chalk controversey

berlowmj

berlowmj

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Has anyone done an experiment in which the various chalks were uniformly labeled so that they could not be identified by the shooters & have them rated on a 1-5 scale with only the experimenter being able to associate the ratings with the chalk & the shooter?

Obviously, the skill level of the shooter would also be an important variable.

There has also not been a discussion of chalk performance with various tips, especially phenolic vs leather.

I suspect also that most miscues happen on the break when extra power is used or on follow & draw shots or when other English is used.

All of these variables could be explored.

Is there any literature out there on such experiments?

It would make a great dissertation.
 
I personally believe that if most players had to choose a cube of chalk without the label that Triangle would win out because of its tendency to stay course and not become mushy in humid conditions.

Master has become such a household name in pool rooms that players just accept it as being the best.
 
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cuesight_2059_112048535


Triangle%20Chalk.jpg


Silver%20Cup%20Chalk%20-%20Blue%20(Gross%20Box).jpg


in that order.:thumbup:
 
In my pool room, the norm is NTC, and I took every time I could use Master as a treat. I even started buying my own Master chalk way back when. A buddy of mine introduced me to Triangle, and as skeptical as I was, I did notice a big difference with Triangle over Master, but the good thing was that they were the same price. Recently, I have seen the Blue Diamond chalk around and given that it is something like 15X the price of Triangle/Master ($3.75 vs. $0.25), I avoided even trying it, despite my friends' encouragement. I really, really did not want to be able to see a difference. Once again, I was disappointed, it really is better. 15 times better? Not with my game, or lack thereof, but noticeably better, yes. So my order would be Blue Diamond then Triangle then Master, then NTC, then Silver Cup.

BTW, on a different note, does anybody else notice that even from the same gross box of chalk, that certain cubes feel more or less grainy than others? If so, any theories on why?
 
For the record

Triangle and Masters are the same exact formula. Just the packaging is different. This is from a visit I made to Tweeten a week ago.
 
"T" said:
Triangle and Masters are the same exact formula. Just the packaging is different. This is from a visit I made to Tweeten a week ago.
Click to expand...

Cool. Is it really true they have blue Oompa-Loompa's on their production lines rather than the traditional orange kind?

And did you get to see the secret room where they add the magic pixie dust to the Blue Diamond chalk? (Personally I think it's sad how many pixies they have to kill to make that stuff*).

*Actually this isn't at all true. The pixies give their dust** free of charge in a union negotiated agreement where they get reciprocal residency rights to live in Pool table pockets and spit balls back out every so often.

** Apparently it's just sawdust and radioactive die anyhow.
 
poolhustler said:
I highly doubt it !!
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No, probably not...but if enough opinions stack up with one being far dominant over the rest, that's just as good.

I've used blue Master chalk since I was a banger, and always swore by it. Then my friend Jim (jhendri2) gave me two cubes of Blue Diamond, and I'm converted for life.

I have half a gross of blue Master that I'm considering donating to the local pool room. BD applies much easier, adheres better...It does what chalk is supposed to do. I haven't miscued once since I switched.
 
Platinum Billiards at one time had the results from a robot test posted on their site that measured how far off center a tip could contact the cue ball without miscueing. They tested several different brands of chalk including Masters, Triangle, NTC, Silver Cup and some others. Blue Diamond wasn't included in the test. Masters was the best in this test "allowing on average a tip placement 18 1/8mm to either side of center before starting to miscue". NTC came in a close second "allowing on average a tip placement of 18mm off center before miscuing".
 
I use masters, out of habit I chalk before every shot. Haven't had a miscue since I can remember.
 
Ask Larry Nevel

Why don't you guys just ask Larry? Whatever he uses to draw the ball seems to be plenty adequate.

Personally I use Masters but Triangle or NTC is fine with me. Getting plenty of spin on whitey has never been a problem. The only time I've had a problem is if the chalk gets to soft. As in - it seems to have more moisture content like higher humidity. That's not the fault of the chalk though.

Rod
 
berlowmj said:
Has anyone done an experiment in which the various chalks were uniformly labeled so that they could not be identified by the shooters & have them rated on a 1-5 scale with only the experimenter being able to associate the ratings with the chalk & the shooter?

Obviously, the skill level of the shooter would also be an important variable.

There has also not been a discussion of chalk performance with various tips, especially phenolic vs leather.

I suspect also that most miscues happen on the break when extra power is used or on follow & draw shots or when other English is used.

All of these variables could be explored.

Is there any literature out there on such experiments?

It would make a great dissertation.
Click to expand...

I've never seen it done.
 
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