Drop Pockets or Ball Return? What Is Better For Training

I played on a table with a ball return for 43 years. I used to think players who preferred
drop pockets had something very seriously wrong with them. I couldn't understand them for the life of me. Then I bought a used Gold Crown IV with drop pockets. That miffed me, but otherwise it was a great deal I couldn't pass up.

I had it set up 6 weeks ago. At first, I really missed the return. The noise never bothered me; but then, I really started to enjoy the quiet. It provided a fresh pool playing atmosphere. Then; I started to enjoy the acoustics. I love the "plop" when it's the first ball in the pocket. Then , when a ball or 2 is already in, I like the sound of phenolic resin hitting phenolic resin.

Both sounds sound like the sound of ACCOMPLISHMENT. It has the psychological effect of the "swish" in basketball. I didn't get that with my old ball return table.

I still don't like having to pull the balls out of each pocket; though, so I can't really say which I prefer....I can't believe I actually just said that!
 
FairladyZ said:
drop pockets...... Besides being easier on the back, have you guys listened to the annoying banging and clanging of ball returns?!
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Have you listened to the most annoying and cheap sound of balls falling on top of one another??
 
I always understood that drop pocket tables were easier to assemble which makes them good for setting up and breaking down in tournaments. As a result, anyone who buys a table that might be for sale after a tournament will get a drop pocket table.

I have no idea how anyone can possibly think drop pockets make 14.1 players play better when they are constantly having to move the balls out of the pockets of the lower end of the table --- that is if they are decent 14.1 players. If anything, it's more of an unwanted distraction.

I would also imagine that players who receive free pool tables from sponsors would be given the less expensive drop pocket tables. Also, since drop pocket tables are significantly less expensive than ball return tables, I imagine people purchasing a high end home table would be willing to settle for for drop pockets.
 
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Pushout said:
Have you listened to the most annoying and cheap sound of balls falling on top of one another??
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The sound of 2 phenolic resin balls colliding is never a cheap sound!! its music to my ears, without the chorus of the clanging of the ball return!! :D

:D
 
IIRC - Ball return on a Gold Crown is an option - for about $600 more.

End of story for all the cheap *** who hang around this site. :D :D :D
 
i played an entire summer on a ball return table that kept dinging, scuffing, and cutting my hands when retrieving balls,, after a few days I, rigged it with a cardboard "ramp" at the end of the chute that extended outside the table and dropped the balls into a bucket

ugly as hell but loved it

drop pockets are often too shallow and can distract from shooting when more than a few balls are in em but as always, here are solutions, snooker uses those ball holders beneath the pockets and gabriels table if im not mistaken allows 15 balls inside their pockets

personally i dislike the sound of balls dropping into plastic pockets, leather and nets though, love it
 
Doesn't matter as far as effecting your practice. You can have whatever cut of pockets for either. If anything a drop pocket is worse if you don't empty them and hammer a ball in, a ball could bounce out which I believe/assume would be your fault.

I prefer ball return especially when it's loser racks, gives him a little something else to think about when you're manicuring your tip and picking your finger nails rather than passing him balls. I think the loser suffers just a little more. I also love the noise, the louder the better, it doesn't bother me any.
 
FairladyZ said:
The sound of 2 phenolic resin balls colliding is never a cheap sound!! its music to my ears, without the chorus of the clanging of the ball return!! :D

:D
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One of the more puzzling things I've heard on AZ, along with "slippery" Irish linen. I played on ball return tables for over 25 years on an almost daily basis and almost never noticed the noise. I suppose I might notice it for a while at home where there were fewer other noises happening but I'm sure I'd ignore it eventually.
 
Cardigan Kid said:
Pardon us for having a conversation about pool tables on a billiards forum. And when a world class professional installs a drop pocket table in his home, his reasoning would be of interest on a billiard forum. So if you have a table, what do you prefer?

And I'll have to disagree with your chalk holder comparison. A home pool table is a major install/investment, and you would spend many hours on it, so that tables format (drop or return) is not by chance. hence this thread's topic, which do you prefer?
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It was a humour post meant well..

The reference to chalk was made in mind of a bizarre post about professionals and chalk.

It matters not to me. I must practise/play on the equipment that is determined by others. Playing on the same or similar equipment to that you are going to get in a match is far more important. As an E8B professional tour player, I must only practise on the tables that are used on the tour, which are domestic Supremes with a strachan gold 6811 cloth (I usually have to practise on Hainsworth Smart - it's the closest I can get).

For snooker, all tables are drop pockets anyway.
 
Ball return has been very efficient and reliable. Mine is wooden railed with rubber, so totally silent. The only sound is when the balls collide in the tray. The tray is padded and felted. The tray is very large and easy to access any or all balls. Perhaps newer tables are different? There must be many, many types of ball return systems, just like drop pockets. Some quiet, some large, some deep. Just takes a lot of looking to find the solution, but if I had a butler to retrieve balls, I would go for a snooker table.
 

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