Heyball

straightline said:
Elaborata - elaborate stuff mostly the table cosmetics. It's a word now.

I learned to pocket balls on a Brunswick type 10 foot snooker table. Those were probably tighter than today's regulation snooker tables. A ball frozen to the rail had to be dribbled in. Doesn't make for much of a pool experience.

3.5" to 3.75" pool cut pockets might make a more worthwhile 8 ball game than snooker pockets. 'Course if you eliminate the jaws and shelves, you can get the opening down close to 3".
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the way snooker are measured is different 'cause of the curved faces. most club tables are about 3.5".
 
garczar said:
the way snooker are measured is different 'cause of the curved faces. most club tables are about 3.5".
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Because of those wonder boobies the 3.5" pool cut should play comparable plus allow most rail shots. No more cover just 'cause balls are frozen to the cushions.
 
straightline said:
Because of those wonder boobies the 3.5" pool cut should play comparable plus allow most rail shots. No more cover just 'cause balls are frozen to the cushions.
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That's never going to happen so why even worry about it. Pool tables will never have pockets cut that way.
 
straightline said:
Just saying better pool Heyball for the price of new rubber.
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still have no clue exactly what you're proposing. Are you saying put round pockets on pool tables? Or smaller pool pockets with short facings? Again, neither is ever going to happen.
 
Flakeandrun said:
Yes, some truth to that. There is a lot 2-piece or 3/4 jointed ash snooker style cues. Fury make some nice ones actually. This is because domestically, you could play two or three decent pay out tournaments a week if you wanted to, and also they invite a lot of foreigners to come and play. Jointed cues are naturally a bit easier with travelling demands. Like I said, those playing with more American style butts are usually partnering it with the slim cuetec. I have seen some beautiful snooker cues worth many thousand dollars bastardised into Chinese-8 cues.


The heated cloth, and the fact the green baize is napped. They are playing much slower speed shots, and utilising a lot more spin. It can be boring, but some of the shotmaking is incredible if you have the patience. The only time you'll see them put a bit of power into it, is down the rail into the outside knuckle.

There are still some real good players using 12.5, but because of the crossover in cue sports, the purist attitude sees people reflecting what they consider to be the more difficult pursuit - snooker (not that it truly is, it's a different game altogether requiring different skills, but the 'standard cue ideal' for each game is just something that becomes an accepted reality over time).
'I have a smaller tip cause I'm a better player' - Same type of conversation I've seen pop up countless times here on the forum (and there's a current thread showing this actually). I get a bit of ribbing from friends for using a 12mm tip for Chinese-8. The same way my dad gets a ribbing for playing snooker with a 10.5mm tip. The difference between us though is my dad is a highly capable snooker player, and I am distinctly average at Chinese-8 haha
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my heyball watching is limited to players i find generally interesting, like melling, wu and zheng xiaohuai. the latter two come from american pool and seem to be using regular big diameter pool cues. melling has an entire arsenal of cues.
 
If they would just shorten the mind-numbingly long sets, thus doing away with the time issue, would go a long way to get more viewers. Some of the matches make watching paint dry look like an olympic sport.
 
garczar said:
still have no clue exactly what you're proposing. Are you saying put round pockets on pool tables? Or smaller pool pockets with short facings? Again, neither is ever going to happen.
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I'm saying the problem is snooker pockets. They facilitate a rope-a-dope defensive strategy - especially when balls are on the rail but mostly, there's no need for the glitzy equipment. Existing and proven equipment can be retrofitted with pool friendly rubber.
 
straightline said:
I'm saying the problem is snooker pockets. They facilitate a rope-a-dope defensive strategy - especially when balls are on the rail but mostly, there's no need for the glitzy equipment. Existing and proven equipment can be retrofitted with pool friendly rubber.
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the stuff i've watched isn't a lot of defense. they run out a lot. its just the style of play is so 'cinchy' its not fun to watch. i have no clue why you call it giltzy, its just how chinese8b is played. don't like it, don't pay/watch it. fairly simple concept. they ain't changing tables.
 
garczar said:
the stuff i've watched isn't a lot of defense. they run out a lot. its just the style of play is so 'cinchy' its not fun to watch. i have no clue why you call it giltzy, its just how chinese8b is played. don't like it, don't pay/watch it. fairly simple concept. they ain't changing tables.
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Yeah the best run out with the patented break (ball in the side and nothing along the rails) and are able to overcome the odd problem. What I find lame is the defense. Knock a ball out of play, or block a pocket, yada yada.
We agree on cinchy. The one specific thing I still remember about the hours I put in on those dumb pockets is what certain shots take for _me_ to make.
30, 40 years outta practice at least I know what to do lol.
 
Oh and there's a ton of hot and cold in the Asian field. Only takes a little bit of pressure and they start rattling the jaws. Fatal on snooker pockets.
 
garczar said:
the stuff i've watched isn't a lot of defense. they run out a lot. its just the style of play is so 'cinchy' its not fun to watch. i have no clue why you call it giltzy, its just how chinese8b is played. don't like it, don't pay/watch it. fairly simple concept. they ain't changing tables.
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It's 'glitzy' because they spend thousands on these huge arenas and entrance songs and whatever else, but the audience doesn't really fit the scene they create because often it is not hosted in 1st tier cities (as they are trying to create interest in the larger rural populations as well as the more internationally facing first tier cities). It could be fucking epic with a more animated and larger audience.
straightline said:
Yeah the best run out with the patented break (ball in the side and nothing along the rails) and are able to overcome the odd problem. What I find lame is the defense. Knock a ball out of play, or block a pocket, yada yada.
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I find the safety play often fascinating, and I think there is a good balance between players of differing skill sets to be seen on these tables.

I agree with the general sentiment of speeding things up, and think there should be shorter sets in the early rounds. I don't get why the whole thing is a timed game if there is a shot clock in play anyway.... I do like the long sets for the final. Sets apart who the better player is.
straightline said:
We agree on cinchy. The one specific thing I still remember about the hours I put in on those dumb pockets is what certain shots take for _me_ to make.
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Have to be on point banging balls down those rails. I either have good days, or truly awful days on those tables.
 
skogstokig said:
no need for long races if you shorten the shot clock.. there are many factors one can tamper with
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too many matches hit that 140min cut-off. That's ridiculous. Shorten the sets, use shot clock on every match. If they're gonna play for that kind of coin they need to really streamline the process.
 
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