Can you ever reach full potental only playing on bar boxes?

F

Flip_dat_Quarta

Banned
I'm a bar box player. I have a bar box at my house and mostly all of the local tournaments are held on bar box boxes.

With that being said, can I ever reach my full potential as a player if I never learn to play on the 9-footers?

Sometimes I think it's a different game. If you're used to playing on 9-footers all the time you won't do well on bar boxes. And if you only play on bar boxes you won't do well on 9-footers.

On bar boxes, ball pocketing is easy and cue ball positioning is hard. On 9-footers ball pocketing is harder and cue ball positioning is easier.

So there is a trade off between the two. But how much?

I personally think a pro would have a higher break and run percentage on a 9-footer since there are less clusters and more room to move the cue ball around. Plus better odds of getting a shot after the break. What do you think?
 
Only my opinion

No offense but I think bar box pool SUCKS.

That being said most of my pool league play is played on bar boxes as there are no pool rooms in my town and this is what I am FORCED to play on.

I can travel 35 minutes to a bowling alley that has 8 9' gold crowns that I play my straight pool league.

Kevin
 
I don't necessarily agree that if you play on 9-footers all of the time, that you won't do well on a bar box. Especially if you play games like 14.1 on a 9-footer, then you will be very accustomed to breaking out clustered balls on a more congested bar box. Going from a 9-footer to a bar box, shots making is easier, as no shots really feel like long shots.

Regarding your situation, I think that if you played on a 9-footer more often, you may be able to identify any issues with your form and/or straightness of stroke. The longer shots magnify any errors that you have with your form or your stroke.
 
Flip_dat_Quarta said:
I'm a bar box player. I have a bar box at my house and mostly all of the local tournaments are held on bar box boxes.

With that being said, can I ever reach my full potential as a player if I never learn to play on the 9-footers?

Sometimes I think it's a different game. If you're used to playing on 9-footers all the time you won't do well on bar boxes. And if you only play on bar boxes you won't do well on 9-footers.

On bar boxes, ball pocketing is easy and cue ball positioning is hard. On 9-footers ball pocketing is harder and cue ball positioning is easier.

So there is a trade off between the two. But how much?

I personally think a pro would have a higher break and run percentage on a 9-footer since there are less clusters and more room to move the cue ball around. Plus better odds of getting a shot after the break. What do you think?
Click to expand...

One must think outside "The Box"...waiting for the cheers/groans.

Honestly, you should play all the variations of our wonder sport. 3C, Snooker, Etc. They all build on different skill sets and it will help you on your primary game, whatever that may be.

If you limit yourself to only bar box, then thats all you'll be good at. How disappointing, no? Wouldn't you like to see what you're capable of?

What I've found in playing between bar boxes and 9ft is that you have to be more sensitive to your speed control. Depending on the cueball ( most have the heavier/larger cueball for ball return), the amount of speed you must put on a ball to achieve the same relative location on the table will be different. The lag is a perfect example. Lag on a Bar Box is different than on a 9ft for obvious length differences. Also most Bar Boxes have thicker cloth, and this slows the ball down. (Not to mention they're rarely kept clean). Additionally, you may have longer shots on the 9ft but the balls wont cluster as much (more room to spread). On the flip, the Bar Boxes are easier to pocket, but the balls cluster more easily. To clarify, imaging the table being 4x2 instead with the same size balls! Cluster galore!.

With costs being what they are today, its no surprise that halls are converting to 8fts and smaller. How many places do you know with 10ft BigFoot tables?! Should this keep you from playing between the table sizes? I think if you're going to limit yourself, then that's your choice. In my experience, I've learned many things from all that variations of the sport and their equipment (table size/pocket size/ball size/ cue sizes). Its helped me to be a better player. Good Luck!
 
Flip_dat_Quarta said:
I'm a bar box player. I have a bar box at my house and mostly all of the local tournaments are held on bar box boxes.

