Pool Tips for HUMID CONDITIONS

JoeyA

JoeyA

Efren's Mini-Tourn BACKER
Silver Member
Bob Jewett has a nice article that explains different types of friction and how humidity plays a role in it. http://www.sfbilliards.com/articles/1995-04.pdf

I have heard different suggestions over the years about what you can or should do when you encounter a table that has a lot of humdity in the cloth.

I would like to list some of the things I have heard and would like to hear what YOU DO, TO maximize your ability to play well in high humidity conditions.

If you disagree with the suggestions below, I would like to hear about why you disagree and don't forget your suggestions, so we can chop you up. :D

1. Clean and/or wax the cue ball and the object balls if possible. (credit John Schmidt)
2. Use less side spin especially on longer shots and when you do use sidespin, move the cue ball at a faster speed.
3. Play shape closer to the object ball than you would in low humidity conditions.
4. Shorten your final backstroke. (Credit to Tony Robles)
5. Account for how slow the table is actually playing and adjust cue ball speed accordingly.

Any others?

Thanks,
JoeyA
 
Thanks for the tips.

I live / play in Florida and all those seem true to me.

Dirty / clingy balls and slow / high spin shots are the worst.

More and more I am leaning towards just sticking the ball with half a tip of outside to counter the friction.
 
Joey,
I am by no means the player you are, but I generally compensate for it by using about 1/2 the side spin to address the "clinginess" of the balls, but increasing follow and draw to compensate for the slower cloth.

It may just be me, but I feel that it also affects my banking. Don't know if there is actually any frictional difference, but if there is, it would seem logical that the contact between the balls and the rails would also mimic the difference in hit just like ball to ball contact (no wise crack intended here).
 
cuenut said:
Joey,
I generally compensate for it by using about 1/2 the side spin to address the "clinginess" of the balls, but increasing follow and draw to compensate for the slower cloth.

It may just be me, but I feel that it also affects my banking. Don't know if there is actually any frictional difference, but if there is, it would seem logical that the contact between the balls and the rails would also mimic the difference in hit just like ball to ball contact (no wise crack intended here).
Click to expand...

It definitely affects my banking. You are in the deep South like I am and this is a very common problem. Thanks for your tips.

If I am not mistaken, Tony Robles was referring to the rails being "boingy" when you should use a shorter back stroke...

JoeyA
 
One thing that I have noticed is that I encounter a much higher occurrence of skids (or "kicks", as I believe snooker players refer to them) when the humidity is high. It is usually on soft follow shots where I am trying to roll 1 to 2 feet after pocketing the ball, but instead I just get that annoying little hop followed by about 1/3 as much roll as I want out of the cueball. I'm not sure what to really do about this other than clean and wax the balls more often than normal during periods of higher humidity, and perhaps play stun or stun/roll shots instead of soft follow shots whenever possible.

Aaron
 
JoeyA said:
Bob Jewett has a nice article that explains different types of friction and how humidity plays a role in it. http://www.sfbilliards.com/articles/1995-04.pdf

I have heard different suggestions over the years about what you can or should do when you encounter a table that has a lot of humdity in the cloth.

I would like to list some of the things I have heard and would like to hear what YOU DO, TO maximize your ability to play well in high humidity conditions.

If you disagree with the suggestions below, I would like to hear about why you disagree and don't forget your suggestions, so we can chop you up. :D



1. Clean and/or wax the cue ball and the object balls if possible. (credit John Schmidt)
2. Use less side spin especially on longer shots and when you do use sidespin, move the cue ball at a faster speed.
3. Play shape closer to the object ball than you would in low humidity conditions.
4. Shorten your final backstroke. (Credit to Tony Robles)
5. Account for how slow the table is actually playing and adjust cue ball speed accordingly.

Any others?

Thanks,
JoeyA
Click to expand...

With these being factors, any thoughts about best tips to use: soft vs hard?
 
JoeyA said:
Bob Jewett has a nice article that explains different types of friction and how humidity plays a role in it. http://www.sfbilliards.com/articles/1995-04.pdf

I have heard different suggestions over the years about what you can or should do when you encounter a table that has a lot of humdity in the cloth.

I would like to list some of the things I have heard and would like to hear what YOU DO, TO maximize your ability to play well in high humidity conditions.

