Harder to Break and Run on a 7Footer?

The CheeZe

The CheeZe

New member
My pool table is an unfortunate 7 foot table. :mad: The room its in is too small to have a bigger table in it. Long story short, I was playing some pool at some local place my baseball team went to on a 9 foot table. I actually had an easier time just about running some racks even though wasn't really used to the speed, the house cues, or the cushions yet. It made me think that maybe playing 9ball it would be easier to break and run on a 9 Foot table than on a 7 Foot because the balls would be more spread out with more space to make shots. The shots may be longer, but longer shots have never really been a problem for me.

Feel free to tell me what you think, insult my stupidity or whatever. Just curious to get your guys' opinion.
 
I play on both tables almost everyday. My conclusion is that it is easier to run out 8-ball on a 9 footer and easier to run out 9-ball on a bar box.
 
Mmmm such a tricky question


It depends, I will say sometimes its easy as hell to run out on a 7ft table because of the smaller table and the possiblity of being able to make more balls on the break.

But on the other hand there is more opportunity for balls to cluster up after the break.

Now on a 9ft table if you have a GOOD break, the balls spread out nicely and make it easier to run out.

I'll say this, if you put someone who is rated A to AA, you'll see them run out alot more on a 7ft table than a 9ft table.

I've seen alot of A - AA rated guys who will run 3-4 or more racks on a 7ft table quite often.
 
Opinion

It is easier to play shape on a 9 footer, IMO, except for real narrow window shape, banking is a little harder because of rail differences between 7 and 9 footers, long shots harder, safeties are easier.

I have always contended that a tight pocketed 8 footer is harder
that a 7 or 9 footer because of the way the pockets are cut and the
shelf, and 8 footer side pockets are harder than 7 or 9.
 
IMHO -
It is easier for me to run a barbox than a 9', because I can see the line better, I got my first and only true 5 pack on a bar box in a semi-pro event in WI, best I have been able to do so far on a 9' is 3 in a row (and that was using a 6-9 combo to end one early)
 
Pocket size and the way they're cut can be a bigger factor than table size sometimes.
 
I'm with Pugh on this one

My experience is that 9-ball on a 7fter is an easier game due to pocket size and ease of moving the CB a shorter distance.

8-ball on 7fter is more difficult early in the game due to the clusters and the possibility of making more or different clusters as you move around the table. Conversly, 8-ball on a 9fter is generally a more wide open game.

JMHO
 
8Ball-9Ball

42NateBaller said:
My experience is that 9-ball on a 7fter is an easier game due to pocket size and ease of moving the CB a shorter distance.

8-ball on 7fter is more difficult early in the game due to the clusters and the possibility of making more or different clusters as you move around the table. Conversly, 8-ball on a 9fter is generally a more wide open game.

JMHO
Click to expand...

I solved this problem many years ago with what I call 8Ball/9Ball.

On a small table, rack 4 solids and four stripes in a diamond with the 8 Ball in the middle. It will look like a rack of 9 Ball.

Break, then play 8 Ball as usual.

This pretty much elininates clusters, you mostly make something on the break, and the games are faster, cause you only have to make 5 balls total.

problem solved.:D
 
CaptainHook said:
I solved this problem many years ago with what I call 8Ball/9Ball.

On a small table, rack 4 solids and four stripes in a diamond with the 8 Ball in the middle. It will look like a rack of 9 Ball.

Break, then play 8 Ball as usual.

This pretty much elininates clusters, you mostly make something on the break, and the games are faster, cause you only have to make 5 balls total.

problem solved.:D
Click to expand...

This actually sounds like a lot of fun, I might have to try this next time I'm down at the hall, thanks for the idea!
 
Pugh said:
I play on both tables almost everyday. My conclusion is that it is easier to run out 8-ball on a 9 footer and easier to run out 9-ball on a bar box.
Click to expand...

i agree in the UK we play on 6ft tables with tighter pockets and smaller balls we normally use reds and yellows instead of spots and stripes and it is very difficult to run out as everything is always in the bloody way
 
My regular playing table is an 8 foot table and when I play on a 9 foot table I have to adjust my leaves because of my height. I'm only 5'4" tall and I find my normal tactics leave me with the dang bridge in my hand.

On a 9' table you have more room to operate but for us short people it presents a whole new issue to consider in your thinking process. 1' makes a big difference when it comes to shape on a 9' table.

BK
 
CaptainHook said:
I solved this problem many years ago with what I call 8Ball/9Ball.