With that being said, can I ever reach my full potential as a player if I never learn to play on the 9-footers?

Sometimes I think it's a different game. If you're used to playing on 9-footers all the time you won't do well on bar boxes. And if you only play on bar boxes you won't do well on 9-footers.

On bar boxes, ball pocketing is easy and cue ball positioning is hard. On 9-footers ball pocketing is harder and cue ball positioning is easier.

So there is a trade off between the two. But how much?

I personally think a pro would have a higher break and run percentage on a 9-footer since there are less clusters and more room to move the cue ball around. Plus better odds of getting a shot after the break. What do you think?
Click to expand...


It'll probably take longer, but I suppose you can if you play it right. You'll have to start playing a harder and more intentional game. I would start calling everything and taking fouls for anything not intentional.

Didn't mean to hit the rail before going in the pocket? Foul.
Clipped another ball before it went in accidentally? Foul.

Why? Because these types of mistakes would be much more exaggerated on a long table with smaller pockets; which likely would result in a missed shot. If you want to get better on a smaller box, you'll have to make the game harder and get good at it. Then make it harder again.

IMO.. Going from a 9' table to a bar box is like going from major leagues to little league. It just feels way easier; even though there are clusters. You never have to aim far, you rarely have to draw far, etc. It may just be a confidence boost going down, but it's enough for me to make it play easier.
 
Flip_dat_Quarta said:
I'm a bar box player. I have a bar box at my house and mostly all of the local tournaments are held on bar box boxes.

With that being said, can I ever reach my full potential as a player if I never learn to play on the 9-footers?

Sometimes I think it's a different game. If you're used to playing on 9-footers all the time you won't do well on bar boxes. And if you only play on bar boxes you won't do well on 9-footers.

On bar boxes, ball pocketing is easy and cue ball positioning is hard. On 9-footers ball pocketing is harder and cue ball positioning is easier.

So there is a trade off between the two. But how much?

I personally think a pro would have a higher break and run percentage on a 9-footer since there are less clusters and more room to move the cue ball around. Plus better odds of getting a shot after the break. What do you think?
Click to expand...

What makes you think playing on a 9' table will get you to your full potential? The same reasoning can be used for a 9' table to a 10' table, or a 6x12' snooker table.

Here's a good read on different size tables vs. overall skill. http://www.playcsipool.com/fargo-ratings-and-table-size.html
 
I think a player could get to be an expert on a bar table if they only played bar tables, especially tight ones, but they would be far from it on a 9 footer.

I have seen good bar table players do pretty well on a 9 footers. It's the sharpshooting skills, traveling patterns and confidence levels that lag on the big table.

I do have some experience with this. My good friend primarily plays bar tables and I primarily play big tables. I feel as though we are similar speeds. I am pretty sure he would clock me on a bar table but I seem to have the advantage on the big table.
 
Flip_dat_Quarta said:
I'm a bar box player. I have a bar box at my house and mostly all of the local tournaments are held on bar box boxes.

With that being said, can I ever reach my full potential as a player if I never learn to play on the 9-footers?

Sometimes I think it's a different game. If you're used to playing on 9-footers all the time you won't do well on bar boxes. And if you only play on bar boxes you won't do well on 9-footers.

On bar boxes, ball pocketing is easy and cue ball positioning is hard. On 9-footers ball pocketing is harder and cue ball positioning is easier.

So there is a trade off between the two. But how much?

I personally think a pro would have a higher break and run percentage on a 9-footer since there are less clusters and more room to move the cue ball around. Plus better odds of getting a shot after the break. What do you think?
Click to expand...

I'm one that pretty much agrees with you because I've lived it. But, everyone is different, so YMMV.

