Yes. The easiest way to test this is to add one or more pieces of spare cloth beneath the CB. It is much easier to jump the CB with thicker cloth, even with a heavy playing cue with a soft tip. Try it. I just did; and with 2 pieces of cloth, it is easy to clear a full obstacle ball (and a lot more) with any cue.
Well, I guess that does provide some data to fuel the discussion, but I was thinking more of the difference of say 860 and 760. If this is indeed a measurable and reliable data point. It would be an entertaining selling specification to market cloth.
Well, the slate and can compress a little, but this is not required. What is required is the tip not getting in the way while the CB is trying to bounce off the slate.
Let me bounce this off you.... With far less extreme jump shots. They can be performed by striking the CB not only at the equator (relative to cueing angle) but below, and also above. Now I've never seen a slow-mo video of a CB strike above the equator but it does seem to fly in the face of getting the tip "out of the way". However I'm sure that's just a matter of the shaft deflection. Further... I've found the worst jumping cue I have tried was my old player. A combination of a Z2 shaft and rock hard playing tip. When I say 'rock hard', I mean it started out as a hard moori and lived for nearly a decade on that shaft....lol. I always had assumed it was the whippy nature of that shaft that made it terrible to jump with. The next thought was the extreme lack of end mass.
Short of the Cuetec Propel, the best jumper I have hit was a home brew design by my cue guy. He loaded the end of the CF shaft with a brass pin, so it had a ton of end mass. It's also far more rigid then my old Z2. Both those characteristics make it the polar opposite of my old player, which in theory should 'get out of the way' of the CB far better than the custom jumper.
As far as the slate compressing... Would this begin once the tip has reach a point of compression that makes is denser then the slate..? ...I'm assuming the resin the CB is made of is harder than typical slate...? I honestly don't know if it is or not.
Regardless, it would be much more difficult to jump the CB off the slate with no cloth compression to help the CB clear the tip on the rebound.
Even without knowing the physics, I have to agree. Stands to reason that a layer that is more easily compressible, (cloth) would make the whole shot easier. How much is the interesting part. My completely uneducated and unsubstantiated theory is that the difference would be minor.
I wouldn't recommend it. The slate is really tough stuff; but without the cloth covering, a jump shot might cause slate damage.
Fortunately I just so happen to have a chunk of slate from a snooker table that is beyond repair and will end up being unused for it design purpose. All I need is a sturdy table and CB that's worse for wear, and we can try an experiment.
What testing parameters would you suggest I adhere to...? Jumping with cloth and without I mean...
I'm thinking:
- same cue, tip, etc
- stroke velocity
- approach angle
- ????
