The IPT Cloth - Will it be chaged?

SirBanksALot said:
I'm certainly not the caliber player that Terry or Jimmy M is but, from my perspective, playing on slower cloth is a different game.

The point is that the cloth ISN'T slower when it's brand new. They're playing on brand new cloth.
 
fur balls

you are right intially the speeds are close..the difference is you are picking fur balls off the table for a couple of weeks..and oh by the way have you ever shot over a fur ball???
Terry O.:rolleyes:
 
KT indicated that the IPT will authorize another (samonis like) cloth for qualifiers. Heavy nap for tournaments and another cloth that pool rooms will not have to change after each qualifier. I believe regular customers won't like nap cloth as it slows down with age. Top players can adjust to any cloth. Older players grew up on nap cloth and know the adjustments that are necessary.
 
Shooting Over Fur Balls...

trainer said:
you are right intially the speeds are close..the difference is you are picking fur balls off the table for a couple of weeks..and oh by the way have you ever shot over a fur ball???
Terry O.:rolleyes:


(As a matter of fact - I have shot over fur balls ! My future ex-cat (feline) seems to like perching on my pool table. How those fur balls get under the table cover - I have no idea!):D

I was in Albuquerque a couple of weeks ago and when I "slow rolled" - the ball did some unusual little hops. Those little "nap balls" did add some excitement/uncertainty to the evening.
 
SirBanksALot said:
(As a matter of fact - I have shot over fur balls ! My future ex-cat (feline) seems to like perching on my pool table. How those fur balls get under the table cover - I have no idea!):D

I was in Albuquerque a couple of weeks ago and when I "slow rolled" - the ball did some unusual little hops. Those little "nap balls" did add some excitement/uncertainty to the evening.

Our cats seem to have an affection for our pool table as well. One of our cats, the one that is most likely to think the table is his personal bed, is black. I bought a white table cover so I could see when he's been sleeping on the table so I know when to cat-slap him (as opposed to b**ch-slapping). :D

By the way, I have some Simonis 860 that, for whatever reason, plays as slow as any rubber-backed Mali I ever played on. It seems that a cloth manufacturer, such as Simonis, could create a slower cloth specifically for the I.P.T., but without the giant furballs and excessive sliding. I just don't see the logic behind using an inferior product other than for Sigel to relive the glory days. Like I said, I'm sure they can create the right speed without the nap/slide.
 
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NaClBandit said:
They were literally using a lint roller on the tables between matches.

I imagine that Johnny Archer will have a field day picking lint off of this cloth. He may never get around to shooting.
 
NaClBandit said:
They were literally using a lint roller on the tables between matches.
Your exactly right, here is a picture from one of the qualification tournaments, not sure which one, but here are two of the lovely IPT assistants and right behind them (if you can take your attention off of them) is the lint roller.
 
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Icon of Sin said:
Your exactly right, here is a picture from one of the qualification tournaments, not sure which one, but here are two of the lovely IPT assistants and right behind them (if you can take your attention off of them) is the lint roller.

What lint roller, I couldn't see it anywhere? :confused:

Was she hiding it up her top? :eek:
 
onepocket1 said:
KT indicated that the IPT will authorize another (samonis like) cloth for qualifiers. Heavy nap for tournaments and another cloth that pool rooms will not have to change after each qualifier. I believe regular customers won't like nap cloth as it slows down with age. Top players can adjust to any cloth. Older players grew up on nap cloth and know the adjustments that are necessary.

Maybe they could use Simonis and not stretch it very tight for qualifiers and then they can stretch it tight afterwards for the regular room. lol.
 
I was in Atlanta when they had the qualifier at the Pool Room last month, and got to play on the tables with the new cloth both before and after the qualifier. It did strike me as being slower than the other tables there, by a fair bit. You could *see* little green lumps of cloth building up across the surface. And yes, I recall seeing folks with lint rollers trotting around while the qualifier was going on.

Too bad all the qualifiers in the US are done - it'd be interesting if someone could have gotten right there on the table and snapped a good close-up of the cloth surface, along with photos of other tables with different cloth as a comparison. Is anyone going to be in Weert with a camera? :D
 
hardtimes

I was told that hardtimes is keeping that cloth on for the next 3 months..I wonder if someone out there might get a close-up of those little furrrrrrrrrr balls..
Terry O.:cool:
 
Is IPT cloth an attempt to improve the game or just a marketing strategy to sell a product that nobody really wants?
If you want to make the game tougher, just tighten the pockets. Its that simple.
Then again, you cant sell 'tighter pockets'.

BTW, it looked to me from the photos that they were playing on Brunswick tables.

Gabber
 
Jimmy M. said:
Our cats seem to have an affection for our pool table as well. One of our cats, the one that is most likely to think the table is his personal bed, is black. I bought a white table cover so I could see when he's been sleeping on the table so I know when to cat-slap him (as opposed to b**ch-slapping). :D

By the way, I have some Simonis 860 that, for whatever reason, plays as slow as any rubber-backed Mali I ever played on. It seems that a cloth manufacturer, such as Simonis, could create a slower cloth specifically for the I.P.T., but without the giant furballs and excessive sliding. I just don't see the logic behind using an inferior product other than for Sigel to relive the glory days. Like I said, I'm sure they can create the right speed without the nap/slide.

