Somebody actually dug out this rule tonight!!!

[stumpie71]

I don't see the problem with using the chalk on the rail as a reference point. How is it any different than using something in the background? Also, how can this be enforced? Anybody could claim the opposing player is "marking" after each time they chalk....

I think the rules only say you cannot mark the actual playing surface....

I agree with you, I don't see a problem either. I have seen some rather sporty novice players use chalk, moisture from their finger, and various other forms to mark the rail and even the cloth on the playing surface. Guys like Archer, SVB, Morris, Duel, Strikland,and others. I was even shown several ways years ago how to mark the rails discretely by some of the players mentioned.

 

[lorider]

Oh it's legal, unless it's prohibited by a local rule. If you're going by the "letter of the law" it can touch the cloth, but you cannot actually mark the cloth or the playing surface. In an email the APA Rule Guru told me the playing surface was anything below the part of the rail that extended out over the slate or bed, from the point of the rail down. I think the rule also says something about marking the cloth on the rail, so it's picking nits I guess, but I suppose you could place chalk on the rail cloth so long as you don't actually make a mark on the cloth. Here's another one, how many of you (in the APA) have taken ball in hand in 8 ball when your opponent scratches on the break? Also perfectly legal... unless before the shot your opponent reminds you to shoot from the kitchen before you take the shot.

technicaly it is not legal to take ball in hand after the break. if you were to shoot before someone called you on it you can get away with it.

if someone were to take the cueball and set it on the table and make a quick shot before i could say anything i would have to call an unsportmanship move on them.

i know there are people in all leagues who try to circumvent the rules to their advantage but i would have to classify that move classless as hell.

 

[ENGLISH!]

I forgot what older pro it was, maybe Mr. Ray Martin that always put the chalk down on the diamond because he never wanted to be accused of marking for a shot.

 

[lorider]

Thinking about this more just cracks me up. Its one of the running jokes among the players down here in miami that you cannot foul no matter how many times your cue hits the cueball as long as you elevate.

Im playing a friend who doesnt play apa and we are playing one pocket and i leave him froze up against the stack and he goes to the table and jacks up and starts cueing directly into the stack. He turns to me and smirks and says "we are playing apa rules right??" i can only imagine if apa played 1p how crazy that would be. Id push right through the stack and keep on going until pinned the cueball up against the rail near my opponents pocket.

i think im going to practice that so that when the moment comes up i can push the cueball like 4 ft and smash it up against a rail for a safety. Just so I can do it and have the apa operator yell "GOOD HIT!"

it would be so worth it. new practice drill!

push shots are illegal here. i guess its just up to the lo in every ones area whats legal or illegal.

bcapl rules also vary from one area to the next so lets not insuate its just an apa thing.

 

[leto1776]

I'm gonna tell you right here and now, if that girl pulled that sh*t on me (not that I'd ever mark a rail with a cube of chalk), she'd get a severe tongue-lashing, and deservedly so. Nobody, and I mean NOBODY on the opposing team has any reason to walk up to MY table and do anything other than check to see if a ball is frozen to a rail, and even that ought to be done in a timely manner. Don't try and tell me there's nothing I can do about it. That's some kind of piss-poor attitude, worrying about some piece of chalk on a rail that ultimately is not going to be the difference in hitting the object ball or not.

If it's a rule that it is legal to do so, then she had better keep her ass in her chair.

You'd better tell her to cut that practice out before somebody taking the game seriously gives her a severe ass-chewing.

Maniac (damn, what ever happened to ethics/morals/sportsmanship???)

I'd have to agree.unless she's playing and it's her turn,or she's coaching on a time out,she has no business up at the table.

 

[Lonestar_jim]

May I quote you ?

9 Ball isn't even played in APA. The so called 9 Ball format is really more akin to a handicapped game of slop rotation played with 9 balls and scored like straight pool.

You've got me rolling. I don't have any signature quotes, but this is a gem.

 

[Lonestar_jim]

What ?

