Extreme humidity effect on pool match

skipbales

skipbales

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I played in a league match the other night with a swamp cooler blowing right down on the room. It was a crazy experience. I wanted to see if anyone else has experienced something similar and if I am on the right track in my analysis.

  1. I don't use powder as a norm but was forced to in an attempt to keep my cue from sticking to my hand.
  2. During practice I miscued regularly when attempting to draw.
  3. To draw I had to strike very hard slightly below center and achieved only a small response
  4. The cue ball "wanted to roll forward". Even a short stop shot was not predictable.
  5. The table played very very slow
  6. We got 3 extra breaks because the other team miscued on the break 3 out of 5 times.
  7. It was hard to get a good spread. We only had 2 out of 9 breaks.
  8. The week before this same, low rated, team defeated the top rated team on this table amid complaints of a crappy table. We won our match because we modified our play and just used aim and speed to take what we could get for shape.

I concluded the balls were wet. Not dripping with water but wet enough to defeat the chalk which also was damp. The cloth was damp slowing the balls and killing the action.

Has anyone else had a similar experience? Is it like this playing in high humidity climates with no AC?
 
Earl makes similar points in this podcast.

Warning the audio is all over the place; at times nearly silent and others deafening.
 
skipbales said:
I played in a league match the other night with a swamp cooler blowing right down on the room. It was a crazy experience. I wanted to see if anyone else has experienced something similar and if I am on the right track in my analysis.

  1. I don't use powder as a norm but was forced to in an attempt to keep my cue from sticking to my hand.
  2. During practice I miscued regularly when attempting to draw.
  3. To draw I had to strike very hard slightly below center and achieved only a small response
  4. The cue ball "wanted to roll forward". Even a short stop shot was not predictable.
  5. The table played very very slow
  6. We got 3 extra breaks because the other team miscued on the break 3 out of 5 times.
  7. It was hard to get a good spread. We only had 2 out of 9 breaks.
  8. The week before this same, low rated, team defeated the top rated team on this table amid complaints of a crappy table. We won our match because we modified our play and just used aim and speed to take what we could get for shape.

I concluded the balls were wet. Not dripping with water but wet enough to defeat the chalk which also was damp. The cloth was damp slowing the balls and killing the action.

Has anyone else had a similar experience? Is it like this playing in high humidity climates with no AC?
Click to expand...

Was this on a bar table as well as humid? If using bar table balls, there will be almost no draw stroke possible due to the cue ball size/weight difference. And humidity will change that a lot also, cloth will be harder to move the ball around on, all sorts of things change. Breaking will be tough.

I am actually about to quit a league area with my son because of the equipment they play on, it's bad enough to have to spot many players 5 games to their 2 or 3, but then you add in the fact that the good players can't even play position properly or break well, it's no fun. And I am not playing pool to be frustrated.

We played a team in a bar with the bad equipment and lost pretty badly. Last week we played that same team in a real pool hall with decent equipment and won 7 of 8 matches. In 8 matches they won a total of 7 racks to our 36 or so. On the bar tables I lost in 10 ball 3-0 in my match. I won 5-0 and 5-1 on the normal equipment. Equipment and temperature make a big difference when playing with a handicap.
 
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My experience playing in very humid conditions are mainly it slows the table and increases the amount of throw on spin shots and many cut shots. It also deadens the break. no doubt it affects draw, follow etc. Chalk that is exposed to the humidity cakes up and will cause miscues. The additional friction from humidity requires fine aim adjustments.

Recommendations:

1) always make sure you practice for at least 15 to 20 minutes but preferably 30 minutes in a room, no matter the conditions, to allow yourself time to adjust to humidity and lighting. You are much more likely to play your speed after a warm-up period.

2) Keep your own chalk in a box in a sealed plastic bag before, after and in-between matches. Eventually the chalk will acclimate so you may want to keep separate spares.
 
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Humid pool................

A few yrs. back Buddy Hall lived in Tulsa and was playing daily at Magoo's. One day we were just shooting the s^*t and Buddy was talking about playing in Tampa. He set up a few bank shots that would NOT go under any "normally dry" conditions. The shots he described were what i'd call "backward curving" banks. Ex: cross-side bank with a ball blocking the path. Buddy said he was able to bend it around that blocking ball. Incredible. He almost made it at Magoo's as Tulsa is freakin' humid also. I've played in these gumbo conditions my whole life but had never seen a bank bend that much.
 
