back to the break, i know that when playing on brand new equipment, with simonis 860 cloth, new balls, and true flat italian slate, and large pockets 5"'s if you hit the pack at 17 miles an hour, (medium speed) the balls open like a flower in may, however, if you hit softer, balls don't reach pockets, and harder, the pack gets "choked" and stiffled, now, back to slow nap cloth, let us not forget, that not only do i have slow nap cloth to contend with, but as important, consider this, TIGHT POCKETS! 4 and a quarter inches, what that means, is less balls finding there way to the 6 pockets, on the good side, less scratches! anyone that watches snooker can tell you, you almost never see anyone scratch (an in-off) in british terms, why? the pockets are so small, they usually reject anything coming their way, including the white ball.