Heating The Slate Bed

Pidge

Pidge

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I've never seen this in pool. In snooker its very common for the slate to be constantly heated to a certain temperature in tournament play, just wondering if they have or still do it in pool?

Also does anyone know why they don't do it, or do it as much in pool?

Cheers :)
 
Are you sure snooker tables are heated? I thought it was only carom tables. I know in snooker they iron the cloth regularly, but I believe that is for the cloth nap, not to heat anything.
 
Funny that you bring this up because for years I didn't think any other cue sports used heated tables besides caroms until I was watching the finals of this years World Snooker Championship on youtube and they referred to the table being heated. I thought they did it in carom to help make some of the shots off of several rails possible, but I would like someone to explain why this is done for snooker.
 
iusedtoberich said:
Are you sure snooker tables are heated? I thought it was only carom tables. I know in snooker they iron the cloth regularly, but I believe that is for the cloth nap, not to heat anything.
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Yeah, I've played on many heated tables in the past and can't understand why they wouldn't use them in pool especially in the States where temps fluctuate from state to state.

As StraightPoolIU says, they used them at the snooker world champs this year. I'm not sure about the videos on Youtube but you can deffinately see a black box on the underside at the black ball cushion with the temp clearly visable if you go to watch it live.

Ronnie O'Sullivan vs Stuart Bingham at this years world champs; Ronnie was complaining about the table and requested the temp to be adjusted because the table was playing slow. I think they refused and he then wanted the table to be re-fitted.

I honestly don't know why they heat the table but would love someone to chime in with an answer. If what Ronnie wanted was true, and they do make a difference to table speeds, why don't they use them in sticky and humid climates?
 
The 10' Brunswick in TAR20 was heated, but I've only seen it on billiard tables outside of that. As for why it's not common place, radiant heating is expensive and most poolhalls are just scraping by as is.
 
infest said:
I'm a noob. What does heating a table do in the first place?
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Heating reduces humidity in the cloth and makes the tables play faster. You should be able to play on a table in North Carolina and have it react the same way as one in Arizona. In games like billiards the speed and reaction of the cushions are very important. In ball-pocketing games there is less going on so it's not as much of an issue, although it would be nice to have.
 
infest said:
I'm a noob. What does heating a table do in the first place?
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I believe the purpose (correct me if I'm wrong) is to make the table play more consistent day to day by removing the humidity factor from the equation that can slow down how the table plays. Applied heat should make the table play faster. That being said I don't know why it's necessary for pocket games where multi-rail shots aren't being struck on a regular basis. It seems to me that new Simonis is often too fast/slick as it is.
 
Lately, I've been turning my light on about an hour before I head down to the basement. It could be in my head but it seems to make my table play a little faster.
 
Ghosst said:
The 10' Brunswick in TAR20 was heated, but I've only seen it on billiard tables outside of that. As for why it's not common place, radiant heating is expensive and most poolhalls are just scraping by as is.
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Thanks for that. I don't expect to see them in everyday pool halls, it could get damn expensive when you're heating the entire building plus 50 tables! I can't believe they don't do it in big tournaments though, where tables are constructed on site and only used for that event before being sold to clubs and halls.

I swear by it from my own experiences but the heated tables I've played on have been tournament tables that are brand new and only been played on maybe 6 matches tops. Possible placebo effect, but they've always played like a dream.
 
decent dennis said:
Lately, I've been turning my light on about an hour before I head down to the basement. It could be in my head but it seems to make my table play a little faster.
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Try ironing your table buddy. If you think playing on a table with hot lights is speedier (actually a word?) a freshly ironed table will make you want to marry it :)
 
As others stated, heating doesnt make a table faster, but ensures consistent playing conditions and cloth which is always "dry". I once had a pooltable at my home fitted with a heating sysytem used in carom/3-cushion tables, and it always played the same when heating was on (read: it played very well;-)
 
sannek said:
As others stated, heating doesnt make a table faster, but ensures consistent playing conditions and cloth which is always "dry". I once had a pooltable at my home fitted with a heating sysytem used in carom/3-cushion tables, and it always played the same when heating was on (read: it played very well;-)
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How long did you use the heater prior to play?

I've wanted one for a long time on my home table, what would the costs be like of fitting one to a table not designed for one? My table is in a room with a glass roof....not the smartest thing I've ever done, but I thought hey, we get 5 days of sun a year in the UK. Even a slight bit of warmth outdoors and its magnified drastically in the room and it gets pretty friggin' humid too.

Probably easier to move the table into a new room, but it would be cool to have one.
 
sannek said:
As others stated, heating doesnt make a table faster, but ensures consistent playing conditions and cloth which is always "dry". I once had a pooltable at my home fitted with a heating sysytem used in carom/3-cushion tables, and it always played the same when heating was on (read: it played very well;-)
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Heating DOES make a table faster....I won $600 on a proposition bet
trusting that knowledge.

And it makes the balls more lively....you can do things with a warm ball
that are impossible with a cold one.

A warm golf ball goes farther than a cold golf ball....
...pool balls are the same.
 
pt109 said:
A warm golf ball goes farther than a cold golf ball....
...pool balls are the same.
Click to expand...

I wonder why that is? Thanks for giving me a future headache 'cause I'm not going to be happy until I figure this out! :wink:
 
Pidge said:
Try ironing your table buddy. If you think playing on a table with hot lights is speedier (actually a word?) a freshly ironed table will make you want to marry it :)
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I have heard from pool hall owners that ironing works only for short time for the snooker table(dont know about pool), after a while table really slows down and plays much slower than before ironing
 
mel_smOg said:
I have heard from pool hall owners that ironing works only for short time for the snooker table(dont know about pool), after a while table really slows down and plays much slower than before ironing
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Yeah that could be true. I've never owned a snooker table that I've ironed. I've played on freshly ironed tables at my local hall, and they play sweet as a nut. If it is true, I'd rather iron often to have a better playing experience than not iron.

There's a reason table irons cost hundreds and obviously I wouldn't recommend using a standard steam iron, no matter how good the table plays its not worth letting your wife know you can use an iron ;)
 
Cdryden said:
I wonder why that is? Thanks for giving me a future headache 'cause I'm not going to be happy until I figure this out! :wink:
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I only know from observation and tips from old timers.
A warm golf ball was worth roughly 30 yards off the tee, for me,
on a cool day....they sell golf ball warmers.

An old timer told me that ivory balls were more susceptible to temperature
than the composition balls...
...if they put an ivory in their pocket for a while, the body heat would
make it go crazy.

..gotta a feeling Bob Jewett, Dr Dave, and Sean will know something
about this.
For myself, at golf and pool, I'm a lot like I am with cars.....
....I don't know much about cars....but I'm a pretty good driver.
 
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