Jimmy M.,
Thank heavens you have some discretion; I thought you were going to say you "whipped" your pussycat.

P.S. - at least one professional hated the little fur-balls, and all the lint that adheres to the balls.
 
Fast Cloth Slow Cloth

The billiard industry in the USA has always played on a traditional wool blend cloth. Mali, Forstmann and Championship Titan to name a few. It wasn't until Simonis came to the men's tour and offered them a royalty to play on their cloth for 9 ball, that launched the Worsted business into the commerical rooms.

9 ball requires a faster worsted style cloth and 8 ball/straight pool always had a slower playing wool blend cloth. That woolen cloth today does not need to pile if they use the Championship Titan brand which is pre-shaven to elimante the piling.

Control vs. speed vs different style games allows for some variety, not all will like the required cloth but the table is level for all players.

Seyaltr.
Billiard Industry cloth guy
 
seyaltr said:
The billiard industry in the USA has always played on a traditional wool blend cloth. Mali, Forstmann and Championship Titan to name a few. It wasn't until Simonis came to the men's tour and offered them a royalty to play on their cloth for 9 ball, that launched the Worsted business into the commerical rooms.

9 ball requires a faster worsted style cloth and 8 ball/straight pool always had a slower playing wool blend cloth. That woolen cloth today does not need to pile if they use the Championship Titan brand which is pre-shaven to elimante the piling.

Control vs. speed vs different style games allows for some variety, not all will like the required cloth but the table is level for all players.

Seyaltr.
Billiard Industry cloth guy

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Obsurd, simonis has been making cloth for over 300 years. Simonis #1 was the main cloth up to WWII when the Nazi's took over the plant and made them make uniforms for their army. Only then did american cloth which was slower, thicker and pilled up took over. In the 80's simonois set up an office in the usa and began stocking it here. Prior to that it was only used in the major championships when they imported bolts for the events. More world championships have been won on it than any other cloth. It is, the cloth of champions. None other, compare. Most of the world today, prefers and plays on simonis 760 which is much faster than 860. Slow cloth in pool is a move backwards.
 
that's what i'm talkin about!!

yrraltsafone said:
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Obsurd, simonis has been making cloth for over 300 years. Simonis #1 was the main cloth up to WWII when the Nazi's took over the plant and made them make uniforms for their army. Only then did american cloth which was slower, thicker and pilled up took over. In the 80's simonois set up an office in the usa and began stocking it here. Prior to that it was only used in the major championships when they imported bolts for the events. More world championships have been won on it than any other cloth. It is, the cloth of champions. None other, compare. Most of the world today, prefers and plays on simonis 760 which is much faster than 860. Slow cloth in pool is a move backwards.
Finally, a voice of reason..All these excuses for using this slow poop cloth is just that(poooop)..There is no reason to go back to the 50's to find bad cloth, we have plenty of it on the market today..The game of pool has evolved because of Simonis and it's competitors, as has the game of billiards which i'm sure Deno is aware of..You might not personally like it,but who cares!!
Terry O.:cool:
 
My 2 cents

From what I understand, the IPT chose the slower cloth to help the "cream rise to the top". In other words, the slower cloth will make the better players consistently have more success than the weaker players.

If this is their motive all along, I think the KOTH tournament and the past four qualifiers have justified their choice of cloth. No one can argue that the top players in the KOTH tournament and the players that have won their cards are not worthy of their accomplishments. I personally like their choice of using slow cloth.

On a semi-serious note, their choice of the slower cloth might hurt the IPT in the long run. The slower cloth totally plays to the advantage of the Filipino players, who are used to playing on tables that use carpet as cloth in 95 degree weather and 100% humidity. The Pinoys know how to adapt to any equipment, because they have grown up playing in the worst conditions. I feel it is no coincidence that the top 3 players in the KOTH were Filipinos, and 3 out of the 8 qualifiers are Filipinos as well. Maybe the IPT should switch to Simonis to help level the playing field. ;)
 
jsp said:
If this is their motive all along, I think the KOTH tournament and the past four qualifiers have justified their choice of cloth. No one can argue that the top players in the KOTH tournament and the players that have won their cards are not worthy of their accomplishments. I personally like their choice of using slow cloth.

Despite an upset here and there, the best players have been winning all of the tournaments long before the pool world switched to Simonis and after the switch as well. Only the top players win tournaments. There may be an occasional dark horse, but the same people win all of the tournaments regardless of the cloth they're playing on. Just switching to 8-ball is likely to have the effect they're looking for because there's less luck in the game.

I wouldn't be surprised if they switched cloth at some point - probably around the time that KT realizes that his buddy couldn't dominate the tour if they laid sod on the tables.
 
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