Drop pocket vs. gully... what is your preference and why?

@fastone371
straightline said:
One thing I remember from the Poolhallistine era is if your main practice is throw 'em out, shoot 'em in; you may tend to do the same old patterns on drop pockets. With a ball return, you can mix the balls up before throwing them out .
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You find that odd? I found myself looking at the same old dead out time after time. Even the retrieving and throwing motion gets into a repetitive rhythm; balls end up in the same orientation time after time. It becomes a stroke drill at best.
 
straightline said:
@fastone371


You find that odd? I found myself looking at the same old dead out time after time. Even the retrieving and throwing motion gets into a repetitive rhythm; balls end up in the same orientation time after time. It becomes a stroke drill at best.
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Not so much odd but something I have never considered before, it makes sense though and it should be somewhat obvious, especially if I stayed at a Holiday Inn last night. :)
 
fastone371 said:
Not so much odd but something I have never considered before, it makes sense though and it should be somewhat obvious, especially if I stayed at a Holiday Inn last night. :)
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For a couple years back in the 70s that's all I'd do. That's what the players would do, so obviously that's what I should do. Even 15 ball rotation - all the balls would be off the rail in the middle third of the table. I'd get out enough so nothing outside the box entered my mind. It was only after a couple years of that and I still wasn't good enough for real action, it occurs to me. I had a reliance on dead outs. duh...
Never made it to a Holiday Inn...:D
 
My table had a ball return system (gulley) with 4.75" pockets. We moved about two years ago so it was the perfect time to get the rails redone to 4.25" and converted the table to drop pocket. Love the drop pocket and easier on my back.
 
very cool, Southport Lanes,
...here? ...returns are to the sides, a necessity when spotting up the plots in a timely fashion.
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TR2.jpg
 
straightline said:
For a couple years back in the 70s that's all I'd do. That's what the players would do, so obviously that's what I should do. Even 15 ball rotation - all the balls would be off the rail in the middle third of the table. I'd get out enough so nothing outside the box entered my mind. It was only after a couple years of that and I still wasn't good enough for real action, it occurs to me. I had a reliance on dead outs. duh...
Never made it to a Holiday Inn...:D
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That's weird, when I throw balls out on a drop pocket table I will scatter each pocket of balls around the table and purposely relocate some if they look too clustered, but even that is not real. Maybe that's why I like my ball return, even when practicing racks I always rack them and break.
 
...the home-built kind,
Had to have a comfortable reach across the table for doing set-ups, 42" seemed to be a decent reach range and still be playable having the 102" length.
For the likes of raddler's, it has a couple of orations' of raddle's from pot, ball in wooden gully, to rest.
 
Willowbrook Wolfy said:
I like the sound of the gulleys better guys. Sorry.
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HUH?? Been at this for 40+yrs and have never heard one person say that. Best sound in pool is the 'clack' of a ball going into a leather drop pocket. Next would be the 'thunk' of a GC bucket. And WAAAAAAAAY in last place place would be the sound of balls rolling in a return. I played a shitload of pool on barroom Valley's and i always hated that fkng sound. Diamond's are quieter but still not the same as a good drop pocket.
 
tim913 said:
Gully 100%. I have a 9’ GC IV and I can’t stand drop pockets .. clearing balls when pockets get full, the clicking ball on ball sound when you make a shot, walking around the table collecting balls every time you rack .. nope .. sucks! I can practice 3000 stroke drill into corner pocket without ever having to walk away from the ball box
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Totally agree with this. I also have a GC with return. The system is totally clean, not overly noisy and I can do my drills with much less effort
 
Hungarian said:
It's hard to call for me. I have ball return on my Gold Crown. Benefits of both. I never considered the earlier comment about chalk dust like sand paper. If that's true it weights into the decision. For one pocket though drop pockets all the way.
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GC ball return has no chance of collecting dust and will not harm the balls in any way.
 
I'm getting older now and would definitely opt for the Gully system over drop pockets, I hate walking around the table to retrieve all the balls. There are pros and cons with each, most of which have been stated, but I would choose the system that was reliable but return the balls to the short rail end.
 
garczar said:
HUH?? Been at this for 40+yrs and have never heard one person say that. Best sound in pool is the 'clack' of a ball going into a leather drop pocket. Next would be the 'thunk' of a GC bucket. And WAAAAAAAAY in last place place would be the sound of balls rolling in a return. I played a shitload of pool on barroom Valley's and i always hated that fkng sound. Diamond's are quieter but still not the same as a good drop pocket.
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Specifically I like the sound of the first ball or two dropping into the tray on a GC. I don’t think the leather pockets sound good either. What’s more fulfilling? A stupid little clank or hearing that ball roll back into the tray? For me it’s the latter. My home table growing up was a Brunswick with the pcv returns and that was too loud and sometimes balls would get stuck, but the gullys remind me of that. So there is some sentimental value in all of this for me.
 
Willowbrook Wolfy said:
Specifically I like the sound of the first ball or two dropping into the tray on a GC. I don’t think the leather pockets sound good either. What’s more fulfilling? A stupid little clank or hearing that ball roll back into the tray? For me it’s the latter. My home table growing up was a Brunswick with the pcv returns and that was too loud and sometimes balls would get stuck, but the gullys remind me of that. So there is some sentimental value in all of this for me.
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A table with nice double leather pockets doesn't give a little clank. It sounds more like a boxer working out on the old heavy bag, a nice deep thunk.

One thing about the gully tables, I used to try to keep a ball rolling the entire time while I was running out a table when I was a teenager. I was easily entertained!(grin)

Hu
 
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