If you only have room for a 7' table at home...

Still_Learning said:
If you only have room for a 7' table at home, but you almost always compete on 9' tables, is the 7' table worth having?

Assume it's a great 7' table. I'm just wondering if practicing on a 7' table all the time will ruin your 9' table game.

Discussing the same idea with a (great) 8' table might not be a bad idea either.

Opinions?

If you are still learning then it will help and it doesn't have to be a great one either, as you will pick up angles and patterns faster than on a larger table, in fact in Europe progression in billliards (carom) is from a smaller table to a larger one, many pro players today started on smaller tables as they are more prolific in reacreational centers, bars, pool halls , etc.
 
My initial thought was no, I want nothing to do with a 7' table. After thinking about it, I have a son who should be walking soon and they grow up quickly. I want him to learn the game of pool (already has his own cue!) and I want nothing to do with having him in a smokey pool room... Sure I take a 7'. BUt for my own game/stroke I don't think I spend that much time on it and I would probably limit my activity on the table to certain drills and exercises as opposed to playing actual games on it.
 
Neil said:
I'm always surprised by the number of people that are against 7' tables. It's not real pool, they are too easy, ect.

If they are so easy, why do you still miss position and still miss balls on them???? QWuite frankly, if you can't go from a 7' to a 9', you are aiming wrong. You are instinctively aiming to a general area. NOT pinpointing your aim to a specific part of the pocket.

Unless you never miss on a 7'er, they will help your game.

I shoot one hole and straight pool mostly. It's not that 7' are so easy for me, is that they aren't as conducive to the games I like to play. I mostly play these games on 9 footers, and playing on a bar box is different.

Barboxes are fine for 8-ball and 9-ball.
 
ScottW said:
Different angles?

A 7' and a 9' table are identical as far as angles. The only difference is the length/width of the tables. They are both essentially two squares side-by-side.

Yeah I never understood that. I hear it all the time when people comment on bar table playing. But mathematically it's the same thing. For any scaled position on the table the angles are identical. Now if you know what angle to hit a ball that is say 1 *foot* from the side pocket on the long rail to bank it, that will change on a smaller table. But if rather than one foot, you do all your measuring in terms of diamonds...well then there's no problems. Similarly if you use any of the various reflection or spot on the wall aiming methods, these also do not change. 3 rail kicks using a diamond system - still the same. The more important thing is that it be built like a regular 9-footer. Get a bar box...from a no name manufacturer and it's going to suck - get a good diamond one...it's just a smaller version of their 9 foot table.
 
Quick note on Angles and table size

Something to consider. I won't do the math for y'all, but the balls are the same size on 7' and 9' tables. This would mean that aiming with respect to the angles is different on 7' and 9' tables. Multi-cushion shots are different as well.

So to say 'the angles are different' could be true from at least one perspective...

-s

p.s. I'm more aware of this intuitively than theoretically, cause I miss everything for an hour when I switch :O
 
All this talk about math, and angles and whatnot has nothing to do with it (for me)...

O.k. I'm going to see if this makes any sense or I can verbalized what I mean... and it may not for some peoples games...

if I let go of my stroke, if I "flow"... a 7' would hurt my overall game. my game and stroke when I'm on is an unconscious rhythm. I don't think as much as I "feel"... To play on a 7' table and "connect" with that rhythm creates a muscle memory within my "zone" which transfers with me to the bigger tables... requiring me to think and really have to put forth effort to "re-program" my rhythm or "zone" on big tables. To have that tuned, calibrated unconscious rhythm knocked totally out of whack and to have to reset it... is too much of an effort and in my view a set back to my game.

Now as I mentioned, I would do drills and certain "mechanical" practice sessions on a 7' is no big deal and can show progress to my "real" game... but to allow myself to play games on that table and "flow" is just not worth it.

Does that make any sense???
 
Last edited:
Just get a 9 footer and put some wheels under the legs. Then you can slowly move it around to give yourself room. :D At least you can practice banks, kicks, and long shots if you don't move the table.

I always wanted to do this, and was hoping someone would and let me know how it goes. :D

But I agree, you can't get too much better on the 9' footer by playing on a 7' all day, but you can work on the mechanics and train your body.

It's better than nothing!
 
Beware_of_Dawg said:
All this talk about math, and angles and whatnot has nothing to do with it (for me)...

O.k. I'm going to see if this makes any sense or I can verbalized what I mean... and it may not for some peoples games...

if I let go of my stroke, if I "flow"... a 7' would hurt my overall game. my game and stroke when I'm on is an unconscious rhythm. I don't think as much as I "feel"... To play on a 7' table and "connect" with that rhythm creates a muscle memory within my "zone" which transfers with me to the bigger tables... requiring me to think and really have to put forth effort to "re-program" my rhythm or "zone" on big tables. To have that tuned, calibrated unconscious rhythm knocked totally out of whack and to have to reset it... is too much of an effort and in my view a set back to my game.

