Me too! Punked.
I can't imagine not having a ball return for straight pool and doing repetitive drills. No comparison, IMO.
Table Preference Poll
- Thread starter subdude1974
- Start date
I can't imagine not having a ball return for straight pool and doing repetitive drills. No comparison, IMO.
Biloxi Boy
Man With A Golden Arm
One problem is I was exposed to returns 60 years ago. They were loud and balls were always hanging up or jumping the track. As the resident "little guy", it was my job to go under the table, find the problem, and fix it -- not always easy.
Biloxi Boy
Man With A Golden Arm
Y'alls own fault. See 32 above. Here was my premise:
"Looks to be double hill, so I suggest we run this back.
Here is how the issue stood in October 2010 . . . Been near 15 years, and One Pocket has come on a great deal in the meantime. It might be interesting to see if our preferences are affected by whether we are talking tables in pool halls or home rooms. What y'all got to say? Please vote, provide your opinions, and explain your reasoning."
I'm just kidding. I did put in my vote.
I will never buy a table with a ball return, especially if I’m doing drills.
fifteen years and the poll is still tied-
wonder what ‘they’ are doing with all the results
look how far baseball has come, for example,
in the last decade and a half with analytics
(drop pocket tables remind me where
certain balls went in- info i can’t always remember after the game is over)
wonder what ‘they’ are doing with all the results
look how far baseball has come, for example,
in the last decade and a half with analytics
(drop pocket tables remind me where
certain balls went in- info i can’t always remember after the game is over)
I put 15 balls on the table and I can shoot all 15 into the same pocket during a drill. You can't do that with pockets. That's all I was referring to.
1pocketguru
Registered
I play mostly one pocket. I like a ball return and having a properly cut pocket at about 4.5 inches for me is perfect.
Drop pockets or ball return don't really matter that much though. I do like the sound of the balls rolling under the table though. It has a kind of rhythem to it.
I don't want it shimmed with extra facing material. I want the wood and rails extended.
It's a close call between Brunswick and Diamond. I would have to go with a Diamond table. There are nice tables out there (Gabriel for example) but Diamond is more common to play and train on.
If you put the table in a pool room, the ball return tables wear cloth faster because people can play faster. It's slower to walk around and pick up balls. But that doesn't matter much on a home set up. But you could argue that reaching down into pockets could wear out the cloth at the pocket edge faster? Somebody must know?
Drop pockets or ball return don't really matter that much though. I do like the sound of the balls rolling under the table though. It has a kind of rhythem to it.
I don't want it shimmed with extra facing material. I want the wood and rails extended.
It's a close call between Brunswick and Diamond. I would have to go with a Diamond table. There are nice tables out there (Gabriel for example) but Diamond is more common to play and train on.
If you put the table in a pool room, the ball return tables wear cloth faster because people can play faster. It's slower to walk around and pick up balls. But that doesn't matter much on a home set up. But you could argue that reaching down into pockets could wear out the cloth at the pocket edge faster? Somebody must know?
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Biloxi Boy
Man With A Golden Arm
Makes one wonder how Brunswick's decision making process functions.
Maybe there focus is getting them back into pool halls to get people playing on them so they will want them at home? When I was first playing the gold crown was what every one played on and wanted at home. Now they play on diamonds so they want them at home. Most tables at commercial places in my experience have been ball return.
Being a Straight Pool player, it's definitely ball return for me....
Biloxi Boy
Man With A Golden Arm
"Most tables at commercial places in my experience have been ball return."
My experience was completely the opposite. Never saw a return in a pool hall until I was in my 60s and are still rare today -- this is disregarding, of course, the cursed scourge of quarter tables.
My experience was completely the opposite. Never saw a return in a pool hall until I was in my 60s and are still rare today -- this is disregarding, of course, the cursed scourge of quarter tables.
SlateMan
Registered
I removed the ball return rails and collection bin from my GCIV and went with drop pockets. Sound for that table was not an issue as the ball return rails were covered in rubber and I found a simple little rubber mat at the bottom of the return bin stopped most of the noise.
I just like walking around the table more than I liked hunching way over to get the balls.
Perhaps the "laser guided space tables" will have a feature that brings the ball return bin up to the height of the table so you don't have to hunch over and feel around....
I just like walking around the table more than I liked hunching way over to get the balls.
Perhaps the "laser guided space tables" will have a feature that brings the ball return bin up to the height of the table so you don't have to hunch over and feel around....
I find it surprising a 1P player prefers a ball return much less 4.5” corners. I prefer 4 1/4 or 4 1/8. I hate fishing out balls from the return and I keep forgetting to grab my balls from the ball box, so much easier to keep them in the corner packet as you make them. I don’t know any 1P players that prefer 4 1/2” over a tighter corner.
1pocketguru
Registered
You are right. Any bigger than 4.5 is unplayable. 4.125 or 4.250 is good too. But I think 4.375 is good too. 4.5 is absolutely maximum. I rarely play with a ball return. It always feels like a special treat.