New Pocket Reducers

[justnum]

What do you think?

Practice Pro® Pocket Reducers

Using Pocket Pro pocket reducers is one of the fastest ways to improve your game! Just think how many more games you could win if your shots were more accurate. Use Practice Pro® to reduce the size of your table's pockets by approximately 30% and sharpen your aiming skills. Practice Pro pool...

www.billiardfactory.com

 

[DrCue'sProtege]

I've always said they are one of if not the best training aids out there. Highly recommended!

r/DCP

 

[j13smiley]

Been happy with mine

 

[bbb]

good for improving your accuracy to an open pocket
not so good for down the rail shots in my experience

 

[Black-Balled]

New price!

Unless you are working with 5+" pockets, the aren't good for much more that shots into the corners from the middle table area.

 

[Straightpool_99]

Had them for years. They are best for pockets 4.5 inches +, but could be used all the way down to 4.25 inches. At that size you have NO margin for error to speak of along the rail. If your pocket is smaller than that, I doubt rail shots are even realistically makeable. I recommend glueing pool cloth to these. It makes them behave slightly more natural if you intend to play with them on. Usually, though, I play with the ones without cloth (have two sets)

Sometimes the spring gets in the way of a shot. I then usually remove the offending aid, and put it back after. Also, some pocket cuts will force the reducer to eject themselves out of the pocket at random times. It's not that common but it does happen now and then.

I'd have to say that, after spending time with these, chinese 8 ball tables were not a big leap at all. I play all the tight pocket games, snooker, chinese 8 ball, blackball and I have to say, these pocket reducers on 4.25 inch pockets are absolutely brutally difficult. My high run on these in straight pool is in the 30's only, and not for lack of trying. I think I maybe could improve on this if I used the ones with cloth on more. Good luck.

 

[Welder84]

What do you think?

Practice Pro® Pocket Reducers

Using Pocket Pro pocket reducers is one of the fastest ways to improve your game! Just think how many more games you could win if your shots were more accurate. Use Practice Pro® to reduce the size of your table's pockets by approximately 30% and sharpen your aiming skills. Practice Pro pool...

www.billiardfactory.com

An important part of my game is using the whole pocket. I think I get more accuracy improvement out of working on my stroke. Shoot a cross corner shot the length of the table and follow the cue ball in the pocket is better. My opinion...

 

[The_JV]

I gringed at the price of those reducers.

I opted for that sticky felt material sheets that you'd stick to the bottom of chairs and what not to allow them to slide around easier. Stuck a chunk on and trimmed with a razor blade. The go on and off without issue and leave no residue. Play like cloth for the most part. Strong shots still slip passed though.

Backyard diy workaround for those as cheap as me.

 

[Black-Balled]

I gringed at the price of those reducers.

I opted for that sticky felt material sheets that you'd stick to the bottom of chairs and what not to allow them to slide around easier. Stuck a chunk on and trimmed with a razor blade. The go on and off without issue and leave no residue. Play like cloth for the most part. Strong shots still slip passed though.

Backyard diy workaround for those as cheap as me.

Yeah, re price. They used to be 30$ and appear otherwise unchanged.

They need to make the reducing part a different shape...as in flat material that mimics mouth facings.

There was a thread on here looooooong ago form someone who modified these as indicated above and it looked like a great change.

 

[Black-Balled]

Had them for years. They are best for pockets 4.5 inches +, but could be used all the way down to 4.25 inches. At that size you have NO margin for error to speak of along the rail. If your pocket is smaller than that, I doubt rail shots are even realistically makeable. I recommend glueing pool cloth to these. It makes them behave slightly more natural if you intend to play with them on. Usually, though, I play with the ones without cloth (have two sets)

Sometimes the spring gets in the way of a shot. I then usually remove the offending aid, and put it back after. Also, some pocket cuts will force the reducer to eject themselves out of the pocket at random times. It's not that common but it does happen now and then.

I'd have to say that, after spending time with these, chinese 8 ball tables were not a big leap at all. I play all the tight pocket games, snooker, chinese 8 ball, blackball and I have to say, these pocket reducers on 4.25 inch pockets are absolutely brutally difficult. My high run on these in straight pool is in the 30's only, and not for lack of trying. I think I maybe could improve on this if I used the ones with cloth on more. Good luck.

Haven't used mine in ages but do recall them creeping out of pockets occasionally.

Value-added entertainment, for sure, haha.

 

[The_JV]

Yeah, re price. They used to be 30$ and appear otherwise unchanged.

Just checked again and pool dawg has them for 39.95usd. Exchange to canadian and then shipping joy, and I'd be willing to bet I'm over 100 out of pocket. Just too rich for my blood.

I think I bought mountains of that sticky back heavy felt for ~$10. Most likely not as good, but it does allow me to control the pocket size difference.

 

[jtompilot]

What’s funny is all the people that complain about tight pockets and then go buy some ridiculously shaped pocket blockers for practice.

 

[Straightpool_99]

What’s funny is all the people that complain about tight pockets and then go buy some ridiculously shaped pocket blockers for practice.

In general I'm against tight pockets for US pool. Tight meaning below 4.5 inch, and especially below 4.25 inches. Such tight pockets tend to slow down the game, and in straight pool especially , tend to limit runs. For pros, playing on brand new cloth, I may be willing to concede that tighter pockets could be ok. Unfortunately, a lot of people either falsely believe they are pros, or want to emulate them when they don't have the skills. These guys force pool hall owners to tighten their pockets too much, causing frustration and lack of enjoyment for the majority of players.

I use the pocket reducers mostly for fundamentals practise. Since i play all the tight pocket disciplines in addition to US pool, using the pocket reducers helps prevent slipping fundamentals and makes it easier to go back and forth between disciplines.

For a while I thought my pattern play was starting to slip in 14.1. I used the pocket reducers to ensure I was playing the shots the right (easy and controlled) way. Had I been playing US pool exclusively, I doubt I would have used them as much. Sometimes it's fun to challenge oneself on ultra tight pockets just for fun, as well. That doesn't mean I want such pockets permanently installed. These pocket reducers helps prevent your game from going stale, they're always available when I want to change up the table a bit. For those players who always whine about the pockets being too large, installing these (with cloth glued on) should give them all the challenges they could possibly want. Try playing the ghost with these on some time. Even the 9 ball ghost becomes close to unbeatable, because the balls don't drop consistently on the break anymore.