On a small table, rack 4 solids and four stripes in a diamond with the 8 Ball in the middle. It will look like a rack of 9 Ball.

Break, then play 8 Ball as usual.

This pretty much elininates clusters, you mostly make something on the break, and the games are faster, cause you only have to make 5 balls total.

problem solved.:D
Click to expand...
I call this "short rack 8-ball." It's the game I play on my 7' table when I have friends over. 8-ball spots up if it goes in on the break.

Fred
 
Pugh said:
I play on both tables almost everyday. My conclusion is that it is easier to run out 8-ball on a 9 footer and easier to run out 9-ball on a bar box.
Click to expand...

I agree. And if you're playing on a 7' Valley table, the side pockets are brutal.

Here's the allowable excuses list:

I couldn't get out cuz the small table created too many problem clusters.

I couldn't get out cuz the side pockets are too small.

I couldn't get out cuz the big table made it harder to pot balls.

If you play 9-ball on a small table or 8 ball on a big table, you have no excuses....sorry.

Jeff, out of excuses, Livingston
 
Short rack 8-ball sounds like allot of fun. I'll try it, too. I do like regular 8-ball on the 7fters because of the difficulty. It's just that it can be a real defensive game at times.
 
42NateBaller said:
My experience is that 9-ball on a 7fter is an easier game due to pocket size and ease of moving the CB a shorter distance.

8-ball on 7fter is more difficult early in the game due to the clusters and the possibility of making more or different clusters as you move around the table. Conversly, 8-ball on a 9fter is generally a more wide open game.

JMHO
Click to expand...

It's all about the pocket size!!! I play weekly on a pro-cut, 7' Diamond Smart Tables and besides the cluster problem on a 7 footer, your pocket speed and accuracy have to be spot on. For those of you who played on the pro-cut 9 footers at the AZ Billiards romm at the DCC, take the same table and cut it down to a 7 footer...now run out. It's not as easy as on a Valley barbox.
 
JMO, but I think 7'ers are generally easier than 9'ers. Distance is never a problem on little tables. Overall, I don't find much more clusters on the barbox than on the big table, it's not a huge factor. It's also easier to break well in 9ball, on the barbox. CB control is better due to the smaller size and as long as you don't break the 1 ball onto the head rail, you will usually get something very work-able to start with.

The biggest advantage of the little table is that for guys like us, pocketing accuracy is less of a factor. IMO, guys that play below strong shortstop, lose more games due to missed balls than any other mistake.

*I had more thoughts on this topic here:
http://www.insidepoolmag.com/forums/pool-billiard-discussion-forum/943-harder-break-run-7er-9er.html


Eric
 
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CaptainHook said:
I solved this problem many years ago with what I call 8Ball/9Ball.

On a small table, rack 4 solids and four stripes in a diamond with the 8 Ball in the middle. It will look like a rack of 9 Ball.

Break, then play 8 Ball as usual.

This pretty much elininates clusters, you mostly make something on the break, and the games are faster, cause you only have to make 5 balls total.

problem solved.:D
Click to expand...

What problem? clustered balls and such add to the challenge of the game, I don't see the need to make 8 ball easier. But your game sounds like fun practice.
 
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Pugh said:
I play on both tables almost everyday. My conclusion is that it is easier to run out 8-ball on a 9 footer and easier to run out 9-ball on a bar box.
Click to expand...

Like he said! What makes running out so much easier for B and B+ players (we're talking 9-ball, of course!) is that when you get out of line it's much easier to use your shotmaking skills to bail yourself out. Secondly, the 7-footer just doesn't punish small inconsistencies of stroke, concentration and alignment the way a 9-foot table does.

The biggest adjustment to be made, IMHO, is the break speed. On the bar box, assuming that you are using the same type of cloth, breaking at the same speed as on a 9-foot increases congestion, as the balls go out, hit the rails and come back. Therefore, I ratchet down the speed by about 25% and I've had excellent resullts. The beauty of all this is that because you are required to use a softer break speed, controlling the ball on the break becomes much easier. If you're a solid player, once you get the break speed down you can run racks on a seven-footer all day!
 
The smaller table makes the margin of error a little bigger, even with tight pockets. Also, when there are clusters, less distance to them makes it easier to calculate how to run the c.b. to break them up. I think the key to 8 ball is managing the traffic, don't even go for the out if you have little chance. That said, you still have to execute very well to run out. Have a fantastic day.
 
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