I just returned from the state tourney and some new Valley barboxes were used. I have a couple of questions about those and would appreciate a mechanics viewpoint....thanks in advance.
The new tables have the side pocket cutout extending into the playing surface by about 1/2 inch or so (must be for saving slate costs?). A ball can still be shot down the rail and the bottom of the ball won't be affected by the bigger cutout, but if a ball is hit into the side, won't this affect the potting greatly, one way or the other? It reminds me of the cheap basement tables of my youth.
Also, the low profile chrome corners are nice, but on a lot of the tables, my cue would be riding on the wood lamanent instead of the softer cushion. Is this a bad setup or is this just the nature of the new tables?
One more...and this is my gripe against the mechanics on almost all of the Valley tables in town now.....Why do you guys stretch the cloth around the side pocket points so much that it turns those pockets into snooker pockets, thus making it impossible to play the sides with any consistency? I know it looks nice, but it changes the whole fuggin' game! Couldn't the cloth be folded underneath the rail (NOT inside the pocket, as that changes the game, too!) so the points on the side remain points?
Thanks,
Jeff Livingston
The new tables have the side pocket cutout extending into the playing surface by about 1/2 inch or so (must be for saving slate costs?). A ball can still be shot down the rail and the bottom of the ball won't be affected by the bigger cutout, but if a ball is hit into the side, won't this affect the potting greatly, one way or the other? It reminds me of the cheap basement tables of my youth.
Also, the low profile chrome corners are nice, but on a lot of the tables, my cue would be riding on the wood lamanent instead of the softer cushion. Is this a bad setup or is this just the nature of the new tables?
One more...and this is my gripe against the mechanics on almost all of the Valley tables in town now.....Why do you guys stretch the cloth around the side pocket points so much that it turns those pockets into snooker pockets, thus making it impossible to play the sides with any consistency? I know it looks nice, but it changes the whole fuggin' game! Couldn't the cloth be folded underneath the rail (NOT inside the pocket, as that changes the game, too!) so the points on the side remain points?
Thanks,
Jeff Livingston