The average age of each table, and the resulting wear, seems to be the biggest factor in quality of play. Cloth, cue ball, rails, etc can make a difference in play style, but all things being equal the valleys locally are just worn out and no fun.
Diamond Bar Box vs Valley bar box
- Thread starter StuartTKelley
- Start date
I play on Diamond bar boxes five days a week, but my only experience with Valley tables was in Vegas last month. I agree with a lot of what was said already. The cloth plays a role, the rails, the way the slate is mounted, the pocket sizes, all of these add up.
I too play better on the Diamond tables. The Valley pockets look like the Grand Canyon compared to the Diamond, but I rattled a lot more shots. My theory is that I typically play a finesse game most of the time. The fast, even cloth on the Diamonds allows me to play this game well without worry of the cue ball rolling off and with very little effort to move the ball around the table if need be. On the Valley tables I had to put a bit more power into every stroke. The harder I hit, the less accurate I am. I can't hit really soft on the Valley table because of the roll and because it might come up short.
The other major difference I found was the bounce of the rails. I typically kick three rails, corner to corner to get a feel for new tables, amongst other things. The difference between the two tables is more than a diamond width apart. I can drop down on any well maintained Diamond table and know exactly where to hit for that shot without thinking about it. I use that for the basis of most of my kicking throughout a game by adjusting to each situation. On the Valley, I had to find the new spot and then adjust my entire kicking game to the way the rails bounced. That means that every time I kicked I had to put way more thought into it than I'm used to.
All in all, I like both. They both seem consistent from one table to the next. I just think its a matter of what you're used to.
I too play better on the Diamond tables. The Valley pockets look like the Grand Canyon compared to the Diamond, but I rattled a lot more shots. My theory is that I typically play a finesse game most of the time. The fast, even cloth on the Diamonds allows me to play this game well without worry of the cue ball rolling off and with very little effort to move the ball around the table if need be. On the Valley tables I had to put a bit more power into every stroke. The harder I hit, the less accurate I am. I can't hit really soft on the Valley table because of the roll and because it might come up short.
The other major difference I found was the bounce of the rails. I typically kick three rails, corner to corner to get a feel for new tables, amongst other things. The difference between the two tables is more than a diamond width apart. I can drop down on any well maintained Diamond table and know exactly where to hit for that shot without thinking about it. I use that for the basis of most of my kicking throughout a game by adjusting to each situation. On the Valley, I had to find the new spot and then adjust my entire kicking game to the way the rails bounced. That means that every time I kicked I had to put way more thought into it than I'm used to.
All in all, I like both. They both seem consistent from one table to the next. I just think its a matter of what you're used to.