Are diamonds on a pool table a bit of a crutch??

Cadillac J

Cadillac J

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
We all know that diamonds on a table help to make visualizing, aligning and aiming MUCH easier as reference points, especially on banks and kicks...but does a huge 11-12 foot Snooker table have them? I've never seen before, but not sure.

Makes me think...are pool players too reliant on them? It's almost seems to be a "smoke em if ya got em" type of vibe to me. Personally, I don't aim my banks this way, but will sometimes reference the line to see if the natural angle is short or long, then adjust my stroke or English accordingly.

Curious as to what others think.
 
TATE

TATE

AzB Gold Mensch
Silver Member
Cadillac J said:
We all know that diamonds on a table help to make visualizing, aligning and aiming MUCH easier as reference points, especially on banks and kicks...but does a huge 11-12 foot Snooker table have them? I've never seen before, but not sure.

Makes me think...are pool players too reliant on them? It's almost seems to be a "smoke em if ya got em" type of vibe to me. Personally, I don't aim my banks this way, but will sometimes reference the line to see if the natural angle is short or long, then adjust my stroke or English accordingly.

Curious as to what others think.
Click to expand...

The usefulness of diamonds to me is very limited. What I find them useful for occasionally is cue ball speed reference points when playing tight position play, that's about it. Banking, kicks and multiple cushion shots are purely visualization for me. On those shots, it would take a lot more diamonds for them to be useful to me.
 
B

bbb

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Gold Member
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Snooker tables don’t have diamonds ....icbw
Playing by diamond systems or by feel is a never ending debate
I use systems all the time and I think they cut down on the learning curve of where to hit and how to get around the table
With more experience I can trust my judgement more but still rely on systems for very precise situations
 
Texas Carom Club

Texas Carom Club

9ball did to billiards what hiphop did to america
Silver Member
Cadillac J said:
I'd love to hear your methodology or processs, as I respect 3C players skills sooo much in this arena.
Click to expand...

just feel

i'm more a 1 cushion/ straight rail player than 3,
we send the object ball around the table at times,
just all feel for me, systems too complicated for me

same when i bank, i watched tors banking vid for reference

i know my table is small, but several times i have a bank on to the center pocket, i dont even look, my body feels the angle and get down and drop it,
not everytime of course, but all feel is how i play em
 
MattPoland

MattPoland

AzB Silver Member
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The diamonds are absolutely a crutch. They are a part of the game leveraged to greater and lesser degrees by the players. But I don’t think they take away from the game any.

They’re like all those dots and arrows on bowling lanes. The game can be played without them but you never really hear anyone call for that.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
 
td873

td873

C is for Cookie
Silver Member
Cadillac J said:
We all know that diamonds on a table help to make visualizing, aligning and aiming MUCH easier as reference points, especially on banks and kicks...but does a huge 11-12 foot Snooker table have them? I've never seen before, but not sure.

Makes me think...are pool players too reliant on them? It's almost seems to be a "smoke em if ya got em" type of vibe to me. Personally, I don't aim my banks this way, but will sometimes reference the line to see if the natural angle is short or long, then adjust my stroke or English accordingly.

Curious as to what others think.
Click to expand...
They probably are. But everyone shoots on the same table, so it would be an equal crutch. No different than spot on the wall or whatnot.

-td
 
mikemosconi

mikemosconi

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I think that are more useful as reference points than for strict mathematical calculations- some people may differ. For 14.1 though, where you often need more pinpoint position especially for angles needed to get properly on secondary and primary break shots- I find them a good reference. I am a bit surprised though, that at some point the number of diamonds was not doubled - as it would decrease the guessing game a bit - so many times in 14.1 I say to myself- "OK, you need to land about halfway between these two diamonds - would be easier if I just had a specific additional diamond reference point.

The way many pros shoot today- like Shane- they are such great shotmakers that being a diamond off on a cut shot does not phase them at all. Even when I watch Shane & some others play 14.1- in a 75 ball run of theirs, they makes at least 5 shots that I know would have ended my run - so I NEED that old school position play game to be successful and the diamonds do help a bit.
 
Korsakoff

Korsakoff

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There is old drill I did years ago that involved the diamonds. You would place the cue ball on the foot spot and the object ball at the intersection of the first two diamonds (one on the short rail and one on the long rail) nearest the corner pocket.

