9ft regulation vs. Barbox - Which helps you play better?
- Thread starter sknyppy
- Start date
S
Scottster
Guest
The Pinoys and Europeans all grow up playing on 9ft Tables.
To answer your question - IMO, 9' tables are the best. If you play and practice on 9 ftr's you will become a better overall player. To better help you understand why, here is something to test. Play on the 7' tables for a while and practice your long table lenght shots until you have them down pat. Now go to a 9' table and perform these same shots. You will then see the difference immediately.
The pros play on 9's.
The pros play on 9's.
Dawgie said:
Play on both. Use the 9' tables for developing your stroke and better shotmaking skills. Use the bar tables to learn tight positioning, the right way to do break outs, and tighter safeties because weak safety's on a bar table get kicked in often. Play on all tables if possible and play every game. It will help out your 9-ball game tremendously. Overall I'd say playing on a 9' table helps your game more than a bar table though.
Having a 9 footer has helped me tremedously over the past 2 years. The long shots required on a 9 will help your stroke IMO. I played on 8 footers mostly before that. If you play solely on 9s, some straight pool and one pocket will help with the tight control needed for 7s. 9 foot for sure.
shinyballs said:
I have seen countless racks on a bar box that needed to have balls "moved" as in one pocket and straight pool. I try to only play straight and one pocket when not playing in league. I really feel that playing one pocket and 14.1 on a nine foot will help anyone's game. Is it a cure all for bad machanics or poor choices, no. However, when it comes to breaking clusters and tight position there is little better. Shinyballs hit the nail on the head. Go to a nine foot, switch up your games and watch the 8 and 9 ball improve.
<<<<< Coming from a barbox player......
I learned how to play on a 9fter and it will improve your game much faster. You can get away with to much on a 7fter especially if you play on a valley 7fter. I play on diamond smarts, so learning how to use rails on the 9fter and better shot making mechanics can be seen when i play on the diamond 7ft.
I learned how to play on a 9fter and it will improve your game much faster. You can get away with to much on a 7fter especially if you play on a valley 7fter. I play on diamond smarts, so learning how to use rails on the 9fter and better shot making mechanics can be seen when i play on the diamond 7ft.
Any BarBox player who takes the time to become proficient on a 9' table can attest to his improvement. Similarly, if you could spend time on a 10' table, ala Greenleaf and Mosconi playing 14.1 etc. you'd notice improved shotmaking on a 9'. It simply requires a straighter stroke and better mechanics. Yes, a 7' table is more congested, but the reduced playing field is nothing compared to the challenges of the increased green. Just my opinion after 40+ years of observation in the game...Tom
The difficulty of the game has a lot to do with your competition. True, it may be easier to make the balls on the smaller table but remember that it's easier for the other guy too. So the game may be easier to play on the bar table but it certainly is not easy to win. Putting 5 or 6 racks together on a 9' table is a feat. 5 or 6 on a bar table is common. Just ask yourself, would you rather play Shane on the big table or the small table. I'll bet all day that he won't keep you seated for 10 racks on the big table. It's very possible on the barbox.
The only advantage shooting on a bar box is you develop a powerful stroke.. (if your using that HEAVY cue ball) I played on nothing but bar boxes for years, Very seldom did you have new cloth, and never anything like simmonis... STROKE ADVATAGE >>> BAR BOX
SPINDOKTOR
SPINDOKTOR
While they may both be fun games, I don't even consider playing on one of those little things really playing pool.
They will teach basic angles and position, but they will do much more harm than good when you attempt to play on a full size table.
And what's worse is, playing on a barbox means playing in a bar. Hooping and drinking and smoking and yelling, and showing off, loud disruptive music are all the opposite of playing real pool.
IMO the entire environment, table included, is infested with the opportunity to develop bad habits. Not that it isn't a fun past time, if you enjoy that kind of thing, just that its not what I call pool.
They will teach basic angles and position, but they will do much more harm than good when you attempt to play on a full size table.
And what's worse is, playing on a barbox means playing in a bar. Hooping and drinking and smoking and yelling, and showing off, loud disruptive music are all the opposite of playing real pool.
IMO the entire environment, table included, is infested with the opportunity to develop bad habits. Not that it isn't a fun past time, if you enjoy that kind of thing, just that its not what I call pool.
3andstop said:
A game is a game, I didnt have any choice, there were no big tables around me at the time, so I played on what was available, not by choice, thats just all there was..
Bad habbits? yes, I suppose your right..the tables I played on however, had tight pockets, it was the Valleys, and the 9' brunswicks I later played on that made my game look "good" I was often accused of playing to fansy, and just showing off because I was getting so much action on the cue ball.. So I detuned my stroke, and started playing like people thought I should, then I realized they cant do what I can, so I started just playing the way I wanted to, an ended up Looing alot of action, but hey, I was having fun. I was playing straight pool, and my high run on the bar boxes was 127, I went from that to 84 the first 6 months, then when I decided to just play my game, I reached close to 200, with a best of 212, but that was on my home table, its a 8' with super tight pockets, simmonis, and a heavy bar box cue ball..
SPINDOKTOR
gpeezy
for sale!
I believe that 9 foot tables will give you a better stroke. I do think a bar table and a 9 foot table reach a point where they are equally the same. You will see more players of any caliber run a rack. But its the same on both tables. In order to win, you need to be able to do more than your opponent. Everyone has heard of multiple racks ran on each table. I've heard of as many as 21 consecutive racks put together on the bar table. At the point in competition there is no tougher table than the one your playing that guy on. Its great to be able to play both well. I would lean more on keeping in stroke on the 9 foot tables.
I think if you want to be a strong player on both sizes of table, you should practice on both sizes of table. If you're only going to practice on one size, make it the 9'. This will help you develop precision in your stroke and execution, and if you don't have that, you'll never be a great player on any table.
-Andrew
-Andrew
In later years I had a barbox in my home. When I was younger I had a 9 footer. The last 20 or so years before I had to quit playing I'd go to a poolroom and play for an hour on a 9 footer before I hit the bars and the barbox's to gamble. This worked very well for me over the years. After the 9 footer all you had to think about was postion and not getting killed in the parking lot. Damn I miss that. Johnnyt
I grew up playing snooker on a big table. We almost never played on a 9 footer then, and no one would have considered a bar box. Quick money games were a ring game of 6 ball on the snooker table, with the money paid on the 5 and 7. I was away from pool, and finally got back into it playing leagues on 9 footers, then all the tournaments were on 7 footers. For me, it was tough on the 7 footers, to adjust to ball speed and to break out shots, at first. I finally corrected this by joining a bar box league, also. IMO, as stated in an earlier post, playing on a 9 footer perfects your stroke. If you have been playing on a 9 footer, and the balls are spread on a 7 footer, you should get out with no difficulty. However, on a 7 footer, you will find a lot more clusters of balls and things that are in your way, so you have to learn to break those clusters up and control the cue ball. If you can, play on both. I still prefer a 9 footer, by far.
Joe
Joe