Summary: A 7' table is significantly easier to play 14.1 on than a 9' table for a C+/B- speed player.
Introduction
There has been much discussion on what table is easier to play on: 7' vs 9'. John Schmidt has stated a 7' table is easier on several past threads. Others have stated a 9' table is easier (for amateur players) due to increased room to avoid congestion. Of course, a 7' table will always have much shorter shots.
Method
I have decided to determine for myself which table is easier. During the Thanksgiving holiday, I had a chance to play on a Diamond 7' table for a week straight. In that time, I took detailed statistics of all of my attempts. I have been doing the same on my 9' GC since I started playing 14.1 on it this summer. Every inning starts with a BIH break shot. When I miss, I record how many balls I ran, and then re-rack for a new break shot and new inning. No innings start from an open table (this makes a statistical difference, according to a BD article by Bob Jewett).
I was able to get 69 innings in before I no longer had access to this 7' table. I compared the results of these 69 innings to the last 69 innings I had of my home 9' table statistics. I have a total of 465 innings recorded on my home table. Although I only used the last 69 of the 465, the results of my "Ball Pocketing Probability" comparing the 69 innings to the 465 innings is actually very similar.
Playing Style
In reading past posts about this topic, many people said you run out of shots on a 7' because of the congestion. I found this to be not true in my experiment. I played the same style 14.1 on the 7' table as I did on the 9'. I went for the same break balls, and the same end patterns. I used the same principles of picking away the rack with minimal disturbance of the balls. I only went into balls when necessary. I found no adjustment necessary to my 14.1 strategy.
Table Specifics
Both tables were "player's" tables. An excellent condition GC4 with 5 1/8" pockets, and Simonis 860 cloth. The cloth was about 10 months old, home use only, and had just lost its slide. The 7' table was an excellent condition Diamond red label version. It too had Simonis 860 cloth that was 2 weeks old when I started playing on it. It was in a commercial environment. It still had a tiny bit of slide, but not much. Of note, I'm not a fan of Diamond cushions, and only play on them once a year at DCC. All my other play has been on GC's for the past 15 years. The pocket sizes on the two tables were almost identical.
Data
Please see the below data showing all of the specifics.
Data Highlights
Some important highlights from the data:
Ball Pocketing Probability improved from 0.865 on a 9' to 0.908 on a 7'. This might not seem significant, but it is absolutely a huge improvement. For those of you who have done the math on this before, you will know how big of an improvement this is.
High run went from 27 on the 9' to 44 on the 7'.
Total balls pocketed in 69 innings went from 442 on the 9' to 680 on the 7'. (This is how the Ball Pocketing Probability is calculated)
Conclusion
A 7' table is significantly easier to play 14.1 on than a 9' table for a C+/B- speed player.
Introduction
There has been much discussion on what table is easier to play on: 7' vs 9'. John Schmidt has stated a 7' table is easier on several past threads. Others have stated a 9' table is easier (for amateur players) due to increased room to avoid congestion. Of course, a 7' table will always have much shorter shots.
Method
I have decided to determine for myself which table is easier. During the Thanksgiving holiday, I had a chance to play on a Diamond 7' table for a week straight. In that time, I took detailed statistics of all of my attempts. I have been doing the same on my 9' GC since I started playing 14.1 on it this summer. Every inning starts with a BIH break shot. When I miss, I record how many balls I ran, and then re-rack for a new break shot and new inning. No innings start from an open table (this makes a statistical difference, according to a BD article by Bob Jewett).
I was able to get 69 innings in before I no longer had access to this 7' table. I compared the results of these 69 innings to the last 69 innings I had of my home 9' table statistics. I have a total of 465 innings recorded on my home table. Although I only used the last 69 of the 465, the results of my "Ball Pocketing Probability" comparing the 69 innings to the 465 innings is actually very similar.
Playing Style
In reading past posts about this topic, many people said you run out of shots on a 7' because of the congestion. I found this to be not true in my experiment. I played the same style 14.1 on the 7' table as I did on the 9'. I went for the same break balls, and the same end patterns. I used the same principles of picking away the rack with minimal disturbance of the balls. I only went into balls when necessary. I found no adjustment necessary to my 14.1 strategy.
Table Specifics
Both tables were "player's" tables. An excellent condition GC4 with 5 1/8" pockets, and Simonis 860 cloth. The cloth was about 10 months old, home use only, and had just lost its slide. The 7' table was an excellent condition Diamond red label version. It too had Simonis 860 cloth that was 2 weeks old when I started playing on it. It was in a commercial environment. It still had a tiny bit of slide, but not much. Of note, I'm not a fan of Diamond cushions, and only play on them once a year at DCC. All my other play has been on GC's for the past 15 years. The pocket sizes on the two tables were almost identical.
Data
Please see the below data showing all of the specifics.
Data Highlights
Some important highlights from the data:
Ball Pocketing Probability improved from 0.865 on a 9' to 0.908 on a 7'. This might not seem significant, but it is absolutely a huge improvement. For those of you who have done the math on this before, you will know how big of an improvement this is.
High run went from 27 on the 9' to 44 on the 7'.
Total balls pocketed in 69 innings went from 442 on the 9' to 680 on the 7'. (This is how the Ball Pocketing Probability is calculated)
Conclusion
A 7' table is significantly easier to play 14.1 on than a 9' table for a C+/B- speed player.
