How often to brush the table

[Rjcmcmlxxix]

I always start the day and the week by brushing and vaccuming the table. The other day I started off by practicing by the black ball pocket for some long shots to get my eye in. I did this for about 15 minutes. I then started practising line up. I kept noticing every shot I played gently would roll toward the top end of the pocket. I was freaking out as I just got my table done. I was convinced I had a roll in the table. I noticed that a few times immediately after hitting the object ball it would gradually roll of line from the moment it was hit.

I brushed it over again and the roll had completely stopped. I have noticed Ronnie constantly brushing the cloth forward with his hand. But its clear that I can see that when the cloth is brushed against the grain it causes the ball to move off line.

Firstly when I aim in snooker, I brush my hand toward the cueball. So I have to make sure I fix it up from now. But I was thinking. Sometimes in competition I might get to a table thats had 3 frames on it already. What do I do. A huge part of my game is just knocking in shots. I have a gentle game at times, I don't want to have to start compensating for my shots. Is it ok to brush the pathline before your shots?

Also can someone explain to me why the ball moves away from the direction of the cloth when it is brushed ACROSS the grain? If I hit a pink or black to corner, It goes top high. I am aware that its next to impossible to trickle a tight shot into the middle pocket against the grain.

[Deepscrew]

slightly confusing to read but..... only brush the table from baulk to the black ball end. Never in any other direction. Also, dont hoover the table. Its pointless if your brushing it properly and will only damage the cloth.

If you have a thick cloth the nap will push the ball into the middle bag playing up the table (from black ball end towards baulk). I fine cloth the nap is less obvious.

[Terry Davidson]

Rjcm:

Using a vacuum on the cloth will cut the life at least in half because you are not only sucking the nap off the cloth but it is also standing up. The best thing to do is brush it lightly, with not a lot of pressure just to remove the chalk marks. Always brush from baulk to top and that will help lay down the nap.

Next, you should block the table. A blocker is just a piece of 2" x 4" wood with a cloth stapled tightly to it so the nap is out. The piece of wood should be 10-15" wide and you use it just like an iron, going from baulk to top end.

If you are in a fairly dry climate that's all you need to do. With a club table this should be done each morning and perhaps before evening matches. With a private table every second morning is fine. If you are in a damp climate you should iron the cloth perhaps once or twice a week.

Also, if in a high humidity environment see if you can get a dehumidifier and try and keep the humidity between 45% to 50% and the table will remain fast and you shouldn't experience any nap-effect roll-offs

Terry

[DeanH]

as previously mentioned, do not hoover the cloth only use a brush (from baulk to black in parallel with the long side of the table) and if you have, an iron and a napping block; but I think the main question Rjcmcmlxxix is asking is how often do you brush the cloth with your hand, i.e during play.
I would say that I do this infrequently and usually after I have just done a shot that leaves a chalk mark on the cloth. I tend not to do this before I take the shot. If I notice severe finger drag marks I may brush them down before the shot.
But in summary I do not brush the cloth with my hand that much during a match as I am focussing on my game not the condition of the table that much.
Again, the hand brushing must be in the same direction as with a brush - and not like the person I played last night, where he did circles with the palm of his hand and then a final brush with the back of his hand in the correct direction! argh!

[Rjcmcmlxxix]

Lol, I understand the direction in brushing the cloth.

I was referring to hand marks disturbing the cloth. Like I said after a while It was causing my shots to lead away from the pockets. I didn't know about vacumming, I just had a lot of dust early on before I sealed my room, and continued to do so.