Foul question

C

Catalin

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Hi guys I need your experience. I was playing the final of a local tournament just now and we had an unusual situation.

My oponent was down on the shot doing the practice strokes, when the cue ball rolled forward a little bit without touching anything. I called foul because the cue ball moved, he said it's not foul because he didn't touch it. I believe him that he didn't touch it with the cue tip, but he might have bunched the cloth with his bridge hand or breathe on it too hard or something. But I don't know the exact reason it moved. The table is level, good cloth, there are no fans, no one passing by etc.

So foul or no foul?
 
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Are you positive the table is level? I’ve seen it happen on crappy tables.
 
Yes it's a good table and well maintained, relatively new cloth. I had other matches on it, it's the only time it happened.

Sent from my SM-G781B using Tapatalk
 
How much did it move? Most people use so long of a bridge that bunching cloth is an unlikely reason though not impossible. All other things besides him touching the cue ball equally unlikely. It is quite possible to touch the cue ball without feeling it, my suspicion as to what happened.

Hu
 
There are a couple of attendant items to address:

a) If CB was stationary for at least 3 seconds, then this SHOULD be similar to a ball hanging over a pocket that drops--ball is replaced as close as possible.

b) physically, this could be a tuft of lint-dust or the cloth could have had a <invisibly> minor fold or EVEN a dent in the bees-wax leveling between 2 slates that when the players hand touched the cloth the staticS holding the CB where is was were altered and the CB sought a lower energy position (i.e., moved) Once again:: ball is replaced as close as possible.

c) if the player pressed his hands on the cloth and altered the tension (pulled back or pushed forward) and the CB moved, This should be a foul since something the player DID altered the configuration of the table.

I would let it go when referees are not present 1 per table. Ball is replaced as close as possible; play continues.
 
Based on experience, I'll say it's not a foul. The situation once arose in a WPBA TV round match between Jeanette Lee and Karen Corr. While setting up, Karen got up again, advising Jeanette that the cue ball had just moved but that she hadn't touched it with her cue. Both the referee and Jeanette were satisfied, and Karen was then permitted to continue shooting. It's not common that this happens, but it does.
 
I’ve had the CB move on me for no reason. Not a foul. It happens, rare but happens.
 
Catalin said:
Hi guys I need your experience. I was playing the final of a local tournament just now and we had an unusual situation.

My oponent was down on the shot doing the practice strokes, when the cue ball rolled forward a little bit without touching anything. I called foul because the cue ball moved, he said it's not foul because he didn't touch it. I believe him that he didn't touch it with the cue tip, but he might have bunched the cloth with his bridge hand or breathe on it too hard or something. But I don't know the exact reason it moved. The table is level, good cloth, there are no fans, no one passing by etc.

So foul or no foul?
Click to expand...

I have seen this several times also, incidental movement is not a foul, say it it happened to roll off due to table vibration of cloth moving under it, unless it was done on purpose which is probably easy to see someone bumping the table not by accident.
 
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