Mighty x drill leaving mark on cloth

H

hkpoolguy

New member
I'm a big fan of the mighty x drill (long straight stop, draw, and follow shots across the diagonals of the table). I put donut stickies on the cloth to ensure the balls are lined up straight.

After shooting a few hundred shots over a few days, I've noticed a faint white streak starting to appear on the cloth, right along the diagonal lines where I'm doing the drill. this isn't chalk and I can't get rid of it using the table cloth brush. I'm pretty sure it's a burn mark.

Has anyone else run into this issue doing drill shots along a consistent line on the table? and if there might be some way to prevent this?
 
I figured that to be the case. lesson learned.

Is there anything I can do to avoid this while doing drills? Getting rid of the stickies might help to make the path less consistent, but I'm afraid I'll still end up shooting a bunch of shots along the same line.
 
hkpoolguy said:
I figured that to be the case. lesson learned.

Is there anything I can do to avoid this while doing drills? Getting rid of the stickies might help to make the path less consistent, but I'm afraid I'll still end up shooting a bunch of shots along the same line.
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Anything that causes ball to go over same spot a lot will do this. doesn't damage the cloth, just looks funky.
 
That’s what drills do.

One solution is you can put a strip of masking tape on the shot line and shoot over it. As a bonus, you can see if the stick lands on the line when finishing the stroke.

There is also a cloth based bandage about 1/2 wide you can lay on the table corner to corner and tape its ends to the table.

*edit: I think the bandage is available with an adhesive also. Or look up gym wrap tape on Amazon.
 
hkpoolguy said:
I figured that to be the case. lesson learned.

Is there anything I can do to avoid this while doing drills? Getting rid of the stickies might help to make the path less consistent, but I'm afraid I'll still end up shooting a bunch of shots along the same line.
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If you use it, it looks used.

I say don't sweat it, it is an earned scar.
Screenshot_20210525-213524.jpg
 
I'm not sure it's a burn mark. What chalk are you using? Are you sure you can't clean it off? I strongly suspect the "lines" you are seeing are residual chalk lines. Maybe use a lightly damp cloth and try to wipe the table down?

The are a couple reasons I'm suggesting it's not a burn mark: 1) I've done thousands of shots on the mighty X (sometimes 500 in one session) and I don't have those lines on my table [Simonis 860 Tournament Blue; Taom]. 2) burn marks are from harder shots where the ball is generally hopping down the table. You shouldn't be hitting the mighty X any where near that hard.

-td
 
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hkpoolguy said:
I figured that to be the case. lesson learned.

Is there anything I can do to avoid this while doing drills? Getting rid of the stickies might help to make the path less consistent, but I'm afraid I'll still end up shooting a bunch of shots along the same line.
Click to expand...
If you don't use stickies you can quickly learn to line up the balls even faster. The cloth will last 50 times longer. Or just accept that it's a practice table and the cloth is meant to be replaced every few years. Our club tables cloth last about 2 years.
 
hkpoolguy said:
I figured that to be the case. lesson learned.

Is there anything I can do to avoid this while doing drills? Getting rid of the stickies might help to make the path less consistent, but I'm afraid I'll still end up shooting a bunch of shots along the same line.
Click to expand...

Don't worry about it. That is what cloth is made for.
 
td873 said:
I'm not sure it's a burn mark. What chalk are you using? Are you sure you can't clean it off? I strongly suspect the "lines" you are seeing are residual chalk lines. Maybe use a lightly damp cloth and try to wipe the table down?

The are a couple reasons I'm suggesting it's not a burn mark: 1) I've done thousands of shots on the mighty X (sometimes 500 in one session) and I don't have those lines on my table [Simonis 860 Tournament Blue; Taom]. 2) burn marks are from harder shots where the ball is generally hopping down the table. You shouldn't be hitting the mighty X any where near that hard.

-td
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I would tend to agree with this unless you have some dodgy cloth. Can you post photos?
Also I would accept it as confirmation that you are doing what’s right, practice makes perfect, good on you for being disciplined
 
The quality of the cloth can make a big difference. My first table was one of those "furniture style" tables, with the basic, generic (for lack of a better word) cloth, that often comes with those tables. It developed a lot of burn marks in short order. After I switched to Simonis cloth, the burn marks became much less of a problem. I've had the same Simonis cloth for 12 years now, and it still looks great. All cloth will wear out eventually, but high quality cloth will last much longer.
 
hkpoolguy said:
... and if there might be some way to prevent this?
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I think the best way to prevent this is to not do the Mighty X. It's too repetitive.

Find the shots that you have the most problem with. Practice those but don't practice a single fixed shot. Have a little variation on each one, whether it's distance, angle, cue ball position.
 
hkpoolguy said:
I'm a big fan of the mighty x drill (long straight stop, draw, and follow shots across the diagonals of the table). I put donut stickies on the cloth to ensure the balls are lined up straight.

After shooting a few hundred shots over a few days, I've noticed a faint white streak starting to appear on the cloth, right along the diagonal lines where I'm doing the drill. this isn't chalk and I can't get rid of it using the table cloth brush. I'm pretty sure it's a burn mark.

Has anyone else run into this issue doing drill shots along a consistent line on the table? and if there might be some way to prevent this?
Click to expand...
Take it as a badge of honor. Pool cloth is a replaceable commodity. I mean sure, you don't want to wear it out instantly, but this means your actually practicing and will surely improve as a result.
 
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