Who uses/ knows of a portable pool table FOR TRAINING ONLY with folding legs?

K2Kraze

K2Kraze

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Here's the problem recently posed to me by a friend and fellow pool player that doesn't have the room for a pool table, and his game suffers of course since he can only play on a few bad tables an hour away at the place he plays in a league....once a week....or at other friends' homes, and he is wondering IF he get his hands on (or builds) a portable TRAINING TABLE with folding legs of some sort that is not only full size but has the important things he needs - like K55 or K66 rail cushion rubber, correct rail nose height, the same Championship cloth and pocket openings to correct specs, etc, will that allow him to practice his fundamentals of cue ball control and ball pocketing skills adequately? Or be a complete waste of time?

Not slate for the bed of course. What other good alternatives are there?

He's thinking that if he can easily set up the table in either his cramped garage or small spare room at his home and simply put it away when the wife and kids are needing the space, it is surely a whole lot better than having nothing to practice on.

Anyone using a solution or strategy similar to this with good results?

Our conversation naturally turned to the things he would be have to accept with a light weight folding table (cutting corners if you will) in order to get practice time such as perfectly level vs close to level; playing surface not within any remotely close tolerances; and a few others. What he thinks he WILL gain is perfecting his PSR, stance, aiming, angles and lines that will help him work on his ball pocketing skills, banks, and cue ball speed, etc. All this by allowing him to put his portable training table up near a small bedroom wall or in any other space he can allocate without stealing space from his family and small home.

Is it worth it? What is he gaining vs losing?

Will using a "training table" lead to any other problems that he would have to correct on the tables he plays on for league? Getting used to table speed and table conditions is always a warm up / practice play session necessity he does before league play now, so that shouldn't change.

So ---- constructive ideas, anyone?

Yeah, yeah - I know. Tell him if it's that important to just move - find a different place to live - change his circumstances to meet his wants or else give up and change his wants entirely and accept reality - drive more often like so-and-so does that you know - go to someone else's place more often to play or get more friends with tables. Yep - those he's already tackled. No good answers. So I thought I'd post the challenge to the forum and see what's out there for options and brainstorming. When optimism and desire come together, you never know what can happen 😁

Thanks, everyone.
 
I would think finding the space in the garage for a Valley bar box would be better.
...he can jam it into a corner and use one end and one side..
...or get those four wheeled stands that fit under the table and wheel it into the middle
when he takes the car out.

A non-slate shaky folding table might hurt his game....a light table is always slow.
....and you can probably get a bar table for cheaper off the Web
 
I would rather play virtual pool over a particle board pool table. I would want to shoot softer in order to not break the pockets, so playing three rail shape or moving the cue ball around much would be difficult.

Reminds me of some of the regulars at the local center. Some have been playing for many years, but still do not attempt to play much position. Make the ball and see what you have next is easy on the pockets. They are happy though, and many are playing the same version of 8 ball over 30 hours per week.
 
I think what sparked this idea of his was seeing a 7' folding-leg rental pool table that weighs right at 300 pounds. Not shaky and actually quite sturdy while the rails played pretty true. Not for sale of course.


LIVFST
 
What is your friend's skill level? I think for a D level player, any table is better than no table. For an A level player, it may hurt his game (not develop finesse) playing on a crappy barbox if he's going to be competing on 9' footers.
 
An outdoor table maybe?
Saw one on cl last year I'm still kicking myself for not getting it and I live in Michigan.

The table you describe that plays good sounds like quite the engineering thing.

What about a couple winches rated to 1k-2k w steel synthetic line(way safer if it breaks) on pulleys. I don't know building code so don't know how much to reinforce the garage to do it but it could be done. I would put in extra safe lines for when its up. Be operable from a doorway.

Could be an expensive venture.
 
I think this would be of no use to better his game and actually prob would hurt it. The valley in garage is 100x better IMHO.
 
I agree with most of what the others have said. Better than nothing for a beginner, worse than nothing for an advanced player. Probably be good for aiming, mechanics and general angles. But nearly all aspect of position play would corrupt his game on the makeshift table. Small barbox on wheels is probably the way to go if it can be moved....which could also double as some kind of productive work table if you have a good cover made.

