good on a bar table, lousy on a 9 footer??

J

judochoke

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I have a 7 foot table at home, and im deadeye judo on it. but when I go to the local tournaments by my house, they are on 9 footers, and im blindeye judo, can't make nothing. so I said to myself, hey judo, lets only play tournaments on bar tables, but thats kind of being a baby. so I decided to practice three times a week for one hour at a time on a 9 footer.

today was my first hour, and I completey sucked. either hitting to hard, or just sucking. the tables seem to be huge to my 61 year old eyes. I dont know what kind of table it was, but the pockets seemed really small.

should I give up the 9 foot table tournaments and just look for 7 footer tournaments, which there are a couple near me. or just keep trying. :frown::frown::frown::frown::frown::frown::frown::frown::frown::frown::
 
Two pieces of advice, one you can adjust down in table size but not up. Two, quit shooting at the pockets and start shooting at lines that go in the pocket or in other words tighten your target line
 
To me it’s about comfort level. I don’t get to play on them often so all the position and shots that our 2nd nature when I’m on a bar box table aren’t and I have to think about it anymore and that messes with my confidence usually for the first hour I’m playing. Honestly Ive seen a lot of other players have that problem on bar box tables. They just feel they our over hitting everything and don’t like playing into the smaller position windows
 
spktur said:
Two pieces of advice, one you can adjust down in table size but not up. Two, quit shooting at the pockets and start shooting at lines that go in the pocket or in other words tighten your target line
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Good advice Sphincter.

I would add to that for the op, get out of your own head. I’m sure that’s over half the problem at this point.

You know what people always say, “Just have fun!”.

There is nothing fun about pool!

Good luck. Hang in there.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
judochoke said:
I have a 7 foot table at home, and im deadeye judo on it. but when I go to the local tournaments by my house, they are on 9 footers, and im blindeye judo, can't make nothing. so I said to myself, hey judo, lets only play tournaments on bar tables, but thats kind of being a baby. so I decided to practice three times a week for one hour at a time on a 9 footer.

today was my first hour, and I completey sucked. either hitting to hard, or just sucking. the tables seem to be huge to my 61 year old eyes. I dont know what kind of table it was, but the pockets seemed really small.

should I give up the 9 foot table tournaments and just look for 7 footer tournaments, which there are a couple near me. or just keep trying. :frown::frown::frown::frown::frown::frown::frown::frown::frown::frown::
Click to expand...

Keep trying .....the more you pls on them the better you will get.

As some one who plays on mostly 7's and occasionally 9's I will share what i do when playing on 9's.

1. Number one thing.. Dont hit as hard on the 9's as you do 7's. That may seem odd ti say since you more than likely will encounter longer shots on 9's but balls travel faster on 9's than they do on 7's and the pockets are tighter and will spit out balls that would fall on 7's.


2. Aim center pocket on every shot and hit mostly center cue ball unless ti absolutely have to use English for position or avoiding a scratch. Less clusters on 9's so cue ball position is not as critical as on 7's with all the clusters you will encounter. Believe it or not but its better to wind up long on your next shot than it is to wind up short. Yes the pockets are smaller than what you are used to on 7's and just concentrating on center pocket will help make shots that you are rattling.

3. Dont get frustrated when balls do not fall that you know would have fell on a 7'. Just make a mental note of what happened on that shot to avoid making that same mistake again and move on to tour next shot. Getting frustrated and dwelling on a missed shot keeps you from being focused on your next shot.

Believe me...i know all too well how you are feeling. My 64 year old eyes aint what the used to be and although I am not as good on a 9' as i am on a 7' it only takes me a few racks to adjust to playing at a respectable level for my handicap.


Remember....the more you do something...the better you get at it. Main thing is ti just have fun playing pool.
 
I would play 3hrs 1 day a week over 1hr sessions 3 days a week. You'll just start getting more comfortable and then your 1hr session is over, where as the longer session will get you more time in a higher comfort zone.
Jason
 
the tournaments by my house are only 10 bucks, 9 ball one night then 8 ball the next night. I will keep going, and hopefully make it out of the first round one day.:)
 
Playing on a 9-foot table will require that your form and stroke are much more accurate and in control. Flaws in your stroke or your form might still allow you to run out on a 7-footer, but they will jump out and bite you on a 9-footer.

I would recommend that you have some long practice sessions alone on the 9-footer where you shoot some long, straight-in draw shots over and over and then some long, straight-in stop shots over and over (where the cue ball stops dead without spinning or moving). Those two types of shots should expose any flaws in your mechanics.
 
OP:

I hear and see the same from lots of players at all age groups.

Most (not all) baby box players (we'll call these "easy targets") that I know personally stay off the big tables because they just can't get there.

Now, some of them can get there but don't want to because of all the easy targets previously mentioned so, those few stay where the many (easy targets) are.

Do not know if you are in either group or you just need more table time on the 9'.

As others said, more concentration is required on longer shots just like more concentration is required on smaller shape areas.
 
Something subtle - make sure you aim at the pocket. If you are an instinct player you shoot on the bar box “knowing” where the pockets are. When you go to the big box, the pockets are not there anymore. Generally you will have to overcut shots a hair to the corner pockets compared to what you think is the right angle.
 
sixpack said:
Something subtle - make sure you aim at the pocket. If you are an instinct player you shoot on the bar box “knowing” where the pockets are. When you go to the big box, the pockets are not there anymore. Generally you will have to overcut shots a hair to the corner pockets compared to what you think is the right angle.
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My league team rotates every week between 7 ft and 9 ft. I have a 7 ft at home. I am averaging 2-3 more innings per game on the big table. Ironically, last session I had 2 more break and runs on the big table than the bar box.

