Bouncing balls on top & bottom cushions

[narl]

Freshly brushed and sanitised table today. Tested the white up and down the table at medium pace, the ball bounced on the top and bottom cushions. Both are steel block, has only really happened over the last few days. It has never done it before.

Anyone know what might be the cause?

[mikee]

Worn cloth , and or worn cushion cloth ,as the cloth wears it becomes thinner ,altering the area were the ball strikes the nose of the cushion .Re cloth table or take of cushions all round and put a thin piece of cloth under the cushion between table bed and cushion .Steel block tables seem more prone to this as they wear .How old is the baize and when was table last serviced .

[narl]

Table was recovered on March 12th of this year.
It wasn’t used much then lockdown happened.
The other table done on March 13th also steel block doesn’t appear to be affected in anyway.

I would brush / block the tables every day, the tables would be ironed maybe twice / three times a week.

The cloth being used is 6811 30oz tournament

[itsnoteasy]

Just a pure guess, were the cushion put back on tight against the bed ? If they are raised a wee bit would that cause a bounce ?

[narl]

Just a pure guess, were the cushion put back on tight against the bed ? If they are raised a wee bit would that cause a bounce ?

I think so yeah. This only started a few days ago, I was thinking I was maybe brushing the table a little to much but after speaking to the table fitter (he recovers a few pro players table) he advised the table should be brushed / blocked daily and ironed maybe 2-3 times weekly, as the cloth is still heavy no need to iron it every day.

[Danger Steve]

Cushions being too high wouldn’t cause bounce-up, just a less optimum bounce, the trick is to set the blocks & rubber as low as possible so that the bottom nose of the rubber contacts the balls just above centre, too high and you loose optimum bounce, too low and the balls will start to bounce upwards, though this will only be noticeable when a ball strikes the cushion at speed. Interestingly when I replaced the blocks and rubbers on my own table and everything was set perfectly, the bare rubber cushions bounced upwards dramatically, even at a slower speed!! Hence, a really worn cushion cloth = bounce-up.

If you have a metal ruler, try measuring off the bed to the top of the cushion, should be around 39-40mm (off the top of my head) if it’s 37/38mm or less then the cushions are set too low and will be causing the bounce-up. Try measuring the side cushions as a comparison. A simple fix as suggested would be to loosen off the cushions and put something like strips of cloth or thin card underneath between the bed and the cushion and then re-tighten. Test rolling a ball down the table again at speed and see if that has fixed the problem!

[narl]

Cushions being too high wouldn’t cause bounce-up, just a less optimum bounce, the trick is to set the blocks & rubber as low as possible so that the bottom nose of the rubber contacts the balls just above centre, too high and you loose optimum bounce, too low and the balls will start to bounce upwards, though this will only be noticeable when a ball strikes the cushion at speed. Interestingly when I replaced the blocks and rubbers on my own table and everything was set perfectly, the bare rubber cushions bounced upwards dramatically, even at a slower speed!! Hence, a really worn cushion cloth = bounce-up.

If you have a metal ruler, try measuring off the bed to the top of the cushion, should be around 39-40mm (off the top of my head) if it’s 37/38mm or less then the cushions are set too low and will be causing the bounce-up. Try measuring the side cushions as a comparison. A simple fix as suggested would be to loosen off the cushions and put something like strips of cloth or thin card underneath between the bed and the cushion and then re-tighten. Test rolling a ball down the table again at speed and see if that has fixed the problem!

I will probably have to get in contact with the table fitter and get him out to have a look to see what is going on with the cushions, it could well be someone has maybe sat on the cushion causing something to move, then again it is the top and bottom cushions bouncing a little bit, seems to be a bit of a head scratcher this one.

[mikee]

Strange one ,seeing as cloth is new ,as Steve also says wearing of cloth would give you these problems ,but that is not the problem with this table it would seem .Has the table seen any drastic temperature changes recently .

[frazz]

If u made the cushions too wet that causes the balls to spring off crazily also so he careful Wen using the sanitizer

[Danger Steve]

Reading this back this morning, I think I’ve been getting bouncing confused with the balls jumping off the cushions... I shouldn’t reply to posts when half asleep

[itsnoteasy]

Reading this back this morning, I think I’ve been getting bouncing confused with the balls jumping off the cushions... I shouldn’t reply to posts when half asleep

No , I think you are right, he does mean jumping / bouncing of the bed.

[Danger Steve]

Definitely a cushion height problem then!

[DeanH]

I sometimes think the fitter can make the cloth a tad too tight on the rails and this pulls down the contact face of the rubber a touch and this can be non-uniform along the length of a rail.
just a thought I have had over the years

[mikee]

I sometimes think the fitter can make the cloth a tad too tight on the rails and this pulls down the contact face of the rubber a touch and this can be non-uniform along the length of a rail.
just a thought I have had over the years

Yes could be , in which case it should ease up or slacken off at some point .Has it done it since it was fitted or just started doing it now ,I think what ever it is a cushion /rubber height problem .