First time on a 7 footer

RakRunr

RakRunr

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I found a pool hall in Knoxville that has tournaments Friday and Saturday nights, so I'm planning on playing while I visit there this weekend.

I found out, however, that the tournaments are all played on 7' tables. I've never played on a table that small (I'm used to 9' Gold Crowns). Does anyone have any advice for adjusting to the smaller table? What gotchas or differences do I need to watch out for?
 
If you aim by referencing the position of the object ball to other pockets, don't do that on the 7 footer.

I never understood my friend's comments that the angles are different, until I finally asked him what he meant. I had never occurred to me to aim that way. (don't look at which direction the corner pocket is, look at where it should be based on the side pocket)
 
You'll adjust quickly...the key is not to over-run shots and don't miss opportunities to develop clusters. Get "in the guts" of big clusters early and clear them from the inside when you can, otherwise picking them off from the outside you may get in trouble at some point due to the congestion.

If we're talking rotation, same as big table, just focus on less is more; small moves are best.
 
Keep your position routes as simple as possible, and accept a little tougher shot versus trying to hit a small gap for perfect position. You don't have as much real estate to work with, so it's easier to hook yourself, but it's also easier to pocket shots that would be tough on a 9'er.

Aaron
 
Speed is definitely key, when I played on a tournament on 7 footers, which were in great shape with good cloth, good rails and proper pockets, the toughest thing for me was the small spaces and congestion. I had no issues with making balls, but I hooked myself a lot which is what killed me after 3 wins, played a good player that was used to the small tables, and every time I would be running out, I'd end up behind his ball (playing 8 ball) due to speed control.

Also check out the tables before you play, unless they are maintained you could have dead or funny banking rails, rolls all over the place, oversize cueball, etc... Seems like places that have 7 footers only tend to be those that don't care much about the pool side of things aside from having a table there so people have something to do while drinking.
 
You have to really work at missing on a 7 foot table.

it's like shooting fish in a barrel. Tough to miss if you are used to 9 foot tables.
 
As a general rule, play shape to pocket balls into the corner pockets instead of the side pockets.
 
measureman said:
You have to really work at missing on a 7 foot table.

it's like shooting fish in a barrel. Tough to miss if you are used to 9 foot tables.
Click to expand...


I seem to miss about as often on Diamond Barboxes and Diamond 9s. Haven't played on a GC in a while.
 
RakRunr said:
I found a pool hall in Knoxville that has tournaments Friday and Saturday nights, so I'm planning on playing while I visit there this weekend.

I found out, however, that the tournaments are all played on 7' tables. I've never played on a table that small (I'm used to 9' Gold Crowns). Does anyone have any advice for adjusting to the smaller table? What gotchas or differences do I need to watch out for?
Click to expand...

Hard to add to the good advice already given in this thread. I would agree that the main thing is to shorten your stroke so as to not over hit the ball. Nice short stroke and soft hit for most shots for sure.

What you will be glad to find out is that there will be no long shots for you. Forget about playing half table patterns and look at the table as a whole for your best patterns. You can play end rail to end rail and feel like every shot is a hanger.

Take it down man!
 
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Come on guys...he's going to play on a barbox!

RakRunr, you've got to bang the balls as hard as you can on every shot. If you're holding back, have a few more beers until you can play by "feel." I'm not sure why, but it seems to help if you're loud and obnoxious too. (perhaps Dr. Dave can chime in on that)

And never, ever, at no time use a mechanical bridge. Or play safe.

:D:D:D

Good luck!
 
I am not an experienced bar box player, so I can't offer you advice. I can only wish you good luck in the tournament.:smile:
 
One thing to mention - unless they are well kept tables, bar boxes can have some really funny rolls. Take some time to practice slow rolling to see if you notice funny rolls. If you do, try to avoid playing pocket weight. Instead, play with a firmer hit to avoid missing due to a bad roll.
 
Bar tables have small side pockets and large corner pockets. The exception is Diamond the side pocket are a 1/2" larger than the corner pocket, like the Gold Crowns and other 9-footers.
 
Similar to others' advice, look for patterns that avoid CB movement.

One way to do this is to not always try to get onto a ball into the pocket it is nearest to. e.g. Look for patterns taking some balls into the far corner pockets, so you can avoid having to move the CB through congested areas.

Also, practice a lot of shots with bridge hand on the rail and the CB on or near the rail before you go. You'll get a lot more of those than is usual.

Colin
 
Thanks to everyone for the advice. I played on the 7 footers three nights in a row, and I think I was starting to get the hang of it. I made several nice runs and was getting comfortable overall.

The biggest problem I had was scratching: I definitely scratched a lot more often, especially in the side pockets on the break. I also found banking and kicking a bit different. Not harder, just different, and I don't think I played enough to adjust.
 
RakRunr said:
Thanks to everyone for the advice. I played on the 7 footers three nights in a row, and I think I was starting to get the hang of it. I made several nice runs and was getting comfortable overall.

The biggest problem I had was scratching: I definitely scratched a lot more often, especially in the side pockets on the break. I also found banking and kicking a bit different. Not harder, just different, and I don't think I played enough to adjust.
Click to expand...

Stick with shooting them in the corner and playing "dead" shots. It's easier to take the longer shot, than to draw off the rail, past the side pocket, for shape. If you must shoot balls into the side pocket, keep it simple. Swinging the CB after a side pocket shot will kill you.

When I'm playing bar table 8-ball, nearly every shot is "dead."
By dead, I mean hardly any cue ball action; just enough to make the shot.
Leaving a funny angle isn't so bad when the distance between the CB and OB is only 2ft.

This is an older video, but you'll get an idea of what I'm talking about (and how big the side pockets really are):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_V_APkxNgeM
 
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