US Open Racking....Thumbs Up Matchroom!

Island Drive said:
It's the little things in this game that make Big differences.

Each player after each rack ends, rolling balls back to the racker, it humanizes our sport.

It also speeds up play, but it LOOKS better.... And.... it IS better for the game.

Thx, MR
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I enjoyed watching the matches that weren't commentated. There is a place for some quiet.:D
 
Island Drive said:
It's the little things in this game that make Big differences.

Each player after each rack ends, rolling balls back to the racker, it humanizes our sport.

It also speeds up play, but it LOOKS better.... And.... it IS better for the game.

Thx, MR
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I was impressed earlier in the week when the guy in the wheelchair (who played Tkach) would speedily and gracefully roll around the table to help gather the balls as well.

But I note this is common even in my lowly games around here (the player losing the rack getting up off his butt to help setup the next rack). Is it not common everywhere?
 
It's never been the norm, ever during my three different pro tours, just ask Helfert.
 
Shagging balls & emptying pockets are actions better relegated to history (IMHO), ever since the ‘ball return’ pool table was invented. Can you imagine trying to order your new car with a ‘hand crank’ (instead of a starter motor & battery)? Go figure, they still manufacture & sell muzzle-loading firearms also.
 
DynoDan said:
Shagging balls & emptying pockets are actions better relegated to history (IMHO), ever since the ‘ball return’ pool table was invented. Can you imagine trying to order your new car with a ‘hand crank’ (instead of a starter motor & battery)? Go figure, they still manufacture & sell muzzle-loading firearms also.
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At home for practicing, I prefer drop pockets but for a tournament a ball return is the way to go. They should make them so the two bottom pockets feed their own separate boxes for one pocket.
 
tomatoshooter said:
At home for practicing, I prefer drop pockets but for a tournament a ball return is the way to go. They should make them so the two bottom pockets feed their own separate boxes for one pocket.
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I don’t know about GCs, etc., but the orig. ball return system on my 30 yr. old Diamond feeds the box from the sides, so a simple center divider could easily be rigged.
Sorry, but I can’t imagine what advantage there might be to fishing balls out of a pocket (?). Unless maybe, you have limited mobility, or need to repeatedly practice the same shot with the same object ball, at pockets other than the foot corners (someone with eightball ‘buck fever’, who usually misses a game-ending cross-side bank shot, could thus save themselves a lot of walking).
 
DynoDan said:
Shagging balls & emptying pockets are actions better relegated to history (IMHO), ever since the ‘ball return’ pool table was invented. Can you imagine trying to order your new car with a ‘hand crank’ (instead of a starter motor & battery)? Go figure, they still manufacture & sell muzzle-loading firearms also.
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What's this Opinion, have to do with helping the racker, showing respect for the game & speeding up play?
 
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Standard practice when playing on drop pockets.
Most of the time when playing on drop pockets each player removes balls from three pockets.
I have seen matches in this tournament when the players let the ref retreive all of the balls.
 
Matched up, I always get the top four, while the racker gets the bottom two.
Opponent grabs the rack and I proceed over to my chair, retrieve my break cue and think about my last break shot.
The racker also, assumes the position and remembers why he's in this spot and not breaking.
This is How the game is truly played/one on one.
Ask Strickland, when he came to Paramount billiards on Long Beach Blvd in the late seventies with Monroe Brock/and a big Black man.
He left after 4 sets race to 11 and wanted no more.
 
DynoDan said:
I don’t know about GCs, etc., but the orig. ball return system on my 30 yr. old Diamond feeds the box from the sides, so a simple center divider could easily be rigged.
Sorry, but I can’t imagine what advantage there might be to fishing balls out of a pocket (?). Unless maybe, you have limited mobility, or need to repeatedly practice the same shot with the same object ball, at pockets other than the foot corners (someone with eightball ‘buck fever’, who usually misses a game-ending cross-side bank shot, could thus save themselves a lot of walking).
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Drop pockets are much better for doing drills. The ball return is never closer than any of the pockets, it's only closer than all of the pockets. You can keep balls close by in a pocket and pull them out as needed. I like to do a drill where I go back and forth shooting balls on the head and foot spots into the corner pockets, playing the cue ball where it stops. I just reach in to the pocket and place another ball there, it's usually on my way to the next shot.

For one pocket it would be nice to have to corner pockets each with their own storage, like the shelves above the ball box on a GC. They are close enough that the return track would could have enough slope without descending all the way down to the ball box.
 
I suspect they go with conventional pockets to keep the sound down and slightly lower cost.
 
Bob Jewett said:
I think I heard that it was for the noise reduction.
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I seem to remember that as well. They thing I don't understand is why they don't have bridge/rake holders on the sides of the tables and instead let them flop on the floor....strange.

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When there's a ref racking the balls which was the case in every match at the US Open, the ref should empty the pockets. Yes, it might add five minutes to a match, but in what sport are the players the ones setting up the equipment for play when there are officials? I think it makes our sport look less professional when players empty the pockets after a rack.
 
Stu, I find it annoying seeing a ref, having to walk around table to each pocket, then roll em to the table foot, sometimes digging 4 balls out of one hole.
It still takes about 40 seconds + before each rack is collected then broke with the breaker helping, like we all do in mainstream home play.
That extra time, to me adds nothing helpful to the production.
 
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