ccriderone said:
Um, okay. . . . maybe I am reading that wrong, but it just makes no sense to me.
opinions on tight pockets and table speed
- Thread starter Egg McDogit
- Start date
Um, okay. . . . maybe I am reading that wrong, but it just makes no sense to me.
Voodoo Daddy
One Pocket 101
I practice onna triple shimmed GC II with Simonis 860. To be honest, years ago I felt that 760/860 was so fast it took the stroke outta the game but after maturing I found that to be untrue. In real life I ws just hittin the ball way too hard, HAHAHAHA!!! I like to see all tournament pool played on 4 1/2" pockets but I have that sadistic side.... 
ccriderone
Banned
************************************************SonjaBlue03 said:Um, okay. . . . maybe I am reading that wrong, but it just makes no sense to me.
It means you have to pay close attention to every pot and increase your accuracy. If you have a full open pocket and hit the right side of it, yes you potted, but you say right, that's not good, you consider it a semi miss, same if you pot left of center. You want every shot, hitting the exact center, then you have a full inch of slack on each side of the ob when it pots, which is your safety factor. This is why lesser players point out a lot, because they are using all of the pocket and rarely ever know where center is. They just wack at a fuzzy ball and into a black pocket. They are not taught to focus on exact aim points on both. Many times the aim point is not in the black, but on the facing which is why they hit the end rails so often and point out when they shoot hard.
ccriderone said:************************************************
It means you have to pay close attention to every pot and increase your accuracy. If you have a full open pocket and hit the right side of it, yes you potted, but you say right, that's not good, you consider it a semi miss, same if you pot left of center. You want every shot, hitting the exact center, then you have a full inch of slack on each side of the ob when it pots, which is your safety factor. This is why lesser players point out a lot, because they are using all of the pocket and rarely ever know where center is. They just wack at a fuzzy ball and into a black pocket. They are not taught to focus on exact aim points on both. Many times the aim point is not in the black, but on the facing which is why they hit the end rails so often and point out when they shoot hard.
My point is still this: You agreed that people should only "pot" balls in the center of the pocket and then you turn around and say that you make your students call where they are going to "pot" the ball. If you so whole-heartedly agree that people should only shoot into the center of the pocket (which is where this came from, the converstation Sonia started) then why are you teaching them to call what part of the pocket they are "potting" into? You are contradicting yourself.
You have to shoot the pocket if you want to keep runs alive. Running out by making balls center pocket all the time might be good shotmaking practice but in my opinion it is not practical when in a game. If its hill/hill I could care less how the balls drop..as long as they go down. 
S
sonia
Guest
Practice
There are, at least, a possible 22,000,000 angles on any size pool table therefore, there is absolutely no remote possibility that any pool player can divine, accurately, the precise angle he/she is facing on any or all shots. Ergo, PRACTICING at any and all shot angles is an excercise in FUTILITY. The problem with practice is what to practice. All amateurs religiously practice pocketing, caroms, combos, banks of all kinds, body mechanics, head position, stance, etcetera, etcetera, yet progress stops, stutters, and becomes stagnant. What it comes down to, is this ; in reality, players are practicing HONING THEIR ERRORS TO PERFECTION! When a players misses any type of shot, he/she really does not know why they miss the shot. Oh, they have excuses, like the cloth, humidity, balls, noise, you know the drill. But, they never know the real truth.
When an amateur observes the very top pros in the world play, he/she thinks that those players were born with a talent for pool, a talent you do not have. Not true. I will teach you the method that solves any and all shots.
Sonia
There are, at least, a possible 22,000,000 angles on any size pool table therefore, there is absolutely no remote possibility that any pool player can divine, accurately, the precise angle he/she is facing on any or all shots. Ergo, PRACTICING at any and all shot angles is an excercise in FUTILITY. The problem with practice is what to practice. All amateurs religiously practice pocketing, caroms, combos, banks of all kinds, body mechanics, head position, stance, etcetera, etcetera, yet progress stops, stutters, and becomes stagnant. What it comes down to, is this ; in reality, players are practicing HONING THEIR ERRORS TO PERFECTION! When a players misses any type of shot, he/she really does not know why they miss the shot. Oh, they have excuses, like the cloth, humidity, balls, noise, you know the drill. But, they never know the real truth.
When an amateur observes the very top pros in the world play, he/she thinks that those players were born with a talent for pool, a talent you do not have. Not true. I will teach you the method that solves any and all shots.