You pocket the object ball and try and get the cue ball to rest by the top diamond on the long rail. You then reset the shot and try and get the cue ball to rest by the diamond below the top diamond. You continue in this manner going around the table from diamond to diamond until you can successfully execute the drill without a miss (theoretically :)).
 
G

garczar

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Cadillac J said:
We all know that diamonds on a table help to make visualizing, aligning and aiming MUCH easier as reference points, especially on banks and kicks...but does a huge 11-12 foot Snooker table have them? I've never seen before, but not sure.

Makes me think...are pool players too reliant on them? It's almost seems to be a "smoke em if ya got em" type of vibe to me. Personally, I don't aim my banks this way, but will sometimes reference the line to see if the natural angle is short or long, then adjust my stroke or English accordingly.

Curious as to what others think.
Click to expand...
All i play is pool and i've never seen a table without them. Never thought about them as a crutch, just part of the equipment to use. I don't use them a ton but i do use them. They're not going away so why worry about it???
 
Chicken Feather

Chicken Feather

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I use the diamonds on occasion, but usually just play by feel. So yes, I think maybe they are a crutch... maybe that's why they're there.
Haven't played much snooker but I don't think they have diamonds, nor do Chinese pool tables.
 
sjm

sjm

Older and Wiser
Silver Member
As the three cushion gurus on this forum probably know, one of the all-time greats campaigned to have the diamonds removed from newly manufactured billiards tables, saying that using the diamonds made the game too easy. His name was Welker Cochrane and he's a BCA Hall of Famer.
 
G

Geosnooker

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I’m a good pool player but not a great player. Better at snooker.

I’m decent at banking in shots on a pool table but, to be honest, I’m not even sure how I do it. I rarely look at the pocket I’m banking into. I just seem to have an instinctive ‘feel’ for the angle. I don’t use diamonds or any other markings ‘to measure’ diamond spacing.

I learned banking on a pool table from an ancient C.j Wiley lesson on YouTube. It wasn’t the specifics of his method but rather the broader concept. After a while I just ‘get it’. Even though I’m in the sciences and use a lot of math...can’t be bothered on a billiards table.

Re a snooker table. I play as many safeties as trying to pot a ball. Banking has less need for precision, it’s getting the cueball down table, etc and rarely for potting an object ball. Marks on the rails aren’t that useful. I could go 10 games on a snooker table and not try to pot an ball via using banking. More ‘general’ positioning. If you watch a snooker pro describing his strategy it’s a lot of ‘I want to get the ball about there‘.
 
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philly

philly

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Feel player here but I use the diamonds when thinking about shape as in
I would like to hit a particular diamond on the rail for shape on the 7 etc.

I love playing 3 cushion too but never even see the diamonds on the table.
 
gerard soriano

gerard soriano

HIGH RUN STILL TO COME !
Silver Member
I find it very funny how many people say they play by feel and dont use the diamonds!
I have always believed that feel is like guessing , and even if you guess correct you will not do it 10 times in a row
If you don't use a system aka diamond for example you are guessing IMHO
2 ss' in guess and 2 ss in miss ?
I really like the art of kicking and I think without using one of the many proven systems it really is hoping (My 2 cents)
 
C

CocoboloCowboy

Cowboys are my hero's
Silver Member
Our community room is 1/2 Gold Crowns, 1/2 Diamonds. We were all Gold Crown, but some cry babies had to have Diamonds. @8 4.5 X 9.0's.


We got the Diamonds, sold off the Gold Crowns for $250.00/Table. STUPID. Blew a few bucks on the Diamonds.

I personally like the old tables better, there was nothing wrong with them. Too me personally a Diamond is all hype.

JMHO
 
lfigueroa

lfigueroa

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Cadillac J said:
We all know that diamonds on a table help to make visualizing, aligning and aiming MUCH easier as reference points, especially on banks and kicks...but does a huge 11-12 foot Snooker table have them? I've never seen before, but not sure.

Makes me think...are pool players too reliant on them? It's almost seems to be a "smoke em if ya got em" type of vibe to me. Personally, I don't aim my banks this way, but will sometimes reference the line to see if the natural angle is short or long, then adjust my stroke or English accordingly.

Curious as to what others think.
Click to expand...


I don't think I much ever use the diamonds for banks.

What I do use them for is position play, often checking whereabouts I want the CB to hit a rail or to land.

Lou Figueroa
 
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