Unnaturally fast conditions...how do you adjust?

Tommy-D

Tommy-D

World's best B player...
Silver Member
A close friend recently opened a new place about 30 minutes from me,and it's doing well,but playing at his place has me faced with a new challenge.

His tables are 7' Valley bar boxes and a really tight 9 foot Gold Crown but my main subject here is related to the bar tables.

To put this in perspective,I've read on here where some players complain about Simonis 860 being too fast for a bar box. Don't get me wrong,those ARE fast,but I can adjust to those in time.

However,these tables of his are like billiard-table speed,or a really tightly stretched Simonis 760,but are actually covered in Championship 3030 Tour Edition.

They are much faster than the new Diamonds I've played on,almost to the point of being uncontrollable.

This is not taking the rail speed or nose height (which causes bounciness and balls jumping off) into account either,this is just the bed I'm talking about.

I don't know how tight he stretched the cloth,or what he did,but these jokers are so fast that I almost can't hit the ball soft enough to keep control of the speed and still hit it with enough speed to make the cue ball roll straight on center-ball shots,or it winds up under/overspinning when using English,both of which cause random misses even from run-out players at times.

I've tried shortening my physical motion,but I can't seem to make a fine enough adjustment to maintain a level of play I can enjoy.

On the other hand,I haven't seen anyone else string racks either,so maybe it's a problem for everyone else too.

Where do you go from here? Tommy D.
 
C

Cross

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Whenever I play on slower cloths, iI compensate by playing for thinner hits and on fast cloths My position play will be for thicker hits


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD
 
Johnnyt

Johnnyt

Burn all jump cues
Silver Member
I've had the 3030 tour edition on my Valley's 3 times in the last 11 years and no way is it faster than Simonis. The 3030 must too tight and the room must have very low humidity. No fun to play on that way. Johnnyt
 
Sealegs50

Sealegs50

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Maybe you could try a lighter cue and/or a softer tip. Mostly, you will need to make the adjustment by learning to play under those conditions.
 
ENGLISH!

ENGLISH!

Banned
Silver Member
Use less stroke & get a soft tip. In fact. you might only need to use your wrist & fingers & depending on how well you can do that they might wind up being too much.

I grew up on the older type slow cloth where certain shots required a good stroke. Now it's almost like every shot is like bunting at every at bat in baseball. I personally think the game would be better off with the older cloth.

Good luck with making whatever adjustment you choose.

Best,
Rick
 
victorl

victorl

Where'd my stroke go?
Silver Member
There are a couple of halls here that are like that. If I'm having trouble adjusting, I'll try to pick a landing spot well short of the actual shape I want and play for that. Shortening up the bridge a little also helps keep the stroke in check. After a while, I get naturally adjusted and dont have to think about it anymore.

I also keep ratings for different tables in the area so I can get jump in and get adjusted quicker.
For cloth, I use levels 1-5, 3 being normal, 5 being very fast and 1 very slow. Also for the rails, levels 1-5, 1 being dead up to 5 being very springy.

FWiW, I have the opposite problem, after spending a lot of time on a fast table, I lose that power stroke required to move around on a slow table.
 
iusedtoberich

iusedtoberich

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Cross said:
Whenever I play on slower cloths, iI compensate by playing for thinner hits and on fast cloths My position play will be for thicker hits


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD
Click to expand...


I'm just an average player but I would think this is the best answer.
 
Wybrook

Wybrook

A. Wheeler
Silver Member
Its funny people suggest "using less stroke" on fast tables..

Actually, you need more stroke so you can kill the ball easier.. Unless your game is rolling the ball around, you will have to learn "kill" techniques to control the cue ball.. I know its a little scary, but it works wonders if you get a little out of line and set up with a thinner hit than you need.

In a perfect world, you want to play position for thicker hits on all your shots.. This will allow you to move the cue ball around with a medium speed instead of trying to either roll the ball or kill every shot.

Vice versa for slow tables...
 
M

Masayoshi

Fusenshou no Masa
Silver Member
Use more rails to get to where you want to go, especially on thin hits. Trying to slow roll to your normal patterns is far more difficult than just shooting different position routes at normal or slightly higher than normal speed.
 
JeremiahGage

JeremiahGage

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
On faster cloth, you can use speed for positioning more frequently than using spin. Draw and sidespin shots become more unpredictable, so stick to natural cue ball roll and stun/stop shots.
 
D

deanoc

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
When I find unusually fast tables or tight pockets
I find the best adjustment is to adjust the spot I am getting by 50%

the only other thing that kept me from losing money was to quit and go home

Of the to choices going home was by far the best for me.

I have never played good but fast tables aggravate the problem(too fastTables)

I hope this advice works for you as it has for me
 
F

FranCrimi

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Some posters have said that you have to be able to kill the ball more. That's true but you also have to know how to shoot many shots softer and be able to roll balls gently into pockets. That's just as important as knowing how to shoot kill shots.
 
Johnnyt

Johnnyt

Burn all jump cues
Silver Member
ORRRRRRRrrrrrrr, put slower cloth on the 7' Diamonds that belongs on there. Somonis has got everyone fooled bigtime. Does everyone cave into peer pressure and "if it cost more, it HAS to be better? Keep following the herd. Johnnyt
 
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Keith Jawahir

Keith Jawahir

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I try to use stun(including sidespin) as much as possible on fast tables. I also try not to deviate more than a tip from center ball.
 
eastcoast_chris

eastcoast_chris

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
On fast cloth, when every you think "Hmm... wonder if I can hold for position on the next shot", the answer is NO.

You have to accept that on those shots you'll have to let the cue ball go to a rail and back, or similar.

And try to play straight on all shots and use a punch stroke and speed to move the cue ball left/right.
 
TWOFORPOOL

TWOFORPOOL

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Fast Conditions

The answer is simple. Play less angle which transfers more energy to the object ball and leaving less energy on the cue ball. On fast tables its easy to power up if you have to but its very difficult to hold the cue ball with too much angle.

Also by playing less angle you can keep your normal stroke that you are use to.
 
R

RiverCity

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Wybrook said:
Its funny people suggest "using less stroke" on fast tables..

Actually, you need more stroke so you can kill the ball easier.. Unless your game is rolling the ball around, you will have to learn "kill" techniques to control the cue ball.. I know its a little scary, but it works wonders if you get a little out of line and set up with a thinner hit than you need.

In a perfect world, you want to play position for thicker hits on all your shots.. This will allow you to move the cue ball around with a medium speed instead of trying to either roll the ball or kill every shot.

Vice versa for slow tables...
Click to expand...

Tap tap tap

Low inside is your friend.... ;)
 
trustyrusty

trustyrusty

I'm better with a wedge!
Silver Member
TWOFORPOOL said:
The answer is simple. Play less angle which transfers more energy to the object ball and leaving less energy on the cue ball. On fast tables its easy to power up if you have to but its very difficult to hold the cue ball with too much angle.

Also by playing less angle you can keep your normal stroke that you are use to.
Click to expand...

I was reading through the thread, thinking of my answer, and stumbled upon this post....pretty much exactly what I would have advised. Good post Sir.
 
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