Welcome to my world....high temps and high humidity will build your stroke. Living on the coast in south Texas is an adventure in pool for sure. Getting new cloth and great air conditioning is the only way to simulate playing conditions in most tournament venues. We have regular cloth on our 8fts and bar tables....and Simonis on the 9fts. Like night and day trying to adjust, but a good excersize to adapting to different styles of play.
 
hang-the-9 said:
Was this on a bar table as well as humid? If using bar table balls, there will be almost no draw stroke possible due to the cue ball size/weight difference. And humidity will change that a lot also, cloth will be harder to move the ball around on, all sorts of things change. Breaking will be tough.

I am actually about to quit a league area with my son because of the equipment they play on, it's bad enough to have to spot many players 5 games to their 2 or 3, but then you add in the fact that the good players can't even play position properly or break well, it's no fun. And I am not playing pool to be frustrated.

We played a team in a bar with the bad equipment and lost pretty badly. Last week we played that same team in a real pool hall with decent equipment and won 7 of 8 matches. In 8 matches they won a total of 7 racks to our 36 or so. On the bar tables I lost in 10 ball 3-0 in my match. I won 5-0 and 5-1 on the normal equipment. Equipment and temperature make a big difference when playing with a handicap.
Click to expand...

For most if my life I was blissfully ignorant about the intricate details concerning playing pool.

I was just a bar banger having a good time gong out and playing pool and having a couple of drinks every Friday and Saturday night I did not worry about what brand of table ...what brand of chalk...brand of tips.. weight of cues or joint type. I just grabbed a cue off the wall.. Checked to see I it had a decent amount of tip and rolled the cue to make sure it was straighter than a banana and just had fun shooting balls in pockets

After joining this site 6 years ago I found myself slowly becoming a lot like most posters on here. Had to have a custom cue so I bought one for 2500.00. Had to experiment with different brands of chalk. Had to experiment with different brands of tips.

Found myself being a lot more particular about playing conditions. Started griping about dirty balls... Torn cloth... Sub par lighting...people that never bothered me before became nits because they didn't see pool the way I started seeing pool.

Started using the ....home table advantage excuse when I lost a match on a different size or brand of table than I was used too.

Then one day it dawned on me. Although I really like pool I was not enjoying it like I used too because I complained about imperfect conditions and always used it as an excuse for losing . In other words I was not having fun like i used to.

So you wanna quit league due to another team having what? An advantage over your team due to shoddy equipment. Didn't you say your team demolished this same team at another venue that had better tables? Pardon me but dont that even things out but you wanna quit cause I aint your way all the time ?

Better players should win most of the time regardless the conditions and regardless the handicap ... Unless the handicap is out of line. My opponent and I are playing under the same conditions so its a moot point in my book.

I sold my custom and play with cheap production cues and have still managed to raise my handicap. I quit worrying about tips . Chalk. Cues. tables. And have went back to having fun playing the game I love.
 
TATE said:
My experience playing in very humid conditions are mainly it slows the table and increases the amount of throw on spin shots and many cut shots. It also deadens the break. no doubt it affects draw, follow etc. Chalk that is exposed to the humidity cakes up and will cause miscues. The additional friction from humidity requires fine aim adjustments.

Recommendations:

1) always make sure you practice for at least 15 to 20 minutes but preferably 30 minutes in a room, no matter the conditions, to allow yourself time to adjust to humidity and lighting. You are much more likely to play your speed after a warm-up period.

2) Keep your own chalk in a box in a sealed plastic bag before, after and in-between matches. Eventually the chalk will acclimate so you may want to keep separate spares.
Click to expand...


I agree and I do believe it affects follow and draw, just in a less consistent and predictable manner because it depends on the type of cloth, how clean it is, and how clean the balls are....as well as how your tip and chalk are affected.

Generally speaking it affects the speed of the cloth and anything having to do with friction. Water can be an adhesive or a lubricant depending on other variables. Definitely generally makes for a slow playing cloth.

30 minutes warm up under the prevailing conditions is key IMHO.


.
 
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hang-the-9 said:
Was this on a bar table as well as humid? If using bar table balls, there will be almost no draw stroke possible due to the cue ball size/weight difference. And humidity will change that a lot also, cloth will be harder to move the ball around on, all sorts of things change. Breaking will be tough.

I am actually about to quit a league area with my son because of the equipment they play on, it's bad enough to have to spot many players 5 games to their 2 or 3, but then you add in the fact that the good players can't even play position properly or break well, it's no fun. And I am not playing pool to be frustrated.