Now as I mentioned, I would do drills and certain "mechanical" practice sessions on a 7' is no big deal and can show progress to my "real" game... but to allow myself to play games on that table and "flow" is just not worth it.

Does that make any sense???


I hear what your saying. For me, the one part about playing in the Zone on a 7' and then switching to a 9', that does help, is my mental game. I seem to bare down and concentrate on each shot more. Mainly because they are longer shots, or the speed of position is way different.

When it comes to kicks and banks, it's all math really, so if you practice the systems you should be good with the 7'. Just have to check how the table is tracking and adjust accordingly.
 
steev said:
Something to consider. I won't do the math for y'all, but the balls are the same size on 7' and 9' tables. This would mean that aiming with respect to the angles is different on 7' and 9' tables. Multi-cushion shots are different as well.

So to say 'the angles are different' could be true from at least one perspective...

-s

p.s. I'm more aware of this intuitively than theoretically, cause I miss everything for an hour when I switch :O

I did the math, so I'll concede you have a bit of a point. Using a 9' vs 7' example. The actual angle for a corner to side pocket bank (ideally - that is on the perfect line center of pocket to center of pocket) is 62.89 degrees for the 9' table and 62.74 degrees for the 7' table. Using the 9' angle for the 7' table would result in hitting short by slightly more that 1/4 inch.

To me, that falls within the "you should be able to adjust to this" range (see the thread on ball size differences). No one on earth is going to be able to accurately site to within 1/4" of a degree. And the quality of the cushions and how the table are playing are going to have much more of a difference. A bad cusion will make a shot go long or short enough to miss. Perfectly aiming the shot at the exact angle for a 9' table, you'll still make it...

However that's a pretty short example. you are right that on a multi rail kick shot it could add up over the course of 2-3-4 rails. However one of the key things you are supposed to do in warming up is to see if the table plays long or short and adjust your banks and kicks for that. That factor is going to grossly outweight the tiny difference in total scaled path length due to the width of the ball. Over a 25' kick on a 9' table, which scales to a 19.4' shot on a 7' table, would end up being about .75-1" shorter than perfect scaling would call for.
 
For me, I usually only get to play on 7 footers, pretty well kept. There is a place here that has 2 9 foot Diamonds. I play terrible on them for a couple hours, then gradually warm up to it. It just looks/seems so big, I think it's more a mental intimidation than anything.

When I go back to the barbox, I'm usually lights out, ball pocketing and position, which seems strange to me.

I play only league and local tourneys, only on Valley's, so for me I practice on what I play on. However, I can see the benefits of the sessions on the bigger table.

Oh, and to answer the OP, any table (unless it's a total POS) is better than no table.
 
Practice

Dude if you got a chance to fit a table in your house - go for it. Take my advice and ignore the haters. They can't cross between one table and the other because of mental blockage and poor fundamentals.

I used to practice on my carpet. And to practice a straight stroke I'd turn a pepsi bottle sideways on a table that was the same height and shoot through that. I used to take the cheese home every week whenever I was playing so I think I did somthing right.

Also I used to draw table layouts on paper randomly and create the best possible patterns. This is how poor people learn. More power to you if you can afford a table.

This is when I was 15 - but still. If you got 6 pockets and rails... You are way ahead of the game.
 
Practice is practice! :thumbup: Get a table and enjoy life with pool whenever you choose.
 
cor said:
I used to practice on my carpet. And to practice a straight stroke I'd turn a pepsi bottle sideways on a table that was the same height and shoot through that. I used to take the cheese home every week whenever I was playing so I think I did somthing right.

Also I used to draw table layouts on paper randomly and create the best possible patterns. This is how poor people learn. More power to you if you can afford a table.

Heh! And did you have to walk 15 miles to school in the snow, barefoot, every day? And then come home and your mom would serve you boiled cardboard for dinner? :D

That post just reminded me of that classic old cliche, the "oh you kids today have it EASY" bit :)

And back on the subject... I get my tiny 7' table set up *today* :D (Assuming nothing goes awry...)
 
Life wasn't hard - but thats just what you had to do when you liked pool. Eventually I saved up and bought a 8fter coin-op. It was so loud in my small house that I had to put socks in the pockets from keeping the house up.

Good luck with your 7fter.. Worst comes to worst youll be a barbox champion and you get to go to valley forge and get paid.
 
Back
Top