Does anyone else have this problem?
- Thread starter BPG24
- Start date
I think the fastest way to get in stroke on the bar table is to slow down your game a notch or two and play as much as you can at pocket speed. An easier way to make this more comfortable is to start doing it at home or whereever it is that you practice regularly on the big table. I think most of us have a speed of stroke that we consider optimum, giving us the most consistency in potting and cue ball control. When we can give ourselves room to use this stroke speed, it feels comfortable and we feel in stroke. However, this is usually too much stroke for playing on a smaller table.
Therefore, we need to practice slower speed strokes more on the big table. Get used to feeling comfortable and confident using a slower speed stroke. One of my biggest problems on a small table is judging how hard to hit when you have to basically make the cue ball go back and forth across the table to get shape on a ball that is say near the rack area. Most times i feel like if I hit it soft and try to hold the cue ball, it will come out too far. Then I'm left wondering exactly how the rail is going to play in that particular spot (seems like they vary all over the table), how the table roll will come into play, and what that crazy heavy cue ball is going to do.
Since you can't really duplicate that kind of scenario on a big table, I'd spend some time practicing that type of shot. Put a couple of balls near the foot spot, cut one in and try to get pinpoint shape on the next one going straight to the rail and back. Put some blockers on the 2nd ball to force yourself to commit to a small area you have to hit and do it from both sides.
I would also spend some time at the foot of the table (this is usually the worst area of the table for roll offs, dead rails, etc.) with 10 or so balls in little clusters and gently pick them off, paying attention to how the rails react, stroke speed required to move the cue ball around, and any table rolls.
If I have the chance, I'll also shoot a rack of banks and kicks to get a good feel for how the rails play. Sometimes I'll have a heck of a time getting through the rack and feel like I'm not getting it, but then once the match starts I find my brain has made the necessary adjustments and I'm usually pretty successful.
I think the hardest thing for me to get right (probably because I never practice it) is the soft safety shot where you just barely want to nudge a ball and leave the cue ball tied up with it. I can do it at home pretty well, but it always seems like a toss up at the bar. Funny rolls happen is the rule!
Therefore, we need to practice slower speed strokes more on the big table. Get used to feeling comfortable and confident using a slower speed stroke. One of my biggest problems on a small table is judging how hard to hit when you have to basically make the cue ball go back and forth across the table to get shape on a ball that is say near the rack area. Most times i feel like if I hit it soft and try to hold the cue ball, it will come out too far. Then I'm left wondering exactly how the rail is going to play in that particular spot (seems like they vary all over the table), how the table roll will come into play, and what that crazy heavy cue ball is going to do.
Since you can't really duplicate that kind of scenario on a big table, I'd spend some time practicing that type of shot. Put a couple of balls near the foot spot, cut one in and try to get pinpoint shape on the next one going straight to the rail and back. Put some blockers on the 2nd ball to force yourself to commit to a small area you have to hit and do it from both sides.
I would also spend some time at the foot of the table (this is usually the worst area of the table for roll offs, dead rails, etc.) with 10 or so balls in little clusters and gently pick them off, paying attention to how the rails react, stroke speed required to move the cue ball around, and any table rolls.
If I have the chance, I'll also shoot a rack of banks and kicks to get a good feel for how the rails play. Sometimes I'll have a heck of a time getting through the rack and feel like I'm not getting it, but then once the match starts I find my brain has made the necessary adjustments and I'm usually pretty successful.
I think the hardest thing for me to get right (probably because I never practice it) is the soft safety shot where you just barely want to nudge a ball and leave the cue ball tied up with it. I can do it at home pretty well, but it always seems like a toss up at the bar. Funny rolls happen is the rule!
dave sutton
Banned
BPG24 said:
the problem i see on a barbox is poolroom players think they can get out everytime on a 7footer. i have no trouble switching
im a A+++ in the poolroom and the highest rated player possible in every league. on a bar box 2 yrs ago i went 8 matches in our areas without loosing a game. playing all top players 6's and 7's
lucking after i moved to atlantic city we have APA on 9 footers. about 40 teams