If you disagree with the suggestions below, I would like to hear about why you disagree and don't forget your suggestions, so we can chop you up. :D

1. Clean and/or wax the cue ball and the object balls if possible. (credit John Schmidt)
2. Use less side spin especially on longer shots and when you do use sidespin, move the cue ball at a faster speed.
3. Play shape closer to the object ball than you would in low humidity conditions.
4. Shorten your final backstroke. (Credit to Tony Robles)
5. Account for how slow the table is actually playing and adjust cue ball speed accordingly.

Any others?

Thanks,
JoeyA
Click to expand...

Be the ball.
 
JoeyA said:
Bob Jewett has a nice article that explains different types of friction and how humidity plays a role in it. http://www.sfbilliards.com/articles/1995-04.pdf

I have heard different suggestions over the years about what you can or should do when you encounter a table that has a lot of humdity in the cloth.

I would like to list some of the things I have heard and would like to hear what YOU DO, TO maximize your ability to play well in high humidity conditions.

If you disagree with the suggestions below, I would like to hear about why you disagree and don't forget your suggestions, so we can chop you up. :D

1. Clean and/or wax the cue ball and the object balls if possible. (credit John Schmidt)
2. Use less side spin especially on longer shots and when you do use sidespin, move the cue ball at a faster speed.
3. Play shape closer to the object ball than you would in low humidity conditions.
4. Shorten your final backstroke. (Credit to Tony Robles)
5. Account for how slow the table is actually playing and adjust cue ball speed accordingly.

Any others?

Thanks,
JoeyA
Click to expand...

Number 2 I believe is wrong, except when sidespin is combined with draw. And number 4 is backwards from what I do, I lengthen my stroke for more speed of stroke for draw to defeat the increased resistance.

Using side spin becomes more powerful with increased humidity. You should increase your use of sidespin to replace draw because the sidespin gives you much more control from longer distance. A lot of shots you would normally draw should go three rails with inside. The sticky rails will give you a lot of movement on the cueball without requiring you to increase power.
 
Use more follow and less draw, whenever possible. Draw is very hard to control (very hard to even achieve if the balls are far apart) on a humid table, whereas follow is not affected nearly as much.

Don't just hit the ball harder. Pay more attention to what you're doing with the ball. If you're trying to draw the ball, you have to hit it much harder. But if you're slicing a ball thin and letting the CB roll for shape, you don't have to add as much speed to compensate for the humidity.

Expect the spin on a ball to "take" faster. The Corey Deuel shot where the CB comes off the object ball, across the table to a rail, and halfway back across the table before swerving back towards him, is not going to possible in damp conditions. Even if you had the monster stroke to put that much junk on the ball despite the humidity, the ball would turn back much sooner (before it got to the rail), and the path of the ball would be very different. This can be an advantage or a disadvantage, depending on where the obstacles are that you need to avoid.

Realize that spin off the rails will affect the angles more. Banks with english will "turn" more. Stiff banks will shorten more. Reverse english will reverse more dramatically, and running english will run more dramatically.

That's about all I can think of at the moment.

-Andrew
 
High humidity sucks. When the humidity is over 75% I have to beat the hell out of the QB and OB to get where I want to be on the table. Forget about draw shots over a few feet. Forget about coming three rails. Banking I have to shoot so softly that I could fall asleep befor the OB gets to the pocket.

On a positive thing. I find myself finding other shots, caroms, combos and kisses, because I know if I hit the QB too hard I'll miss a good percentage of the time. This makes me a better player because, not only do I need to think three balls ahead, but I need to know how close I need to be to the next ball. Johnnyt
 
The effects of Humidity are more significant with throws and Banks.Danny DiLiberto had an article titled " Slippery when wet" in Billiards digest more than 12-13 years ago.
If u need to make the cue ball travel long distances spinning the cue helps. usually I don`t post on technical matters. But I could not resist.
 
Last edited:
unknownpro said:
Number 2 I believe is wrong, except when sidespin is combined with draw. And number 4 is backwards from what I do, I lengthen my stroke for more speed of stroke for draw to defeat the increased resistance.

Using side spin becomes more powerful with increased humidity. You should increase your use of sidespin to replace draw because the sidespin gives you much more control from longer distance. A lot of shots you would normally draw should go three rails with inside. The sticky rails will give you a lot of movement on the cueball without requiring you to increase power.
Click to expand...

