Making the 9 with the MBR

[stljohnny]

I was playing some 9ball on the big table last night with a friend and she was regularly getting the 9 to move towards the back corner - it never went, wasn't ever close, but for as long as I"ve had the Magic Rack, that's really never happened. I asked her about it later and she said she "pushes" it with "top left"... but the MBR is supposed to prevent such things. Now, for the caveats: the balls are very old and not all the same size, she doesn't break hard - maybe 16mph at best - and it didn't appear she was hitting the headball in any consistent manner. When I break, the 9 is nailed to the table (I tend to break around 20mph, center ball etc), so there could be something to that theory. But I have never heard anything about "pushing the 9" on the break. I know about the gaps and whatnot, and probably 99% of the time, no matter the racking device I use, the 9 doesn't go anywhere, so this was a little concerning. Also, this was a brand new MBR right out of the packaging (my old disappeared recently).

Thoughts?

 

[TSW]

Check the rack. There may be a gap on that side behind the 9. Sometimes you have to play around with the balls to make them tight even with the magic rack, especially if the balls are old and out of round.

Also the magic rack itself may be off. It's uncommon but it happens. I have a magic rack where one of the two balls in the second row just won't freeze no matter what you do - I think it's a defective rack.

She is not "pushing" the ball with english.

 

[The Renfro]

I was playing some 9ball on the big table last night with a friend and she was regularly getting the 9 to move towards the back corner - it never went, wasn't ever close, but for as long as I"ve had the Magic Rack, that's really never happened. I asked her about it later and she said she "pushes" it with "top left"... but the MBR is supposed to prevent such things. Now, for the caveats: the balls are very old and not all the same size, she doesn't break hard - maybe 16mph at best - and it didn't appear she was hitting the headball in any consistent manner. When I break, the 9 is nailed to the table (I tend to break around 20mph, center ball etc), so there could be something to that theory. But I have never heard anything about "pushing the 9" on the break. I know about the gaps and whatnot, and probably 99% of the time, no matter the racking device I use, the 9 doesn't go anywhere, so this was a little concerning. Also, this was a brand new MBR right out of the packaging (my old disappeared recently).

Thoughts?

The balls are the likely cause... I've seen plenty of times with old balls where you cannot get em all frozen on some templates.... Will forego the sales pitch today...

Chris

 

[hang-the-9]

I was playing some 9ball on the big table last night with a friend and she was regularly getting the 9 to move towards the back corner - it never went, wasn't ever close, but for as long as I"ve had the Magic Rack, that's really never happened. I asked her about it later and she said she "pushes" it with "top left"... but the MBR is supposed to prevent such things. Now, for the caveats: the balls are very old and not all the same size, she doesn't break hard - maybe 16mph at best - and it didn't appear she was hitting the headball in any consistent manner. When I break, the 9 is nailed to the table (I tend to break around 20mph, center ball etc), so there could be something to that theory. But I have never heard anything about "pushing the 9" on the break. I know about the gaps and whatnot, and probably 99% of the time, no matter the racking device I use, the 9 doesn't go anywhere, so this was a little concerning. Also, this was a brand new MBR right out of the packaging (my old disappeared recently).

Thoughts?

If any of the two balls behind the 9 are loose, it will slide towards the side with the gap, even more if you break from the opposite side. Since the balls are old, they are not the same size, and probably do not freeze right. It's not the rack, it's the balls.

 

[stljohnny]

I get all of that - I really do. But I guess there's a speed aspect as well, cuz when I broke from the same side as her (about a diamond left of the headspot) the 9 really didn't move. *shrug* I'll do some more testing. If she thinks she can "push" the 9, I'll let her - but I know better. It was just really strange seeing the 9 move on her breaks, no matter what order I put the balls in.