biggest improvement in pool equipment

[maha]

a hundred years ago maybe but in the last 50 years i dont see any real improvements that do more than give you piece of mind.

the good players played well and ran balls like they do today on what was there and considered old fashion now.
chalk was fine no one miscued.
tables played well

average guy in the pool room played much better than now. and that may be the reason people nowadays go for the gimmicks to make up in their mind for their poor playing.

 

[philly]

a hundred years ago maybe but in the last 50 years i dont see any real improvements that do more than give you piece of mind.

the good players played well and ran balls like they do today on what was there and considered old fashion now.
chalk was fine no one miscued.
tables played well

average guy in the pool room played much better than now. and that may be the reason people nowadays go for the gimmicks to make up in their mind for their poor playing.

Very good point. There were also more people playing. I still like the speed of the newer cloth though.

 

[realkingcobra]

Ok, I see that you're right. They have been around for a long time. I don't know what type of cloth they made back then but we weren't using it on pool tables in the States until recent decades.

Then I should qualify my comment by saying specifically Simonis 860.

I think what you're kind of missing out on, is that pocket pool is not nearly as old of a game as billiards and snooker, and that Ralph Greenleaf was largely responsible for the move toward towards the new game of pocket billiards followed by Willie Mosconi who cemented that change forever. Pocket pool cloth needed to evolve as it required a completely different kind of cloth, unlike what was already being used at the time. I pioneered the Simonis 760 cloth as a new pool cloth in the PNW back in 84' even though it was a snooker cloth, long before the first weave of 860 came out, and just to be clear, there has been 3 different weaves of 860 since it was first introduced in the 90's.

 

[Runner]

Equipped

I'll throw in...

Things that are better:

Simonis 860.. IMO, nothing better, THE standard.

Tips... layered or non-layered, the newer brands are upping the quality of the most important part of a cue.

Video coverage... as previously mentioned, this has progressed in a big way from VHS fuzziness to HD, and of course, internet coverage.

Things not so much:

IMO, you can't beat a Gold Crown, let alone an Anniversary or Centennial.. I've tried to like Diamonds, every time I play on one... meh, especially the rails.
Brunswick, hands down.

Cyclops / Chiclets balls... not a fan. I get that the chiclets show up on video better, but I'll take Centennials every time... classic.

Measles cue ball... see above. Just fugly... I don't think it's made well, either.

LD shafts? I'm on the fence on this one.. played with a friends' LD shaft on his old Joss, nice stiff hit... just reminded me of a really good old-growth shaft from a custom cuemaker. My Scruggs has about the same stiff hit. I guess the LD shaft is for someone with a production cue, looking for that nice stiff hit. YMMV.

"My wife... she's no bargain either... she's the only woman I know who uses a smoke detector as a meat timer"

 

[ElCorazonFrio]

You know what they say about you old people don't you?....you won't be complaining much longer:thumbup: Not everyone wants change, just don't stand in front of those that do

I'm younger than you.

It isn't complaining. It is stating a preference, an educated and experience-based preference.

 

[realkingcobra]

Very good point. There were also more people playing. I still like the speed of the newer cloth though.

There's no way back 50-100 years ago there was more pool players than there is today, but I do believe that with less places to play, pool was taken more seriously by those that did play back then, rather than today's players wanting to socialize around the game, meet up with friends, show off cues, and have a night out playing in a pool league. Jobs were more serious back then as well, those that didn't work...had to find ways to support themselves and hustling at pool supported many players back then, which is why today pool rooms in the minds of many are still bad businesses to have in the communities. In Seattle still to this day, you can't have a "pool room" defined by hourly rental pool tables on a ground floor, it must be located either in a garage, or second floor or above.....why do you suppose that is?

 

[JoeyInCali]

Machinist level.

 

[maplecap]

RKC, l loved 760 Simonis and had it on my GC1 for years. The Diamond I played on had 860 on it, I was told, and it seemed as slow as my Stevens, and when I do get a Diamond it will have 760 in green. I don't know when blue cloth became so popular. Love your posts and hopefully can hire you to do an install someday.

