Secrets To Racking Balls Tight

[DrCue'sProtege]

are there any secrets out there that would help me to get the rack of 9 balls tighter? seems like the '1' is always moving a micro-hair, or one of the other balls.

dont say the Sardo Rack either. i use a heavy wood rack, out of cherry i believe.

M

 

[Cue of Fury]

What I do is once I have them tight in the rack, I slowly slide the rack forward and watch to see if the 1-ball moves. If it does, I immediately stop moving the rack and again push all of the balls up into the front of the rack and repeat the process until the 1-ball stays put. Hope this helps.

 

[LAMas]

are there any secrets out there that would help me to get the rack of 9 balls tighter? seems like the '1' is always moving a micro-hair, or one of the other balls.

dont say the Sardo Rack either. i use a heavy wood rack, out of cherry i believe.

M

Put the one ball on the spot and then the rack and other balls. push the balls together from behind with one hand while holding the rack. With the other hand take the cue ball and tap the tops of all the balls into the felt to create a crater for the balls to rest in - like the Sardo Rack.

 

[xcore]

What I do is once I have them tight in the rack, I slowly slide the rack forward and watch to see if the 1-ball moves. If it does, I immediately stop moving the rack and again push all of the balls up into the front of the rack and repeat the process until the 1-ball stays put. Hope this helps.

And what if 1-ball does not stop where it has to, right on the back point? I think the best way is, before you rack, get a ball, put it onto the point, rap it gently with another ball so that the cloth gets flatten a little, then rack. The more cloth is weared out, the less tight the rack will be. It's very hard to setup a tight rack on a dirty and/or bald cloth.

Also, when using a triangle, make sure that it does not stick to (or pinch) the rack, thus moving out the 1-ball (speaking of 9-ball rack) when you remove it. On the side note: don't use snooker triangle.

 

[Cue of Fury]

You just have to be willing to move the rack of balls around to find where they will sit tight the best, most tables have a "sweet spot" on the cloth. The trick is finding it. Of course if you can't then just make one by creating a crater in the cloth by tapping the cue ball on the 1 ball.

 

[crawdaddio]

Put the one ball on the spot and then the rack and other balls. push the balls together from behind with one hand while holding the rack. With the other hand take the cue ball and tap the tops of all the balls into the felt to create a crater for the balls to rest in - like the Sardo Rack.

Please don't do this on nice tables with good cloth (Especially one that I might be playing on). After this is done a few times, it obviously creates dimples in the cloth. I have seen a slow rolling ball do a damn near U-turn as it hit one of these dimples. The 1 inch it rolled the wrong way cost me the game. I'm sorry but I don't have any alternatives to get a tight rack other than adjusting the placement of the entire rack ever so slightly and squeezing them in the rack from behind. Sometimes it is just really hard to get a good tight rack. Just use good judgement and ask your opponent to inspect the rack or agree to rack your own.
Hope it helps
Peace,
David

 

[tom haney]

Racking balls tight? Wear tight pants.

 

[LastTwo]

Tapping the balls with another ball is considered bad etiquette in most poolrooms I have seen. It is wise to ask the room owner or the player if you can do this while racking the balls.

When you play on tables that are not well-maintained, or were not set up correctly, it can be very hard to get a tight rack. Try to avoid using plastic racks, the wooden ones are better. The plastic seems to stick to the balls, and plus, when you press down on the rack, the plastic rack will expand slightly. This makes it very hard to get a good rack. If I am having trouble giving someone a good rack, I will notify them, and if they hassle me even after I admit that I'm trying to give them a good rack, I tell them to f*** off and rack their own.

 

[Frank_Glenn]

Put the one ball on the spot and then the rack and other balls. push the balls together from behind with one hand while holding the rack. With the other hand take the cue ball and tap the tops of all the balls into the felt to create a crater for the balls to rest in - like the Sardo Rack.

If you do this on my table, it will be the last time you play there. Tapping balls is why the balls won't rack up properly most of the time. A worn spot is another cause. Spots are cheap, change the spot so a crater is not formed from breaking into the one.

 

[BHAMKID]

there is a secret out there...

i know a way to get the balls racked tight... are you talking about 8 ball or nine ball??? and please dont anyone do what that guy said and "tap" the one ball with another ball... that creates a CRATER that cant be fixed without having to re-cover the tables and fill in the whole

 

[accdealer]

Couple of things to look for:

1. Sometimes it's not your fault, you are trying to rack 9 balls and a few of them or all of them are not the same size.

2. Good wooden racks aren't always square to each joint. Take a look at your rack, and usually on one of the legs of the rack there will be a marking, be it the name of the rack or whatever. Usually using this leg of the rack as the rear of the rack will be utilizing the rack's squarest point.

3. Never, I mean never tap the balls.

4. On occassion, I have simply removed the spot and used the rack like a squeegee rubbing it back and forth accross the racking area in an effort to smooth it out a little bit.

5. Do number 4 without removing the spot.

6. Make sure that the inside legs of the rack are clean and free of oil, dirt or whatever, especially in places that serve food, or when it is humid outside. The balls can stick to the rack.

