TAP Rule Clarification

S

Six Shooter

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
This past Monday night I was observing a match played on a table next to where my team was playing our matches.

I know that in most leagues and tournaments that a player can not place their cue on the playing surface of a table, align the shot, then leave the cue on the surface and walk to the other end of the table to see if your cue is in alignment with the line you intend to stroke the CB.

I believe that the shooter must keep one hand on the cue at all times.

I wasn't able to find anything in the TAP rules that allow it nor does it state that it is not permissible. Unless I just overlooked it somewhereZ

I'd like to get everyone's thoughts on it regardless if you're a league player, tourney player, or recreational player.
 
I was taught the same thing early on, and now I'm careful to keep a hand on the cue when I use it to visualize kicks and banks.

Occasionally the best point of view is kind of far from the butt of the cue and I have to stretch awkwardly to comply with the rule.

In leagues, it's very rare to see this sort of obscure picky rule called. Half the time everyone lets blatant push shots go unchallenged.

I wouldn't be heartbroken if the rule was left out or changed and players were allowed to leave the cue on the table. It's one thing to visualize the shot, it's another thing to execute it. I would object though to being able to mark your destination with chalk or something (another one that rarely gets called out).
 
The TAP rules were derived from the APA, and I doubt the APA has a rule about it.
I didn't look it up, but it's just a guess.
Personally I can't stand it when players do that with their cue.
What are people looking at anyway, especially when they walk around the table..:confused:
I can't remember doing that for any reason other than when I was practicing and had to pay the waitress,
go outside to smoke, or go to the bathroom.
 
:)

Oh heck...I'm sure it's fine. The last big TAP tournament I was at---
a shooter hit the light with his cue and busted the light and glass went every where. Instead of setting up the balls exactly the same, or shooting the game over on a different table-----------LOL-------they played and finished the game with glass all over the table.

No one even called about safety here. Funniest thing I've ever seen in TAP league.

Second funniest thing in TAP was...my team and another team were in the finals in a Title Holder, and the match was tied up 2-2 and the last match was on the table playing for the cash. After the first game was played, the one player asked the other player if he wanted to split it----------he said yeah and the match was over that quick.

That was funny!:grin:
 
guelphdad, you said unless the league specifically states that is is ok then it is not ok. I do no believe that leagues like apa or tap work like that. In some cases the rule books leave a lot out, but I find that unless they specifically say something is not allowed, then it is allowed.
If I have this wrong then I would like to hear from someone who knows the actual position of the apa or tap.
 
Do they not follow the wpa rules unless there is a specific rule stating otherwise?
 
I'm not as familiar with how pool bodies govern (i.e. is stuff inherited up the line from higher bodies) as I am with hockey.

In hockey our House League association has certain rules. Since they are a part of the Ontario Minor Hockey Association any rules not covered in our local association specifically we thus follow the OMHA rules, then their governing body the OHF and then Hockey Canada. So a lower governing body leaves something out, if the rule exists at a higher level it is inherited, we need to follow that higher body's rules.

I would guess in league play for pool it would be the same thing, but someone more familiar with the rules structures might be more sure than I am.
 
I don't like

when someone lays their stick on the table, because most will subtlely put a chalk mark on the cloth where they need to hit the object ball. I think it should be against the rules all the time.
 
Snapshot9 said:
when someone lays their stick on the table, because most will subtly put a chalk mark on the cloth where they need to hit the object ball. I think it should be against the rules all the time.
Click to expand...

You'd almost have to make a rule that the stick or at least the tip may not touch the cloth. A buddy of mine in the APA got warned for "marking" because he's one of those guys who walks around to the shotline, lays his tip on the table, and tries to visualize the where the ghost ball should be. He kind of wriggles his tip here and there trying to find the exact spot so I guess it looked like he was trying 'scribble' chalk into the cloth?? I do a similar thing trying to find the contact point on the rail for a bank.

I dunno, marking kicks and banks is one thing... when you walk around to address the cueball, it's easy to lose that spot on the rail where you needed to aim. But don't think a dime-sized ring of chalk on the table can really help anyone make a cut shot, we already generally know where to send the cue ball. The difference between making or missing a tough cut is one of millimeters, and IMO a scuff of chalk on the cloth can't give you that kind of millimeter-perfect mark. And you still have to deliver the cue ball to the exact spot.
 
:smile:

In TAP league you are allowed to put a piece of chalk on the rail where you want to the cue ball to hit.

Also in TAP league...when it is ball in hand and a skill level #2 is playing, a coach is allowed to pick up the cue ball during a time out and place it where he wants it for the next shot. The opposing team may ask her to pick the cue ball back up and place it back down on the table if they wish.

When this rule first come out, not many people knew about it. Kind of a sneaky thingy. LOL

:grin:
 
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