Is it wrong?

K

Kevin3824

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I love knowing there is a pool hall close to my home as recently it shut down due to a divorce but now it seems as if we have two wishing 20 minutes of my place. That is not the point of my thought tonight though.

I have a table of my own and yet I have still been trying to go to the pool hall on a regular basis once a week or so if I can afford to. The past few days I have been thinking about cutting that out and just going when I think I have a good chance of winning in one of their tournaments. Just practicing my drills at home until I get really good. I know this is not supporting the hall but on the other hand I also do not have to deal with the drama and distractions at the pool hall either. I think that I might go there once in a while simply to play on a 9 foot table but not on a regular basis. I don't see a huge difference in the play between 9 foot and 7 like some do on this forum. granted the seven foot table is more congested but that promotes you to play better position in my mind and the nine foot promotes long wide open shooting which if you play tight position you should not have too many far shots anyhow.
 
1. There's no right or wrong, just right or wrong for you.
2. Drills are nice, practicing alone CAN be productive to a point.
3. NOTHING can simulate competition except competition.
4. There's a big difference in a 7' vs a 9'.
 
Bank it said:
1. There's no right or wrong, just right or wrong for you.
2. Drills are nice, practicing alone CAN be productive to a point.
3. NOTHING can simulate competition except competition.
4. There's a big difference in a 7' vs a 9'.
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Ditto.

Signed, sealed, submitted in duplicate to the committee for approval. :wink:





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A few ideas about your story mate.

1. A toxic environment or one filled with heavy amounts of drama does nothing to promote a strong mental game and can in fact hinder it. It is good to go once a week at least to maintain a mental toughness to prepare for competition, but when it's time to practice drills and improve your game, you need to have your mind at ease to focus on the task at hand.

2. I concur that there is a huge difference between 7 and 9 foot tables. The speed at which you hit shots is very different, the number of rails you use for position, and your kicking angles all change slightly given a new table size. Also, if the pockets at the hall are tighter than your own, that will change your shot selection as well, especially when it comes to being able to cheat the pocket. You need to go into the hall at least once a week if you are going to compete there to stay up to speed on the table conditions. If you can't or don't want to, it is a good idea on a 9 foot table to play for center table position as often as you can.

3. It is on the businesses to supply an environment worth your time and money. If the establishment is not putting forth that effort to encourage quality players and pool to come out, you do not owe a bad establishment your money. You must weigh the cost of your time, money, and mental energy against the pool hall experience. If the experience is not producing the fruits you desire, you are under no obligation to keep supporting it.
 
I like 14.1 or equal offense and I don't need to go to a pool hall to do it.
 
Carolina_Giant said:
A few ideas about your story mate.

1. A toxic environment or one filled with heavy amounts of drama does nothing to promote a strong mental game and can in fact hinder it. It is good to go once a week at least to maintain a mental toughness to prepare for competition, but when it's time to practice drills and improve your game, you need to have your mind at ease to focus on the task at hand.

2. I concur that there is a huge difference between 7 and 9 foot tables. The speed at which you hit shots is very different, the number of rails you use for position, and your kicking angles all change slightly given a new table size. Also, if the pockets at the hall are tighter than your own, that will change your shot selection as well, especially when it comes to being able to cheat the pocket. You need to go into the hall at least once a week if you are going to compete there to stay up to speed on the table conditions. If you can't or don't want to, it is a good idea on a 9 foot table to play for center table position as often as you can.

3. It is on the businesses to supply an environment worth your time and money. If the establishment is not putting forth that effort to encourage quality players and pool to come out, you do not owe a bad establishment your money. You must weigh the cost of your time, money, and mental energy against the pool hall experience. If the experience is not producing the fruits you desire, you are under no obligation to keep supporting it.
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1. Tell that to the filipino players
3. It's a matter of opinion as to what is a worth environment, you might be the one out of place based on what the owner is trying to provide. Serious pool player is very bad for business and no pool hall today can survive with them.

