Decent Player Starting New Game--NEED TIPS

[kollegedave]

For the last 15 years I have been playing 9-Foot Nine Ball, Straight Pool, and One Pocket. It has been a rare event for me play on a 7 or 8 foot table.

For a bunch of I reasons, I am now joining a league, and they play bar box 8 ball. In my brief explorations of 7 foot pool, I have found it to be challenging as I am used to 9 feet of space.

Could anyone offer some tips/ pointers on the finer points of 8 ball, bar box 8 ball, and/or a book to help me get up to speed.

Thank you in advance,

kollegedave

 

[TimKrazyMon]

Very simply, playing on a 9 foot table is about finesse. Playing on a barbox, however, is mainly about power. If you use a soft tip, you may want to switch up to a medium or medium-hard for a barbox as you will find you will be hitting shots a lot harder than you are used to.

Capelle's book on 8-ball is a wonderful resource on the game, but these are the big "rules" to follow:

1) Any problem balls need to be solved early, not last.
2) If the runout isn't there, don't go for it.
3) If this is APA, do not forget to patch your pocket on the 8-ball.

 

[8pack]

For the last 15 years I have been playing 9-Foot Nine Ball, Straight Pool, and One Pocket. It has been a rare event for me play on a 7 or 8 foot table.

For a bunch of I reasons, I am now joining a league, and they play bar box 8 ball. In my brief explorations of 7 foot pool, I have found it to be challenging as I am used to 9 feet of space.

Could anyone offer some tips/ pointers on the finer points of 8 ball, bar box 8 ball, and/or a book to help me get up to speed.

Thank you in advance,

kollegedave

Playing on a bar box you must always look for your trouble spots and open them up as soon as possible.
Never try to get a better shot on the 8ball or any other shot that could kill the run .What i mean is lets say you have a shot on the a
ball before the 8ball.If you stop the ball you have a long straight in shot on the 8 but if you draw the ball back and off a rail you can get a better shot.
Only problem if i do that i could get hooked.Always take that straight in long shot,give yourself a chance to win.
When playing to get out try to avoid breaking up the other guys cluster's.
Last but not least master inside english,the routes on a bar box are a little bit different than a big table.
The less the cue ball has to travel the better off you are.
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And if you cant get out and it looks like your going to foul,tie up some of his balls,you never know you might get another chance.

 

[stljohnny]

The cueball is heavier, so it tends to follow more than usual. The balls are dirtier, so english will throw them more. The rails are less consistent, so banks are weird. The cloth is slow, so finessing the CB around with english is unpredictable. The side pockets are evil and won't take balls that would drop on a 9-footers.

I'm having the same issue playing BB8-ball, and I've been in the league for a year already. Clusters are everywhere - get good a caroms/billiards!! The top players will play balls off other balls very frequently. In order to open a pocket for a later ball, or maybe just because they have to. It's also very common to carom into opponent's ball to make it, as part of the safety.

If you're already good at 1P, that will help your safety game, but definitely spend some time getting familiar with the table differences. A lot of BB players don't have big strokes - because they don't need them. 2-rail position isn't really necessary, so don't make the shot harder than needed. Like they said above, the less CB movement the better - however, *never* slow roll a ball; the table will likely roll off. Practice drag shots instead.

now... if i could only follow my own advice. :/

 

[phread59]

Practice kicking and masseing. Both skills will come in handy. I suggest a second shaft with a harder tip. Some bar boxes have that damn rubber backed felt. You need pneumatic assist to move balls around on them. A medium tip is nice for recovered tables. Try a BB with Simonis 850 on it. It's a real scream. My 9 ball home table is that way. Turns a Valley table into another different animal.

Mark Shuman