Watching the 10 Ball match between Jason Shaw and C. Tevez the guys announcing the match indicated that during Shaws 714 ball run that he used a magic rack instead of a triangle. They stated that John Schmidt was gonna take a shot at 1000 with a magic rack. Do you straight pool players think the difference in racks make a difference and if yes, then why?
Straight Pool Question
- Thread starter WardS
- Start date
Absolutely it makes a difference. Just like with 9 ball and 10 ball, the balls open up easier. During the high run attempts it was noted that the players didn’t need to play nearly as many secondary breaks.
So I tried the magic rack for 14.1 and actually didn't like it and went back to the triangle rack, though this differs from other's opinions and experiences. I specifically went with the magic rack after watching Jayson run 714 and feeling a little inspired. On Simonis 760 in a fairly dry climate, you won't need to go into the stack that often IMO.
The problem with the magic rack is that it loads the corner balls and make the corner ball banks stone dead and nearly unmissable. It was discovered in the European championship (which used a tapped table, which does the same thing). People were purposfully playing for corner banks rather than breakshots if they got even slightly out of line. You can also play other kinds of dead balls in the rack, which are even more productive and condusive to spreading the balls out. It's completely detrimental to the game, like the super soft break in 9 ball. Also, the magic rack can get in the way, if you like to break softly and it remains under the balls in whats left of the stack. I never use the magic rack for straight pool, and I don't think I'd want to play in a tournament that does so.
I think he actually used a template rack system that was permanently affixed to the table, perma-rack or something very similar, not a removable template like the magic rack.
I use perma-rack for straight pool (and everything else obviously), and it makes a huge difference when compared to an untrained table. It plays about the same as a perfectly trained table: bigger breaks with much less effort, leaving far fewer clusters. Definitely conducive to building higher runs.
L.S. Dennis
Well-known member
I was watching an interview with Jason Shaw and in the interview he briefly showed the rack area of the table he played on (presumedly) whinch had those little sticky binder loops usually used for training exercise on the pool table. There were 15 of them perfectly situated so the balls would be absolutely tight.
Also in the interview Jason said that John Schmidt run was done on a heated table, where presumedly his was not.
Still a tremendous accomplishment ever with all these little advantages or gimmicks but It all take away from the records somehow.
I wonder how many Mosconi could have run if all these advantages were available to him during his time?
I am gonna say this about Mr. Mosconi. He played pool for a living to put food on the table. If he had been offered a substantial payoff I think he would have run more than he did, a lot more..
Yup, that's what perma-rack uses.
Here's a pic of it on my table, I color the rings blue before I stick em:
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Ok, it's been said there are less secondary breaks required but what happens when there are still clusters or even an identifiable stack? It occurs to me balls could get nudged back into the holes and not play out naturally. (?)
IMO plastic template racks are the worst pool invention ever. You cant play pool with a big piece of plastic, unremovable until God knows when, right in the middle of the rack. Who thought that was a good idea?
So here is a bit of an issue, aside from the fact that a bunch of balls will be rolling around in the middle of the raised things that you can't remove. The break ball position. It totally eliminates the break ball or cueball not fitting in the rack area due to the rack being there, so now there is a pretty decent change in the game since you can be almost up to the rack with the break ball for a break shot and it does not need to be moved. IMHO, you NEED to use the standard rack for 14.1 since that then allows for the game mechanic of having to move the cueball or the break call out of the rack area. Without using the standard rack the game changes, it almost like it would need an * next to the record due to this. Although some of the racks are pretty thin, it's still a pretty big change, in both how the spread would be and the last ball/cueball interference.
The official World Standardized Rules now specify that if a standard triangle is not used for racking, one must be used to draw the triangle outline to determine in/out at 14.1. This is a recent change -- within the last 8 years?
dquarasr
Registered
How did you go about placing them accurately?
Is the outline the outside of the balls or the outside of a rack? The thickness of a rack and the extra space make a difference in whether the break ball is outside the rack or inside.
We've had this dance a couple of times already Bob. The use of the predator equipment recently had me chuckling at the idea of requiring this outline.
...but I guess if it's the only triangle in the room at the time, whatca gonna do...?...lol. It does get a bit silly though...
Yes it definitively does... I might only go back to a triangle if/when my cloth is brand new, and I can train the table.
The whole point in racking the balls is to facilitate a tight form so a fair opprotunity at continuing the run can be attempted. There's a romance to the wooden triangle that some cannot let go of. To each their own. I for one don't feel like I should get screwed by a lack luster racking effort. I also don't entertain hovering over a rack for minutes attempting to get the rack I deserve when using a triangle, if it's even possible.
I use a template exclusively. It gets removed in very short order if not immediately after the break shot. I also follow two rules while using the template:
- I use the arbitrary size of the wooden triangle that came with my table (random dimension) as a guage to ensure my break ball is outside whatever the acceptable minimum is.
- I do not play directly into rack in an effort to make 'dead balls'.
You don't carry your Delta-13?We've had this dance a couple of times already Bob. The use of the predator equipment recently had me chuckling at the idea of requiring this outline.
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...but I guess if it's the only triangle in the room at the time, whatca gonna do...?...lol. It does get a bit silly though...