I'm gonna tell you right here and now, if that girl pulled that sh*t on me (not that I'd ever mark a rail with a cube of chalk), she'd get a severe tongue-lashing, and deservedly so. Nobody, and I mean NOBODY on the opposing team has any reason to walk up to MY table and do anything other than check to see if a ball is frozen to a rail, and even that ought to be done in a timely manner. Don't try and tell me there's nothing I can do about it. That's some kind of piss-poor attitude, worrying about some piece of chalk on a rail that ultimately is not going to be the difference in hitting the object ball or not.

If it's a rule that it is legal to do so, then she had better keep her ass in her chair.

You'd better tell her to cut that practice out before somebody taking the game seriously gives her a severe ass-chewing.

Maniac (damn, what ever happened to ethics/morals/sportsmanship???)

Easy big fella. Haven't you seen the APA recruiting posters ? Everyone from both teams with elbows on the cloth circled around the shooter, yukking it up. Very hard to even see chalk on the rails. oke:

 

[Celophanewrap]

technicaly it is not legal to take ball in hand after the break. if you were to shoot before someone called you on it you can get away with it.

if someone were to take the cueball and set it on the table and make a quick shot before i could say anything i would have to call an unsportmanship move on them.

i know there are people in all leagues who try to circumvent the rules to their advantage but i would have to classify that move classless as hell.

I believe the book says "this is not a foul". My first thought when I first had this happen to me was the same as yours, classless as hell, but then it occurred to me that I was experiencing a classic case of sour grapes. I wasn't smart enough to actually watch or observe my own game, I deserved exactly what I got. I have also seen where no one intentionally meant to circumvent the rules, just out of habit they picked up the cue ball and set down and shot, oops - another case of not watching. The lesson I learned was to stay involved

 

[Maniac]

Easy big fella. Haven't you seen the APA recruiting posters ? Everyone from both teams with elbows on the cloth circled around the shooter, yukking it up. Very hard to even see chalk on the rails. oke:

I was past due for my daily nap when I made that post !!!

Maniac (feels all better now)

 

[jonanthans]

quote: "Originally Posted by Maniac
I'm gonna tell you right here and now, if that girl pulled that sh*t on me (not that I'd ever mark a rail with a cube of chalk), she'd get a severe tongue-lashing, and deservedly so. Nobody, and I mean NOBODY on the opposing team has any reason to walk up to MY table and do anything other than check to see if a ball is frozen to a rail, and even that ought to be done in a timely manner. Don't try and tell me there's nothing I can do about it. That's some kind of piss-poor attitude, worrying about some piece of chalk on a rail that ultimately is not going to be the difference in hitting the object ball or not.

If it's a rule that it is legal to do so, then she had better keep her ass in her chair.
"""""""

SHE actually commits a foul, per APA rules, when she approaches the table and its not her shot. Actually had that called on us at APA Nationals, we were warned the first time, told it would be a ball-in-hand enforced foul if we approached the table out of turn again.

edit to add: We didn't do the whole move-the-chalk thing, just to clarify..thats a douchebag move there..

 

[Cracktherack]

Easy big fella. Haven't you seen the APA recruiting posters ? Everyone from both teams with elbows on the cloth circled around the shooter, yukking it up. Very hard to even see chalk on the rails. oke:

What I notice in the APA poster picture, is that unlike a lot of the APA players I have seen, the players in the picture have teeth.

Anybody playing against me, that has to mark a bank shot with a piece of chalk on the rail, I'll call them victim all day long.

 

[TCIndepMo]

No guarantee the player or coach will put the chalk cube in the right place, or the shooter will hit that exact spot, or the shooter will be able to calculate effect of a soft or hard rail rebounds or slow or fast cloth, etc. So many variables still in effect for such a shot that to use a chalk as an aiming aid guarantees nothing. Except maybe, based on some posts herein, to distract the other team.

As previous posters have stated - if the opponent needs this much help it's probably to my advantage.