Practice on the type of tables I compete on?

2

219Dave

Pool is my therapy
Silver Member
For the first time in my life, I'm playing in a league. It's barbox 8 ball. Up until now, I've done 95% of my playing on 9 footers or my 8 foot pro in my basement. I know that in a perfect world I'd practice on the same tables with the same cloth that I play in in league. But I'm obviously going to practice the most on my home table, and I'm not thinking of selling it to get a 7 footer.

My question is- how crucial is it to improving my barbox 8 ball game for me to go out and practice on 7 footers? I've heard people argue that practice on a big table improves your game on barboxes, due to the shots being shorter, etc. I've also heard that switching to barboxes means different angles, more congested table, etc.

I have to imagine that a decent 9 foot player does better on a barbox than a barbox player does on a 9 foot.

Would like to hear your thoughts.
 
Its all about comfort, for the most part. Sure there are differences, but you just go out and kick some ani! Ball in pocket, crush crush crush. That's all you need to know.:wink:

Prob should play on the 7'er a few times, before hand though...
 
as it happens . . .

I just watched a barbox tournament that drew competitors from several states. Even though some snuck in a little practice on a barbox, the nine foot specialists didn't fair well as a whole. The rails and cloth were different than they were used to but the big issue was the pockets.

I think most nine foot players do the same thing I do. They start off shooting at buckets at close range on the bar table and find they can cheat the pockets a ton. Then they try to cheat the pockets a little too much and the bar table specialists clean up. Race to seven winners side, five losers side. I saw a nine foot specialist jump out to an early lead then pop a ball out the pocket two games in a row and had a scratch on the break once. Welcome to the losers bracket! That is pretty typical of how it goes when you practice all the time on other tables. By the time you get tuned to the bar box, the bar box specialists have beaten you.

Practice on any table is far better than no practice but both bar boxes and tight nine footers are different beasts than your home table and I do believe that you have to be tuned on what you compete on to play your very best. League you will probably do fine, a big bar box event, you will probably blow enough shots not being in tune with the bar box that you won't go far.

Oh yeah, one other thing, buy a mud ball for your home table! Practicing with the same cue ball you play with is a big help.

Hu


219Dave said:
For the first time in my life, I'm playing in a league. It's barbox 8 ball. Up until now, I've done 95% of my playing on 9 footers or my 8 foot pro in my basement. I know that in a perfect world I'd practice on the same tables with the same cloth that I play in in league. But I'm obviously going to practice the most on my home table, and I'm not thinking of selling it to get a 7 footer.

My question is- how crucial is it to improving my barbox 8 ball game for me to go out and practice on 7 footers? I've heard people argue that practice on a big table improves your game on barboxes, due to the shots being shorter, etc. I've also heard that switching to barboxes means different angles, more congested table, etc.

I have to imagine that a decent 9 foot player does better on a barbox than a barbox player does on a 9 foot.

Would like to hear your thoughts.
Click to expand...
 
ShootingArts said:
I just watched a barbox tournament that drew competitors from several states. Even though some snuck in a little practice on a barbox, the nine foot specialists didn't fair well as a whole. The rails and cloth were different than they were used to but the big issue was the pockets.

I think most nine foot players do the same thing I do. They start off shooting at buckets at close range on the bar table and find they can cheat the pockets a ton. Then they try to cheat the pockets a little too much and the bar table specialists clean up. Race to seven winners side, five losers side. I saw a nine foot specialist jump out to an early lead then pop a ball out the pocket two games in a row and had a scratch on the break once. Welcome to the losers bracket! That is pretty typical of how it goes when you practice all the time on other tables. By the time you get tuned to the bar box, the bar box specialists have beaten you.

Practice on any table is far better than no practice but both bar boxes and tight nine footers are different beasts than your home table and I do believe that you have to be tuned on what you compete on to play your very best. League you will probably do fine, a big bar box event, you will probably blow enough shots not being in tune with the bar box that you won't go far.

Oh yeah, one other thing, buy a mud ball for your home table! Practicing with the same cue ball you play with is a big help.

