How much difference would a 9' table make?

CaptainJR

CaptainJR

Shiver me timbers.
Silver Member
If I had a 9' table to practice on instead of my 7' table, how much difference do you think it would make? Sometimes I do pretty good but my consistency stinks. I do spend time on my table at home but don't get to go to the pool hall much. I pretty sure if I had a 9' table I'd spend even more time practicing but let's ignore that for the moment in case I just spend the same amount of time as I do now. I know you will be thinking, 'Well, how much time!'. Let's just say for the sake of this thread that I commit to 2 hours per day on the four days per week that I don't go else where to play. This would be a minimum so that comes to 8 hours per week. I'm talking about good practice not just playing games against myself. Do you think it would make much difference if those eight hours were spent on a 9' table rather that a 7' table.

I'm not trying to become a pro or anything. I'd just like to get good enough to consistently come in the money at small tour events like Tiger Plant-Pool and Blaze Tour events. I take a lesson every week from a good teacher and I think I'm fairly close to doing this and wondering if this might possibly be the little extra thing that I can add that would make the difference. I'll be asking my teacher tonight but I thought I'd ask for a few thoughts here too.
 
I bought a 9 ft Diamond Pro a short while back and it has helped my game out quite a bit. I played exclusivly on bar tables for years because that is all that is available in my town. My 9 ft game still needs work but my bar table game is quite a bit better since having the larger table to practice on.

I'll also give credit to Freddie's book "Banking With the Beard" and practicing different aiming methods.
 
If you do most of your playing on 7 ft tables, practicing on a 9 ft table would certainly improve your shot-making. Touch and position? Maybe not. If you do most of your playing on 9 ft tables, junk the 7 footer.
 
I like big tables, but I think the rest of the world likes small tables. That's the only kind of tounaments we have around here. We used to have 15 or more, every Sunday, for a Big Table tournament, but the well has dried up to the point, we can't get 5 people to show.

I find that practicing on a Big Table is great for dialing yourself into the accuracy required, for long shots & the tighter pockets. I find that Banking on a Bar Box is different, because of the rails, the cloth & the shorter distance. Position play is different because of the different cloth, this sometimes causes me fits, too.

I just like the big table play, but apparently that isn't a general consensus... these are just my opinions... Good Luck in your game.
 
I think it's important to practice on whatever size tables you want to be competitive on. If the tournaments you want to play in are on big tables, then I definitely think you would be well served by investing in one.

Good luck!
 
A 9-Ft. is a Big Plus!

Jr,
Along with the great answers already given, another advantage is that most of my league opponents (hopefully yours also, as well as tournament opponents) are used to smaller tables. They find the 8 ft. tables intimidating, and take valuable time getting used to them. If you are used to a 9-ft., there's no table intimidation.
I went from an 8-ft to 9-ft in my home, and have never regretted it. I know I've got game on any table, regardless of size. Have fun.

F4P
 
I agree with Aaron S, you should put in alot of practice on the size that you compete on. Alot of top players go a step further seeking to practice on the same brand, cloth, pocket size. It seems to me you can get away with more less than perfect shots on the small tables. To run good on the bigger ones seems to take more attention to shooting details such as stillness and staying down, and straight follow through. The tough thing for me has been, after getting sharp on the 9', not getting sloppy on the smaller tables.
 
CaptainJR said:
If I had a 9' table to practice on instead of my 7' table, how much difference do you think it would make? Let's just say for the sake of this thread that I commit to 2 hours per day on the four days per week .
Click to expand...

JR,
It makes a WORLD of difference. Seven foot pool and 9 foot pool are totally different games. It will be easier to develp a good stroke on the 9 footer; and easier to take your resultant game to the 7 footer.

You admit to some "inconsistency" on the 7 footer. If this is in the area of ball pocketing, then ditch that 7 footer IMMEDIATELY. You should be working on your stroke on the 9 footer, and you should ALMOST NEVER miss a ball on a 7 footer (unless you are trying a spectacular cut or a crazy position attempt or a masse').

In addition, if you are spending 2 hours a day practicing (I guess losing the boat is helping your pool); you MUST get a 9 footer; because that is enough practice time to reach pro status - revise your goals. Hopefully your instructor is the kind that can teach you the type of stroke that can be honed through intensive, focused practice; and custom design a practice regimen that addresses your individual needs/weaknesses. Good luck, keep us informed.

