How long before a home table pays off?
- Thread starter DAVE_M
- Start date
I am glad to hear you say that. I went back and read some of your other postings and your are knowledgeable and sound like a pool player. Now knowing that you should have a table even if you can only use it a minimal amount of time for now. I think that little bit of time you can find to use it will be very benificial. Not only to your game but your well being. You need to unwind a little.
Good Luck
The first time you roll out of bed and hit a ball in your underwear it will pay for itself.
I think he was referring to $1.00 a game not per hour.
Not at all. I had a 7' home table for the last 7 years, and after remeasuring I'm putting in an 8' diamond pro (which is a hair too big after remeasuring that... lol).
The 7' home table was great for my game. It had wide pockets, and bobbled anything hit with any force that hit a facing. I had championship tour cloth on it, so it was very quick.
This table setup, while not optimal, taught me a few things:
1. Speed control. Everything is pocket speed
2. Accuracy, when you do need to hit harder (long draw shots, etc), you have to laser beam it to the 4" back of the pocket so it stays down.
3. Position play. With the crowded 7' table, you have to stop taking shots that loose control of the cue ball after contact. Sending the CB flying on a fast 7' with wide pockets is a 50/50 chance on scratching (well, it feels that high). You have to learn to stun the CB on cut shots, and you have to plan out your position around shots where you can keep the CB from flying after contact.
All of this stuff is due to playing on this non-optimal home table, but it applies to every other table you're going to play on as well. It's just a different emphasis.
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One of life's greatest cruelties is discovering you play a ball or two better wearing nothing but boxer shorts.
There was a guy who came in the pool room who had a table in his apartment. The first time I saw it I could not believe it. It was a 9 foot Gandy and on two sides it was almost against the walls. Only about 18 inches. The rest was fine. He practiced on this table and this guy was a very good player. You could not really play a game because of the walls but you could practice pretty much anything other then that,
It all makes sense. I don't agree with any of it but it makes sense. As macguy says, there's more to pool than just focusing on practice and improving.
I think the only point of yours that has any real teeth is the idea of getting too used to one table and not being able to adjust to others. That is actually a problem I have.
Otherwise...
1. Going down and shooting a few balls is a great way to relax after work.
2. Table location has nothing to do with the quality of practice
3. The fact that I practice at home in crocs and play in public in sneakers has never been a factor
4. I have never avoided certain shots or position because at home the basement stairs get in the way.
For me pool is fun first, work second . That's a priority we all have to determine for ourselves. I won't speak for the OP but if anyone puts them in the order I do, then a home table is a great purchase and pays for itself the first time you pocket a ball.
The last year or so I have become more interested in learning the game of pool. The things I thought I knew but don't. I am 45 and don't have a home table. I don't have time for practice and when I do play it's always league or a local tourney. I am dying to get time on a table all to myself. We are looking to get a new house with plenty of room for a table. Don't know how long before we are folding clothes on it but I have so many drills I want to try. I think at least in the beginning I would practice every day. Never had the urge to learn and just played. Now I want to learn and not play.
I'm retired and have 3 poolhalls within 5 miles. The only time I have been in one was for a 3 day group class and that was not local.
With a mint condition GC IV I have no reason to leave home, or my basement. We have 12 tables in the neighborhood and float around to different homes for games. I should have done this 30 years ago. My old house could have held a 7 footer. 25 wasted years.
With a mint condition GC IV I have no reason to leave home, or my basement. We have 12 tables in the neighborhood and float around to different homes for games. I should have done this 30 years ago. My old house could have held a 7 footer. 25 wasted years.
When I moved into the house I am in now 9 years ago, I had my table delivered the day after I moved in. I have 3 kids that are involved in a lot of activities, and work a solid 50 hours a week. Without a home table, I would almost never get to play. So, how long until my home table paid off...the day I got it. I love to play, and I use the table to practice at times and play seriously, to have friends over and have a good time, and most often to unwind and relax for 30 minutes at the end of my day after my girls go to bed. I currently play 3-6 days a week, even if it is only for 20-30 minutes a day. Without a home table I might get to play once a month. So for me, a home table was well worth the investment.
Also, I live in the Chicago area, so Craigslist has a lot on it, not sure about your area. However, I see free pool tables on there a few times a month, or low cost good quality tables quite often. If money is real tight, you may want to consider looking on there for a while.