We played a team in a bar with the bad equipment and lost pretty badly. Last week we played that same team in a real pool hall with decent equipment and won 7 of 8 matches. In 8 matches they won a total of 7 racks to our 36 or so. On the bar tables I lost in 10 ball 3-0 in my match. I won 5-0 and 5-1 on the normal equipment. Equipment and temperature make a big difference when playing with a handicap.
Click to expand...

Yes a bar table. And yes really really bad equipment tends to favor the bad player. If you take almost all spin out of the game and can not predict the speed well, it is anybody's game
 
Chopdoc said:
I agree and I do believe it affects follow and draw, just in a less consistent and predictable manner because it depends on the type of cloth, how clean it is, and how clean the balls are....as well as how your tip and chalk are affected.

Generally speaking it affects the speed of the cloth and anything having to do with friction. Water can be an adhesive or a lubricant depending on other variables. Definitely generally makes for a slow playing cloth.

30 minutes warm up under the prevailing conditions is key IMHO.


.
Click to expand...
Warmup key, very true. In warm up I quickly learned the scratch circle limit was significantly reduced. I did not scratch once during play but was probably the only one who could say that.
 
lorider said:
For most if my life I was blissfully ignorant about the intricate details concerning playing pool.

I was just a bar banger having a good time gong out and playing pool and having a couple of drinks every Friday and Saturday night I did not worry about what brand of table ...what brand of chalk...brand of tips.. weight of cues or joint type. I just grabbed a cue off the wall.. Checked to see I it had a decent amount of tip and rolled the cue to make sure it was straighter than a banana and just had fun shooting balls in pockets

After joining this site 6 years ago I found myself slowly becoming a lot like most posters on here. Had to have a custom cue so I bought one for 2500.00. Had to experiment with different brands of chalk. Had to experiment with different brands of tips.

Found myself being a lot more particular about playing conditions. Started griping about dirty balls... Torn cloth... Sub par lighting...people that never bothered me before became nits because they didn't see pool the way I started seeing pool.

Started using the ....home table advantage excuse when I lost a match on a different size or brand of table than I was used too.

Then one day it dawned on me. Although I really like pool I was not enjoying it like I used too because I complained about imperfect conditions and always used it as an excuse for losing . In other words I was not having fun like i used to.

So you wanna quit league due to another team having what? An advantage over your team due to shoddy equipment. Didn't you say your team demolished this same team at another venue that had better tables? Pardon me but dont that even things out but you wanna quit cause I aint your way all the time ?

Better players should win most of the time regardless the conditions and regardless the handicap ... Unless the handicap is out of line. My opponent and I are playing under the same conditions so its a moot point in my book.

I sold my custom and play with cheap production cues and have still managed to raise my handicap. I quit worrying about tips . Chalk. Cues. tables. And have went back to having fun playing the game I love.
Click to expand...

For me it was interesting that the #1 team lost and blamed the equipment. We are #2 or 3 right now (haven't posted yet) and made some adjustments and won handily.

I saw it as a challenge and even broke out laughing to my team "there is no way I am coming back for that 14 ball, I am just going to hit it soft, go across and shoot it the long way back." That worked and it was a learning experience. We enjoyed the match, like the people on the other team and in general had a lot of fun laughing at the odd forward thrust of the cue ball for everyone on every shot.
 
Rockin' Robin said:
Welcome to my world....high temps and high humidity will build your stroke. Living on the coast in south Texas is an adventure in pool for sure. Getting new cloth and great air conditioning is the only way to simulate playing conditions in most tournament venues. We have regular cloth on our 8fts and bar tables....and Simonis on the 9fts. Like night and day trying to adjust, but a good excersize to adapting to different styles of play.
Click to expand...

I suspected so. It is kind of fun to figure out different patterns on what your realistic expectations are. It is kind of odd how two balls deflect when they are wet. They slide off each other as much as they bounce off. Everything seems to tend to move forward and all the angles seem less sharp.
 
lorider said:
For most if my life I was blissfully ignorant about the intricate details concerning playing pool.

I was just a bar banger having a good time gong out and playing pool and having a couple of drinks every Friday and Saturday night I did not worry about what brand of table ...what brand of chalk...brand of tips.. weight of cues or joint type. I just grabbed a cue off the wall.. Checked to see I it had a decent amount of tip and rolled the cue to make sure it was straighter than a banana and just had fun shooting balls in pockets

After joining this site 6 years ago I found myself slowly becoming a lot like most posters on here. Had to have a custom cue so I bought one for 2500.00. Had to experiment with different brands of chalk. Had to experiment with different brands of tips.

