Humidity and the effects on the table equipment.

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Scottster

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I was watching the you tube Stalev vs Kiamco match and Danny D. made a comment on how "the dampness creates LESS FRICTION which makes it tougher to draw the ball."

I was always told that the dampness creates MORE FRICTION, therefore the it takes a greater stroke to apply enough draw to the cueball so the backspin will combat the added friction to have enough spin to draw back after contacting the OB.

If it added less friction than a wet table would bank long, rather than short. Surely he was just confused in his explanation right?
 
In general, water lowers the coefficient of friction. When you draw the ball, the ball is actually in kinetic friction and not static friction. Now assume the ball has a certain angular velocity (same stroke, same exact spin speed) This will generally mean that the ball slips more than it grabs the felt with water since it lowers coefficient of kinetic friction. With more friction the same amount of spin goes further because more of the revs on the ball are used toward moving it instead of the ball "wasting" some of it's revs on slipping.
 
More friction means backspin would be taken off sooner, not later...yielding shorter draws. Much more of the rotational energy imparted to the cueball is wasted in fighting thick, lumpy nap when playing on old dirty cloth. Slippery cloth allows the spin to remain on the cueball longer and be converted to translational energy over a longer period of time.

You can draw much, much further on new slippery cloth with new, polished balls.

Try executing a table length draw from 6 diamonds away on an old, nappy, beer stained, chalk encrusted cloth with dirty balls and I think you'll agree that more friction does NOT help the cueball draw back further. :D
 
Franky said:
More friction means backspin would be taken off sooner, not later...yielding shorter draws. Much more of the rotational energy imparted to the cueball is wasted in fighting thick, lumpy nap when playing on old dirty cloth. Slippery cloth allows the spin to remain on the cueball longer and be converted to translational energy over a longer period of time.

You can draw much, much further on new slippery cloth with new, polished balls.

Try executing a table length draw from 6 diamonds away on an old, nappy, beer stained, chalk encrusted cloth with dirty balls and I think you'll agree that more friction does NOT help the cueball draw back further. :D
Click to expand...

I agree with you 100%
 
Scottster said:
I was watching the you tube Stalev vs Kiamco match and Danny D. made a comment on how "the dampness creates LESS FRICTION which makes it tougher to draw the ball."

I was always told that the dampness creates MORE FRICTION, therefore the it takes a greater stroke to apply enough draw to the cueball so the backspin will combat the added friction to have enough spin to draw back after contacting the OB.

If it added less friction than a wet table would bank long, rather than short. Surely he was just confused in his explanation right?
Click to expand...

It also causes the bank angles to change. In most cases tables will play short if they are subjected to a lot of moisture.

I suspect that the rubber actually absorbs some of the moisture, this is why heated tables are used for all professional 3-Cushion events.
 
more than 10 years ago danny diliberto wrote an article in billiards digest on this topic under the title-`Slippery when wet`.he talked about the affect of humidity on throw and banks.
 
My Observations ....

I used to play One-Pocket a couple times a week with a neighbor who has a 4.5 x 9 Diamond Pro w/Simonis 860 Blue Pro Tour Cloth set up in his garage (wife won't let him bring it into the house ... he needs a New wife !!!) and, during the Cold Winter weather, he warms the table with a space heater placed under the table ... Since it is in his garage, it collects moisture like a sponge and plays like a Bar Box with crappy cloth ... It is amazing how slow the table plays during cold/damp weather and the cushions respond terribly ... I finally begged-off playing during the cold months and play exclusively at the Jointed Cue in Sacramento ... Somehow, I believe that subjecting his table to such conditions will damage it eventually ...
 
How I check the humidity

A good way to check the room's humidity is to pick up a piece of chalk and look at it. If the room is humid, it will be very dark and difficult to apply to the cue tip. Some places I go to are so humid that I a have to "clean" off my chalk with a green 3M scrubby.

Vinnie
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Stroke.
 
It depends on how it is looked at.

Is the increased friction between the cloth cueball or between the balls.

I look at it like putting a golf ball across a soaked green. You better hit it harder than normal.
I dont know what then happens when it hits the other ball but it has to return back through the same slower area.


I wonder how much the ball speed and path are affected by changing the wetness of just the balls?
 
Good topic for today! it was mid 80's here with 80% humidity. The pool room had the doors open and the tables were swampy, then after an hour they closed up and turned on the air. The table dried out in less than an hour. You could really tell the changes were happening. I actually played better when they were swampy?:D.....all that practice on my table in Florida I guess!

Gerry
 
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