I recently bought a Gold Crown. I knew I couldn't sell my old family table on eBay or at a used table dealership, so I tried giving it away. First I tried the neighbors. There wasn't even a passing interest. Then I tried www.freecycle.org. I didn't get a single inquiry. I guess old un-wanted family tables are a dime a dozen. I ended up disassembling it and laying it to rest in a dumpster.(R.I.P)
If I had given you the table you'd want to stay away from banks and kicks. It would screw you up when you play on a GC. The pockets and the roll are better on the GC; still there was nothing wrong whatsoever with the roll on the old table. You'd be able to practice your pure shot-making to your hearts content and any improvement you'd make would transfer without a hitch to the GC.
So If you only have so much time, you might want to pay little, if nothing, for a table, and
limit yourself during that time to working only on pure shot-making. It's a big part of the game!
If I had given you the table you'd want to stay away from banks and kicks. It would screw you up when you play on a GC. The pockets and the roll are better on the GC; still there was nothing wrong whatsoever with the roll on the old table. You'd be able to practice your pure shot-making to your hearts content and any improvement you'd make would transfer without a hitch to the GC.
So If you only have so much time, you might want to pay little, if nothing, for a table, and
limit yourself during that time to working only on pure shot-making. It's a big part of the game!
I would be lost without mine, I'm retired so work isn't an issue. My biggest problem
is finding someone to match up with when I'm in Ill. Not an issue in AZ as I go to our
rec centers. Maybe my practice isn't the best but I really feel that I get something out of it. The biggest issue I'm having is just running out of gas when I play. Guess getting old may have something to do with that..
is finding someone to match up with when I'm in Ill. Not an issue in AZ as I go to our
rec centers. Maybe my practice isn't the best but I really feel that I get something out of it. The biggest issue I'm having is just running out of gas when I play. Guess getting old may have something to do with that..
I don't have a home table, nor do we have a Hall in our city either any longer.
When you factor in Canadian Hall prices or $1.50 bar table plugs, it wouldn't take but a year to see a nice savings on a home table.
Our hall prices used to be $10.50 an hr. The only other place in town has wrecked up 8' Connelys, poor lighting and is mostly a loud kids bar where you wouldn't get much quality practice time in. $12.50 an hr.
I would love to have a home table but need my shop space more.
When you factor in Canadian Hall prices or $1.50 bar table plugs, it wouldn't take but a year to see a nice savings on a home table.
Our hall prices used to be $10.50 an hr. The only other place in town has wrecked up 8' Connelys, poor lighting and is mostly a loud kids bar where you wouldn't get much quality practice time in. $12.50 an hr.
I would love to have a home table but need my shop space more.
randy maha
Registered
When we play a race to 100, playing league rule 8 ball, I save $22 in table fees plus I can drink a $ can of budwiser(off sale price) as opposed to tree-fiddy up the block at the VFW.Love my MAN CAVE
I put in probably 4~5 hours a week on my table. I don't drink (or should I say seldom drink), so its water, gatorade, or soda for my beverages, at walmart prices. I didn't get my GC2 9ft table to save money on table time....there just isn't a pool hall anywhere near here.....and I am not a bar person. I don't mind playing on a barbox periodically....but I just don't care for the bar setting.
it's also really nice having a table at home... Bad day? Go hit some balls around and unwind. Bored? Go hit some balls around and entertain myself. Feel like learning somethiing? Practice and set up shots that give me trouble.
it's also really nice having a table at home... Bad day? Go hit some balls around and unwind. Bored? Go hit some balls around and entertain myself. Feel like learning somethiing? Practice and set up shots that give me trouble.
I know of no one who plays above banger speed that didn't have constant access to a pool table for period of several years... no one...
I know of no one who is currently playing at their top speed who doesn't have constant access to a table right now..... no one
Just sayin...
I know of no one who is currently playing at their top speed who doesn't have constant access to a table right now..... no one
Just sayin...
I would add "Adjusting to playing with shoes on when you go to the pool hall".
Sounds silly until you realize that the stroke starts from the feet up.
Sounds silly until you realize that the stroke starts from the feet up.
it's awesome
let me take it a step further, you can "fit" a table in almost any space if u really want one, just get a 7 footer with ball return and jam in the corner of a room....i mean really JAM it in the CORNER, lol...so that two sides are pressed up against the wall
the amount of practice shots and fun you can still have is unreal
let me take it a step further, you can "fit" a table in almost any space if u really want one, just get a 7 footer with ball return and jam in the corner of a room....i mean really JAM it in the CORNER, lol...so that two sides are pressed up against the wall
the amount of practice shots and fun you can still have is unreal