Thicker cloths = less kicks ?

[Cyril]

It's well known that the balls kicked less on the cloths used in the 70's and 80's with a heavier nap but the downside is the red's don't split so easily. It begs the question, what is more important? I would have thought a level playing field with fewer kicks albeit less frequent century breaks. It would also aleviate some of the problems of "big bounce" cushions. Also, are the balls used now lighter than those used in the 80's?

[itsnoteasy]

Just checked Cyril , supercrystalate balls that were used in the seventies and eighties were , 4.95oz, which is 140g. Which is slightly lighter by a gram or two from my TCs, surprises me as I always thought they were slightly heavier, don't know why I thought that though lol.

[Cyril]

I thought they were lighter now as well. How heavy were the balls used in the Joe Davis era?

[itsnoteasy]

I don't know the weight of the Ivory balls ,I'm guessing JD played with both ivory and crystalate ball. His brother Fred may have played with super crystalate as well ,but I did find this quite interesting.

[Cyril]

What a great clip! Those guys really know their stuff.

[DeanH]

great clip, recorded WSC 2014
seen other clips of Peter Claire at the Thurston museum discussing many old aspects of equipment, great

[grimreaper]

good old aussie wool

[Byrom]

Thicker cloths less kicks yep don't get many kicks down the club in comparison to the big boys but then you have a nap - pro's wont change back they like the super fast napless stuff.

They where trying out a new cloth that was supposed to be a kick stopper think it had more wool in it but was still thin don't know how that went but I think lighting heaters and atmospherics plays a part too - they seem too get far more on the telly than anywhere else.

End of the day the pro's themselves play on false conditions - everything is new for two weeks. Where in normal club land would you ever find conditions like this? Who can afford to re cloth the table every two weeks apart from Sean Murphy