I started a thread a lil.while back.wondering about different level of skill from region to region .
The reason I started it is because over the Las year I have had people from other regions join my team. With out fail they were all over rated when compared to players in my area.
You can read all about the first 2 people in that thread and I currently have 2 new ones this session.
I know full well that every one has good nights and bad nights and 2 matches are no enough to make a very accurate assumption of their playing ability..
But just like the first 2 I got these 2 have not impressed me at all. The guy is a 6/5 and played solely on 9 footers where we play mostly on valleys. So far he has lost 2 8 ball matches in a row vs other 6's by scores of 5-0 and 5-3. He did manage to win 9 ball last night vs a 4 in 20 innings.
The girl is from Rhode island and is a 3/4. She seems to be a capable 3 but is overrated as a 4 in 9 ball. So far she has played a 2/2 and a 3/2 . She won 8 ball 2-0 vs the 2 and won 9 ball by 1 point vs the same 2. She then lost 8 ball 2-1 vs the 3 and Los 9 ball vs the same player who is a 2 in 9 ball.
Not to disparage APA, but anything below SL7 you shouldn't expect talented CB control and decision making on anything close to a consistent basis.
I will say that I play far better on 9ft Diamonds than I do on the smallest Valleys and it's true that some people do have a problem adjusting to having less space to work with for creative position play.
But the bigger problem I think in the APA skill level 4-6 range, is the weird split where people are held back on large tables by their stroke, and held back on small tables mostly by their break, followed by knowledgeable pattern play.
I can certainly imagine a 6 playing okay on a 9-foot table despite a mediocre break, because there's plenty of room to move around and where there are problems, grind out the win on a tactical basis, but still struggle on a bar box. Bar boxes require some different strategy and especially if you can't bust the rack open wide and spread evenly, the better shooter quickly loses the advantage to anybody with half a shred of sense, you don't need much of a stroke to play safe and frustrate a better player in bar box 8-ball when there are multiple problem balls and a dry break,
Then you run into the opposite problem where your 6 is a strong breaker but an inconsistent finisher, because there are SL4s out there who are excellent strategists and shotmakers that can probably outshoot your 6, but they just can't break for shit so they stay a 4-5 because their barbox racks always go 3+ innings.. Then your 6 busts a rack open for them, doesn't run it out but the SL4 has a wide open table, and lo and behold, they go down a game to a 4 and then have to clean their opponent's weak break next rack..
In addition to regional difference which I'm sure exist, remember that in the 3-6 range nobody is really a well-rounded and developed player yet so you can see definite disparities in an otherwise decent player's game between a 9ft and barbox....
