not so fast cloth

[deanoc]

my table plays good
its just fast

and to be honest nobody comes over to play one pocket

so i try to practice 14/1 which is a very tough game

and i am losing interest in pool so i sell my table
then i buy again,then i sell

i admit it looks crazy to me too

real king is probably right

 

[CJH]

Dean your table plays fantastic...best rails ever! I did not notice it being fast but I also don't know what you are comparing it to. You could always have the cloth "loosened" up a bit. I would love to play one pocket with you if we could find the time...maybe on a weekend. I play a little better than I told you....a little.

 

[Dunnn51]

make it a lil slower

This may sound kinda crazy, BUT,......

When I am going to play a tournament that I know is going to have ratty slow cloth, I let my home table get dirty to slow it down. By dirty I meant not kept up, not having chunks of chalk under the felt for balls to roll over/skid on,.....

the table slows down quite a bit

oh, and I play a blue circle CB as well

 

[bradsh98]

my table plays good
its just fast

and to be honest nobody comes over to play one pocket

so i try to practice 14/1 which is a very tough game

and i am losing interest in pool so i sell my table
then i buy again,then i sell

i admit it looks crazy to me too

real king is probably right

Here is the advice that I give to my customers:

If your table is meant for you to enjoy, make it enjoyable for you to play on.

If your table is meant for others to enjoy, make it enjoyable for them to play on.


If you aren't playing in pro tournaments, with 4 1/2" pockets, why would you want your home table to have 4 1/2" pockets? Open them up! No one likes to spend their time jawing balls. Of course, many will always say that you should practice more, and get better, so that you don't jaw so many balls. However, pool is a beautiful game, for which we do not have to be good at to enjoy playing.

The same advice could be said for the speed of the cloth.

Dean, if you don't like the speed of Simonis 860, change it to something that suits your taste. I don't know how much slower you are thinking that you'd like to go, but Mali cloth is certainly quite a bit slower. Mali was used quite commonly, years ago. Perhaps this is the cloth that you remember?

 

[Skratch]

Just keep playing on it. The normal wear and tear will loosen the cloth and make more friction. This will slow the ball down. You may also want to go a longer time between cleaning the table, and the balls. Just take up the larger visible obstructions like chalk pieces. Otherwise, you'll have to change the cloth if you want a more immediate change.

I like fast tables. You should just learn to play your speed better. It will teach you to be more sensitive to the needed stroke speed for other tables. Most beginning players I see hit the ball too hard. A fast table will teach you to play softer, but still firm shots. It will be very useful skill on other tables.

 

[realkingcobra]

Just keep playing on it. The normal wear and tear will loosen the cloth and make more friction. This will slow the ball down. You may also want to go a longer time between cleaning the table, and the balls. Just take up the larger visible obstructions like chalk pieces. Otherwise, you'll have to change the cloth if you want a more immediate change.

I like fast tables. You should just learn to play your speed better. It will teach you to be more sensitive to the needed stroke speed for other tables. Most beginning players I see hit the ball too hard. A fast table will teach you to play softer, but still firm shots. It will be very useful skill on other tables.

You DO realize Dean....is in he 70’s right? Play better, improve his skills, practice practice practice....I just love all the advice everyone gives here on AZB....without knowing any background of the person they're giving their advice to....LOL Dean is GLAD to be able to get up in the morning....and still be kicking enough to even MISS pocketing a ball, let alone make one....because a person needs to be VERTICAL to have even missed a shot! I understand what Dean wants, and it's not a dirty table, or loose cloth. At his age he don't want to have to learn how to adjust to the speed of a worsted woolen cloth....he just wants the balls that he does miss....to be a little closer to the intended pocket when he does miss. Mali cloth is to slow, which is why it was never my first, second, or even third choice of cloth to install on all the bar table accounts I use to maintain through the 80's and 90's. I judge cloth by its condition when it comes off the table, not when it's installed new. After the Stevens 22oz Super weave cloth was no longer available, if I wasn't installing Simonis, Granito, or Championship Tour Edition worsted wool cloth, my ONLY other choice of cloth I would even consider was the Championship Titan because I really liked how it played and wore over the duration of its usage. It'll slow down the speed of the playing surface and cushions proportionately to a little slower than a worsted wool cloth AND it's easier to spin the cue ball with English because of less drag resistant from the cloth surface.

 

[Skratch]

You DO realize Dean....is in he 70’s right? Play better, improve his skills, practice practice practice....I just love all the advice everyone gives here on AZB....without knowing any background of the person they're giving their advice to....LOL Dean is GLAD to be able to get up in the morning....and still be kicking enough to even MISS pocketing a ball, let alone make one....because a person needs to be VERTICAL to have even missed a shot! I understand what Dean wants, and it's not a dirty table, or loose cloth. At his age he don't want to have to learn how to adjust to the speed of a worsted woolen cloth....he just wants the balls that he does miss....to be a little closer to the intended pocket when he does miss. Mali cloth is to slow, which is why it was never my first, second, or even third choice of cloth to install on all the bar table accounts I use to maintain through the 80's and 90's. I judge cloth by its condition when it comes off the table, not when it's installed new. After the Stevens 22oz Super weave cloth was no longer available, if I wasn't installing Simonis, Granito, or Championship Tour Edition worsted wool cloth, my ONLY other choice of cloth I would even consider was the Championship Titan because I really liked how it played and wore over the duration of its usage. It'll slow down the speed of the playing surface and cushions proportionately to a little slower than a worsted wool cloth AND it's easier to spin the cue ball with English because of less drag resistant from the cloth surface.

