Table reclothed + line up = tramlines.

[CoolBlue]

Pretty much what the thread title says:

The match table at our local club has been reclothed with a championship cloth. On the advice of the table fitter, it has been STRONGLY advised that no one attempts line up practice on this table as this WILL create tramlines.

Can anyone verify if this is true??? Surely then, ( based on the same logic ), you must not pot 2-3 consecutive blacks ( or blues ) etc in the same frame, for fear of doing the same thing?

Thank you in advance

[tetricky]

Cloth or slate? Cloth definitely wears, and will wear around spots over time...mainly from when balls are replaced....but a cloth is a replaceable item. Reasonable wear should be expected. I remember many years ago being told that if analysed under a microscope you would be able to see wear channels from the black spots to pockets. I've played some old tables in my time, and I find it hard to believe this is of anything other than a small fraction of orders of magnitude of the give in the cloth. I've never personally seen any channeling effect (though not all slates are flat in all directions).

So I would imagine it could wear the cloth, possibly, over time....as all cloth wears. It's always going to be mostly around the spots, I would have thought, and the line-up shouldn't affect that much more than any other form of practice.

[Inoffthered]

Cloth or slate?

Cloth .

[Terry Davidson]

The only tram lines I get are straight down the middle because I 'shoot the spots' a few times before I start practicing and also long blues as I am presently trying to work on something and I play quite a few of those.

The line-up will never cause tram lines as the cueball is never being played from the same spot all the time. Yes, you will get wear spots around the black and pink spots but you would get that anyway with normal play.

[Geoff Large]

Yes it is true

You get tram lines from the black and pink spots like a letter X

line ups should be done on the roughest table in the club that is next due a re-cover not on fresh re-clothed tables

[inevermissblue]

If your using the clubs balls that are provided. Then its very possible that these are dirty and if greasy this will greatly accelerate the wear and tear! We have just had our league match table done, and will only use clean ball sets including the clubs set. It should be common sense to use clean balls on a clean newly re-covered table.

[j6uk]

dusting the over lights, clean balls, light brush an blocking after a sesh, and washing hands befor you play should be routine

[luke-h]

dusting the over lights, clean balls, light brush an blocking after a sesh, and washing hands befor you play should be routine

i always keep hands clean and clean the balls its a pity others didnt as nearly all the time i go down my local the balls are filthy with greasy hands and the tables in a dire state.

[ace man]

Regular brushing and ironing helps.
What helps even more I think is not to respot your colours to exact millimetre when practising. There's no need for that, you're not in a match. Reds certainly shouldn't be positioned the same every time. Little variance is enough. My lineups and other repetitive routines look a little like a drunk person set them up.
Besides, I prefer to simply scatter the reds to random positions.