 

[BigNBeefY]

I dunno guys my vote is for any form of the magic rack...pretty revolutionary (in spite of how some ppl feel about it)

 

[SUPERSTAR]

Diamond tables.
Their introduction allowed for thousands upon thousands of pool players with sh*tty poke strokes, to now compete with and excel over players who had spent years developing powerful strokes to negotiate the then, normal conditions of pool.
If it weren't for Diamond and those pinball bouncy rails, those players might never be able to negotiate a table and compete!
Think of all the champions who never would have been if it weren't for the Diamond table, bouncing them to victory.
Hooray Diamond!

Awaiting the standard shill response, but save yourself the trouble.
No one cares.

 

[Colonel]

Diamond tables.

Their introduction allowed for thousands upon thousands of pool players with sh*tty poke strokes, to now compete with and excel over players who had spent years developing powerful strokes to negotiate the then, normal conditions of pool.

If it weren't for Diamond and those pinball bouncy rails, those players might never be able to negotiate a table and compete!

Think of all the champions who never would have been if it weren't for the Diamond table, bouncing them to victory.

Hooray Diamond!



Awaiting the standard shill response, but save yourself the trouble.

No one cares.

Love this post, greenie for you sir.

 

[jburkm002]

I don't think Diamond tables are going to make a first time player want to come back for more fun shooting pool.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

 

[poolplaya1976]

You didn't read the post that started this thread....did you, because it's pretty clear you though this thread was about supporting your favorite pool table thread. Yeah, Brunswick rules alright.....the used table market, because they're not ruling in the new table industry any more!

quit being a troll and ripping the opinion of everyone that doesn't share your opinion....that is the very definition of a troll.....diamond tables are not as good as the new gold crowns, accept it:yikes:

 

[SUPERSTAR]

I don't think Diamond tables are going to make a first time player want to come back for more fun shooting pool.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

It might if they cut the slate shelf down that goes way back into the pocket, so that people that get balls past the points to the inside of the pocket, ACTUALLY MAKE THE BALL.
But that'll never happen because that's what "makes 'em so tough" and Diamond people get their jollies spouting off ridiculousness like that, when in reality, it's just stupid for a slate shelf to be that deep.

 

[JoeyInCali]

It might if they cut the slate shelf down that goes way back into the pocket, so that people that get balls past the points to the inside of the pocket, ACTUALLY MAKE THE BALL.
But that'll never happen because that's what "makes 'em so tough" and Diamond people get their jollies spouting off ridiculousness like that, when in reality, it's just stupid for a slate shelf to be that deep.

That and cut the corner pockets' angle to 139* . 141* makes it tough when the cloth gets old.

 

[philly]

I play on Gold Crowns and Diamonds. I prefer Gold Crowns but Diamonds don't bother me. I can get used to them pretty quickly. Had a chance to collect big on a break and run 9 ball rack but the Diamond got me when I slow rolled the 4 along the rail on a very thin cut and the hump of slate in front of the pocket got me. The rest of the out would have been cake.

 

[realkingcobra]

Diamond is working on a new ProAm for all you whiny pool players, they're working out how to mount the pockets but leave the rails off so you guys never miss a ball:thumbup:

 

[realkingcobra]

quit being a troll and ripping the opinion of everyone that doesn't share your opinion....that is the very definition of a troll.....diamond tables are not as good as the new gold crowns, accept it:yikes:

You can't read either I take it:rotflmao1::rotflmao1:

 

[SUPERSTAR]

The shill has spoken.

 

[JoeyInCali]

I play on Gold Crowns and Diamonds. I prefer Gold Crowns but Diamonds don't bother me. I can get used to them pretty quickly. Had a chance to collect big on a break and run 9 ball rack but the Diamond got me when I slow rolled the 4 along the rail on a very thin cut and the hump of slate in front of the pocket got me. The rest of the out would have been cake.

GC's are great. The major drawback of GC's is the aluminum liners. They ding cues really bad .
The tear shaped GC rails are the bomb though.
Diamond does have better quality control imo. Their tables play more consistent from one table to the other .