Heated tables & slide help

S

seven

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
ok.. the Poolhall that I frequent has 4 billiard tables. all of which are
UN-heated. Im a C player consistently avereging .4 or higher. (my best game being a .867.. did that only once) :) anyways..back to my problem. eventually I would like to play in Tournaments.. but everytime I can get on a heated table...I Cant make the adjustment needed to play on these tables. I try everything that I can think of. but everything goes long. I try and hit more ball.. (or less ball depending on the angle.)
but all that does is give me more spin (the more ball you hit..the more spin you impart on the cueball) and it still goes long. I've tried using slightly lower cueing to shorten up the shot..and that works...(sort of..sometimes) but in order to do that a harder stroke is needed..and when I see pros playing..they cue mostly slightly above center..(rolling ball). can anyone give me any general guidelines on how someone may go about making the adjustment from non-heated to heated tables? I'm just about at my wits end. and have contemplated quitting the game all together.. since my goal is to play in tournaments. is so frustrating, knowing my skill level is fairly good..only to play on a heated table and
play almost like i have never played the game before. :(
 
Hey Seven,

I had the same problem when I first started playing tournaments. Although heated tables can make a difference, it's more likely the profile of the rubber that makes the difference. European rubber (Kleber - Artemis) causes the balls to react differently. Also the cloth (Simonis Rapide 300 or Granito M) is a must.

The key is to convince the proprietor to upgrade the equipment or purchase a table yourself.

I know this is easier said than done, but our American tables need to be upgraded unfortunately one table at a time. And unless the pool hall owner can reap the benefits of these enhancements, why should he.

Some devout 3c players have negotiated with the owner and purchased the rubber on their own if he'll pay for the installation.

Whatever you do, I hope you don't give up 3c. It's the most beautiful and humbling game I know.

Respectfully,

Steve
 
seven said:
... can anyone give me any general guidelines on how someone may go about making the adjustment from non-heated to heated tables? ...
Click to expand...
Well, you could try this: If you see a shot on a "long" table that looks impossible because it has to go too short, shoot it. I think that going from short conditions to long conditions doesn't much change the number of possible shots but it does change which shots are natural.
 
Bob Jewett said:
Well, you could try this: If you see a shot on a "long" table that looks impossible because it has to go too short, shoot it. I think that going from short conditions to long conditions doesn't much change the number of possible shots but it does change which shots are natural.
Click to expand...

the problem is... if I have a 3 rail natural on a heated table.. and I hit the first rail at the same place where I would on a unheated table..the shot goes long. Even when I make an adjustment to make it go shorter, it still doesnt go where it should. (ex.. I need a fuller hit to make it go shorter. a fuller hit will give me more spin..so it still goes long) should I go lower on the cueball to shorten instead of using a fuller hit?
 
seven said:
ok.. the Poolhall that I frequent has 4 billiard tables. all of which are
UN-heated. Im a C player consistently avereging .4 or higher. (my best game being a .867.. did that only once) :) anyways..back to my problem. eventually I would like to play in Tournaments.. but everytime I can get on a heated table...I Cant make the adjustment needed to play on these tables. I try everything that I can think of. but everything goes long. I try and hit more ball.. (or less ball depending on the angle.)
but all that does is give me more spin (the more ball you hit..the more spin you impart on the cueball) and it still goes long. I've tried using slightly lower cueing to shorten up the shot..and that works...(sort of..sometimes) but in order to do that a harder stroke is needed..and when I see pros playing..they cue mostly slightly above center..(rolling ball). can anyone give me any general guidelines on how someone may go about making the adjustment from non-heated to heated tables? I'm just about at my wits end. and have contemplated quitting the game all together.. since my goal is to play in tournaments. is so frustrating, knowing my skill level is fairly good..only to play on a heated table and
play almost like i have never played the game before. :(
Click to expand...

thanks for the suggestion.. but I knew that about the rails. problem is that I'm 100 percent sure the owners will not pay for it :(
 
seven said:
... Even when I make an adjustment to make it go shorter, it still doesnt go where it should. ...
Click to expand...
Then you need to figure out a different way to make a correction. What that different correction will be depends on each shot, but there is nearly always a correction. One thing that you could try is to pick out a specific spot to try to hit on the second or third cushion. Of course this spot needs to be different from the spot you would play to on a short table. For example, if you normally come off diamond 3 on the third rail to get to the corner for a particular natural shot, consciously try to go to diamond 2 instead.

One important thing: it is much easier to work on this in practice than to try to fix your game during a match.
 
Try adjusting either one of these 2 things: english or speed.

I don't know if you use different types of Englishes or not. If you do, you can shorten up your shot by using 2 tips of english instead of 3 tips and 1 tip instead of 2. Try that if possible. If you don't know what I am talking about, then I suggest that you learn all your englishes immediately.

You can also hit your ball harder to shorten it up. I don't like to do that because I lose control of the balls and I lose my "feel" for sensitive and delicate shots. I usually adjust my english. Many times, if the shot is simply too difficult on a long table, you must play a different shot. The same goes for short tables. I still have a lot of difficulty adjusting when the table plays short. My average is about .200 points lower on a short table and maybe .100 points lower on a very long table. I will figure it out eventually. Try changing the english, or else cue the ball slightly lower (not a lot lower). Use the same speed and stroke always if possible.
 
test shots

I'm in the same boat, but reverse - my home table plays nice and long and then I play on an old dirty Brunswick and everything runs short. I'm really surprised that no one so far has said that when you get on a strange table you absolutely need to make test shots. You need to come up with a small battery of test shots on your table(s), and then do the same on the other table and see what the difference is. Like, do a basic diamond system 50-30 shot - does it come back in the corner, short, long? Do a corner to corner around the table shot - does it come in exactly in the opposite corner or short or long, by how much? Note by how much. I do the same for deadball shots - my home table always kicks balls back much sharper than other tables, so I have to adjust when I play elsewhere, or I'll be off by a diamond or more, easy, and it's embarassing. I try a couple reverse english shots too, a couple backups, depends on your personal stroke and so forth. The whole game is adjustments. I wouldn't give it up - forget about tournaments for another year and just play on different tables, try to adjust, and learn. There are long tables, but even the pros don't play on exactly the same tables, see the SLIO thread where Raiford talks about everyone adjusting to shorter tables.
 
Although the advice thats been given in making the adjustments is sound and there is no question that each table varies, obviously the onus is on you to make those incremental adaptations.

However, I suspect the people that minimize the difference in equipment have the better equipment themselves.

These differences are huge. Playing in a tournament whilst making constant alterations to adapt can not bode well for your confidence.

A tournament player told me many years ago;

One of the most important preparations for a tournament is to practice on tables that closely replicate the equipment you will be playing on in that tournament. You can almost guarantee your opponent is.

Respectfully,

Steve
 
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