Secrets To Racking Balls Tight

I dislike the sardo tight rack simply for the dimpling reason..........just for the record.
David~~wooden rack for me please!
 
I have big hands so this might not work for all of you but here's what I do, and I've racked a lot of balls!!!

I put the one ball on the spot, with the other balls loosely behind it and the top of the rack firmly against the one. Then I bring the rest of the balls up to the one with my right hand until they're snug against the one. Once all the balls are tight, I use my first, second and third fingers to gently spin the balls in the back and middle of the rack towards the one. This helps make all the balls cinch up tighter. I then push the rack gently forward until it's not touching any of the balls and lift it delicately without touching any of the balls. I've very seldom had someone ask me to re-rack it. Another thing that helps is when you're done racking before you put the rack up, put your hand over the balls and look for any spaces between the balls. The other player will take that as a sign that you're making sure they're tight (whether they are or not is besides the point - just kidding).
 
I've heard Buddy Hall suggest that balls be tapped in just once (he may have said only the one ball) and then suggested that tapping the balls should be a 100 dollar fine for the guilty party when they are playing in a pro tournement. Tapping once on new cloth might set dimples that will help rack later on due to the balls resting on the depressions. Any tapping after that will create racking problems.

I've also heard that the reason Earl used to tap the balls was to create a slight difference in the heights of the balls; if one ball is slightly below another, it may be the difference between the corner ball going in or hitting high. I believe this is called "putting the hammer to 'em". Spinning the two balls on the next to last row of balls was supposed to create a groove in the cloth that would also alter the balls path. I have no idea if any of this is credible but maybe someone with more experience can elaborate.
 
I agree that with a good equipment you do need nothing to set the balls tight. You don't play on good tables with new cloth every time, sometimes the condition of the cloth is terrible and the "sweet spot" someone was willing to find is located half an inch from the right spot. What do you do? Set the rack on that sweet one where it sits right? Would you allow your opponent to set it there? Or would you refuse to play? Being perfect is good, but being real is better. Just IMHO.

As for the tournaments, each tournament may have its own shades and pitfalls, you just need to know what they could be to avoid making stupid fouls.
 
xcore said:
Do you own any references to support your certainty?
Click to expand...

I just looked in the BCA rule book. Can't find anything, but I recall reading it somewhere...could have been a rule in the Camel Tour...I'll try and look for those rules.
 
warped racks and mis-matched balls

Don't know if anyone's mentioned these points already... In some places (bars, mainly) you may not even get a matched set of balls. If your knew your rack were perfect geometrically and you still couldn't press all the balls tight together on all sides, what else could it be but slight differences in diameters?

Another problem is the sides of the racks. Some can take on an inward or outward curve on one or another side (could be barely perceptible and still screw you up). So if I'm having consistent trouble getting them tight I'll try turning the rack to see if one position works better than another.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top