OK TAR, Time For A 10' Table
- Thread starter Johnnyt
- Start date
I enjoyed every match I've seen on the 10' table. It does not bother me at all if top players shoot a TPA of .850 rather than a .900 (as claimed by Mark Wilson during several commentaries). The game is supposed to be hard, and nothing like going back to the original tournament table to make it so.
9-ball on a 9 footer has gotten too easy for these guys. Big packages are expected from them. It's just not very exciting anymore. I'd rather see them struggle for their wins, just like in other pro sports. How exciting would a home run be if they moved the fences in 50'? Which is about what they did back in the day by going to the 9' table as the new tournament standard.
9-ball on a 9 footer has gotten too easy for these guys. Big packages are expected from them. It's just not very exciting anymore. I'd rather see them struggle for their wins, just like in other pro sports. How exciting would a home run be if they moved the fences in 50'? Which is about what they did back in the day by going to the 9' table as the new tournament standard.
Earl's table at Steinway is not tight. Very good, excellent rails/set up, but pockets looked to be about 4 3/4" when I looked at them last month. I was there chatting with Earl about two weeks before the match, and he was complaining that the pockets on that table weren't tight enough for him...I laughed and looked, and they looked pretty normal to me...definitely not the 4" or 4 1/4" pockets you see on some jacked tables.
Shaw's misses were uncharacteristic for him on the 10 footer IMO. He usually shoots pretty good on them. It's not like he doesn't have the opportunity to play on one, nor is he without a buddy to give him some tips on its nuances.
Efren seemed to play some pretty serious 10-ball on the Steinway table, and I'll bet he'd clean up against anyone in the world playing rotation on it. In fact, I would pay double to see him play Shane some rotation on the 10 footer during the next TAR.
those 10 footers had buckets for pockets. if those guys played on a diamond 10 footer with 4 and 1/2 in pockets it would of been much different
yes, I know they aren't tight. I must have made a mistake in my original post.
What I meant to say is that the 10 footer at Steinway doesn't seem to play as fast as the Diamond 10 footer, but this slowness (which makes the playing conditions arguably more difficult) is made up for by the fact that the pockets aren't very tight. I don't know why I wrote otherwise. I watched some of the Earl-Efren match and I think those playing conditions were very good.
I completely agree...and Earl definitely has the speed/conditions of that table dialed in big time...It was amazing to watch him practice and pull that CB into PERFECT position every time.
I think all pool should be played on a 6' by 12' table with five inch pockets. No jump cues but all players should be allowed to slip off their footwear and get up on the table to shoot at any time but if you move any ball, then it would be ball in hand. This would inject a lot of fun into the game and change things somewhat, but you would still have to have the skills. What's so sacred about keeping feet on the floor. Be fun to watch the players get on the table. Sexy girls . Earl. The Pinoys. T V would love it
Hmmm...I don't remember that....which TAR event are you referring to?
You must've been to New Orleans...
JoeyA's favorite pool hall doesn't require feet to be on the floor. You'd love it there.
Jaden
JoeyA's favorite pool hall doesn't require feet to be on the floor. You'd love it there.
Jaden
Shane played Earl on a 10 footer in Ohio. It was an old Brunswick that had been cobbled together.
We had a ten foot Diamond in the warehouse here for a few months and sent it back to Indiana.
Re: The old tables
I watched every minute of every match ever played on either table. I talked to every player who ever played on both after the match. No one liked it. Some it didnt bother as much as others but no one ever said "This is awesome!"
Yes there were a couple of occasions where guys had great runs on them. There many many more times where a guy had three balls left and had to play safe because he came a few inches short on an angle that would work on normal pockets but had zero chance to go on the tightened pockets. More times than not they would go for it anyway and rattle a ball then the commentators got to go on for 10 minutes about how tough this table is. When I realized the commentators were spending more time talking about the table than the players I knew we had a problem.
The final straw was when a world champion told me after a match "You have to change these. It just makes us look bad." I appreciate your passion for pool as you think it should be. I just dont agree with you. Hopefully you can enjoy the product we do put out.
I am just going to quote this every time the 10 foot topic comes up. You said it better than I ever have.
Yep. The others got to me already. I think all i was able to remember was Shane & 10 ft table. He coulda been playing on Mars, for all I could remember.
The first thing to go is the memory. I can't remember what the second thing is...
Eric
thankfully Greg Sullivan does not agree with you and if he can get a small tour going it WILL be on 10 foot tables. (see interview with Greg http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQCWA9LFhu0&feature=em-upload_owner)... because it is harder and it puts even more separation between the very good and the elite.
Going in the other direction why not go to 7 footers? You would see the same of everything but the execution would be even closer to 100%? Why not go to 7 inch pockets... then the error rate would drop significantly and more "exciting" shots would be attempted as a 50% make would go to the 90% range...
So it baffles me why someone who can execute at a higher level on 10 footer has to give up their advantage by leveling the playing field and performing on easier equipment. Hell lets do races to 1 on Valley Bar boxes...
Last edited:
My sentiments exactly. If they used 10' tables exclusively at the pro level, there would be no "10% worse than normal", it would just be the new normal.
I think what Greg and Jay are doing with the Bigfoot is visionary. Smaller fields, single elimination, higher entry fees, tougher equipment, added money matching entry fees. That would be a real pro sport.
Beg to differ, 8-ball wouldn't be interesting no matter what table it was played on. In fact the 10-foot table would most likely make it LESS interesting, not more, because when you play 8-ball on a 7-foot the fact that you're in a confined space makes cue ball control much more difficult. The 10' would eliminate that. I'd expect top players to run out even more on the 10' than on the 7'.
I beg to differ. 8-ball is VERY interesting to watch on a English 8-ball table or a Chinese 8-ball table.