Why does it seem like I play worse in the summer?

Reader Question:
Why does it seem like I play worse in the summer?

Billiard Coach Answer:
Table conditions…due to the weather

Humidity! One challenging aspect of cue sports is coping with the weather. Sure, it sounds strange that an indoor activity like pocket billiards has anything to do with the outside climate, but changes in the weather can have dramatic affects on the way we must play our game.

In the summer in the Midwest, we can have a high relative humidity. An outdoor temperature of 85 degrees Fahrenheit may sound great, but not if the relative humidity is 80 percent. That is sticky, uncomfortable weather for humans. The pool rooms do their best to run air conditioning units to keep the pool room air cool and comfortable, but even so, the moisture in the air is many times greater than it would be in the middle of winter.

You may know that cooling moist summer air will cause water to condense on the air conditioning units and need to be drained away. This is because the air is cooled to a lower temperature that its dew point and the excess water is removed. The air does however retain moisture. In contrast, warming winter air which is already dry raises its dew point and actually feels dryer than unconditioned air. This will cause evaporation which is why your skin feels dryer in the winter and may need lotion.

What does this mean to a pool player? Pool table cloth such as Simonis has a very high wool content which has a great affinity to moisture. In the humid summer months, cloth can feel wet and slow because it’s holding onto moisture grabbed from the air. You may have the sensation while racking the balls that the wood rack is difficult to push along the cloth. It may feel sticky just as a t-shirt sticks to a sweaty body. In the winter, the dry, heated air will draw moisture out of the pool cloth.

These ‘wet’ table conditions in the summer play havoc with our pool game. The tables play slower and stingier. You must stroke the cue ball a little harder and with more spin on a wet table to accomplish the same action as you would on a dry table. The rolling balls have more friction because of the water trapped in the bed cloth. They also drag more on the cushions they rub before going into the pocket. This is why you must shoot balls more accurately in the summer. It is much the same as new slick cloth versus year old worn and dirty cloth. It is always easier to ‘slip’ in a shot on brand new cloth if you brush the rail before it goes into the pocket. Dry cloth is much like slick new cloth and moist cloth behaves more like dirty, worn cloth.

Moral of the story: Don’t expect to play quite as well on a steamy summer pool session. You may be dealing with difficult table conditions. Be aware of the extra demands for accuracy and stroke, and play the game as well as the conditions allow.