Found myself being a lot more particular about playing conditions. Started griping about dirty balls... Torn cloth... Sub par lighting...people that never bothered me before became nits because they didn't see pool the way I started seeing pool.

Started using the ....home table advantage excuse when I lost a match on a different size or brand of table than I was used too.

Then one day it dawned on me. Although I really like pool I was not enjoying it like I used too because I complained about imperfect conditions and always used it as an excuse for losing . In other words I was not having fun like i used to.

So you wanna quit league due to another team having what? An advantage over your team due to shoddy equipment. Didn't you say your team demolished this same team at another venue that had better tables? Pardon me but dont that even things out but you wanna quit cause I aint your way all the time ?

Better players should win most of the time regardless the conditions and regardless the handicap ... Unless the handicap is out of line. My opponent and I are playing under the same conditions so its a moot point in my book.

I sold my custom and play with cheap production cues and have still managed to raise my handicap. I quit worrying about tips . Chalk. Cues. tables. And have went back to having fun playing the game I love.
Click to expand...

I am not quitting the league, just going to an area where the tables are better. Why would I stay and play somewhere I don't have fun playing? I'm not upset the team beat us, I am just not going to waste time and money being annoyed because the table rolls my position a foot off or makes me scratch when I know I was going to hit a diamond off. And it's not just me, I may have stayed in the area, my son does not like playing on very unpredictable tables. I don't NEED to play on crappy tables, why would I? Or anyone? There are 3 pool halls and 5 bars and clubs with better tables I can play in, in the same league, with pretty much the same players. If they beat me on proper equipment so be it, I don't need to play my opponent, outrun the handicap AND fight the table.

The reason I was there in the first place was as a favor to the league operator who needed another team for the summer there. I not only swapped teams 3 times with my son to help him and the league, it's also a double play event with 8 matches a night and we are often short players, so I pay for 4 matches for my son and I to play each set. Every week, in addition to food, drinks, and all the tournaments we play in. It's all double the cost for me. I have fun, he has fun, we play and I'm happy to spend the money. I am not paying $50 a night to be pissed because I know I hit the ball there, but it went somewhere else.
 
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I recall a game a few years ago in which a well known card player was playing a well known pool player. The pool player's backers reportedly cracked a door open to get some humidity in the place.
 
hang-the-9 said:
I am not quitting the league, just going to an area where the tables are better. Why would I stay and play somewhere I don't have fun playing? I'm not upset the team beat us, I am just not going to waste time and money being annoyed because the table rolls my position a foot off or makes me scratch when I know I was going to hit a diamond off. And it's not just me, I may have stayed in the area, my son does not like playing on very unpredictable tables. I don't NEED to play on crappy tables, why would I? Or anyone? There are 3 pool halls and 5 bars and clubs with better tables I can play in, in the same league, with pretty much the same players. If they beat me on proper equipment so be it, I don't need to play my opponent, outrun the handicap AND fight the table.

The reason I was there in the first place was as a favor to the league operator who needed another team for the summer there. I not only swapped teams 3 times with my son to help him and the league, it's also a double play event with 8 matches a night and we are often short players, so I pay for 4 matches for my son and I to play each set. Every week, in addition to food, drinks, and all the tournaments we play in. It's all double the cost for me. I have fun, he has fun, we play and I'm happy to spend the money. I am not paying $50 a night to be pissed because I know I hit the ball there, but it went somewhere else.
Click to expand...

As Bert Kinister says "it is a lot more fun to play on good equipment". In my league we have a good home team bar, at least good for a bar table. It is when we play away that we run into things so it isn't a steady diet. This particular bar plays fine outside of the July-Aug Monsoon season. We have one other bar where the table is just way our of level but we are only there one time.

Like you, if I had to put up with it every week I would just play more golf. :thumbup:
 
hang-the-9 said:
I am not quitting the league, just going to an area where the tables are better. Why would I stay and play somewhere I don't have fun playing? I'm not upset the team beat us, I am just not going to waste time and money being annoyed because the table rolls my position a foot off or makes me scratch when I know I was going to hit a diamond off. And it's not just me, I may have stayed in the area, my son does not like playing on very unpredictable tables. I don't NEED to play on crappy tables, why would I? Or anyone? There are 3 pool halls and 5 bars and clubs with better tables I can play in, in the same league, with pretty much the same players. If they beat me on proper equipment so be it, I don't need to play my opponent, outrun the handicap AND fight the table.

