Drastic table condition change in a few months

J

Jason Robichaud

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I wanted to check if others experienced table conditions drastically change once table is played for a few months, specifically pockets begin to play extremely tight. For example: Balls about a chalk off the rail could be struck firmly and go while maintaining the chalk distance off the rail, but now they buckle in the jaws, even at pocket weight they won't drop and just hang. The ball has to be froze on the rail to be certain it will go.

Curious if someone has experienced this and what may have caused it. The balls, cloth, etc... appear to be in great shape. Curious if cleaning, humidity, cloth cleaner or some other trick may help.
 
As cloth breaks in, it slides less. Less slide means more hung balls.

That's why people talk about matches on newly installed Diamonds versus broken in Diamonds.

One of them plays a heck of a lot tougher!!
 
If everything was brand new it makes perfect sense. As cloth wears down there’s less slide and the slide allows poorly struck balls to drop also brand new(clean) balls will slide in similar ways so what your talking about is very common after a few weeks of play any table with new cloth will begin to play how it’s supposed to.
 
Jason Robichaud said:
I wanted to check if others experienced table conditions drastically change once table is played for a few months, specifically pockets begin to play extremely tight. For example: Balls about a chalk off the rail could be struck firmly and go while maintaining the chalk distance off the rail, but now they buckle in the jaws, even at pocket weight they won't drop and just hang. The ball has to be froze on the rail to be certain it will go.

Curious if someone has experienced this and what may have caused it. The balls, cloth, etc... appear to be in great shape. Curious if cleaning, humidity, cloth cleaner or some other trick may help.
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What kind of table are you talking about?
 
What you are describing is often the result of new cloth getting worn in. New cloth is more forgiving when the balls come off a rail into a corner pocket because it tends to slide more.
 
dearnold said:
What you are describing is often the result of new cloth getting worn in. New cloth is more forgiving when the balls come off a rail into a corner pocket because it tends to slide more.
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Without more info from the OP, all anyone can do is guess. Have the pockets been tightned? What do they measure? We don't even know what kind of cloth is on the table do we?
 
Jason Robichaud said:
I wanted to check if others experienced table conditions drastically change once table is played for a few months, specifically pockets begin to play extremely tight. For example: Balls about a chalk off the rail could be struck firmly and go while maintaining the chalk distance off the rail, but now they buckle in the jaws, even at pocket weight they won't drop and just hang. The ball has to be froze on the rail to be certain it will go.

Curious if someone has experienced this and what may have caused it. The balls, cloth, etc... appear to be in great shape. Curious if cleaning, humidity, cloth cleaner or some other trick may help.
Click to expand...
Sounds normal to me - particularly with Simonis, which just after installation makes the pockets play extremely big due to the way the balls come off the rails. Enjoy the generous pockets when you have the new cloth, as it won't last for long! This starts changing just within the first few days and should be back to near normal after a few months.
 
realkingcobra said:
Without more info from the OP, all anyone can do is guess. Have the pockets been tightned? What do they measure? We don't even know what kind of cloth is on the table do we?
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"have the pockets been tightened?". Would that make them play tighter? haha.

Only thing changing over the period of time is: 1. Time 2. Play. The table is covered in simonis. Pockets are 4.75". And no table modifications.
 
Black-Balled said:
Then as said before...you new clot is 'new' no more.

All uphill, from here!
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Does any of the table cleaners help? Some of the tables are tight to start and become impossible once played on for a bit. Diamonds at Turning Stone are easy compared to the tables I'm talking about.
 
realkingcobra said:
Ok, then for the shots you're saying won't go anymore, line up 3 balls pointed into the corner pockets and shoot the combination shots into the corner pockets and see how the ball pockets then.
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I'll give it a try. I tried to shoot a CB into the pocket, it won't go unless struck easy.
 
I've seen tables with the pocket facing cupped from wear. That can make the pocket play very hard.

All pockets get tighter in the first month after recovering as the slide goes away.

If the cloth on the pocket facings is dirty, you could try cleaning just that.
 
Jason Robichaud said:
I'll give it a try. I tried to shoot a CB into the pocket, it won't go unless struck easy.
Click to expand...
This sounds very strange indeed, for 4-3/4" pockets, which shouldn't be that brutal, even with 1-2 year old worn Simonis! You might check to see if the corner slate dropoffs curvatures are lined up squarely with the rail system. If not, this could result in some pockets playing slightly tougher than other pockets.
 
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