine.

What happens when you break is the cueball is slightly pressed down into the cloth, then goes airborne for a foot or two. That downward pressure on the cue ball at first impact dings the cloth a little. A break cloth absorbs the impact and there is very little wear to the actual cloth.

It's a good idea to use a break cloth if you want to get the most even wear.

Chris
 
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nksmfamjp said:
Help me understand. The new pool room/ber that opened up near me requires you use a break cloth. It is a piece of cloth under the cue ball which they require when you are breaking.

Why is this?

According to the guy running the show, it is to prevent wear under the cue ball because the cue skids when it is hit! I don't think that is it, but I would be interested in understanding this practice and some possible why's. . .
Click to expand...


The guy running the show is exactly right, every time you break you stroke thru the cue-ball and the tip of your cue will take away a small amount of the cloth, over a period of time the cloth gets worn and tiny holes develope.

When your at another pool room take a good close look at the table, you can see where all the players break from, it will be a "worn trail" full of tiny holes.

After awhile breaking with the break cloth, you won't even notice it, you just gotta be real fast sometimes picking the thing up after the break!:thumbup:


David Harcrow
 
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I had a table a few years ago, the first few days after having it set up I did not use one. I noticed how quickly I was getting the white dots from the break area, so I thought what the heck, Ill try using the break cloth Ive been hearing about.

If I ever get lucky enough to get another table, I will use a cloth from the start!

It REALLY cuts down on the wear and tear around the headstring.

Woody
 
Is there anyone out there willing to throw a piece of cloth my way ill pay shipping, i need it for breaking and jump practice.

Thanks.
 
The last time I had my table recovered, I saved a large piece of cloth for jumping practice. It works really well at preventing burn marks on the cloth.

The owner is right.
 
It's an EXCELLENT idea.....

JXMIKE said:
Is there anyone out there willing to throw a piece of cloth my way ill pay shipping, i need it for breaking and jump practice.

Thanks.
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I think it's a GREAT way to save your cloth. A friend of mine and I use them on our home tables (my son and his friends seem to have Alzhiemers's). It's an EXCELLENT way to save your cloth. I don't think I'd have much luck at asking folks to do it at our PUB, unfortunately :(

Anyways, send me your mailing address and I'll mail you a piece of cloth ;)
 
On the bar box I play on, the balls are so old and have such a rough surface, a single break at maximum power will leave a mark on brand new cloth just like a big massé can leave a mark on the cloth.

Now, if the owner/operaor had this cloth on a string, so that someone could pull it off the table the instant of the break, I would not have any problems with this preservation of resources at all.
 
I posted a time ago that I used a cloth under the CB to save wear and a lot of posters laughed at it and made mention about being "cheap". Not cheap but trying to avoid unnecessary wear.

Even if you use the cloth you will still get burn spots a long the path from ball hop and that can't be avoided unless you don't do breaks on the table.

A way to demonstrate that the ball hops and can be a bar bet is to place a large coin about a inch in front of the CB and bet that the CB will not touch the coin. Let the other person shoot first. If you slow roll the CB it will. If you shoot hard as in breaking the CB will jump over it and not touch it.
 
nksmfamjp said:
Help me understand. The new pool room/ber that opened up near me requires you use a break cloth. It is a piece of cloth under the cue ball which they require when you are breaking.

Why is this?

According to the guy running the show, it is to prevent wear under the cue ball because the cue skids when it is hit! I don't think that is it, but I would be interested in understanding this practice and some possible why's. . .
Click to expand...

The marks on the cloth are friction burns at the spot where the cueball is hit on the break.
Using a piece of "break cloth" helps to eliminate the marking and gives the cloth longer life.
The guy 'running the show' was speaking straight up.
 
I watch the live stream of Kolbys tuesday night tournaments and they use these. They don't pick them up right after the break though, and many, many times the natural roll of the balls are altered when they roll over the break cloth. I once counted four breaks in a row where at least one ball rolled over the break cloth and went somewhere else.
:p
 
I don't have pics, but my home table had really bad burn marks from the area where I'd break from, bad enouch that there was actually a divot there. The scrap definitely prevents that.

What I don't like about the scrap thouugh...my experience using it was that the trajecctry of the ball changed...it hopped a lot more, a couple of times the CB went hi up in the air after striking the 1...like feet up in the air.

I say fuk the scrap, move the break spot around and replace the cloth when you can't take it aymore.
 
OLd School

Don't buy cheapo cloth and that doesn't happen.

It alters the break causes a skipping action

Plus your responsible for any fouls that occur by placing any foriegn object on the table be it chalk/felt etc.
 
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