small balls or small pockets?

metallicarokerx

metallicarokerx

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
my friend was telling me one thing to make my aiming better was to get smaller balls and use the normal cue ball and try to shoot them in.. he said that it would help more than smaller pockets because there is less of an amount of space to hit the ball.. what in your opinion is better?? or would using both help even more? thanks
 
What Samir said. It throws the geometry of the collision off. You may get good at potting them, but an unpleasant surprise will await you when you get back to the normal balls.

Jim
 
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metallicarokerx said:
so its just better to go with smaller pockets? or should i not do anything at all and just focus more
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Practice the game as you're going to play it.:)

A large cue ball weighs more than the smaller object balls. That extra weight will push the ob off course more than usual from the force of the impact, (collision induced throw). The larger cb creates more spin induced throw because the ratio between the balls is different. Switch from a regular table immediately to a coin-op bar table and you'll see what I mean.

How will you learn to properly match up contact points in your mind?. You'll eventually learn to compensate for the difference but when you go back to regular sized object balls it'll be a nightmare as Jal mentioned above.

Just go with smaller pockets, it'll force you to be more precise but won't negatively affect your feel for the game. Your friend gave you some horrid advice, slap him three times for me.:D
 
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metallicarokerx said:
my friend was telling me one thing to make my aiming better was to get smaller balls and use the normal cue ball and try to shoot them in.. he said that it would help more than smaller pockets because there is less of an amount of space to hit the ball.. what in your opinion is better?? or would using both help even more? thanks
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I think that with small balls you will have less impact on your intended target, and what satisfaction can you get from that?:confused:

It's is kind of like sex bigger is most certainly better.

Manwon
 
Jal said:
What Samir said. It throws the geometry of the collision off. You may get good at potting them, but an unpleasant surprise will await you when you get back to the normal balls.

Jim
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Agreed. Smaller balls mean smaller absolute margin of error for the contact point, and therefore require a more accurate alignment/stroke. However, depending on your exact method of visually determining the contact point, you'll probably need to adjust that, too. This will undo the practice you've spent on determining your point of aim for 2.25" balls.

If you use normal size balls and smaller pockets, this forces you to have an accurate alignment and stroke, AND accurate judgment of your point of aim in order to cut a 2.25" ball at the required angle to hit the center of the pocket.

For best consistency, you're definitely better off staying with a consistent ball size.

-Andrew
 
I would have to say that smaller pockets will give you the most bang for your buck. However, there is something to be said for smaller balls and bigger tables, too. I play snooker and pool at home (two tables) and in my opinion there is no big transition that has to be made to play well with either set of balls. When switching from big balls/large pockets to big balls/small pockets, you definitely have to pay a lot more attention to your aim. Same with small balls/small pockets. However, I don't feel that it "undoes" the practice that I do on the pool table when I switch to the snooker table.
I play in a fairly tough tournament on Monday nights. I try to get home and practice 8-ball on the snooker table with the big balls before I go as I feel it makes shooting on the smaller tables at the tournament much easier. Shots don't look as long and tough as they used to. Ideally, you would like to keep shooting as it is easier to stay in stroke when you're playing than when you are sitting and waiting. Unfortunately, that's not the nature of the beast so I feel it is in my best interest to do whatever I can to give myself an advantage. Even a few games before I go gives me a boost of confidence that I probably wouldn't normally have.
Of course, I agree with everyone above about the differents size balls. Even playing with a cue ball that is barely larger and heavier than the object balls totally screws up your game. You can pretty much forget about cutting a ball frozen to the rail and delicate safety plays.
 
Scaramouche said:
The Answer, of course, is smaller balls AND smaller pockets, that is . Snooker:D
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I completely agree. I mean, what can be more challenging that playing on a 6' x 12' table with small pockets and 2 1/16" balls and playing with control of your speed as well as playing with a cue that at the end is similar to that of a No. 2 pencil eraiser. If I had an option whether to play for accuracy, Snooker is IT! :cool:
 
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