I think the change to 7' tables for top players actually forces into the spotlight an issue we already had but didn't fully realize--a fundamental problem in the game that doesn't have to do with table size and that can be addressed.
Many people seem not to be understanding a key point in this issue. It is I suppose not obvious. So please consider,
There are two types of games
(1) Scored Games (golf, bowling and diving are examples). These are just player against equipment. Players may choose to compare scores, but opponents are either nonexistent or irrelevant.
(2) Interactive Games (boxing, basketball, soccer, football, and pool are examples). These are player against player .
Equipment/fields/courts/specifications are important for each, but equipment plays very different roles in the two types of games.
For interactive games, unless the game is broken modest changes in equipment/specifications are not so important. You can make a soccer goal 10% wider and the game would still be good. the defensive strategy would just change to compensate. The game wouldn't be easier; it would just be different. It should be the same situation with pool. If it feels like it is not, then that's a sign of a different problem--one with the game itself.
As an interactive game, pool shouldn't by itself be hard or easy; rather, it should be hard against Darren Appleton and easy against me.
If you have a sense that a lesser pro has a chance against Darren Appleton on a 7' table that he wouldn't have against Darren playing the same race on a 9' table, then don't look at the table, look at the game itself. The first thing to look at is what is an apples-to-apples comparison. If there are more break-and-runs on the 7' table, then games go faster and a tournament that was race to 9 on a 9' table can now be race to 11. That should help.
the real issue--the tragedy of the runout
But the elephant in the room issue is not the table size. It is that we have created games for which a one-inning out is too frequent for top pros.
A match at a professional-level tournament should have at least a minimum number (perhaps 15-20) of actual changes in control. This means it first looked like player A had the upper hand in a game, and then something happened to give player B the upper hand. This something could be something A did poorly or something B did well. It is these changes in control that bring out the subtle differences in deep and varied skills amongst the players. Every time there is a break and run, that is a game for which it didn't matter who the opponent was. And that goes against the spirit of the interactive game.
The way we've been playing 9-ball, matches have too few actual changes in control. A forced change in control (like alternating the break) doesn't count here. Games like 8-ball and 9-ball for which players might frequently string together racks with winner breaks are a problem. We have tried to address that problem by going to alternate breaks and by considering 10-foot tables--both poor excuses for solutions.
Some might question this as a problem, given that better players are going to run more racks and have more packages. That's true. But this mindset treats the game like a scored game, not an interactive game. It relegates a match to a series of exhibitions interspersed with an occasional actual change in control. It takes what should at best be a second-tier skill (the break shot) and elevates it to a comical level. And it makes the most dramatic situations in a match be like pulling the lever on a slot machine--whether the player is going to have a shot when all the balls stop rolling on the break. And of course this situation gets worse for rotation games going to a 7' table. When a person comments about comparing pool on a 7' table to golf on a par-3 course, that person has already (probably unwittingly) relegated pool to being a scored game. In other words these structural problems have taken roots.
Again, we want pool to be a true interactive game, where it really matters many times during a match who your opponent is and where several different skills come into play in determining a winner. The game should be structured so that this basic feature exists on all major equipment. This is not hard to do but will require some discussion.
For now, it would be good if people tried to have a positive attitude and embraced the efforts of the few promoters who are actually trying to do something...
