cluelesscuer
New member
One thing I always know if I am playing someone not so good ona 9 ft table I can always leave them long...on a smaller table that doesn't work
Going from 9-footers to barboxes
- Thread starter justadub
- Start date
Looking for a little advice. Both my 8 & 9-ball teams are playing in our APA LTCs this weekend. We play exclusively on 9-footers, and there isn't a 7-footer within 35 miles, and those are Valleys. Where we will be playing, the majority of the tables will be 7-foot Diamonds.
At least 3-4 of the players on each team have never played on anything but a 9-footer before, and never a Diamond of any size.
Any suggestions to help me get them acclimated as quickly as possible? We will have very limited practice time, if any. (The room is 2 hours away, we can't just drive over ahead of time to get used to them.) Picture 32-34 teams trying to get on 16 tables
I've played on these tables for about 10 minutes, 2 years ago. (We got stuck on the 3 Valleys they bring in for this tourney every year.). No one else on either team has any experience with Diamonds, even those who have played on barboxes before.
Suggestions? Thanks
shoot soft, LOL it shouldnt be a hard adjustment, they are well made tables
9 footer's to 7 footer's
Well it's like this from my experience, you will be in trouble until you get much practice on the 7 footer's , here's why.
There is much congestion on the 7 footer's, you will be shooting many more kiss shots, billiards, and combinations than on the 9 footer's, you have to be more precise with your shape on the 7 footer's than the 9's , you have to park whitey on a dime or just right to shoot through the window's, and be able to do it regular with more cue ball control than the 9 footer's.
You can play down that way shape on the 9's and it will be good most cases but not so for the 7's., you can over play shape and have to cut a ball more than you expected and you will be in trouble but maybe not so on the 9's.
Atleast that's the way it's been for me all my life, I've always had a much easier time going up than down on the table sizes.
I suggest you and your team member's some how get on a 7 footer ( any will do ) and get several hours practice before you go cold turkey and try to play on them in your up coming matches, practice those kiss shots, billiard shots and combinations, and playing close shapes, you'll be glad you did.
Also practice with the same cue ball you'll be using during your matches , that will be a big help in adjusting to the 7 footer.
good luck!
David Harcrow
Looking for a little advice. Both my 8 & 9-ball teams are playing in our APA LTCs this weekend. We play exclusively on 9-footers, and there isn't a 7-footer within 35 miles, and those are Valleys. Where we will be playing, the majority of the tables will be 7-foot Diamonds.
At least 3-4 of the players on each team have never played on anything but a 9-footer before, and never a Diamond of any size.
Any suggestions to help me get them acclimated as quickly as possible? We will have very limited practice time, if any. (The room is 2 hours away, we can't just drive over ahead of time to get used to them.) Picture 32-34 teams trying to get on 16 tables
I've played on these tables for about 10 minutes, 2 years ago. (We got stuck on the 3 Valleys they bring in for this tourney every year.). No one else on either team has any experience with Diamonds, even those who have played on barboxes before.
Suggestions? Thanks
Well it's like this from my experience, you will be in trouble until you get much practice on the 7 footer's , here's why.
There is much congestion on the 7 footer's, you will be shooting many more kiss shots, billiards, and combinations than on the 9 footer's, you have to be more precise with your shape on the 7 footer's than the 9's , you have to park whitey on a dime or just right to shoot through the window's, and be able to do it regular with more cue ball control than the 9 footer's.
You can play down that way shape on the 9's and it will be good most cases but not so for the 7's., you can over play shape and have to cut a ball more than you expected and you will be in trouble but maybe not so on the 9's.
Atleast that's the way it's been for me all my life, I've always had a much easier time going up than down on the table sizes.
I suggest you and your team member's some how get on a 7 footer ( any will do ) and get several hours practice before you go cold turkey and try to play on them in your up coming matches, practice those kiss shots, billiard shots and combinations, and playing close shapes, you'll be glad you did.
Also practice with the same cue ball you'll be using during your matches , that will be a big help in adjusting to the 7 footer.
good luck!
David Harcrow
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Good news and bad news
35 miles isn't too far to drive-I'd schedule 1'practice session on a barbox b4 the weekend.
There's good news and bad news here...the good news is that the 7' diamonds play like 9'ers...you stroke em in, smoothly, gracefully, not like valley 7'ers where u put em in firm to avoid table roll. So your team is already acclimated to the right stroke for the table..also, the pockets are deep and tight on the diamonds, but because your team is accustomed to long shots, they'll have no trouble pocketing the balls on these tight whores. :grin:
Bad news: your team is accustomed to MOVING THE CUE BALL and stroking with long strokes, they are not used to traffic. They are going to get frustrated with their cue ball positioning. You have tight keyholes you need to be able to thread the cueball into, requiring much better cue ball control. I'd suggest shortening bridge lengths a tad bit, and tightening up on cueball control. Don't move the cueball any more than u have to. Play more safes when traffic prevents runout. Be patient. Don't get too close to your work, a bit farther, and you have a larger target area for the cueball placement, especially since you guys have no problem with longer shots.
