"Home style"
Da Bank:
Don't mean to hijack your thread, but when I read the Title to it, for some reason cornbread and apple pie popped into my head. "Home style" -- does Diamond actually use this phrase in their table model names?
Anyway, I heartily agree with the point that the pros would want to practice on something that either is, or is as close to, the same equipment they compete on. Sometimes something as seemingly trivial as the rail top surfaces (and angle of same) make a big difference in the "familiarity factor" when you're under pressure in a big match. One would want all their concentration devoted to the shot, and not have any brain CPU cycles leaked away to the subconscious/conscious thought, "Ooo! What's that different feeling under my bridge hand? This is new..." The same reason why one would want to use the same cues to practice with, as they compete with.
One pro told me that he'd rather have no table at all, and hold out until he can get the same type of table used on the tour, rather than buy something that, yes, does give him practice, but also gives him "habits" about the table that he has to re-learn on the fly when competing on a different make/model of table. He's got a point -- the human body does get into "habits" when repeating a certain activity, and ingrains these habits to conform to the equipment at hand. My natural response was, "but wait -- if you do get a Diamond Pro-Am, and the tourney you're about to compete in has Brunswick Gold Crowns, what do you do now?" He just shrugged his shoulders and said, "well, at least I practiced on one of the two/three most common tables, and not some table that I will NEVER see on the tour or the road..."
Methinks he's got a point.
Hope this helps!
-Sean
It makes it sound like I'm talking about slow roasting a table... but, have any of you played on a Diamond table that wasn't a Pro-Am or Professional? The rest are more traditional home tables.
I can't seem to find much about them.
Thanks