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Pool Table Felt and Cloth
Tuesday, November 30, 2004 - 08:02 AM EST

Pool Table Felt and Cloth

Pool table cloth, or pool table felt, has been around for centuries.  The basics of having a cloth surface o­n a pool table started because the table looked more appealing, the balls rolled true, the wear and tear o­n the table itself was reduced and the sounds were muffled.  Many refer to pool table cloth as pool table felt because most of the early pool table cloth was very “nappy” or fuzzy.  This is the difference in the two styles of pool table cloth that exist.  The two styles are directional (close up pictured to right) and non-directional.  Directional cloth is very fuzzy where non-directional pool table cloth is not.

Directional pool table felt gets its name because of the way it plays and the way it’s cleaned.  With directional pool table felt, the fuzz or “nap” is designed to lay in o­ne direction.  It will actually cause balls to roll slightly off and even make the table appear not to be level because the nap can raise the playing surface up a few thousandths of an inch, which will redirect a slow rolling ball ever so slightly.  Players will often notice a different color or color pattern from the cloth being touched during play.  A pool table felt will have two different shades of green depending o­n whether the nap is raised or not.  It’s much like a baseball field that has two shades of green depending o­n the direction the mower cut.  When a player addresses the cue ball, they run their hand along the cloth, thus raising the nap or lowering already raised nap depending o­n the direction they move.  In the past, because this phenomenon was present, it was an element of the game.  There are even strict rules to how the pool table felt is installed and cleaned.  A pool table cloth should always be installed with the nap lying down if it is brushed towards the foot spot (area where you rack the balls.)  Thus, the cloth should always be brushed towards the racking end of the table if it is non-directional pool table felt.  The benefits to directional cloth are very simple.  It costs less and generally lasts longer than non-directional pool table cloth. There are several makers of pool table felt and cloth that provide different weights of cloth.  The heavier a weight, the slower a cloth will play.  In other words, the balls will slow down faster.  The heavier cloth will last longer and is generally the cloth used in most bars around the world.  Poolrooms generally use a lighter directional cloth as o­ne of the tools to enhance the playing experience.

Non-directional pool table felt and cloth (pictured right)is the most popular cloth used by serious players.  The reason is the playability.  This type of pool table cloth rolls very consistent because there is no nap present to redirect the course of a moving ball.  The cue ball direction and even distance traveled can be controlled much more accurately.  Generally this type of cloth is considered “fast” because the balls seem to roll farther and smaller amounts of spin can allow a player to experience draw, follow and english (side spin.)  The setback with non-directional pool table cloth is that it is generally more expensive and doesn’t wear as well.  Both types of pool table cloth and felt have their advantages and uses.  The choice is up to the owner of the pool table ultimately.  If the owner wants to play but doesn’t want to be a professional then directional pool table cloth and felt can suffice.  If the pool table owner wants to experience more cue ball reaction to spin and is more particular to the rolling of balls, then they should invest in a non-directional pool table cloth.

Non-directional Pool Table Cloth and Felt:

Simonis pool table cloth and felt

Championship pool table cloth and felt

Sterling pool table cloth and felt

Directional Pool Table Cloth and Felt:

Mali pool table cloth and felt

Fortsmann pool table cloth and felt

Pool Cues, Pool Sticks and Cue Sticks
Sunday, November 21, 2004 - 09:35 PM EST

Pool Cues, Pool Sticks and Cue Sticks

Ask any great player and they'll tell you that the most import piece of equipment that a pool player can own would is a pool cue.  The modern two-piece pool cue has been around for over a century.  The pool cue actually started as a "mace", which was an instrument that had a club-like end and the player would simply scoot, shove or hit the cueball with as they desired.  The o­ne-piece cue as we know it today when a leather tip was added at o­ne end so to decrease miscues. chalk soon followed aftwerwards and the evolution of english and spin took over the imagination of the players.  Players soon decided to travel with their own cues, since they noticed that they played better with a familiar instrument, and the two-piece cue became an overnight necessity.  About that time, cuemakers invented methods to secure the two pieces of the cue.  This spawned the invention of several modern-day joints that pool cues use today.  Several advancements have been made to enhance the pool cue and it's playing characteristics, but for the most part all cues have the same elements of construction; butt, shaft, joint, tip and ferrule. 

There are numerous brands of pool cues available in the market today.  Most of the brands fall into two basic categories; custom cues or production cues.  Custom pool cues are cues that have hand chosen materials and have an artisan construct them to the highest qualities.  They would be synonomous with a Ferrari.   Production cues usually lack a portion of the hands o­n attention that a custom cue receives, but they also lack the price tag that accompanies the more sought after custom names.  Make no mistake, a good production cue will improve a players' game.  Production cues can be synonomous with anything from a Ford Escort to a Cadillac or a Lexus. Prices range from $10 to over a $1000 in this category.  The best way to judge these cues is by the way they feel in your hand.  If you have any questions, you can always visit our pool cue forum that is devoted to pool cue questions.

Pool Cues and Pool Sticks:

Action Pool Cues, Blaze Pool Cues, Cuetec Pool Cues, Hampton Ridge Pool Cues, 5280 Pool Cues, Tempest Pool Cues,  McDermott Pool Cues, Predator Pool Cues, Meucci Pool Cues, Viking Pool Cues, Joss Pool Cues, Pechauer Pool Cues, , Sierra Pool Cues, Fury Pool Cues and Mezz Pool Cues.

What most players need to do is to get away from house cues that have lousy tips and varnished shafts.  These o­ne-piece cues or bar cues are synonomous with a subway or city bus.  They'll get you top where you're going, but it won't be in style and rarely o­n time.  In a word, o­ne-piece cues offer limited playing characteristics.  The characteritic that most house cues lack is the materials of construction.  The most important of this category is the wood in the shaft.   It should be a Hard Rock Canadian Maple and not Pine or Ramin wood.  These woods are not flexible oand do not allow the cue stick to bend and apply english during the stroke.  A shaft that bends during the shot is like a loaded rubber band or spring that snaps back and releases energy into the cueball in the form of speed and spin.  So the next time you're forced to shoot with a bar cue, choose the o­ne that has a shaft made from Canadian Hard Rock Maple. 

Visit InsidePOOL for information about pool cues, cue sticks, pool sticks and billiard cues.