 

[mjantti]

Good point here. The wooden racks aren't always symmetrical so try to find the right "corner" for best rack. I usually try to find the place where one-ball stops and gather the rest of the balls around it. If there is a slight gap, I gently tap the one-ball with the corner of the triangle to make it still.

 

[Big Business]

tapping the head ball

Pleas do not do this. i f more people stopped doing this we would all be able to rack better. It is a lazy mans way of racking. IMO

 

[Top Spin]

Put the one ball on the spot and then the rack and other balls. push the balls together from behind with one hand while holding the rack. With the other hand take the cue ball and tap the tops of all the balls into the felt to create a crater for the balls to rest in - like the Sardo Rack.

I'm fairly sure that tapping the balls when racking is against the rules...

 

[DrCue'sProtege]

Earl was tapping the balls against Mr. Archer in one of the Accu-Stats tapes i have. the announcer (grady?) said he had the right to do so i believe.

but what about this idea?
if you "wet" your finger tip and rub it over the spot the '1' ball will stay there, and the balls will rack better, correct? or is this completely illegal?

 

[casanova]

Earl was tapping the balls against Mr. Archer in one of the Accu-Stats tapes i have. the announcer (grady?) said he had the right to do so i believe.

but what about this idea?
if you "wet" your finger tip and rub it over the spot the '1' ball will stay there, and the balls will rack better, correct? or is this completely illegal?

thats not legal

 

[Rude Dog]

are there any secrets out there that would help me to get the rack of 9 balls tighter? seems like the '1' is always moving a micro-hair, or one of the other balls.

dont say the Sardo Rack either. i use a heavy wood rack, out of cherry i believe.

M

Good question. The best way to avoid having to go through the hassle of racking the balls tight is, win every game! Let your opponent deal with it.

 

[accdealer]

Sorry guys, I forgot to mention this. Years ago when the pros played with the PBTA Rules, during the same era that Pat Flemming sat high in the ranks(PBTA Ranks, not player rankings), I think he was President, it was most definitely a foul to tap the object balls while racking them. In fact, the racker would lose that rack and the next two, just like a concession. The explaination for this was that it was disrespectful to the host's equipment, just like having to keep a foot on the floor while shooting, either violation, though not often, could possibly damage the playing equipment. Perhaps Blackjack or another player of that era with an actual copy of the PBTA rules would care to validate the above statement. I know it's true, I read it with my own two eyes.

As a footnote, I was playing in a tournament where we were using PBTA rules and it was a handicapped event very close to the finals. I was spotting the guy that I was playing, but he was clearly on the steal, and most definitely should have been spotting me. I was getting burried, but managed to work my way back into the match and was only down a few games. I was so mad that I insisted that he rerack the balls over and over again until finally he grabbed the cue ball and started tapping the 1. I immediately called a foul on him and we went to the tournament director. Before anything was said, I made him admit that he tapped the balls and then I was looking for compensation from the director. The director had to verify the rule, which he did in a copy of the PBTA rules, but then did not enforce the foul because it was an 'obscure rule, not coverred in the players meeting.' I of course was outraged because we were supposed to have been playing PBTA rules, and there was the rule in black and white. Oh well, I tried to get over and failed.

 

[LAMas]

Please don't do this on nice tables with good cloth (Especially one that I might be playing on). After this is done a few times, it obviously creates dimples in the cloth. I have seen a slow rolling ball do a damn near U-turn as it hit one of these dimples. The 1 inch it rolled the wrong way cost me the game. I'm sorry but I don't have any alternatives to get a tight rack other than adjusting the placement of the entire rack ever so slightly and squeezing them in the rack from behind. Sometimes it is just really hard to get a good tight rack. Just use good judgement and ask your opponent to inspect the rack or agree to rack your own.
Hope it helps
Peace,
David

I don't tap the balls and create craters in the cloth but I mentioned this because of observation of others. Usually when one tapps all of the balls it is only done once and the balls find their craters thereafter.

The Sardo Rack also puts a slight amount of pressure on all of the balls - rack after rack. The point is what good for the goose...

If not with the cue ball, I have seen pros hit the top of all the balls with the palm and fingers of their hands.

Where I shoot they don't micro manage the racking of balls - tapping, Sardo or otherwise and they change the Simonis cloth often enough that any tapping of balls is of no consequence compared to the tracks left from the cue ball and the dragging of cue tips on the cloth during the break. They do offer a piece of cloth for breaking to be placed under the cue ball to prevent craters in the kitchen.

 

[Bob Jewett]

PBA rule on tapping balls

Sorry guys, I forgot to mention this. Years ago when the pros played with the PBTA Rules, during the same era that Pat Flemming sat high in the ranks(PBTA Ranks, not player rankings), I think he was President, it was most definitely a foul to tap the object balls while racking them. ....

I'm not sure what the rule was in Dawn Meurin's version, but in the 1988 PBA handbook, the rule was:

Racking
The referee will rack the balls as tightly as possible, which means each ball
should be touching its neighbors. Tapping a ball into place is not recommended; it is preferable to thoroughly brush the area of the rack to even out the cloth.​

The rule assumes that there is a referee, which is sadly not the case for most pool tournaments. It's hard to call a foul on the referee.