8ft table instead of 9ft table, thoughts?

scottycoyote · May 14, 2006

im working on my basement right now, trying to turn it into a pool room, and its going to be iffy on going with a 9 footer. Personally i only play on 9 foot tables, ive played in a few tourneys where there are 8 footers and bar boxes are big around here too. I guess my question is this, i really need a table in my house to maintain and improve my game........would an 8 footer be better than nothing, or am i going to be unsatisfied and need to try and shoehorn the 9 in there. I think I may be able to swing the 9 so i will have room to play around it, its just a matter of it dominating the room (so much for the bar and sofa and making use of the fireplace), where an 8 would probably be a perfect fit to the room. Just wondering who has "settled" for an 8 over a 9 and how happy they were with it.

Nostroke · May 15, 2006

scottycoyote said:
im working on my basement right now, trying to turn it into a pool room, and its going to be iffy on going with a 9 footer. Personally i only play on 9 foot tables, ive played in a few tourneys where there are 8 footers and bar boxes are big around here too. I guess my question is this, i really need a table in my house to maintain and improve my game........would an 8 footer be better than nothing, or am i going to be unsatisfied and need to try and shoehorn the 9 in there. I think I may be able to swing the 9 so i will have room to play around it, its just a matter of it dominating the room (so much for the bar and sofa and making use of the fireplace), where an 8 would probably be a perfect fit to the room. Just wondering who has "settled" for an 8 over a 9 and how happy they were with it.

Better squeeze in the 9-Otherwise it sounds to me like you will be feeling you are not playing real pool. Then you won't play as much and that wont be good for your game.

beav99_4life · May 15, 2006

I agree with NoStroke. I learned how to play on 9 footers when i began working at a pool hall when i was 18. Corey Deuel (his home pool hall at the time in Columbus, OH) told me to stick with playing on 9 footers if you ever want to be a great overall player. Mainly because if you can play on a 9 footer, you can easily move down to an 8 or 7 footer but not vice versa. Over the past few years i have been going to another pool hall that i absolutely love but all the guys there, even the great players like Danny Tator and Scott Edwards only play on the 8 footers for the most part. I've found when i go back to a 9 footer my game is definately off. So stick with the 9 footer, you'll kick yourself if you dont. Good luck with it.

Beav

smittie1984 · May 15, 2006

If you have to use a short stick then I'd go with an 8foot. You can shim the pockets to make it more challenging. But using short sticks and having to switch sticks really sucks.

The majority of the tables I move are 8foots. And the majority of rooms are not even big enough for 8foots.

catscradle · May 15, 2006

scottycoyote said:
im working on my basement right now, trying to turn it into a pool room, and its going to be iffy on going with a 9 footer. Personally i only play on 9 foot tables, ive played in a few tourneys where there are 8 footers and bar boxes are big around here too. I guess my question is this, i really need a table in my house to maintain and improve my game........would an 8 footer be better than nothing, or am i going to be unsatisfied and need to try and shoehorn the 9 in there. I think I may be able to swing the 9 so i will have room to play around it, its just a matter of it dominating the room (so much for the bar and sofa and making use of the fireplace), where an 8 would probably be a perfect fit to the room. Just wondering who has "settled" for an 8 over a 9 and how happy they were with it.

I say go with the 9. I squeezed in a 9, on some shots I have to use a 42 inch cue if I get too close to a rail. That's aggravating, but worth it. To me all that mattered was the the pool, no sofa, no chairs, no bar, no fireplace. I like to refer to it as my "pool bunker", basically a concrete box with just enough room for me, my opponent, and the table. If you're thinking you want a place to entertain friends, as opposed to a strictly pool dedicated room, maybe the 8 footer is right for you.
Either way any size table is better than no table.

mnShooter · May 15, 2006

Go with the 9 footer. You will not get the same results out of practice with an 8 footer. The 9 is only 6 inches wider (3 inches on each side) and 12 inches longer (6 inches on each side). So there shouldn't be too much of a difference. Besides you shouldn't be on the rail anyways.

Schwinn · May 15, 2006

my advice

I think should depend on whether you can fully stroke a ball on the rail. If there is any chance of hitting a wall with the back of your cue - go with the smaller size.

I really hate it when when people don't have the room for the table. I'd much rather adjust to a smaller size table than have to use one of those crappy shorty sticks or worse yet, compromise my stroke when I'm on the rail.

However, if it is physically possible to get it in and not be obstructed, go with the 9.

pawnmon · May 15, 2006

8 vs. 9

I had the same problem. I went with a Pro 8 (8.5' X 4.25'). It fits without using shorty sticks. It's not a 9 but it plays more like a 9 than an 8. When I go out and play on 9 footers it doesn't seem all that different, which it did when I had an 8 footer.

mnShooter · May 15, 2006

I guess I didn't really read the post. If you won't have anything in the way, I guess it depends on what's important to you. Would you rather have the table you really want or the sofa and bar?

hobokenapa · May 15, 2006

scottycoyote said:
im working on my basement right now, trying to turn it into a pool room, and its going to be iffy on going with a 9 footer. Personally i only play on 9 foot tables, ive played in a few tourneys where there are 8 footers and bar boxes are big around here too. I guess my question is this, i really need a table in my house to maintain and improve my game........would an 8 footer be better than nothing, or am i going to be unsatisfied and need to try and shoehorn the 9 in there. I think I may be able to swing the 9 so i will have room to play around it, its just a matter of it dominating the room (so much for the bar and sofa and making use of the fireplace), where an 8 would probably be a perfect fit to the room. Just wondering who has "settled" for an 8 over a 9 and how happy they were with it.

What are your room dimensions?

Gregg · May 15, 2006

Schwinn said:
I think should depend on whether you can fully stroke a ball on the rail. If there is any chance of hitting a wall with the back of your cue - go with the smaller size.