P.S. - the 9 footer also will tell you who you really are....we all think we're Johnny Archer on the 7 footer - it is a great deceiver.
 
Last edited:
I second what WBM said. The 7' table with its shorter shots, and I'm guessing very forgiving pockets (most 7' tables are pretty loose in my experience) will allow your shot-making to become sloppy. You want to practice on a table that requires precision at all times, because making the occasional imprecise hit will do an extremely eefective job of holding you back from reaching the next level. You need to train yourself never to relax your focus on pocketing the shot, and a tight 9-footer is definitely the best way to train yourself for that, IMO.

If you mostly compete on 7-footers, you will also need to put in your time on those to fine-tune your pattern play and speed control for that size table, but I think this takes a distant second priority to precise shotmaking consistency.

-Andrew
 
Williebetmore said:
P.S. - the 9 footer also will tell you who you really are....we all think we're Johnny Archer on the 7 footer - it is a great deceiver.
Click to expand...

You are right about that but I've know that and been telling my league team that for a long time. I very rarely miss on a 7' table. The inconsistency that I was talking about is when I go to the pool hall on Friday or Saturday night and then the 9 ball tournament I go to on Sunday's. All this in on 9' tables. The only time I play on 7' is Thursday league night and at home. I think if I can exchange the at home part to 9' table, I can do a lot better in the Sunday 9 ball. League night is not what I'm concerned about. I've always been one of the best in the league as long as I can remember anyway. LOL I'm actually trying to move away from league play. Maybe change to playing the 14.1 league they have at the pool hall.
 
CaptainJR said:
I very rarely miss on a 7' table. The inconsistency that I was talking about is when I go to the pool hall on Friday or Saturday night and then the 9 ball tournament I go to on Sunday's. All this in on 9' tables.
Click to expand...

JR,
Well, I think a 9 footer is definitely in your future. Like Andrew said, it's all about developing repeatable super-precision.

Why in the hell aren't you already playing in the straight pool league (and don't give us any lame excuses about family, job, finances, etc.:) )?

Ask your teacher for some exercises on developing repeatable precision and on exercises for improving your ability to focus for long period's of time. If your stroke is already good; these will actually not only help your results, but probably improve an already good stroke.

Good luck.
 
CaptainJR said:
If I had a 9' table to practice on instead of my 7' table, how much difference do you think it would make?
Click to expand...

There's been a lot of threads on this question over the years. I've spent a few days researching and categorising the responses on all of them. Using complex statistical analysis tools I've concluded the overwhelming consensus was about 2'.

Boro Nut
 
Boro Nut said:
There's been a lot of threads on this question over the years. I've spent a few days researching and categorising the responses on all of them. Using complex statistical analysis tools I've concluded the overwhelming consensus was about 2'.

Boro Nut
Click to expand...

Well that's a pretty one dimensional comment there Nut. Another way of looking at it might suggest the difference is only 1'.

Dave
 
Williebetmore said:
JR,Why in the hell aren't you already playing in the straight pool league (and don't give us any lame excuses about family, job, finances, etc.:) )?
Click to expand...

Thank you Willie,
As it is, none of the above lame excuses. If there is a good one I think this might be it. My very best friend of many many years is on my pool team. Since I'm the teams best player it would disapoint him very much if I quit and started playing the 14.1 league which is on the same night.


Thank you all for the responces. I think we've determined that I need a 9' table. Now if I can fix up the garage to accomedate it.

thanks again
JR
 
CaptainJR said:
Thank you Willie,
As it is, none of the above lame excuses. If there is a good one I think this might be it. My very best friend of many many years is on my pool team. Since I'm the teams best player it would disapoint him very much if I quit and started playing the 14.1 league which is on the same night.


thanks again
JR
Click to expand...

Cap,
Ouch. Inability to be in 2 places simultaneously is an excuse I had not considered........hmmmmm..........tough one to criticize.

I will say that 14.1 is an excellent way to improve focusing ability and stamina for pool. It's fun, too (well, unless breakup is the opponent in which case it is about as much fun as putting your tongue on a frozen flagpole).
 
No one ever gets really good without playing on a nine footer. There are no world beaters out there who haven't spent the majority of their time on a 9'. There are a few who can play pretty good on a barbox that don't ever play on a 9' but there are very few.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top