Rack ‘em up!
The news of when the local pubs could or might be re-opening is starting to sound even grimmer than we imagined. It is now looking as if it might be March of 2021 or even longer before they will reopen, and maybe not for pool playing. What did you say? March of 2021 or longer?
Yeppers — if it is true, we are in for the longest run ever for not playing in the popular Fort Bragg Pool League.
If there is no community spread within our town, I wonder, couldn’t we open local businesses and keep close tabs on our local infection rates? We could close if infection spirals start. Because if there is no community spread of the contagion why have all of our local business people closed up, what is a reasonable rationale for that?
In the meantime, there are small groups of people that are playing at the private venues. The players either have an aged relative or are friends with someone that is vulnerable to infection. The very last thing they want is to put them at risk. Those groups, with a little effort at being careful, have had zero problems so far. Maybe, because there is zero community transmission
hen you need your cue ball to rebound off the rail in a direction that is not “natural,” that is when youmust use a left or right side spin to gain the desired shape. The problems start when you hit say, the left side of a cue ball spinning it counter-clockwise the shot will deflect the cue ball slightly off-line to the right until it later comes back close into line. It doesn’t matter what cue stick you have, there will be some deflection.
Older cue sticks will generally deflect more than the newer so-called low deflection cues. The new low-deflection cues really do work to reduce but not eliminate deflection. In just a fewpractice sessions, you will learn your old or newcue stick’s deflection rate and make the adjustment for it on your shot. When your cue ball deflects to the right you will need to play the object ball for a fuller hit than you want, then the deflection that your spin shot created will deflect the cue ball to a hopefully proper cut line.
It will just take a few minutes to learn your cue stick deflection rate. The harder you hit the cue ball with sidespin the more cue ball deflection, so practice will make the difference in your success rate. Once you have it figured out, it will be just another easy shot.
Tex had a few people over to see his new table. The players thought the table was low and measured it. The regulation states that a pool table should be between 29 to. 31 inches from the floor to the top of the rail or
cushion. Fine, but with the table Tex has, it is a different height at opposite ends.
Huh? You would think it would roll weirdly, and it may, but not by very much. This table was “leveled” by shimming the slate at the top of the table. There is a plan to take some long levels over later and see what the levels are. It seems one of the most difficult things to have with a pool table is a perfectly level table.
I remember when J.H. spent weeks working on just leveling the base of a pool table and then securing it firmly to the cement floor? He was being a perfectionist, I thought. Then, when he spent more weeks finely sanding and leveling the slate, I thought way too much time was being spent doing so. When the table was finished it was a perfectly level table. In fact, it remains the very best table I ever played on before or since.
J.H. understood that a perfectly flat table is best, and you don’t get one if you cut corners when setting up and leveling the base, and then again when you level the slate. The table eventually was moved to a new home and is not the same perfectly level table. It is a perfectly good and playable table — like Tex’s — but neither is a perfectly level table.
CUETIP » Take some time to play pool by yourself. Practice straight-in shots to make sure you are stroking your cue in a straight manner. Practice draw shots as well as follow shots. Maybe spin shots or some bank shots. Just 30 minutes of dedicated practice once a week will improve your cue ball control.