Lowell said:

I don't agree with making the pockets extremely small (like 3.9 inches) but I wouldn't want them to go back to say, 5 inches either.

4 1/8 seems to be a sweet spot for pros, but I do think the Predator side pockets are too harsh.



Ko Ping Chung can hang with the 4 you mentioned

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u12armresl said:

2 other rules.
A defensive shot e.g. playing a designated group legally to pocket an opponent's ball. (you can't hit your solid and pocket your opponents stripe)

Failing to "Play Away" from a touching / frozen ball(s). (proven you can hit into and not "play away" from a touching ball and not foul)

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u12armresl said:

A defensive shot e.g. playing a designated group legally to pocket an opponent's ball. (you can't hit your solid and pocket your opponents stripe)

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u12armresl said:

2 other rules.
A defensive shot e.g. playing a designated group legally to pocket an opponent's ball. (you can't hit your solid and pocket your opponents stripe)

Failing to "Play Away" from a touching / frozen ball(s). (proven you can hit into and not "play away" from a touching ball and not foul)

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Kris_b1104 said:

Thanks bro. All I need to do now is become best friends with the captain and not travel to international tournaments with elite competition. Just the bare minimum, nah mean?

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sjm said:

The reason that the runout has become so difficult is the break rule. For three full WNT seasons, nine on the spot with a narrow break box has ended the days of players being able to play any kind of shape for the first shot after the break. Yes, they can still make the one in the side with cut break, but that is rarely enough to string many racks.

The 4 inch pockets are not the main reason there are fewer runout chances, and players have become more conservative in their play. Despite their suggestion that 9ball is the better game, Matchroom has made 9ball more like 10ball by stifling some of the offense and robbing the game of, what I believe, is a more fan-friendly pace of play.

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garczar said:

When player's have to duck fairly mundane shots because the pockets too small is not fun to watch. It becomes 'cinch' pool because there's so little room to cheat the pocket. To me the 'snookerization' of pool is not good.

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Trucker1989 said:

I'm not sure 4.5" pockets would bring the excitement up more or not, but would definitely make it easier to pocket a ball for the top pros. Pool today is more of a chess match than it ever has been. The outlaws we grew up watching had more freedom to show their personalities than the sponsor world would allow today, not to mention they came up hustling to put food on the table. A different world today brings a different player. Another problem is that there are around 4 pros that are a step above all the rest. If they weren't in the field, you would see a lot more action and different winners all year. I wouldn't want those 4 not playing in the tournaments, but they pretty much stink it up for all the rest. All but 1 of the 4 are also not US-born, which I think plays into it as well. I'm not knocking that fact, but I do think it doesn't help to drive up interest at home in the US. Those 4 in my mind are Filler, Gorst, Shaw, & SVB. I do feel Shaw brings a lot of excitement to his matches, and especially to the Mosconi Cup arena. I agree that European influence has changed the sport, in some positive ways and in some negative ways. We need more support in the US for the sport to control the direction of it, and that will take promotion at all levels, including having a group of US-dominant players today instead of European.

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