Sonia
Wow - I can absolutely positively guarantee you that as your game continues to progress, you will not be able to make that statement. You will learn to use ALL of the pocket, to cheat the pocket, short-rail, etc., in order to make the shot and/or get shape. You will learn to utilize the inside of the pocket as a tool, and incorporate it into certain shots. The degree at which this is available, and the speed at which you can hit it, depends on the pocket size, shim, etc. There are many Shots that are currently not available to you, if you always aim for center pocket.sonia said:
Anyhoo, back to the thread - I like double shim for daily play. One of the local places has a 9-ft Diamond with tighter-than-triple shims. This is great for practice sessions but no fun for 9-Ball matches.
For cloth speed, faster tables favor the lesser talented, as do buckets. It requires a better-developed stoke to get up & down the table with slower cloth.
Bottom line? I likes 'em all! Slow, fast, big, small, young, old, er, I mean, well, you know.
Because double shims don't force me to change the way I play...but they're tight enough that if someone hits a ball so bad it hits the 2nd diamond...it won't go - I feel this is fair. I've played on shimmed pro cuts and it's hard to make certain shots, no matter how good you hit them, unless you use pocket speed.
peace
peace
sonia said:
for positional reasons you will make the object ball go in whatever part of the pocket that will get whitey where you want. Shooting every ball in the center is silly and you wouldn't be able to do it every time anyways. The only time I try to make every ball in the dead center of the pockets is when I am working on my concentration during practice. If it helps you concentrate then go for it.
Actually I prefer to play on a table that my opponent doesn't like. I tend to like the extremes if I am gambling or playing in a tournament. On a slow table I can take advantage of my stroke and on the fast tables I can use good positional play.
If I am just fun playing then I like medium speed with big buckets.
If I am just fun playing then I like medium speed with big buckets.
sonia said:
Sonia, you're kinda new here so I'll try and be polite this time. What you've said up until now shows a rather intermediate approach to playing pool. You can choose not to listen (of course) but by no means will you make any progress or friends by refuting what is considered generally accepted practice. I'm sure that you spend a great deal of time working on your game but if you take a moment to read what some of us have to say, we may help you shorten your improvement time. I'll leave it at that.
SonjaBlue03 said:
i do agree that he's a little contradicting. but i also think what he's getting at, is the pocket center is different for different angles.
sometimes the widest opening in the pocket(which would be center) is the left or right pocket facing.
thanks
VAP
Best pocket size? Hmmmm..........
When you golf, what's the best tee to play, the regular tees or the championship tees? Well, if you have the skills for it, playing the championship tees is just fine. One thing's for sure, though, if you play the championship tees, you'd better be a good player, otherwise you'll not only look ridiculous but you'll unnecessarily hold up the play in your group, and take some of the fun out of the game for those playing with you.
And so it is with pool, a weaker player can play on a tight pocket table, but not only does it look ridiculous to any onlooker, it slows down the play and takes some of the fun out of it for anyone playing on the same table.
Strong players and those with dreams of competing at pro level have every reason to favor tighter tables, but tight tables make no sense at all for the vast majority of players. I've always agreed with strong players in rooms where only a few tables are tight that those tables should be given to strong players only unless the room is full.
When you golf, what's the best tee to play, the regular tees or the championship tees? Well, if you have the skills for it, playing the championship tees is just fine. One thing's for sure, though, if you play the championship tees, you'd better be a good player, otherwise you'll not only look ridiculous but you'll unnecessarily hold up the play in your group, and take some of the fun out of the game for those playing with you.
And so it is with pool, a weaker player can play on a tight pocket table, but not only does it look ridiculous to any onlooker, it slows down the play and takes some of the fun out of it for anyone playing on the same table.
Strong players and those with dreams of competing at pro level have every reason to favor tighter tables, but tight tables make no sense at all for the vast majority of players. I've always agreed with strong players in rooms where only a few tables are tight that those tables should be given to strong players only unless the room is full.
RichardCranium said:
That's at the opening. Ernesto put the rails on and did the table before I had it. I asked him about the table before I bought it. He said he remembered setting it up, but that it "wasn't that tight"!
They seemed pretty tight to me, so I measured the opening on every corner and it's right around 4 1/8".drivermaker
Banned
vapoolplayer said:
I think you're making good points...but I'm kinda new at this game and I don't understand. Can someone tell me what the definition or difference is between the "center of the pocket" and the "center of the opening to the pocket". Does that ever change based on the angle of approach and is the center of the pocket even visible at times?
sjm said:
I agree 100%. The pool rooms I have seen do the best overall business have easy pockets which makes sense for the average or below average player. Then they throw in a table or two with tighter pockets for the regular players. This is exactly how I would want the tables in my pool room.
drivermaker
Banned
RichardCranium said:stand directly over your pocket and look down....see the hole in the bottom???? Thats the center.....
My growth was stunted from smoking cigarettes starting at 5 years of age.
So...no...I can't stand directly over the pocket and look down. I can barely see over the top of the rail.