7ft Diamond, to stroke or "dink"

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StuartTKelley

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I know it's always said you should let your stroke out and stroke the ball on every shot as a general rule for good pool players. Use the rails, let your stroke out ,etc.

My disagreement is in some situations on the 7ft Diamond where barely drinking a ball can you get you perfect shape (whether it's CORRECT or not) and get you the win instead of stroking the ball and landing back in the wrong spot or even married back up to that ball..guess what ,no shot.

One Example ..2 is sitting in front of the side..8 is a foot below it more toward center table....you are just above the 2..you could let the ball go and come back up off bottom rail for the same side pocket ..or...or..you can tap it, let the cue ball roll 2 inches and you're straight in the corner for an easy win..or tap it a few more inches and you're straight in the other side..never letting the cue ball go further than that, no rail..no stroke..just control of the speed

Sometimes the stroke might be perfect and work out but I say take what the table gives you, dink that ball in, win the game. Correct or not, if that is what's sensible and required ,why worry about what is proper?!

Just wanted opinions. This is specific to small tables, not 9ft
 
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Less cue ball movement the better and on a bar table is a prime example of this. Like said above if you want to hit it firmer but not travel as far drag stun or drag draw shots and very key and essential!!

Be more focused on the speed of the table and how the balls reacts off the rails. Then plan your shot selection accordingly. Key rule of thumb is just like that on a 9 footer…. Move the cue ball as little as possible to your next shot and don’t disturb balls that go if you can!!! <——- can’t stress this enough!!!!
 
StuartTKelley said:
I know it's always said you should let your stroke out and stroke the ball on every shot as a general rule for good pool players. Use the rails, let your stroke out ,etc.

My disagreement is in some situations on the 7ft Diamond where barely drinking a ball can you get you perfect shape (whether it's CORRECT or not) and get you the win instead of stroking the ball and landing back in the wrong spot or even married back up to that ball..guess what ,no shot.

One Example ..2 is sitting in front of the side..8 is a foot below it more toward center table....you are just above the 2..you could let the ball go and come back up off bottom rail for the same side pocket ..or...or..you can tap it, let the cue ball roll 2 inches and you're straight in the corner for an easy win..or tap it a few more inches and you're straight in the other side..never letting the cue ball go further than that, no rail..no stroke..just control of the speed

Sometimes the stroke might be perfect and work out but I say take what the table gives you, dink that ball in, win the game. Correct or not, if that is what's sensible and required ,why worry about what is proper?!

Just wanted opinions. This is specific to small tables, not 9ft
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Of course you dink it. A quarterback tosses a shovel pass differently from an 18 yard out. A layup is different from a 3 pointer a tap in putt is not a 39 footer etc…. Now how you do that instructors can tell you better than me. Maybe look at Tor Lowery on the punch stroke
 
I've never seen a good player dink a lot of balls. They usually hit it with pace, usually below center (even if draw is not the intent) to let the speed out. Dinking a ball in is an exception, not a rule. The speed of the hit is really dependent on how thick you are on the ball, and the pattern you chose to run out the balls. Funny things happen when you slow roll the ball. The ball rolling crooked is a main one, whether it's because the table is not level, or the cloth is stretched poorly. Skid is another one that happens more when the balls are dinked in.

I played in 2 local tournaments this week on 7' blue label diamond pinball machines, and I was firing the balls in pretty hard way more than I was dinking the ball. I did win one of the tournaments:)

IMO:)
 
iusedtoberich said:
I've never seen a good player dink a lot of balls. They usually hit it with pace, usually below center (even if draw is not the intent) to let the speed out. Dinking a ball in is an exception, not a rule. The speed of the hit is really dependent on how thick you are on the ball, and the pattern you chose to run out the balls. Funny things happen when you slow roll the ball. The ball rolling crooked is a main one, whether it's because the table is not level, or the cloth is stretched poorly. Skid is another one that happens more when the balls are dinked in.

I played in 2 local tournaments this week on 7' blue label diamond pinball machines, and I was firing the balls in pretty hard way more than I was dinking the ball. I did win one of the tournaments:)

IMO:)
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I'll disagree with you here, (until my Fargo is over 700) 😛
Playing 8-ball on a 7ft can get screwy when you have a crowded table and try to run patterns. I have always found it much easier to clean out the center of the table by "dinking." THEN you run the rails. So,.... I "dink" when I can. You need to have whitey on a string, and even then table/temp/dirt factors higher in running rails around the table then plopping a 2-3 ft shot.
Robert Byrne emphasizes its use ,and Ray Martin calls it a "nip" shot.
To each their own I guess.
 
StuartTKelley said:
I know it's always said you should let your stroke out and stroke the ball on every shot as a general rule for good pool players. Use the rails, let your stroke out ,etc.

...
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I think if you follow the plan of running out with minimum cue ball movement, you will usually need to hit the ball softer than most players down at the PH. I think that's a good plan.
 
I prefer calling it "bunting" rather than "dinking" Regardless, when I move my hand to the front of the wrap and drop my elbow, it is time to start tapping balls around. While they may be a bit different, there are no more risks to bunting than there are to hitting harder and moving the cue ball more. Betwixt and between can be the ticket as has already been mentioned.

Most of us hit the cue ball a lot harder than we need to. Just a wild guess but we could probably back off about 50% on most shots and still get the same results. Better results because there won't be as many accidental contacts or even simple misses.

Hu
 

You can stroke a ball well and still have it barely move. I imagine it more as floating the CB rather than dinking.
 
All I can say is I recently got back in the game and thought I was playing pretty good until I got a diamond in my house with 4 1/4 pockets. I was rattling a lot balls until I stopped the dink valley bar box big pocket stroke. I had to get back to the type of stroke you have to have on big tables. Smooth stroke with a full follow through and I was running out consistently again. That shitty olhausen that I had gotten and put in my new house ( I had gotten rid of my table when we down sized because I thought I was done with the game 😂) gave me some bad habits. So I say personally for me that dink stroke works fine for big pockets but when you have to be more accurate it just doesn’t consistently get it done.
 
I try to move the ball as minimum as possible. They only time i am really let me stroke out is if i get out of line and I'm tring to get back into line.
 
I tend to hit more softly than others, which is fine for 8 ball, most of the time, but it doesn't help me in 9 ball. Of course, this is also on 9's, so perhaps it would affect me less on the 7's... I usually have more issues from trying to hit harder, so I sacrifice shape for accuracy.
 
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