I didn't know. Its not like the original post states anything about his condition. I just answered the question he posted. The later part of my reply was just to state that it might do him better to play on faster tables. I would have stated the same for a younger player or an older one. The post in general was addressing what to do about a table that plays too fast. I make no conditions on anything else. Simply, he asked, I answered. From the sounds of what you are describing of him, the speed of the table might be the least of his concerns. I wish him more days to play!

 

[CJH]

From the sounds of what you are describing of him, the speed of the table might be the least of his concerns. I wish him more days to play!

Don't worry...Dean is a healthy guy. He just wants what he wants. If he wanted to work on his game, he would call an instructor. A new table? He'll get it. Slower cloth? in the works...

 

[Skratch]

Well, then I'm sure he'll find the answer to his issues soon. I understood the question as not only what would be a good alternative cloth, but in general what to do about it. Assuming that getting a new cloth was cost prohibitive, I wanted to give him the ideas of either letting it wear down from play, or simply playing it as it is, and using it as a way play better on faster tables. In my opinion its easier to adjust your play from a faster table to a slower one. Playing the other way around is harder to adjust.

 

[realkingcobra]

Well, then I'm sure he'll find the answer to his issues soon. I understood the question as not only what would be a good alternative cloth, but in general what to do about it. Assuming that getting a new cloth was cost prohibitive, I wanted to give him the ideas of either letting it wear down from play, or simply playing it as it is, and using it as a way play better on faster tables. In my opinion its easier to adjust your play from a faster table to a slower one. Playing the other way around is harder to adjust.

I do agree, which is why I told Dean a long time ago to get away from any worsted woolen cloths as in no matter what make the cloth is, if he don't want to adjust his game...then at least as a minimum....adjust the speed of the table and go back to 5" factory corner pockets in the corners and 5 1/2" sides, and the Championship Titan cloth will deal with his complaint about the speed of the table.

 

[Skratch]

That sounds like a plan. Personally, I think he shouldn't mind the speed and just play. Why go through all the trouble for changing his table. A fast cloth is far better to deal with than busted rails, too tight pockets, not leveled table, and old, out of round balls. If the only thing I had to deal with at a pool hall table was a fast cloth, I'd be quite happy. How many tables do you know are not leveled, poor rails, and pockets not put together right? A fast table would be my choice to play on. LOL.

 

[realkingcobra]

That sounds like a plan. Personally, I think he shouldn't mind the speed and just play. Why go through all the trouble for changing his table. A fast cloth is far better to deal with than busted rails, too tight pockets, not leveled table, and old, out of round balls. If the only thing I had to deal with at a pool hall table was a fast cloth, I'd be quite happy. How many tables do you know are not leveled, poor rails, and pockets not put together right? A fast table would be my choice to play on. LOL.

Dean only plays at home for the most part, so he really don't care much about other tables, but because of his frustrations over how his table at home plays....he can buy a new table today...and have it for sale tomorrow, looking forward to the next table he buys to be the ONE he's been searching for all along.

 

[fastone371]

Look Dean, I hear and understand what you're wanting out of your home table, but you're going about it the wrong way. Here's the problem as I see it. This is 2016, but you want the equipment you're playing on at home to play....like the tables you use to play on back in the late 50's through the 60's....as you remember them playing. Problem is, times have moved on. Cloth has improved, tables have improved....cues have improved, but....you want today to still be like yesteryear....but it's not. You've had GCs, you've had many tables, but the end result is always the same....get rid of the table because this isn't right, or that isn't right. You point out other players missing shots and blame their miss on fast cloth, when they missed the shots because....well, they just plain missed the shots, no other reason. You quote Greg Sullivan as yes, the cloth plays to fast for 7ft tables....wRon answer....and the reason is....why should it take any more effort to play position on a 7ft table than it takes to play position on a 9ft. If you have to draw the cue ball back 12" to get position on the next shot, why should it.take more effort to make that shot on a 7ft than on a 9ft...if it's the same draw shot. The Diamond 7fts can be slowed down without having to come up with another NEW Simonis cloth. Does anyone remember the "special" IPT cloth?
What happened to THAT cloth after the IPT failed and all the tables with that cloth on them? I'll tell you what happened, people replaced that shaggy carpet of a cloth as fast as they could with a better playing cloth....that's what happened!

Hey Glen, couldn't he just put "backed" cloth on his table to make it play very slow? I don't know the brand or if they have different grades but that cloth that has the white backing material seems to do a real nice job slowing down barbox Valleys.

 

[greyghost]

Hey Glen, couldn't he just put "backed" cloth on his table to make it play very slow? I don't know the brand or if they have different grades but that cloth that has the white backing material seems to do a real nice job slowing down barbox Valleys.

Isn't that a felt?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[realkingcobra]

Hey Glen, couldn't he just put "backed" cloth on his table to make it play very slow? I don't know the brand or if they have different grades but that cloth that has the white backing material seems to do a real nice job slowing down barbox Valleys.

Backed cloth is like an 18oz cloth glued to a rayon canvas like backing to give it more durability, only problem is, it's kind of spongy in thickness which creates deep tracks along the rails and in the break lines breaking the balls. Then, it won't let any dust or chalk filter though it to the slate between the cloth and surface of the slate....because it traps it all right there in the playing surface, which h then turns it into a sandbox. Another problem with the use of this kind of cloth is that no one buys the rail cloth separate from the bed cloth, they tear the real cloth off the side of the bed cloth like they normally do, then peal the rayon backing off the rail cloth and install it on the cushions....problem with that is, the glue residue left on the rail cloth when its installed on the rails.....DESOLVES the cushions....LOL