This thread has enlightened me in so-o-o-o many ways. Thankyou Paul for bringing it back to the original question. The original question posed by jalapus logan was, are tight pockets good for pool? Very few of the answering posts addressed that question. Instead there was the usual dribble of, “it’s all about me and what I like and what advantage pocket size gives me.” That is the attitude that has, IMO, hurt this sport and why professional tours have a difficult time being successful outside of the pool room. (Another post, another time.)
First of all, I hope that everyone can agree to a few statements.
1) Pool would not have as many players as it does if it were not for the rooms. With no or few rooms there would be no or few players.
2) Players develop their skills in the pool rooms. Those skills are not developed by playing on a home table without the competition the room has to offer.
3) When we all started playing pool our goal was to make the ball.
4) According to the Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association (SGMA) study in 2008, Billiards/Pool ranked 10th in the country for participation at some 17,178,000 players that averaged playing 13 days a year. For overall participation in individual sports, the top three activities encompassing the family and social aspect are bowling (58.7 million), pool (49 million) and golf (27.6 million).
A) The majority of pool players play 8-ball on a 7 foot table.
B) The majority of pool players still play “bar” rules.
5) The APA’s boast of having some 260,000 members in the largest league falls far short of players that are available for membership.
6) Better than average players know everything there is to know about running a profitable pool room. (Extreme Sarcasm)
I will emphatically state that tight pockets are bad for pool. It’s a very simple concept. The tighter the pockets, the less entry level players there are. If you can’t believe that, just go to the room owners forum and read the posts from owners about tight pockets and the experimenting that they have done. It is almost unanimous that they lose business everytime some owner has gotten an urge to please the “players” and make the pockets 4.5 inches or less.
If we move that equation out, without new, beginning or even the 13 time a year players (the social players), that room is going to go out of business. If enough rooms go out of business where are the players coming from to compete or become pros? Where are the players coming from to complete a $500 entry pro tournament so maybe the top 8 can make a living? Without the “bangers” pool doesn’t grow.
Everybody wants to talk about the “pros.” Whenever I give lessons to those bangers they are all hoping for a miracle so they can make balls and impress their friends. They actually want to learn enough to be able to compete on a social level. They don’t want to be world beaters. THOSE ARE THE PLAYERS THAT MAKE A ROOM SUCCESSFUL.
Here is an example. I’ve got 2 great players matching up. They play for 6 hours, have 2 beverages each, and the total bill for the night is $52. They also have some railbirds sweating the action which might bring in another $10 to $20. These railbirds would be on tables playing if they weren’t watching the action. On one of the back tables are two couples out for a social night. What does a social night consist of? First of all, these are 4 7/8” pockets so balls are being made and they are all excited when the balls go in. Because the balls are going in, they are having fun and order 3 buckets of beer, some appetizers and probably stay longer than they planned. By the time they get done, let’s say 4 hours, the total bill for the social players is over $100. It’s very simple to see which group is more profitable.
Plus on top of all that, the social players don’t complain about the equipment, tell you how to run a room, or expect “favors” from the owner like, shaping a tip, a break on pool time and too many other stupid things.
There are a ton of social players out there and rooms that have gone to tight (4.5”) pockets are feeling the loss of those players. I always have to laugh at the league players that can’t run 3 balls in a row tell me about how great it is to play on the tight diamond tables. Why are they saying that? Because they heard some better-than-average player say it. “Good players love the tight Diamond tables.” Therefore, in Joe Averages way of thinking, if he too loves the tightness, he is a good player.
I don’t care about about what the good players (pros) like. I care about getting those social players interested enough in the game and growing pool from the bottom up instead of from the top down.
One other interesting fact. In 2003 there were approximately 5000 rooms in this country. At present, there is only about 3500 rooms. Support your local rooms or they will disappear and you might have to take up bowling or golf.
