Ask me about playing pool

[Ray Zee]

i understand that maybe a new table like diamond although i have never seen on may be better than an old brunswick. i wll try to find one and try it out. but its the same if i went to play some baseball. an aluminum bat is also better than a wood one. but i will grab the wood one.

[mosta]

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dinopoker,

This thread is fantastic, and I hope that it loses you one of those stars.

Can you expand upon "contact induced throw", and how to correct for and take advantage of it?

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a few posts have touched on this topic, and I'll try to add a little to the discussion.

if there were no friction, the object ball would always move directly opposite (ie, away from) the point of contact with the cue ball. line up a straight shot into a pocket and mark the point of contact. then hit that same point on the ball but coming in at an angle, as a cut shot. with no friction, the object ball would travel the exact same path when hit at the same point. but with friction we now get a small, extra component perpendicular to the original path travelled. the object ball will roll "long" of the pocket. think of the cue ball as rubbing on the object ball a little bit and pulling it just a bit off line (on the far side of the line).

hitting with outside english reduces, or eliminates, the frictional effect. the cue ball sort of rolls off the object ball instead of rubbing and pulling on it. and so the target point becomes the same natural point as for a straight on shot.

you can observe the frictional effect by setting up this demonstration. kiss/ freeze two object balls together in line to go straight into a pocket. strike the outside ball with the cue ball from an angle. the third ball will miss on the long side (if you set up a long shot and hit it them not too hard). now set it up again but put a dab of spit on the contact point where the object balls kiss. the liquid reduces the friction and now the third ball goes straight into the pocket.

what do you do about this? don't worry about it really. I think all this is too subtle to measure by eye. you will compensate subconsciously as you get good. your cut shots will have to be different depending on what english you are using. your brain will just do it without you realizing once you practice enough. (Byrne I think relates the story of one top player telling how he discovered by direct observation of his shots that cut shots go a bit long. if it's true, it's probably a rare level of ability.)

I guess you could always shoot with outside english. but what about when you don't want that for your leave? the main way to take advantage of it I can think of is when analyzing combinations in clusters. this is most important in straight pool,which isn't played much these days. so it's not all that important I guess. but when you are looking at frozen balls to find a combination, realize that they do not go off straight when you come in at an angle. sometimes you may need to bank into the cluster to come in on the right side to throw a ball towards the pocket when it's lined up a bit off. (come in directly on the near side and you throw it even farther away.)

read Byrne for better explanations and discussions that I can give.

[Phat Mack]

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My guess is you are thinking of the brunswick anniversary which was rounded with some aluminum on the corners and wood aprons. The centennial I think had more aluminum.

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Here's the Centennial:

And the Anniversary:

Both have top quality playing surfaces if maintained properly. My biggest concern would be the rubber. If looking at one, I'd bring a rail gauge or a ruler and make sure the rails were all at an equal height. Then I'd yank them every few inches and look to see if they were unglued. Finally, I'd drive balls into the rail every 2 or 3 inches and listen for thunks. I'd probably plan to price out getting the rails re-rubbered.

I learned to play 3C on a well-kept Centennial, and have a high opinion of them, although if I get on a modern heated table and have to shoot a pop-corn ticky, the ball tends to go nine rails. [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

[dinopoker]

Brunswick has a history of making good tables, but their newest commercial table, the Gold Crown IV is a step backwards from the Gold Crown III. The rails are simply playing too fast and that's changing the game.

I said earlier that I like the Diamond Professional, here's a pic of one with the light included. They come in several different wood grains, including oak, rosewood, and a dark smoked grey.



I am also a lover of the Kim Steel tables, which may play even better than the Diamond. They feature a frame made of steel and what I happen to think are the best cut pockets in the industry.





They're made in Spain, I believe, and therefore hard to get, but well worth it.

Edit: the link for Kim Steel is http://www.billaressam.com/