The Comprehensive Matters Of Billiards Rack
Sunday, December 19th, 2010A billiards rack is a frame usually made of plastic or wood that is used to organize billiard balls at the beginning of a game. So this is not kind of industrial pallet racking or industrial steel shelves that is on your mind. A triangular shaped billiards rack is used for eight-ball, straight pool, one-pocket, snooker, bank pool and many other games. Each game has unique rules for racking. Usually it is the foul spot of the pool table that is used as the apex. The proper position to place the racked balls is marked by the foul mark which is a small marking.
It is traditional to put the yellow 1 ball at the apex for eight-ball game whilst the rest of the balls may be placed in any order except for the 8 ball which has to be placed at the center. Sometimes the balls are placed alternating with a solid and a striped ball, this is mostly seen in amateur competitions. Make sure to push the billiards rack so that the ball at the apex is on the foul mark and that the side that is opposite the apex is close to the end of the table and parallel to it too. It is important that the balls are packed tightly together or when the break shot is made they will not break properly. Push the balls toward the apex with the tips of your fingers so they are packed tightly.
Depending on the game the order of the balls in the billiards rack varies although the steps to racking the balls are the same. Such as for straight pool the 1 ball is placed at the right corner and the 5 ball is placed at the left corner. All other balls stays in order. For a game of bank pool and one ball, the balls may be placed in the billiards rack at random. Ideally a diamond shaped rack is used for a game of nine-ball billiards but there’s nothing wrong with using a triangular billiard rack as well.
The difference with diamond shaped racks are that one of the two corners will be placed as the apex while the other corner will point at the table closest to its end. The 1 ball is always placed at the apex because in the nine-ball game the cue ball must strike the lowest numbered ball on the table first on each shot, whilst the remaining balls can be placed in random order in the rack.