So to the OP it's all good advice but one must look for balance as we all know "not everything is for everyone". You have to decide what works best for "you" and allows for "you" to improve and what amount of the other stuff for the sake of experience.
I have a few friends that own rooms and I visit each of them for different reasons, room 1 offers very poor etiquette and the worst (although good) of all the rooms but it provides the right amount of distraction to make me focus on what i'm doing and not get bothered by the environment and movements like at a tourney and since i'm closest with this owner it also offers the best cost of all the rooms, room 2 is all about quality and provides what most may call the perfect environment for practice or play just not at night, on a weekend cause the music is on and loud as they try to make money to keep the doors open, room 3 opens the earliest and provided what "I" call the best environment as everything is perfect, table in great conditions just like room 2 balls are always clean and although i'm a youngster for the most part I love oldies music and that's what you can juuust hear in the background and the price is good also, the only problem is distance and since i work nights going there at 10am takes away from my day but gives me a good chance to practice/play under tired conditions to help with grinding those long tourneys.
BUT IF I HAD A GOOD TABLE AT HOME! oh boy.
 
I would strongly recommend visiting your local pool room at least once a week. Without the support of players you may not have a local room to play in... that is where many of us find ourselves in today. The closest pool room to me is 2 1/2 to 3 hrs away. Please don't take the local room for granted.
 
o.g. (old guy) said:
I would strongly recommend visiting your local pool room at least once a week. Without the support of players you may not have a local room to play in... that is where many of us find ourselves in today. The closest pool room to me is 2 1/2 to 3 hrs away. Please don't take the local room for granted.
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that's correct and let's not forget supporting the other business too. many go and get the special then not even get a bottle of water. At one of the places i visit I leave my change from the table flat rate to buy coffee for the other guys who come in as i seldom see then with anything not to mention order food from outside (although granted the place doesn't have a kitchen per say).
Men I sure hope you have a table at home or close friend
 
Well I do not typically go to the pool hall for competition when I go. I do not think I have the skills to win in the tournaments they hold at this point. In fact I typically go to the pool hall to get out of the house with my girlfriend and we play against each other. I / We do not go there to try and play outsiders or gamble. I go there to have access to nine foot diamond pro am tables. I own a 7 foot pro-am. The pockets on both my home table and the diamonds at the pool hall are very close if not the same. I have pro cut pockets at my home. I think I will simply work on my skills at home and take a long break from going to that pool hall for a while. I am sure they will make far more money off the younger bangers that go there that have no real interest in getting better but are too young to go to the bars and drink. The weekend night crowd is not there to practice or play pool they go there to hang out and listen to a DJ.

That is not what I think a pool hall should be about.
 
You're wanting to mingle with your own kind. All perfectly normal. It's called socializing and human beings happen to be social animals. :smile:
 
Kevin3824 said:
Well I do not typically go to the pool hall for competition when I go. I do not think I have the skills to win in the tournaments they hold at this point. In fact I typically go to the pool hall to get out of the house with my girlfriend and we play against each other. I / We do not go there to try and play outsiders or gamble. I go there to have access to nine foot diamond pro am tables. I own a 7 foot pro-am. The pockets on both my home table and the diamonds at the pool hall are very close if not the same. I have pro cut pockets at my home. I think I will simply work on my skills at home and take a long break from going to that pool hall for a while. I am sure they will make far more money off the younger bangers that go there that have no real interest in getting better but are too young to go to the bars and drink. The weekend night crowd is not there to practice or play pool they go there to hang out and listen to a DJ.

That is not what I think a pool hall should be about.
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Where is your level of play right now? I didn't notice a big difference between the barbox and a 9-footer until I became quite proficient at positional play. Granted I am not fortunate to have the Diamond you have, but I do play on a Valley (and I'm sure the pockets on that are a bit more favorable to pocketing balls). But nowadays, where I can position the cueball as if it were on a string on a Valley, my game falls apart a bit on the 9-footer. I'll miss shots cued with English that I would rarely miss on a barbox.

If I were you I would go with your priorities. Are you more concerned with becoming a much better player faster or getting better but also having the most fun? If you enjoy playing on 9-footers, then you should certainly do that. Some will beg to differ, but I preach equipment consistency when it comes to improving your game. I personally just have a lot more fun playing on barboxes, but I do think that switching between a barbox and 9-footer can slow down a player's development in their first several years of development. It won't kill it, just slow it down.
 
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