Drop Pockets or Ball Return? What Is Better For Training

Cardigan Kid

Cardigan Kid

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I've noticed that players like Niels Feijen and CJ have posted videos from their home tables and they have drop pockets. Also in many of the Tor Lowry videos, he utilizes a drop pocket table for his training.

Are there training benefits to drop pocket tables? I prefer the ball return on my gold crown, so I can quickly get access to all the balls when doing drills, and not have to worry about filling up a pocket. But the pros seem to like the drop pockets.

What do you prefer?
 
I prefer drop pockets so I don't always have to walk to the end of the table to get a ball(s).

Drop pockets are also easier on my back. Bending down -- or kneeling -- is a pain on an older back/knees.

It's also one less thing to go wrong on a table.
 
Cardigan Kid said:
I've noticed that players like Niels Feijen and CJ have posted videos from their home tables and they have drop pockets. Also in many of the Tor Lowry videos, he utilizes a drop pocket table for his training.

Are there training benefits to drop pocket tables? I prefer the ball return on my gold crown, so I can quickly get access to all the balls when doing drills, and not have to worry about filling up a pocket. But the pros seem to like the drop pockets.

What do you prefer?
Click to expand...

Ball return for rotation games.
Drop pocket for one pocket.

Whether a table is drop pocket or ball return, will not affect your "training."
 
Ball return tables can always become drop pockets by stuffing up the pockets with newspapers or laundry or something. I imagine it would take a lot more work to convert a drop pocket table into a return table.
 
drop pockets easier on the back.
ball return, you can shoot a whole rack into the same pocket
 
drop pockets...... Besides being easier on the back, have you guys listened to the annoying banging and clanging of ball returns?!
 
bdorman said:
It's also one less thing to go wrong on a table.
Click to expand...

My GC has no moving parts on ball return, nothing to go wrong.

I will take the ball return table every time.
If the little bit of noise bothers you that means you will need ear plugs for breaking.
If it bothers your back too much its probably time to quit pool altogether. My back is about as effed up as they come and reaching for the balls out of a ball return table bothers me less than the act of shooting.:smile:
 
I love the ball return noises but I don't like bending for em either

snooker players don't use ball returns and it certainly does not hinder them

if efficiency during practice time is a consideration, use object balls as cue balls
 
I've always preferred drop pockets. The walk around the table to empty the pockets doesn't seem like any more work to me than bending over to get all the balls out of the ball return. I don't think either one is really significantly better, so I guess it's just the simplicity of the drop pockets that appeals to me.
 
Matt said:
I've always preferred drop pockets. The walk around the table to empty the pockets doesn't seem like any more work to me than bending over to get all the balls out of the ball return. I don't think either one is really significantly better, so I guess it's just the simplicity of the drop pockets that appeals to me.
Click to expand...
Agreed. Its a matter of personal preference. Neither really has any gains over the other.
 
Drop pockets are better. The balls get dirty going thru the ball return system. This is the case on the tables I have played on.
 
What is it with the threads of late?

Statistically, a 14.1 player will add around 10% to his average score by playing on a drop pocket table (subject to a 10% deviation). Conversely, a rotation player hwo is used to giving the 9, now has to give the 8 unless the other player is also playing on the same table (also having drop pockets) in which case he reverts to giving just the 9.

Apart from that, it has no more or less impact unless combined with the fact that many pros apparently don't use chalk holders, in which case, it's open for debate and we need to find the answer as the mosconi cup is coming soon.

Long live Europe and all those that sail in bonus ball.
 
That's what I was going to say.
voiceofreason said:
What is it with the threads of late?

Statistically, a 14.1 player will add around 10% to his average score by playing on a drop pocket table (subject to a 10% deviation). Conversely, a rotation player hwo is used to giving the 9, now has to give the 8 unless the other player is also playing on the same table (also having drop pockets) in which case he reverts to giving just the 9.

Apart from that, it has no more or less impact unless combined with the fact that many pros apparently don't use chalk holders, in which case, it's open for debate and we need to find the answer as the mosconi cup is coming soon.

Long live Europe and all those that sail in bonus ball.
Click to expand...
 
jacob said:
Drop pockets are better. The balls get dirty going thru the ball return system. This is the case on the tables I have played on.
Click to expand...

Maybe on a Valley but not on a Gold Crown, the GCs have open ball returns so no dirt accumulation whatsoever.
 
voiceofreason said:
What is it with the threads of late?

Statistically, a 14.1 player will add around 10% to his average score by playing on a drop pocket table (subject to a 10% deviation). Conversely, a rotation player hwo is used to giving the 9, now has to give the 8 unless the other player is also playing on the same table (also having drop pockets) in which case he reverts to giving just the 9.

Apart from that, it has no more or less impact unless combined with the fact that many pros apparently don't use chalk holders, in which case, it's open for debate and we need to find the answer as the mosconi cup is coming soon.

Long live Europe and all those that sail in bonus ball.
Click to expand...

Ha ha ha ha!! Good one. :thumbup:

Personal preference, for 14.1, I would think ball-return tables are more conducive to the "continuous" nature of 14.1, as the racker goes to one spot -- the foot of the table -- to retrieve and rack the balls for the next rack. Quick and convenient.

But I find in One Pocket, drop pockets are better for maintaining score, as you're less likely to get into arguments with your opponent about what the score is. Just look into the target pockets, and voila(!) -- that tells the score. Balls are less likely to be "slept" (i.e. not retrieved from the ball return) between innings, or inadvertently (or covertly) "stolen" by your opponent. Common practice is when the target pockets are overflowing, to pull the balls out and place into the same-side-of-the-table side pocket. Again, just look in the pocket bucket -- that tells the tale. Don't get me wrong -- you can definitely keep accurate score on a ball-return table, but you have to be JUDICIOUS in retrieving your pocketed balls after your inning -- and JUDICIOUS in spotting balls that were pocketed in non-target pockets as well.

Rotation (short-rack or otherwise)? It's a wash, but I seem to prefer ball-return tables for the same convenience reasons mentioned with 14.1 above.

-Sean
 
voiceofreason said:
What is it with the threads of late?

Statistically, a 14.1 player will add around 10% to his average score by playing on a drop pocket table (subject to a 10% deviation). Conversely, a rotation player hwo is used to giving the 9, now has to give the 8 unless the other player is also playing on the same table (also having drop pockets) in which case he reverts to giving just the 9.

Apart from that, it has no more or less impact unless combined with the fact that many pros apparently don't use chalk holders, in which case, it's open for debate and we need to find the answer as the mosconi cup is coming soon.

Long live Europe and all those that sail in bonus ball.
Click to expand...

Pardon us for having a conversation about pool tables on a billiards forum. And when a world class professional installs a drop pocket table in his home, his reasoning would be of interest on a billiard forum. So if you have a table, what do you prefer?

And I'll have to disagree with your chalk holder comparison. A home pool table is a major install/investment, and you would spend many hours on it, so that tables format (drop or return) is not by chance. hence this thread's topic, which do you prefer?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top