IMHO I think there has to be a balance and it's not all pocket size, the angle of the facings make a huge difference, I don't want to see pockets that swallow the balls even when you're way off but not so tight that every game turns into a safety battle, two balls should not fit in the pocket, I love the strategy and risk elements of the game, 4 1/4" pockets that have facings that don't allow big errors to go is the best of both worlds, it forces the player to gamble on making the shot or playing the safety which is now a little harder to do because you have to play better position on your safety, watching how different players choose to play those shots is interesting to me, when you take those elements away even a player a little above a novice knows the safety is almost always the best choice, I don't think we would ever have seen the Z shot in competition with the pockets of today......