Unknowpro,
I should have detailed #4 a little better. Tony was referring to rails that are boingy. When rails are boingy you have to take some of the speed off of your shot and not hit the rail as hard as you normally would, especially if you want to keep the cue ball close to the rail. He suggests that to slow down your cue ball speed, that you shorten your back stroke.

I like what you said about the rails giving you more movement so you can utilize that without using increased power.

In very humid conditions, I seem to find increased Swerve especially on longer shots when using sidespin on follow and draw. Do you not find that as well?
 
vagabond said:
If u need to make the cue ball travel long distances spinning the cue helps.
Click to expand...

I don't quite know what you mean by the above statement. Can you elaborate a bit more?
Thanks,
JoeyA
 
The cloth you play on has a LOT to do with the effects of humidity on your game. The new Simonis 860HR does a LOT to reduce the effects. Here's another tip that seems to be overlooked by everyone. If you live in a very humid environment, before you start playing on the table, take an iron, adjust the setting to "wool" and iron the playing surface for a few minutes. This drys out the cloth, flattens the nap, and restores the playing surface to NORMAL conditions. It's not nearly as important to clean the balls, if the surface of the cloth is DAMP! One other note, if you don't want to take the time to iron the cloth, throw an electric heating blanket over the table, turn it on a few hours before you get ready to play, and the dampness in the cloth will be gone before you start playing;)

Glen
 
realkingcobra said:
The cloth you play on has a LOT to do with the effects of humidity on your game. The new Simonis 860HR does a LOT to reduce the effects. Here's another tip that seems to be overlooked by everyone. If you live in a very humid environment, before you start playing on the table, take an iron, adjust the setting to "wool" and iron the playing surface for a few minutes. This drys out the cloth, flattens the nap, and restores the playing surface to NORMAL conditions. It's not nearly as important to clean the balls, if the surface of the cloth is DAMP! One other note, if you don't want to take the time to iron the cloth, throw an electric heating blanket over the table, turn it on a few hours before you get ready to play, and the dampness in the cloth will be gone before you start playing;)

Glen
Click to expand...

WOW. Who would have thought of that?

Make your bed and play on it.:)
JoeyA
 
realkingcobra said:
The cloth you play on has a LOT to do with the effects of humidity on your game. The new Simonis 860HR does a LOT to reduce the effects. Here's another tip that seems to be overlooked by everyone. If you live in a very humid environment, before you start playing on the table, take an iron, adjust the setting to "wool" and iron the playing surface for a few minutes. This drys out the cloth, flattens the nap, and restores the playing surface to NORMAL conditions. It's not nearly as important to clean the balls, if the surface of the cloth is DAMP! One other note, if you don't want to take the time to iron the cloth, throw an electric heating blanket over the table, turn it on a few hours before you get ready to play, and the dampness in the cloth will be gone before you start playing;)

Glen
Click to expand...

Glen gave me the iron tip a few months ago. I was about ready to take chain saw to it. The iron works wonders in juts a few minutes work. I like the electric blanket idea too. Johnnyt
 
I think the ironing or heating blanket tip is the main reason why there are heated slate billiard tables. There is no effect on the stone itself, rather it ensures that the cloth and rails are at a constant temperature, neutralizing the effects of humidity. This is pretty significant in areas like the UK which are extremely humid almost all the time.
 
I've played on a few 3 cushion tables that were heated but never bothered to look how it was heated. Can you bolt a heater under the pool table and it would work? If so, what kind of heater? I don't know, I'm just asking...don't laugh. Johnnyt
 
I like to get a towel and wet one corner of it, and wipe the shaft off every so often. I guess after I think about it, I do that no matter if its humid or not.
 
JoeyA said:
Unknowpro,
I should have detailed #4 a little better. Tony was referring to rails that are boingy. When rails are boingy you have to take some of the speed off of your shot and not hit the rail as hard as you normally would, especially if you want to keep the cue ball close to the rail. He suggests that to slow down your cue ball speed, that you shorten your back stroke.
Click to expand...

Here's an example where you want to kill your cueball near the rail. Most people would use low outside to kill the cueball. With more distance on the shot it becomes more touchy and less available.

CueTable Help



Using low inside the shot can be hit harder and will kill more with more humidity. As you pull the cueball back to longer distances the shot is still available from near the same angle if you can get enough speed through the cueball to retain some draw. You can slam it and still get the cueball to stop. I call this the Rafael Martinez special. He shoots this all the time at a high percentage.

The same shots show up on the short rails too.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top