It sounds like you have a great room with great clientele.However, there are reasons that rooms like yours are now the exception rather than the norm. Very few people today want to spend hours in a pool room whether it be to practice or match up. Those of us that love spending our time like that are few and far between. Most players today are casual, they want a place to have some drinks, let the old lady dance or do some karaoke, and play a couple games of pool for beers.
I have had a home table for years. Friends would come over shoot for a few hours and that was the extent of their pool life.
So let's look at some of the way APA has changed that for 3 of my closest friends. Since I started an APA team :
- All 3 have purchased their own cue. 2 players hxt's and a mcdermott.
- 2 of them purchases a break/jump cue
-1 of them is currently in the market for a cheaper Schonn.
-They all get excited about earning different APA patches
-They get the APA magazine, and actually read about pool, tips, and tricks
- Since we played tricups at a large pool hall, they have gone back a couple times and entered Saturday night Scotch doubles tournaments.
BTW, two of them are APA 3's and one just got bumped up to a 4 and was ecstatic that his practice was paying off.
APA is bad for pool? I would hate for them to run into an 'expert" who tried to tell them that bar league pool is a joke, and 7 ft tables "ain't real pool". BTW, we play APA on 9 ft. Gold Crowns. It makes no difference to them. and it sure as heck don't turn them into APA 6's when they come to my house and shoot on my Valley.
APA ain't bad for pool. APA is the only thing keeping pool alive in many places.
Great post . :thumbup: