Pocket facing angles

Andrew Manning

Andrew Manning

Aspiring know-it-all
Silver Member
As a player, I HATE it when I hit a ball hard down the rail, straight into the opening of the pocket, and it rattles or spits. Nothing is worse than that; I hit the shot into the pocket, but the pocket refused. I feel like I just got sucker-punched.

I read on here that the desired angle between the facings of a corner pocket is 12-14 degrees (the point of the pocket makes a 141 or 142 degree angle).

Why is this angle not 0 (or 135 at the point)? If the facings were parallel, they would direct the ball toward the back of the pocket instead of back out toward the playing surface. Is this not what players want? You could make the pocket VERY tight and still have it play fair; you have to be accurate to pocket the ball, but you don't have to worry about the pocket ever rejecting a ball that's hit accurately. Why is this not the ideal pocket?

-Andrew
 
Andrew Manning said:
As a player, I HATE it when I hit a ball hard down the rail, straight into the opening of the pocket, and it rattles or spits. Nothing is worse than that; I hit the shot into the pocket, but the pocket refused. I feel like I just got sucker-punched.

I read on here that the desired angle between the facings of a corner pocket is 12-14 degrees (the point of the pocket makes a 141 or 142 degree angle).

Why is this angle not 0 (or 135 at the point)? If the facings were parallel, they would direct the ball toward the back of the pocket instead of back out toward the playing surface. Is this not what players want? You could make the pocket VERY tight and still have it play fair; you have to be accurate to pocket the ball, but you don't have to worry about the pocket ever rejecting a ball that's hit accurately. Why is this not the ideal pocket?

-Andrew
Click to expand...

because now your pocket is a catcher mit. Everything goes. If that's what you want, its a ideal pocket.
 
sdbilliards said:
because now your pocket is a catcher mit. Everything goes. If that's what you want, its a ideal pocket.
Click to expand...

So why not just make it smaller? Then you have to be very accurate to hit the pocket, but if you do hit it accurately, you never have to worry about the ball not dropping.

-Andrew
 
Andrew Manning said:
So why not just make it smaller? Then you have to be very accurate to hit the pocket, but if you do hit it accurately, you never have to worry about the ball not dropping.

-Andrew
Click to expand...

if you go with parallel or even more of angle like a bar table, everything that touchs the facing will drop. Not everyone wants pockets that play this easy. That why there is ideal angles and deeper shelves to make the tables play fair but tough. That's the point in tightening the pockets and changing the angles, right.
 
To appreciate firing down the rail in pocket billiards, try doing it on a snooker table! You will discover words you didn't know you knew.:banghead:
 
Fire?

:shrug::shrug:
Crash said:
To appreciate firing down the rail in pocket billiards, try doing it on a snooker table! You will discover words you didn't know you knew.:banghead:
Click to expand...

Can one fire a ball up the rail on a snooker table successfully? Ever??

I have played on 5x10 only a little. On the rail, close to corner, slow rolled-maybe it goes- seems to be a snooker table.

No way it goes!-seems to be a 'golf table' set up on a snooker table. There you need a couple of shots to try to get ball out in front of corner pocket. Not a lot of firing on the golf table-unless you are the sheriff.

You're right- it will get you in touch with your inner-foul mouth.

3railkick
 
The two remaining Snooker tables (5x10 Anniversaries) I know of in North Alabama are used for golf by the locals. My buddy and I are the only ones that will use them for Snooker. We have to drive to Melrose Billiards in Nashville to play on a 6x12. I did not know that there was a difference in set up of the table for golf or is it just the markings?
 
Andrew Manning said:
As a player, I HATE it when I hit a ball hard down the rail, straight into the opening of the pocket, and it rattles or spits. Nothing is worse than that; I hit the shot into the pocket, but the pocket refused. I feel like I just got sucker-punched.

I read on here that the desired angle between the facings of a corner pocket is 12-14 degrees (the point of the pocket makes a 141 or 142 degree angle).

Why is this angle not 0 (or 135 at the point)? If the facings were parallel, they would direct the ball toward the back of the pocket instead of back out toward the playing surface. Is this not what players want? You could make the pocket VERY tight and still have it play fair; you have to be accurate to pocket the ball, but you don't have to worry about the pocket ever rejecting a ball that's hit accurately. Why is this not the ideal pocket?

-Andrew
Click to expand...

Line up a 4 ball combination along the side rail at head end of the table, fire the cue ball into the combination and see if the 4th ball will go into the pocket or kick out....because if it goes...then its been hit correctly...and if you can't make it go by just shooting the ball in like normal....its you that's not hitting the ball correctly...not the pocket angles.

Glen
 
realkingcobra said:
Line up a 4 ball combination along the side rail at head end of the table, fire the cue ball into the combination and see if the 4th ball will go into the pocket or kick out....because if it goes...then its been hit correctly...and if you can't make it go by just shooting the ball in like normal....its you that's not hitting the ball correctly...not the pocket angles.

Glen
Click to expand...
Try this, if you haven't already. Use a piece of 3/8 or 1/4 thick wood long enough for a 4 ball comination and use it as a spacer between the balls and rail. Except slow roll it. That will show you any drift away from and/or into the rail.
 
Andrew Manning said:
So why not just make it smaller? Then you have to be very accurate to hit the pocket, but if you do hit it accurately, you never have to worry about the ball not dropping.

-Andrew
Click to expand...


Cutting the angles so everything goes in and then making the pockets smaller to require perfect aim is not the proper solution for the simple reason that you then can't cheat the pocket at all. Being able to cheat the pocket is an important skill in most pool games, especially a game like 14.1.

Cheating the pocket does not require less precision than going for the dead center. If anything it requires more because you have less margin of error on the side you are cheating towards.

BTW, I'm not a mechanic, I'm a player. To me, a properly set up table allows for the ability to cheat the pocket to an extent. In my view a table that has pockets that are so small they don't allow for playing to a specific part is not set up very well. This does not mean they have to be buckets either. The pockets on my GC4 are cut at 4.25" and the table plays great for all games, including straight pool. This is still big enough that you can play to a specific part of the pocket.
 
Is there a way to tell for sure that the Pocket Facing angles are correctly cut ? I am asking because I want to extend the subrails and make mine tighter. Thanks
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top