Hu
Click to expand...

Do places by you still have mud-balls? Johnnyt
 
generic term

Johnnyt said:
Do places by you still have mud-balls? Johnnyt
Click to expand...



Johnny,

I still run into a mud ball once in awhile but it is more a generic term for whatever ball is being used on the bar tables. I swiped the Valley cue ball to practice on the nine footer the other day, big difference in how the cue ball handled. Definitely not a red circle!

Hu
 
u ll have probably no problems to pocket because of the lower distances- the only problem u could have, is that u have a bit less place for your position play- don t make yourself too much panic. just play and have fun- it will be easier than u think now :)
 
My advice would be to play a few hours on the bb type you will be playing on before hand. Your home table is a 8' and you play on 9 footers often so you won't have any problem shot making, just banks and table speed 3-5 rail is a lot different on a BB. Before I went out to the bars looking for action on bar boxes I'd stop and play for an hour on a 9'. After that the bar box is easy for shot making. Practice combos. Johnnyt
 
The main issue for me going from a 9' that rolls true to a typical bar box. If you are in a traveling league the tables all roll different and even the same ones play different from week to week. I was recently playing league at this place where if you lagged from the left side it was almost impossible to keep from scratching. That was pretty extreme but most bar boxex at bars its very difficult to play a slow roll shot of any kind. Unfortunately for me thats all there is to offer around here for league play but its better than nothing, though i am not always sure.
 
Thanks for the responses. Hu, I'm not worried about competing at a high level in barbox tournaments--just want to play decent in league. I'm just an APA 4, although I am getting really into pool and consider myself a student of the game.

You make a good point about the mud ball. My first few weeks of league I played horribly, and I blame it in part on the mud ball. I couldn't draw worth a damn on it, and it never ended up where I expected. I could get one and practice with it at home. I've been bringing an extra cue ball that I own from my home set (came with my aramith super pro's, has the red mark on it) and we use that or one the other time has brought. So fortunately haven't been using the mud ball since the first few weeks, but it's a good idea to practice with one a bit just in case the other team is home and refuses to play with the regular cue ball that we bring.

Some people fantasize about their ultimate car or a huge house. I've been having the fantasy about having a seven footer and a nine footer in my basement. :grin:
 
This has been my experience: I had played for about 4 years in an APA 8-ball and 9-ball league playing twice a week on bar boxes, rarely ever shooting on anything else. Then several months ago I started going up to the closest pool hall that had a 9-footer and started doing some practicing on it (although I own my own table, a Brunswick standard 8-footer). Although I knew the game was the same and virtually nothing should change your aiming on a larger table, I had the dickens-of-a-time adjusting to the 9-footer. I was intimidated by the size of the playing area. Now, several months later, I feel perfectly at ease on it. To make matters better, I feel what I used to think was a long shot on a bar box is now just a normal shot on the 9-footer. I shoot better on the bar box than I used to. But keep in mind that I shot 95% of the time on bar boxes so I was used to congested tables, clusters, and the different pockets as Hu mentioned. IMO, you'll do fine on the bar boxes in your league. It never hurts though to get there an hour or so early, shoot a few games and get used to the speed of the cloth on any table or in any bar/poolhall you frequent. Good luck!!!

Maniac
 
dr2112 said:
I was recently playing league at this place where if you lagged from the left side it was almost impossible to keep from scratching. That was pretty extreme but most bar boxex at bars its very difficult to play a slow roll shot of any kind.
Click to expand...

I feel your pain. There was a table at my home bar that we nicknamed the "NASCAR" table because of the hard left turns the cue ball would make on several places on the playing surface :eek::grin::grin::grin:. You cannot slow-roll a ball on a LOT of bar boxes because of bad rolls. After getting burned so many times on this, I finally printed out a sign and taped it on top of my cue holder that says "Let your stroke out" to remind me to not shoot softly on the bar tables.

Maniac
 
I think the biggest change is the cueball if your actually playing in bars. You'll find you want to use more follow and less draw due to the heavier cueball.
 
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