I really hate it when when people don't have the room for the table. I'd much rather adjust to a smaller size table than have to use one of those crappy shorty sticks or worse yet, compromise my stroke when I'm on the rail.

However, if it is physically possible to get it in and not be obstructed, go with the 9.

This is the best answer.

scottycoyote · May 15, 2006

the room is 16" wide and like 25 or 30 long. Im going to make a mockup table out of 2x4's and place it in the room a couple different ways to see how it works and clearance and stuff. Is 4 1/2 by the 9 the interior measurement? If so i need to add what, 6 inches for the rails? Well the room isnt that important as far as the couch and bar........there is a nice fireplace in the room but i havent been using the room at all but for storage since i bought the house, so a dedicated pool room wouldnt be a problem, just trying to maximize it and get the best of bot worlds. Id never heard of the pro 8 before, thats something ill have to look into as well.

zeeder · May 15, 2006

scottycoyote said:
Is 4 1/2 by the 9 the interior measurement? If so i need to add what, 6 inches for the rails?

The interior measurement of the slate is 50" by 100". If you figure you need room for a 60" cue (what I use) and 6" of stroking room you're looking at an additional 132" on each giving 182" x 232". Dividing by 12 we get 15'2" wide and 19'4" long as minimum measurements. Using a 58" cue it would be 14'8" x 19'. I hope this helps.

Z

Eric. · May 15, 2006

I think Zeeder's numbers are right on. It sounds like you have enough room for the 9 footer. Your problem isn't the length of the room.

Personally, I feel if you play mostly on 9 fters, you need to have a 9 fter in your house. I had an 8 fter before getting a GC II and I noticed that when I went to the 9 fters, my position play would come up a little short because of the smaller playing field. The differences were small, but enough to make me consciously have to adjust.

Eric

scottycoyote · May 15, 2006

thanks for the replies, thanks zeeder for the math

jay helfert · May 15, 2006

scottycoyote said:
the room is 16" wide and like 25 or 30 long. Im going to make a mockup table out of 2x4's and place it in the room a couple different ways to see how it works and clearance and stuff. Is 4 1/2 by the 9 the interior measurement? If so i need to add what, 6 inches for the rails? Well the room isnt that important as far as the couch and bar........there is a nice fireplace in the room but i havent been using the room at all but for storage since i bought the house, so a dedicated pool room wouldnt be a problem, just trying to maximize it and get the best of bot worlds. Id never heard of the pro 8 before, thats something ill have to look into as well.

If that's 16' wide, you have more than enough room for a 9' table.
By the way, none other than Luther Lassiter used to practice on an 8' table to get ready for tournaments. He was quoted as saying "I get my Cue Ball that way". Interpretation - He learns how to control his Cue ball in the tighter quarters of the 8 footer.

jay helfert · May 15, 2006

scottycoyote said:
the room is 16" wide and like 25 or 30 long. Im going to make a mockup table out of 2x4's and place it in the room a couple different ways to see how it works and clearance and stuff. Is 4 1/2 by the 9 the interior measurement? If so i need to add what, 6 inches for the rails? Well the room isnt that important as far as the couch and bar........there is a nice fireplace in the room but i havent been using the room at all but for storage since i bought the house, so a dedicated pool room wouldnt be a problem, just trying to maximize it and get the best of bot worlds. Id never heard of the pro 8 before, thats something ill have to look into as well.

If that's 16' wide, you have more than enough room for a 9' table.
By the way, none other than Luther Lassiter used to practice on an 8' table to get ready for tournaments. He was quoted as saying "I get my Cue Ball that way". Interpretation - He learns how to control his Cue ball in the tighter quarters of the 8 footer.

scottycoyote · May 15, 2006

jay helfert said:
If that's 16' wide, you have more than enough room for a 9' table.
By the way, none other than Luther Lassiter used to practice on an 8' table to get ready for tournaments. He was quoted as saying "I get my Cue Ball that way". Interpretation - He learns how to control his Cue ball in the tighter quarters of the 8 footer.

interesting

the deal with my game is this, im an accountant and every year during tax season i work about 100 hours a week, so i get little if any pool in, this year from jan thru april 15 i got to play about 4 times for an hour each. I ended up last year after going to cuetech pool school shooting the best in my life and was taking down the best players in my room pretty consistently, and now.........pfffffffffffft. Im not shooting bad but my mechanics are off, as you can imagine they would be after not shooting for 4 months. So i really just need a table to keep myself in stroke.......i will continue to shoot alot outside the house since i like to gamble, so this table wont replace my outside play.......but during tax season id be able to come home and still get in 30mins or so here and there......i wouldnt cool off like i do now. Im gonna clean it up and place a mockup table in there and just see how it would look and how much of the room it takes up i guess.....

stroke · May 15, 2006

My pool room is 14' 1" wide and plenty long so there was no problem with the length. But if my room were any thinner my 9' Gold Crown would not fit. I play with an old Viking cue that measures 57 1/2" including the rubber. When I'm on the rail, I only have an inch to spare. You will need at least 59 1/2" all the way around from the edge of the cushion to the wall.

An oversized 8' table is a good compromise.

Scottster · May 15, 2006

beav99_4life said:
even the great players like Danny Tator and Scott Edwards only play on the 8 footers for the most part.
Beav

Just wanted to point out this is a different "Scott Edwards"....

Scott, You are a player, If you have the room for a nine footer, you need to go with one. However, if you are gonna have to sacrifice a proper stance for rail shots, it might be best to go with the 8ft, it will still help you stay in stroke.

I guess what I am saying is, sacrifice the couch if it allows proper playing room for a nine footer.

8ft table instead of 9ft table, thoughts?

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