Billiard Supplies

Billiards is a fun recreation for many people and having a pool table in your family's recreation room is a great way to entertain friends and family. Although, billiards is considered to be a skillful game, having a billiards table to practice on, will be beneficial for improving your skills. If you are considering the additional of a billiards room in your home, the following billiard supplies are essential for a successful game of pool.
Billiards Table
The pool table is the largest and the most prominent type of billiard supplies. Standard pool tables are available in three lengths; seven, eight or nine feet. Typically a pool hall or club has 9 foot tables, while homeowners typically have a 8 foot table in order to save on space. Each table has six pockets with rubber bumpers between the pockets. The base is usually made from a thick, smooth and level piece of slate, which is covered by a piece of felt cloth. The felt covering is available in a variety of covers such as red, yellow, green and black. The quality of the felt is important as the felt is what makes the ball travel smoothly and provide accurate shots.
Pool Balls
The balls are also one of the important billiard supplies you will need. In a standard game of pool, there are fifteen balls, which are numbered from one to fifteen and a solid white ball, which is the cue ball. The balls are also either striped or solid. There are seven striped balls and seven solid balls, plus the black 8 ball.
Cue Sticks
The cue stick is what is used to hit the balls. Cue sticks come in two types; a single cue, which is the most common type of cue stick or a double cue, which is broken down into two sections, the butt and the shaft. Single cues are typically made from plastic, graphite or lightweight wood. They come in a variety of weights ranging from 14 oz to 22 and they vary in price, depending on the weight as well as the style and materials used in making them. It is also recommended that you have a cue stand, which is designed to hold all of the cue sticks to prevent damage if they are laid on the floor or leaned against a wall.
Ball Rack
A ball rack is used to group the balls together. They are both triangle and diamond shaped racks to choose from, depending on the type of game you prefer. Racks are made from either or wood or plastic and those made from wood are typically more expensive, however, they last longer than plastic racks.
Additional Accessories
Pool chalk is one the billiard supplies you will need in order to have control of the ball and prevent friction between the ball and cue stick. Pool table lights are installed above the center of the pool table and are beneficial for proper visibility of your shots. A cover for the pool table helps to prevent spills and dust from damaging the felt.

MyReviewsNow.net offers information regarding billiard supplies. For more on selecting a billiards table, please visit us at MyReviewsNow.net.

The Difference Is in the Details - Selecting Skateboard Bushings and Risers

Whether you've been a skateboarder for a long time, or are just getting started, it won't take long to realize that although the main parts of your board are indeed important, it's necessary to pay attention to the smaller aspects, such as skateboard bushings and risers, too.
The Purpose of Your Bushings
If you turn your board on its underside, you'll notice a T-shaped axle. In the skateboarding world, it's called a truck. The bushings are rubbery O-shaped parts that fit within the truck and contribute to the board's ability to turn. They also play a role in the sensations that a rider feels when travelling over certain surfaces.
Usually, each truck will have two bushings, with each one serving a particular purpose. The larger of the two normally fits into the centre of the truck and makes a difference in the springiness of the skateboard. The smaller bushing rests directly below the bolt that holds the skateboard together. The bolt is called a kingpin. The second bushing makes it easier to adjust the skateboard truck so that it feels tighter or looser to a rider.
As you might imagine, the desired tightness or looseness is largely due to a combination of personal preferences, and the specific ways that the skateboard is being used. Regardless, riders usually greatly appreciate that the second bushing makes it simpler to perform quick adjustments, even if they don't normally consider the overall purpose of their skateboard bushings and risers at length.
What About the Risers?
Now you should understand the purpose of skateboard bushings, and risers are important, too. They're also rubber-like, but specifically, they keep the skateboard and wheels separated. Sometimes, when riders turn sharply, or are trying out some new tricks on the halfpipe, the board and wheels make contact with each other, which causes excess friction, also known as "wheel bite". If a rider is inexperienced and not aware of how to control the board when this happens, they'll end up taking a nasty fall.
Risers help to prevent the occurrence of "wheel bite" so that riders can turn sharply without worrying about extra bumpiness. Some enthusiasts also feel that both skateboard bushings and risers can prolong the life of the board itself because the parts work together to give riders a smoother experience, but also help the board withstand the impact from hard landings.
No matter which type of riding that you do, it's important to understand the purpose of each skateboard part, and also know how to spot signs of wear. When you're aware of when skateboard bushings and risers be replaced as well as other parts, you'll be able to practice the sport of skateboarding safely, and have more fun, too.

Skates R Us specialises in the online sale of extreme sports equipments such as roller skates, kick scooters, skateboards, ice skates, etc. Get skateboard bushings and risers at affordable price.

The History of Billiards

Croquet played on a table?
Did you know that Billiards is a game which actually derived from the game of Croquet? A game played by the upper class societies, by kings and queens and pillars of the community. Lawn Billiards as the game was at the time was played by the masses, it did not matter in the slightest who you were, it was played and enjoyed.
Mary Queen of Scots had her own Billiard table, made out of wood and clothed with a beautiful green fabric which was intended to mimic the grass in which it was once played. After her execution in February 1587, she was wrapped in her billiard table cloth.
After a short dip in popularity in the game somewhere around the late 1800's the game of billiards took off again big time in 1945 when the first pool tournaments took place. Since then the game has grown from strength to strength attracting more and more players and spawning more professional players.
Variations of the game
There are actually two versions of the game of billiards which are well known to date which date from the 1500's, carom Billiards or three cushion billiards as it is sometimes known, and the other version is pocket Billiards, more about the variations of the game is explained as follows.
8 Ball pool or billiards is a game where the ball with the number 8 on it is sat in the middle of all the other Bakelite billiard balls inside the triangle rack, when the rack is removed then the leading player plays the white ball to break the triangle of balls and the game begins.
Three railed-carom Billiards is played a little differently in that the table does not have any pockets in which to pocket the ball, instead you play the game with two white balls and a red ball. The idea is to hit one of the white balls which will hit one of the other balls, sending it into a roll where it bounces of three cushions. This will score you a total of 50 points.
Speed pool is a game which has grown out of the love for cue games. The general idea of the game is as the name suggests a game of speed. You need to be able to put the balls in their pockets in as short a time as possible. The player who pots all the balls the quickest obviously wins the game. There is speed pool tournaments played around the world, but the rules to the game vary from place to place.
The most popular and well known variant of the game of Billiards is snooker. This is a game which is now played all over the world, hosting large and small tournaments and has spawned many a professional player. The balls with snooker however are not numbered the way that they are will billiards and pool; needless to say, they still do have a number attached to them which helps to make up the score while the game is played.
Not only are the balls in snooker not numbered visually, they are to be potted into the pockets in ascending order, which means all the red balls worth 1point should go into the pocket first before you even think of potting the black ball worth a magic 8 points.
The way that these games are growing in popularity, it will soon become a game where it is not a male dominated game as it is currently, there will be more and more women turning professional. Women are playing the game more now than they ever were before.

I have found that the history of billiards is a very interesting topic and a great conversation starter when playing pool.