Do jump shots ruin the felt????

dsoriano

dsoriano

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I got my first jump cue recently, and I loved it from the start. But I noticed one thing, every time I jumped it would mark my cloth with a small light smushed spot. I thought It was because I had an old thick slower felt and I didn’t mind it knowing I had plans to recover my tables soon. Well I recovered both tables with Gorina Tournament 2000 Felt and the first jump shot left a smashed discolored spot! Sad to say I won’t be using it again. I was reading some threads and found this photos of someones table with the same spots.

My question for you guys is, “am I jumping wrong, or is this a common problem when jumping?” If so won’t this harm the felt in possibly causing tears in the felt? Don’t most small tears happen when balls pinch the felt and cause it to weaken?

Here are some photos with smashed spots that could not be removed, at least not on my tables.
 

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You're not doing anything wrong, that's just what happens when you jump. The same thing happens from breaking. If the spots bother you just cut a small square from the left over cloth and place the object ball on it when jumping, or place the cue ball on it when breaking.
 
It's burn marks from the friction applied to the cue ball during break shots, extreme spin like a big draw shot and in this case jump shots.

It's unsightly and unfortunate but in my opinion it does not ruin the cloth. The cloth will play the same provided you dont rip it!;)
 
It is possible to tear the cloth. Small tears but they suck. I have some of them.

I tend to like the white burn marks ok because that's what a table looks like when it's well used!!
 
You can tear small holes in the cloth jumping with a phenolic tip. I wouldn't do it on my home table.
 
Just my experience:

Rips:
In the (literally) hundreds of times I've recorded slow motion video of jumps, breaks, and massés, the only times I've seen the cloth get cut or torn were when the cue tip contacted it. Oddly, of the three, breaks and vertical masses seem to damage the cloth much less than 45 degree jump shots. My guess is that the "shoulder" of the tip poses the most danger to the cloth. The massé just puts the tip flat on the cloth, and the break tends to slide right across it. That 45 degree jump drives the "sharp" tip shoulder right into it.

Repeated breaking from the same spot will definitely wear the cloth out over time, but I think the only real risk of a rip is when you hit too low and miscue, driving that tip down into the cloth (similar to the jump). Incidentally, you can tell when this has happened to you, because there will be a new 2.25" circular hole about 5 feet high in the drywall behind the rack. :)

Spots:
As for the dreaded burn spots? Yes, I must have thousands of them - so many that they've basically started blending together. There's nothing you can do about them except avoid breaks, jumps, massés, and power draw shots (maybe even power follow shot). My problem is that those are my favorite shots!

Anyway, I honestly don't think the spots affect play, but I know it hurts to start seeing them on a nice new cloth.
 
PS, it is entirely possible, and highly recommended, to jump and massé without having your tip touch the cloth.

I feel less strongly about the break, but many people are able to break without their tip touching the cloth.
 
I used a small piece of cloth under the CB to practice and found that it did help where the CB was being shot from but there were also spots burned in where the CB landed. This is the same as the tracks down the cloth from breaking. The CB bounces and causes a mark wherever it lands. To see how the CB bounces when breaking put a quarter on the table about a inch in front of the CB when breaking, the CB will not hit the quarter, it will jump over it and bounce down the table.
 
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renard said:
Never played on felt... :cool:
Click to expand...

I doubt anybody else has played on felt either....
...it's CLOTH you're playing on...felt is made a different way.

But seriously, on your home table, I would suggest...don't jump..and don't break.

You can work on those shots in a pool hall, where everybody does it anyway.
 
Those pictures are my table, literally the table in my basement i posted pictures of in that thread a couple months ago. Home table, lots of use, practice, fun play, and action. Jump shots, break, and all extreme spin shots all make those little marks. I've had the table for almost two years with same cloth (860) and no holes anywhere. I would say you will get spots but they will not hurt play.
 
What I do is I have a used cloth that I place on my home table to practice jump shots.
 
Jive said:
What I do is I have a used cloth that I place on my home table to practice jump shots.
Click to expand...

How do you protect where the CB drop? And will the dual-layer "cloth" affect the feel of the jump shot?

Jive, I am thinking about the same thing since I am practicing my jump shot these passing weeks, although I am playing on Chinese pool table with snooker felt as you know.
 
If your not going to play on your home table the way you would play anywhere else, why even have it? Yes, jumping does some damage..you know this from your pics..so does breaking and other shots... It's collateral damage! :) If you're gonna practice jumping, use a piece of break cloth...extra piece of cloth, under the CB. Other than that, have fun!
 
I use a very thin piece of microfiber cloth under the CB for breaks and jumps. The cloth came with my eyeglasses (for cleaning them) and is super thin.

Masse shots (not the 90-degree trick-shot variety; just heavy spin around the edge of a blocking ball) don't seem to mark the cloth. Simoinis 860HR in Tournament Blue.
 
bdorman said:
I use a very thin piece of microfiber cloth under the CB for breaks and jumps. The cloth came with my eyeglasses (for cleaning them) and is super thin.

Masse shots (not the 90-degree trick-shot variety; just heavy spin around the edge of a blocking ball) don't seem to mark the cloth. Simoinis 860HR in Tournament Blue.
Click to expand...

Good idea, I can easily locate one of those.
 
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