For years, I only had a 7' table at home, and I played bar leagues. But, those that I grew up with (and are on AZBilliards) know that I won as many 9' tournaments as anyone. I always have had an easier transition going up to a 9' if I've been playing a lot on a bar box versus going down to a 7' if I've been playing a lot on a 9'. Sure, shotmaking might be easier on a 7', but this game isn't bowling. The tight position play, for me, suffers if I stay on a big table too much.

Again, everyone is different, so this is only my personal experience.


Freddie
 
I think it is ideal to play on a 9 footer, but like you I don't have the space for a 9 footer in my garage, so I got a 7 footer designed to have small 4 inch pockets, so at least it is difficult to pocket balls.
 
You can genuinely become a "King" of the bar box (7') pool tables.....dominate everyone.


In reality, you'd only be a distant relative to the throne when you played on 9' tables.


The bigger table matters and if you doubt that, go play on a 10' table and see what happens.
Angles and banks don't change a tiny bit with the extra 12" but the darn table plays like Mt. Everest.
Better skills are needed the bigger the table gets......the champions of the 30's 40's & 50's were giants.
 
I play both on 7 foot and 9 foot Diamonds.
10& 9 ball is easy on a 7 footer but harder on a 9 footer.
8 ball is harder on a 7 footer and easy on a 9 footer.
This is just from my personal experience your results may vary.
Now with that being said my best games are straight pool,9 ball and 10 ball in that order.
 
Flip_dat_Quarta said:
I'm a bar box player. I have a bar box at my house and mostly all of the local tournaments are held on bar box boxes.

With that being said, can I ever reach my full potential as a player if I never learn to play on the 9-footers?

Sometimes I think it's a different game. If you're used to playing on 9-footers all the time you won't do well on bar boxes. And if you only play on bar boxes you won't do well on 9-footers.

On bar boxes, ball pocketing is easy and cue ball positioning is hard. On 9-footers ball pocketing is harder and cue ball positioning is easier.

So there is a trade off between the two. But how much?

I personally think a pro would have a higher break and run percentage on a 9-footer since there are less clusters and more room to move the cue ball around. Plus better odds of getting a shot after the break. What do you think?
Click to expand...

My opinion and answer is no, you not only won't reach your full potential just playing on a bar box, but you will not experience the full enjoyment, beauty, and art the game has to offer without playing big tables.

Here,

https://youtu.be/Dee4fgxEC68

Shane runs an 8 pack on Earl during a match on a bar box playing 8-ball. It is impressive, but it's lacking something. ImO nothing compares to the beauty I witnessed watching earl and others play on a nine foot diamond during the accu stats make it happen 8 ball invitational.

Just look at the shot earl does to get on the 8 at 7:54 here in this video,

https://youtu.be/lrp6Ikq7v2U


The game just becomes so much more on a big table. Pleasure to watch and pleasure to play.
 
You cannot.

Also the reason why pool players aren't good at snooker. I understand there are other factors to consider when comparing pool to snooker, but the size of the table always matters.

The reverse, however, is generally closer to the truth. A good billiards player will always be a stronger pool player compare to his counterparts.
 
There are people all across the country who only have 1 bar table in their town (and their town is not close to anything for a hundred miles) and trust me when I tell you that you'll want no part of them.

The best road players have been to the spots and got busted.

They didn't learn on or play on anything but the bar table in their town.
 
Blue Fin Billiards just installed a 10 ft snooker table today..........2 1/4" curved corner pockets.........Absolutely Demonic Table To Play On.

I just finished playing golf on the table using regulation size pool balls (2 1/4")......I nicknamed the table Satan's Den.....An APA 8 or 9 rating will play like a 4 or 5 at best on this table.
 
:eek:


Playing on a bar box is a completely different game than playing on a 9 footer.

On a bar box, you can half stroke everything. You never need to let your full stroke out.


On a 9 foot table, you will need to stroke a full stroke on most of your shots.

In you want to be king of a bar box, then just play on bar boxes.

But when you need to really stroke a shot to get the cue ball to travel, you might be missing a gear.


:thud:




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