I'm just curious if you want to practice to improve your game more and you can't make it to a pool hall every day to play on 9' tourny tables with Simonis cloth, can you get the same quality of practice and results practicing on a home 8' table with the standard 21oz championship cloth that comes on home tables.
Quality of practice on different size tables
- Thread starter Digger0038
- Start date
The short answer is yes, but it depends on what you practice and how you practice it. Good disciplined practice can yield huge benefits on any size table. You will still have to go out and "test" yourself in competition, which may be on different size tables and different kinds of cloth...but you'll learn how to adapt.
Scott Lee
http://poolknowledge.com
Scott Lee
http://poolknowledge.com
So then, you would go back to the much heavier cue the faster conditions?
I think you would just have thrown all of your practice out the window.
I think you would agree that it is important to get tuned with your playing cue.
Players do change up cues, however they tend to stick with cues that have similar weights and balance points.
I think you would just have thrown all of your practice out the window.
I think you would agree that it is important to get tuned with your playing cue.
Players do change up cues, however they tend to stick with cues that have similar weights and balance points.
You will find the 9 footers to play much tougher after playing on a 8 footer or barbox. Its much easier to go from a bigger table to a smaller one. Never heard of anyone changing cues to play on a smaller table. I played for years before I had seen a 9 footer.
^^^Exactly^^^
I would stay away from banking and kicking and focus more on stopping, drawing, following, cutting, comboing and stuff like that; what's the real difference in practicing the semicircle drill on an 8ft rather than a 9ft? It's the "kind" of practice you do that will make the difference. Just do less shots that involve lots of rails, I don't mean don't do them; I mean wait till you get to the pool hall to do your 1,2 & 3 rail bank and kicking drills. Also this isn't really as big a deal as you might think.
Yes, I would agree that you should get tuned with your playing cue 'on the table that you will be playing on'.
The reason I said that, was because of the different conditions he was reffering to from his home table & where he PLAYS. If he grooves his 'stroke' on his table & then goes to the much faster & bigger hall table he will have to do alot of adapting. If he PRACTICES on his slower & smaller home table with a lighter cue it will more resemble the bigger, faster table at the hall & his 'stroke' will be more intune for those conditions. I did not say that he HAS to do it. I was just offering a suggestion.
I can play very well with a crooked house stick as long as it has a good tip on it. I'm not married to one cue. I have 6. Table conditions are different from day to day here in S. La. & sometimes, believe it or not, changing cues or even going to the right house cue can be the 'correct' thing to do.
That's my explanation. Take it for what you feel it is worth. Bottom line is, do what is best for you.
PS I even went out and bought an old BIG MUD BALL when I was playing leagues so I could practice with it at home because playing with it on a bar table & playing REAL pool are certainly not the same thing. Knowing what I know now, I should have change sticks back then. Golfers use training/practice clubs all of time.
I agree with Scott, and PGH. Practice is practice, but the environment in which you ultimately play will have to be accounted for. :smile:
Don't get the 21oz cloth, but upgrade to Simonis; might cost you a few dollars, but you will be practicing on cloth more like that on which it counts.
{I put 760 on my 8 footer. Now most people will tell you that 760 is too fast for an 8 footer, and it probably is. But when I play on a 9 footer with 760 I have an uncanny ability to place the CB just so. That is, my head is not computing distances in diamonds but in actual feet, so the CB rolls just to where I want it to roll.
It is easier to add power/speed than it is to add delicasy.}
Great point! Like many golfers, I have different putters and wedges for different courses/course conditions. I know a number of bowlers who carry multiple balls for different lane conditions. For some reason, it never occurred to me that the same concept could be carried over to pool.
Just what I have been looking for - a rational reason to justify buying more cues!
I have a big oversized cueball at home also that I use for practice when I know that is what I will be seeing when I am out.
Last night I decided to compete with a cue that I had not used in over two years, and it was almost two months since i was out competing. Let me say that my confidence in using the cue was shaky to start. That lack of confidence cost me a game, and it could have easily been more.
I really should have spent some time with it, but the demands of my time would not allow that.
Like everything it takes time and practice, and there is more than one way to skin a cat. I am sure we both agree with that.
Key is to put in the time when making a big switch in equipment.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk.
7, 8, 9 footers
Yes, 7 to 9, but 8 to 9, not so much.
I played mostly on 9-footers from 1955-1965, then mostly bar tables from '66-87. Then, after a two-year "retirement", I returned to the 9s (other than national events on 7s). When I was playing my best ('92-'95), I was playing on all three sizes, with little problem going back and forth.
I played in a league on 8s from 2004-2008, and this made it even easier for me to go to the 9 or the 7.
Donny L
PBIA/ACS Instructor
Yes, 7 to 9, but 8 to 9, not so much.
I played mostly on 9-footers from 1955-1965, then mostly bar tables from '66-87. Then, after a two-year "retirement", I returned to the 9s (other than national events on 7s). When I was playing my best ('92-'95), I was playing on all three sizes, with little problem going back and forth.
I played in a league on 8s from 2004-2008, and this made it even easier for me to go to the 9 or the 7.
Donny L
PBIA/ACS Instructor
Thank you all for your input. Your are right it's how I practice that can make the difference. I would have loved a 9' table but cost and space were an issue. I can practice stop shots, different cut shots, plus draw and follow on that table. My only concern and the thing I need to work on the most is my position play. I am worried that the slower cloth will throw me off from when I play in the pool hall. I am sure I will eventually want to switch to Simonis cloth just so my position play will be more like what I practice in the hall.
Many years ago I was a B player and I stopped playing after kids. Now that my kids are older I am getting back into pool so my goal is to get as least as good as I used to be and hopefully better. My thinking was with a table at home I would be able to practice more than I would be able to just going to the pool hall a once or twice a week for a few hours. Hopefully it helps.
Many years ago I was a B player and I stopped playing after kids. Now that my kids are older I am getting back into pool so my goal is to get as least as good as I used to be and hopefully better. My thinking was with a table at home I would be able to practice more than I would be able to just going to the pool hall a once or twice a week for a few hours. Hopefully it helps.
The practice at home will definitely help. As someone else mentioned, the size and cloth vary from place to place so there is always an adjustment that needs to be made.
I think playing on the smaller table will help with your position play if you are playing practice games as opposed to practicing drills. There is traffic and clusters that will appear more frequently on a 8' that won't be as common on a 9'. No matter what, more time on the table is a good thing
Hey Dareads......Sacramento huh
.....I lived in the Sacrmento area for 20 years before moving here to Florida. I do miss Sacramento a lot. Before it got remodeled I used to play at Corner Pocket on Sunrise and I used to play a lot at the Jointed Cue, that still has to be one of my favorite pool halls (rough area but great pool hall).
.....I lived in the Sacrmento area for 20 years before moving here to Florida. I do miss Sacramento a lot. Before it got remodeled I used to play at Corner Pocket on Sunrise and I used to play a lot at the Jointed Cue, that still has to be one of my favorite pool halls (rough area but great pool hall).
Hey Dareads......Sacramento huh
I've only been to corner pocket once for a league match last session. Jointed Cue is the closest to me, but as you mentioned, not the best neighborhood, but a classic pool hall none the less. I tend to make the slightly farther drive to HardTimes as a rule.