Played on a Diamond 9' for the first time

travis13

travis13

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
And all I can say is DAMN! I thought I was an average player and have played on some 9' Brunswicks, but this table was tough. Can't wait to get back and practice on it some more, I just have to be prepared for my feelings to get hurt. Oh and it didn't help that Hennessee was on the table next to me making it look simple:thumbup:
 
If you've been playing regularly on a standard 9' CG... and then you switch over to a standard 9' Diamond with pro cut (4.5") pockets, I venture to say that you just lost 2-3 balls.

And even if you stay with the Diamond and fore go the GC for a long time, you'll never fully recover those 2-3 balls.

But then if/when you get back on a standard GC, you'll find that your game on that table has improved by a couple of balls.

In other words, I believe that playing regularly on a standard pro cut pocket 9' Diamond will improve your game. You'll notice the improvement when you switch back to a standard GC.
 
travis13 said:
And all I can say is DAMN! I thought I was an average player and have played on some 9' Brunswicks, but this table was tough. Can't wait to get back and practice on it some more, I just have to be prepared for my feelings to get hurt. Oh and it didn't help that Hennessee was on the table next to me making it look simple:thumbup:
Click to expand...

Were you at Lucky Break in Manchester?
 
cigardave said:
If you've been playing regularly on a standard 9' CG... and then you switch over to a standard 9' Diamond with pro cut (4.5") pockets, I venture to say that you just lost 2-3 balls.

And even if you stay with the Diamond and fore go the GC for a long time, you'll never fully recover those 2-3 balls.

But then if/when you get back on a standard GC, you'll find that your game on that table has improved by a couple of balls.

In other words, I believe that playing regularly on a standard pro cut pocket 9' Diamond will improve your game. You'll notice the improvement when you switch back to a standard GC.
Click to expand...

Yup.
Glen , Zack and Donny re-cushioned my GC II ( Diamond specs ).
It's a tough table. You will quickly, you need to overcut the ball often.:D
 
JoeyInCali said:
Yup.
Glen , Zack and Donny re-cushioned my GC II ( Diamond specs ).
It's a tough table. You will quickly, you need to overcut the ball often.:D
Click to expand...
Agreed, Joey... now if only Glenn and Co. could deepen the slate shelves in the corner pockets, you would have a CG that plays exactly like a Diamond. :thumbup:

Cheers brother.
 
I swear the 9' diamond I play must have league cut pockets. I seem to play a couple balls better than the GCIII that I also play on. I also bank and kick easier on this diamond. I dont know what it is.
 
Playing on a 9' Diamond reminds me of those commercials (I think it was golf) where the tagline was "Yeah, these guys are that good".

Pros make it look so easy. I think the trick is to play exceptional shape and get as close as possible to the object ball you are shooting. Diamonds can be tamed, but only at pocket speed IMHO.
 
There is a certain amount of intimidation factor attached to smaller pocket openings. I practice on my 3-1/8" pocket snooker table and when I re-sized them it was a little unerving at first but after a while it's not an issue, just give it time.
 
billiardchick7 said:
Were you at Lucky Break in Manchester?
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I got all exited when you said Manchester, but then I found out it's in TN, not NH.

Still not a single Diamond table to be had in all of New England far as I can tell :angry:. In a pool room that is, I'm sure someone has em in their house :)
 
beerpressure said:
I swear the 9' diamond I play must have league cut pockets. I seem to play a couple balls better than the GCIII that I also play on. I also bank and kick easier on this diamond. I dont know what it is.
Click to expand...

Gold crowns, especially older ones, are often shimmed or otherwise modified to make them tougher. For example, if you are a regular at Hardtimes which has gold crowns with extremely tough pockets on the tournament side, diamond pockets are buckets.
 
cigardave said:
If you've been playing regularly on a standard 9' CG... and then you switch over to a standard 9' Diamond with pro cut (4.5") pockets, I venture to say that you just lost 2-3 balls.

And even if you stay with the Diamond and fore go the GC for a long time, you'll never fully recover those 2-3 balls.

But then if/when you get back on a standard GC, you'll find that your game on that table has improved by a couple of balls.

In other words, I believe that playing regularly on a standard pro cut pocket 9' Diamond will improve your game. You'll notice the improvement when you switch back to a standard GC.
Click to expand...

I've never seen in person (let alone played on) a 9' Gold Crown. My main practice table is a 9' Diamond with shimmed "Pro-Cut" pockets (4.25"). Diamonds are the only 9'ter I've ever played on. I consider myself good on the Diamond (definitely above average)...




I need to go play some GC's.
 
RobertR said:
Playing on a 9' Diamond reminds me of those commercials (I think it was golf) where the tagline was "Yeah, these guys are that good".

Pros make it look so easy. I think the trick is to play exceptional shape and get as close as possible to the object ball you are shooting. Diamonds can be tamed, but only at pocket speed IMHO.
Click to expand...

You don't have to play pocket-speed. You just have to play with precision. You can cheat the pockets a little bit using pocket speed and/or "throwing" english, but must hit center pocket on shots that you must fire-in. It puts more emphasis on your shot-control and cue ball manipulation. You can't cheat the pockets as much to create the angles you need, instead you must do it with your cue ball control and manipulation. You must be more precise with the shape you play in the first place, and, on top of that, you need to be able to use english well to manipulate the path of the cue ball on a finer scale.
 
Diamond 9 ft

One other difference if you go from a GC to a Diamond is you have to bank and kick most shots a lot longer.
One trick is to overcut the ball and bank it with inside English . This cuts down the angle and helps a lot.
The good thing about Brunswicks were that unless someone had put on the wrong rails or it had been stored wrong and crowned they all played pretty close to each other. I myself have not found the same with Diamonds but to be fair I don't think the ones I have played on were put together by trained mechanics {which may make all the difference in the world}
The great thing about Diamond tables is that if you put English on the object ball and hit it with the correct speed it stays on the ball a lot longer.
An example would be a 2 rail cross corner. much harder to make on a Brunswick than a Diamond.
 
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