The reason I was there in the first place was as a favor to the league operator who needed another team for the summer there. I not only swapped teams 3 times with my son to help him and the league, it's also a double play event with 8 matches a night and we are often short players, so I pay for 4 matches for my son and I to play each set. Every week, in addition to food, drinks, and all the tournaments we play in. It's all double the cost for me. I have fun, he has fun, we play and I'm happy to spend the money. I am not paying $50 a night to be pissed because I know I hit the ball there, but it went somewhere else.
Click to expand...

I have conversed with you on his forum several times and dont think I ever told you....i enjoy reading your posts about you and your son playing together. Would venture to say that I have agreed with you opinion in most threads we have both posted in.

I do understand your opinion better after reading this reply to me but mud confess I do feel different than you do about this subject .

Like i said .. At one time after joining this forum I was starting to think like you do. Even went so far as to blame the table for me losing in the finals at a bar tournament. Hill-hill and I slow rolled the 8 into a corner pocket to avoid the possibility of scratching in the side pocket . The 8 went all the way to the lip...stopped..rolled back about 2 inches unfriggin believable. My opponent runs out. I walk up to that corner pocket and feel a 3/16 inch high lip in the slate at the edge of the pocket . Yes the slate was bad and caused my ball not to fall and I did blame the table at the time. However I came to realize later that I was blaming the table to soothe my ego.

You see....although I am only an apa 6 I know full well the difference in how neglected bar tables play and how well kept tables play and how to adjust from one to the other. The fact is I shot that 8 ball like I would shoot on a good table knowing full well that balls tend to roll off on slow shots on neglected tables. So i blame myself.

Our league plays on all kinds of tables. Neglected bar tables. Well kept tables bar tables. Diamond bar tables and gold crowns. I actually enjoy the challenge of adjusting to each and every type. I think it makes me a better all around player than just playing on perfect valleys at our home venue all the time.
 
lorider said:
I have conversed with you on his forum several times and dont think I ever told you....i enjoy reading your posts about you and your son playing together. Would venture to say that I have agreed with you opinion in most threads we have both posted in.

I do understand your opinion better after reading this reply to me but mud confess I do feel different than you do about this subject .

Like i said .. At one time after joining this forum I was starting to think like you do. Even went so far as to blame the table for me losing in the finals at a bar tournament. Hill-hill and I slow rolled the 8 into a corner pocket to avoid the possibility of scratching in the side pocket . The 8 went all the way to the lip...stopped..rolled back about 2 inches unfriggin believable. My opponent runs out. I walk up to that corner pocket and feel a 3/16 inch high lip in the slate at the edge of the pocket . Yes the slate was bad and caused my ball not to fall and I did blame the table at the time. However I came to realize later that I was blaming the table to soothe my ego.

You see....although I am only an apa 6 I know full well the difference in how neglected bar tables play and how well kept tables play and how to adjust from one to the other. The fact is I shot that 8 ball like I would shoot on a good table knowing full well that balls tend to roll off on slow shots on neglected tables. So i blame myself.

Our league plays on all kinds of tables. Neglected bar tables. Well kept tables bar tables. Diamond bar tables and gold crowns. I actually enjoy the challenge of adjusting to each and every type. I think it makes me a better all around player than just playing on perfect valleys at our home venue all the time.
Click to expand...

You have very valid points about playing on all types of equipment making you a better rounded player, as well as making mistakes when you know how the table plays as your fault. I tell my son the same thing. The thing is, it's tough enough having to play pretty much perfectly to win a mach with the handicaps we give up to many players and I am not just playing for myself, the team is counting on you to win. In the league we play in, a win is 14 pts, not APA where making a ball is a point. If we miss a game ball or get bad on it, or mess up shape or scratch or anything, the other player wins that game, and since many of them need to barely get to 20-30 points while we go to over 60, you can put a player on the hill with a single mistake.

So in my earlier post, yes we killed the other team by winning almost every rack. The thing is, we HAD to or we lose. If one of those players wins two racks in a set, they win, we have to crush them. Combine that with the fact that I play as much for my son to play as for me, and that I shell out 2-4 times the money that other players do, and the fact that there is no reason to play where we don't like when we can play where we do like, or at least tolerate OK, that is why I complain about the equipment and will move areas of the league.
 
Ghosst said:
Earl makes similar points in this podcast.

Warning the audio is all over the place; at times nearly silent and others deafening.
Click to expand...

Earl never missed a shot that was his fault lol...always blaming the table...the crowd....the cue...anything.

I was playing in a garage over the winter...not only humid 80% but cold. No big deal...just make the necessary adjustments.

Here is a link about it.
http://billiards.colostate.edu/threads/table.html#humidity
 
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