Shot making is easier on the barbox, but cue ball control is much tougher on the small table for me.

I agree with the advice to cut down on English as much as possible until you feel like your stroke is in dead punch.
 
IMO bar tables are the scourge of pool and are helping to kill what's left of the real sport here in the states, but if you can't make the adjustment there's no point in beating your head against a stone wall.

Or you could just get rid of that toy table of yours and start playing exclusively on 9-footers. As spktur says, you can always adjust down to the 7-footers once you've gotten comfortable on the real things.
 
judochoke said:
I have a 7 foot table at home, and im deadeye judo on it. but when I go to the local tournaments by my house, they are on 9 footers, and im blindeye judo, can't make nothing. so I said to myself, hey judo, lets only play tournaments on bar tables, but thats kind of being a baby. so I decided to practice three times a week for one hour at a time on a 9 footer.

today was my first hour, and I completey sucked. either hitting to hard, or just sucking. the tables seem to be huge to my 61 year old eyes. I dont know what kind of table it was, but the pockets seemed really small.

should I give up the 9 foot table tournaments and just look for 7 footer tournaments, which there are a couple near me. or just keep trying. :frown::frown::frown::frown::frown::frown::frown::frown::frown::frown::
Click to expand...
No, don't give up. I'm 61 also and I'm not giving up even though it's a struggle. I would practice and play tournaments on both. Your practice and tournaments on the big table will really make your shots on the barbox seem much easier. The reverse is not the case, so you'll have to put in your practice on the big table in order to get to feel more comfortable on them in tournaments.
 
I used to play barboxes all the time and finally at the hall I bought a month long pass. So I started playing on the nines more.

In the beginning I took more time aiming and setting up on the cb. I backed off using so much english, I also stopped cheating the pockets so much, well, try to cheat the nines pockets.
 
lorider said:
Keep trying .....the more you pls on them the better you will get.

As some one who plays on mostly 7's and occasionally 9's I will share what i do when playing on 9's.

1. Number one thing.. Dont hit as hard on the 9's as you do 7's. That may seem odd ti say since you more than likely will encounter longer shots on 9's but balls travel faster on 9's than they do on 7's and the pockets are tighter and will spit out balls that would fall on 7's.


2. Aim center pocket on every shot and hit mostly center cue ball unless ti absolutely have to use English for position or avoiding a scratch. Less clusters on 9's so cue ball position is not as critical as on 7's with all the clusters you will encounter. Believe it or not but its better to wind up long on your next shot than it is to wind up short. Yes the pockets are smaller than what you are used to on 7's and just concentrating on center pocket will help make shots that you are rattling.

3. Dont get frustrated when balls do not fall that you know would have fell on a 7'. Just make a mental note of what happened on that shot to avoid making that same mistake again and move on to tour next shot. Getting frustrated and dwelling on a missed shot keeps you from being focused on your next shot.

Believe me...i know all too well how you are feeling. My 64 year old eyes aint what the used to be and although I am not as good on a 9' as i am on a 7' it only takes me a few racks to adjust to playing at a respectable level for my handicap.


Remember....the more you do something...the better you get at it. Main thing is ti just have fun playing pool.
Click to expand...

All decent comments but.............
"Balls travel faster on 9's than they do on 7's"
That had me ROFL!!!
**No mention of different cloth** That could make a difference.
Most BB have Simonis or comparable Champion cloth nowadays.
I've seen many play plenty fast.
 
judochoke said:
...

...Should I give up the 9 foot table tournaments and just look for 7 footer tournaments, which there are a couple near me. or just keep trying. :frown::frown::frown::frown::frown::frown::frown::frown::frown::frown::
Click to expand...

Nobody learned overnight.
 
9andout said:
All decent comments but.............
"Balls travel faster on 9's than they do on 7's"
That had me ROFL!!!
**No mention of different cloth** That could make a difference.
Most BB have Simonis or comparable Champion cloth nowadays.
I've seen many play plenty fast.
Click to expand...

Hope you did not hurt yourself rolling on the floor. Dont know about other places but where I play at the 9 footers definitely play faster than their 7 footers..
 
Since the 9 foot is longer and wider, any flaw in your stroke, and or aim, will become evident quickly as the ball has to travel much farther. You can be off a little on a 7 footer and not miss, but if you are off a little on a 9 footer, you will miss due to the added distance the ball has to travel.

It's similar to shooting a pistol. The target is much easier to hit in the center at 7 foot than at 20 foot. If you are off a little at 7 foot you hit the bulls eye, but at 20 foot, by the time the bullet travels the extra distance, you are way off the mark.

One other item I would note, most good players rarely leave themselves long shots on 9 footers. They work the cue ball around the table to decrease the distance between the cue ball and object ball. Position is more important on a 9 foot, since you are dealing with a larger table. If you get out of position on a 9 foot, it's much harder to recover and get back into position.

I certainly would not give up, I would practice some on the 9 footers to become more comfortable and confident on them. Don't let the 9 foot mind F$#k you. A lot of this game is mental, a lot.
 
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