Have a talk before match regarding excuses, forbid excuses about tables. It's top of the line equipment. Talent will prevail. Have accountability for each player, don't tolerate negativity toward tight pockets or 7'ers.
Take the time to figure the tangent lines on each critical leave, instead of going off pure feel. Bottom line, you can't just run loose on these tables, you gotta tighten up.
Truth is, if they are not higher level players, they can't take all this stuff this late, I'd just have the no excuses talk, and tell em not to move the rock more than they need to. Tell em they're gonna love these tables, that your fortunate to be playing on them.
Good luck, I think you'll do great going from 9-7... I wouldn't want to be the one going from a 7 to a 9 for a tourney:thumbup: ur in a good position as long as the one who gets frustrated with the 7 doesn't neg out the team and get them questioning the table
Looking for a little advice. Both my 8 & 9-ball teams are playing in our APA LTCs this weekend. We play exclusively on 9-footers, and there isn't a 7-footer within 35 miles, and those are Valleys. Where we will be playing, the majority of the tables will be 7-foot Diamonds.
At least 3-4 of the players on each team have never played on anything but a 9-footer before, and never a Diamond of any size.
Any suggestions to help me get them acclimated as quickly as possible? We will have very limited practice time, if any. (The room is 2 hours away, we can't just drive over ahead of time to get used to them.) Picture 32-34 teams trying to get on 16 tables
I've played on these tables for about 10 minutes, 2 years ago. (We got stuck on the 3 Valleys they bring in for this tourney every year.). No one else on either team has any experience with Diamonds, even those who have played on barboxes before.
Suggestions? Thanks
35 miles isn't too far to drive-I'd schedule 1'practice session on a barbox b4 the weekend.
There's good news and bad news here...the good news is that the 7' diamonds play like 9'ers...you stroke em in, smoothly, gracefully, not like valley 7'ers where u put em in firm to avoid table roll. So your team is already acclimated to the right stroke for the table..also, the pockets are deep and tight on the diamonds, but because your team is accustomed to long shots, they'll have no trouble pocketing the balls on these tight whores. :grin:
Bad news: your team is accustomed to MOVING THE CUE BALL and stroking with long strokes, they are not used to traffic. They are going to get frustrated with their cue ball positioning. You have tight keyholes you need to be able to thread the cueball into, requiring much better cue ball control. I'd suggest shortening bridge lengths a tad bit, and tightening up on cueball control. Don't move the cueball any more than u have to. Play more safes when traffic prevents runout. Be patient. Don't get too close to your work, a bit farther, and you have a larger target area for the cueball placement, especially since you guys have no problem with longer shots.
Have a talk before match regarding excuses, forbid excuses about tables. It's top of the line equipment. Talent will prevail. Have accountability for each player, don't tolerate negativity toward tight pockets or 7'ers.
Take the time to figure the tangent lines on each critical leave, instead of going off pure feel. Bottom line, you can't just run loose on these tables, you gotta tighten up.
Truth is, if they are not higher level players, they can't take all this stuff this late, I'd just have the no excuses talk, and tell em not to move the rock more than they need to. Tell em they're gonna love these tables, that your fortunate to be playing on them.
Good luck, I think you'll do great going from 9-7... I wouldn't want to be the one going from a 7 to a 9 for a tourney:thumbup: ur in a good position as long as the one who gets frustrated with the 7 doesn't neg out the team and get them questioning the table
Great stuff, everyone. I really appreciate it.
A couple more thoughts, somewhat in reply to a few of the posts....the tables we are used to playing at our home room have fairly deep shelves, too, so that could help us a little. Also, since we'll be playing against teams from all over the state, many of them will be in a similar situation as we are in....we have far more 9-footers across the state than 7-footers. So long as we don't draw a team from the area around where states are held, we should at least be in the same boat.
Sadly, none of us will have the time to drive and practice on a 7-footer. Nor will we be able to get there very early to get much practice in, doors open at 7:30 AM, and its a 2 hour drive
That time frame so precludes stopping on the way to play on a small table, were one available on the trip, of which i'm not sure.
I love the bulk of the suggestions, tho, thanks so much for the help. I'm looking forward to the weekend
A couple more thoughts, somewhat in reply to a few of the posts....the tables we are used to playing at our home room have fairly deep shelves, too, so that could help us a little. Also, since we'll be playing against teams from all over the state, many of them will be in a similar situation as we are in....we have far more 9-footers across the state than 7-footers. So long as we don't draw a team from the area around where states are held, we should at least be in the same boat.
Sadly, none of us will have the time to drive and practice on a 7-footer. Nor will we be able to get there very early to get much practice in, doors open at 7:30 AM, and its a 2 hour drive
That time frame so precludes stopping on the way to play on a small table, were one available on the trip, of which i'm not sure.
