Try not to use an SVB-esque "pop and drop" break
I know this all depends on the amount of play your table gets so lets assume a moderate to heavy amount. I recently had my table recovered and I'm starting to get a little dimple on the head spot. Is this avoidable? Would changing the spot regularly help this issue (or non-issue)? I am able to get excellent racks with the new cloth and would like to prolong this as much as possible. Any tips or suggestions? Thanks!
P.S. I do NOT tap the head ball.
simplestroke:
While you can't 100% avoid this type of wear on the footspot (that is, unless, you play exclusively 1-pocket or 14.1), you can certainly minimize it.
One thing you can do in the minimization effort, is to avoid jumping on the SVB bandwagon with the "pop and drop" break. You know, the type of break where you intentionally hit slightly downwards on the cue ball, to get it slightly airborne when it hits the head ball, pops up in the air about a foot, and then drops backwards down onto the center of the table (hence the term, "pop and drop break"). This type of break, because the cue ball is airborne when it hits the head ball, puts even more downward force on the headball of the rack, speeding up the divoting process on that spot. A dead giveaway of this is not only the cue ball popping up in the air, but also when you see that headball jump up a bit -- as happens often with SVB's break -- because the cue ball landed "on" it, causing it to jump up. This type of break expedites the divoting process, causing the headball to start to sink into the cloth a bit from previous breaks (due to resting in a divot that has started to form in that spot, thus putting the headball's equator below the equator of the rest of the balls in the rack), and then, even when not intentionally using a "pop and drop" break, the cue ball will still pop up even when sliding into the headball. It's like a runaway train -- once the divot has started, it feeds itself.
When you break the rack, practice a break where you keep your cue as level as possible *at impact* with the cue ball. You can still create a lot of force with a sliding cue ball; you don't have to get that cue ball airborne as seems to be the fad these days! As an example, Evgeny Stalev has probably the most powerful break next to, say, Francisco Bustamante, and the cue ball never goes perceptibly airborne:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=PkCG3q2PDa4#t=560
While this won't eliminate a divot forming, it'll help minimize it for a good while.
Hope this is helpful!
-Sean