Rail Felt, How Much Can It Effect Playability?

[DelaWho???]

I've got a 7' Diamond Pro/AM I picked up at the SBE last year, it was "tournament used" When I got it the felt was in good shape and I played on it for about a year before I had Andy from Diamond refelt it. Andy did a great job and the table plays great, but since it has been receovered, I've had several friends tell me the pockets seem more forgiving.

I watched Andy do the work, and nothing was changed except the felt. He did put a lot of effort into the stretching of the cloth on the bed and the rails. Watching him work and thinking about it later, I can only conclude that the table plays differently because the felt was either wrapped tighter, or not as tight. I can't tell the difference by appearance, but there has to be something different, because the table does seem a bit more forgiving.

How tight should the rail cloth be and how much can it effect the pocket tightness?

 

[Grilled Cheese]

It's more forgiving because new cloth has more slide to it. Some more than others, but they all have it. It's very obvious in pool rooms because the cloth breaks in a lot faster due to heavy use; whereas on a home table, it takes longer for that slippery period to go away.


When you shoot down the rail and you catch the rail, on new slippery cloth, the rebound angle is a little wider. Meaning, some shots will go that wouldn't have gone on worn out cloth. Not a lot, but a few types will.


This effect is most obvious when done on brand new just installed cloth and you have a friend shoot a 3-rail kick with you standing to the side to get a view of the rebound off cushion. You'll see it's a different angle than normal.

 

[DelaWho???]

interesting point, my table gets daily use several hours a day. The new cloth has been on for about a month and a half and is already showing wear marks from steady use. I do a lot of Q skills which requires breaking from the head spot and I can already see where the CB makes contact with the cloth down table.

I was thinking that a tighter wrap compressed the rail rubber a bit making it play differently than a looser wrap. Slide seems to be a more reasonable explanation though.