I love the bulk of the suggestions, tho, thanks so much for the help. I'm looking forward to the weekend
I really don't think going from the 9' to a 7' will be that difficult. I do it weekly - both directions. Heck, sometimes I play on a 6'.. Much more difficult to go up in size that lower down. Biggest problem I have going from a larger to smaller is over compensating for the longer-distance cut shots. Alot of times going to a smaller size on an immediate transition my eyes play tricks on me and make me think the pockets are farther away than they are. Play safely, use what you can do the best to your advantage and everything should go smoothly until you get fully acclimated.
You can still practice with the 9 footers to prepare for 7-footer competition.
To practice, use a soft break that spreads the balls but keeps them all within the first three diamonds. Or, you can spread the balls by hand.
Starting with ball in hand, only play to the side and foot pockets. This keeps the majority of your maneuvering inside the half table.
Try it - it forces your focus and attention down into a smaller working area.
To practice, use a soft break that spreads the balls but keeps them all within the first three diamonds. Or, you can spread the balls by hand.
Starting with ball in hand, only play to the side and foot pockets. This keeps the majority of your maneuvering inside the half table.
Try it - it forces your focus and attention down into a smaller working area.
Lotta good advice. I was in the same situation... went from all 9 foot league to diamond barboxes.
I made a few mistakes and made mental notes:
• Play for the corners more than the sides.
This isn't a big issue on diamonds but on valleys the sides are smaller than the corners,
which is backwards from the usual arrangement. On a diamond I'm not sure if they're larger, smaller, or equal...
but on diamond smart tables the pockets will be 5.25"... add a little help from the rail and the corner pockets play HUGE from anywhere.
Also, shooting into the side, it's easy to get into a situation where you must go up and down the table the long way,
like 10+ feet of travel. That's when you can easily get hooked or on the rail. Playing into the corners, you'll almost never have to do that.
• What Chris said, don't risk getting hooked. That's the number one problem on these tables. Better to hit the ball
a little weak and leave yourself a longer shot, vs. playing aggressive and getting hooked. It's especially easy to overhit
the ball in playoffs if they redo the felt, which is already fast on diamonds.
The good news is, I think the newer diamond barboxes don't need special weighted or magnetic cue balls, they use lasers or something,
so the cue ball should play normally. But "normally" on a diamond will be new to you.
You might at least try to find a nearby place with a diamond so you can get used to their springy rails and fast cloth.
Better is to leave early and try to sneak in even a little bit of practice at the venue.
I made a few mistakes and made mental notes:
• Play for the corners more than the sides.
This isn't a big issue on diamonds but on valleys the sides are smaller than the corners,
which is backwards from the usual arrangement. On a diamond I'm not sure if they're larger, smaller, or equal...
but on diamond smart tables the pockets will be 5.25"... add a little help from the rail and the corner pockets play HUGE from anywhere.
Also, shooting into the side, it's easy to get into a situation where you must go up and down the table the long way,
like 10+ feet of travel. That's when you can easily get hooked or on the rail. Playing into the corners, you'll almost never have to do that.
• What Chris said, don't risk getting hooked. That's the number one problem on these tables. Better to hit the ball
a little weak and leave yourself a longer shot, vs. playing aggressive and getting hooked. It's especially easy to overhit
the ball in playoffs if they redo the felt, which is already fast on diamonds.
The good news is, I think the newer diamond barboxes don't need special weighted or magnetic cue balls, they use lasers or something,
so the cue ball should play normally. But "normally" on a diamond will be new to you.
You might at least try to find a nearby place with a diamond so you can get used to their springy rails and fast cloth.
Better is to leave early and try to sneak in even a little bit of practice at the venue.
Bruce, just hit'em hard, it's APA
Thanks, RJ and everyone. Great stuff, esp about the side pockets.
CreeDo, did you ever play at Club 302 in Windham when you were up here? That's where we'll be...
Hope I can get some good practice in tonight, before Game 1.....you up for the Stanley Cup series, RJ? Boston Strong, baybeeeeeeee
Bruce, just hit'em hard, it's APA
Yea, I agree - High left, as hard as you can...
..six pockets out there - it has to go somewhere...
When we used to play in a real pool hall some time ago we'd practice on the bigger tables and dropping to the 7's was cake. The only real issue I ever had in the switch personally was that when you broke that first rack, damn! the table looked all crowded, but after an inning or two the visual adjustment had been made and the pockets were still like buckets. I think it might surprise you how well you all will play on those tables. After a match or two I bet you all will love it
Matlock..
Some advice from Dave Matlock to me many years ago. On a barbox, Bridge closer to the object ball and shorten your stroke. This will help you control the cue ball and pocket balls better. Controlling the cue ball is more important on a barbox. It is much easier to get hooked as all balls are clustered more.
Gary Lutman
Some advice from Dave Matlock to me many years ago. On a barbox, Bridge closer to the object ball and shorten your stroke. This will help you control the cue ball and pocket balls better. Controlling the cue ball is more important on a barbox. It is much easier to get hooked as all balls are clustered more.
Gary Lutman
I never did get out to club 302, in fact it's the first time hearing of it. If it's all diamond smart tables, could be worse, I didn't see many of those in the area.
1) op is comparing 9footers to bar tables. not valleys to Diamonds
2) the guy you are knocking here can give you the 6 and out.