Since I'm an engineer, I feel obligated to think about this more lol....which I will. I wonder if something with UHMW substituting for slate could give anything worthwhile...hmm. Might expand and contract too much in temperature change, and it's expensive. But it'd sure be lighter than slate and play better than wood I'm guessing.
 
DJ14.1 said:
Since I'm an engineer, I feel obligated to think about this more lol....which I will. I wonder if something with UHMW substituting for slate could give anything worthwhile...hmm. Might expand and contract too much in temperature change, and it's expensive. But it'd sure be lighter than slate and play better than wood I'm guessing.
Click to expand...

The trouble with any substitute is the lack of weight....the rails will not react like a slate
table's do....and even rolling the ball, you have to hit it harder.
...the rubber needs to be attached to something solid, otherwise the whole table gives up on a bank

Raymond Ceuelemans said that if you add a quarter inch to a slate, it will play a full
length faster.

Had a friend who was a billiard mechanic, I would help him when visiting....
....we installed a honeycomb slate and a one-inch plywood slate table....neither would
lag three lengths.
 
K2Kraze said:
Here's the problem recently posed to me by a friend and fellow pool player that doesn't have the room for a pool table, and his game suffers of course since he can only play on a few bad tables an hour away at the place he plays in a league....once a week....or at other friends' homes, and he is wondering IF he get his hands on (or builds) a portable TRAINING TABLE with folding legs of some sort that is not only full size but has the important things he needs - like K55 or K66 rail cushion rubber, correct rail nose height, the same Championship cloth and pocket openings to correct specs, etc, will that allow him to practice his fundamentals of cue ball control and ball pocketing skills adequately? Or be a complete waste of time?

Not slate for the bed of course. What other good alternatives are there?

He's thinking that if he can easily set up the table in either his cramped garage or small spare room at his home and simply put it away when the wife and kids are needing the space, it is surely a whole lot better than having nothing to practice on.

Anyone using a solution or strategy similar to this with good results?

Our conversation naturally turned to the things he would be have to accept with a light weight folding table (cutting corners if you will) in order to get practice time such as perfectly level vs close to level; playing surface not within any remotely close tolerances; and a few others. What he thinks he WILL gain is perfecting his PSR, stance, aiming, angles and lines that will help him work on his ball pocketing skills, banks, and cue ball speed, etc. All this by allowing him to put his portable training table up near a small bedroom wall or in any other space he can allocate without stealing space from his family and small home.

Is it worth it? What is he gaining vs losing?

Will using a "training table" lead to any other problems that he would have to correct on the tables he plays on for league? Getting used to table speed and table conditions is always a warm up / practice play session necessity he does before league play now, so that shouldn't change.

So ---- constructive ideas, anyone?

Yeah, yeah - I know. Tell him if it's that important to just move - find a different place to live - change his circumstances to meet his wants or else give up and change his wants entirely and accept reality - drive more often like so-and-so does that you know - go to someone else's place more often to play or get more friends with tables. Yep - those he's already tackled. No good answers. So I thought I'd post the challenge to the forum and see what's out there for options and brainstorming. When optimism and desire come together, you never know what can happen 😁

Thanks, everyone.
Click to expand...

Couple things: Sean Brown of Cueaddicts made a table for trying cues that had one pocket. It was about two feet wide and about six feet long. Something like that would be good for stroke training, pocketing and tactile feedback.

I have dreamed of making a coffee table sized table with everything to scale and the physics dead perfect, i.e. a miniature table that plays exactly like a real table. I think such a table would be perfect to train on and also even to do demonstrations on.

My suggestion for your friend is to get a valley table or even a diamond bar box and a special cart to tip it onto. Diamond has carts where the table can be tipped on it and easily moved. As has probably been noted - tables with folding legs are surely going to be too lightweight to give much in the way of the real pool experience. I am sure that it might be possible to modify such a table to be good for some practice aspects but I don't think that in the end it would be a satisfying solution.

Maybe modify a Valley barbox so that wheels can be attached to it and it then folds sideways and do the legs with some kind of quick release?
 
Still thinking a whole valley table that can drop down by hoist. Would still have room to pull in a vehicle when in its up position.

Got a jeep and a hoist system for the hardtop. My hardtop only weighs about 140# though. But I only use two kayak hoists.

The real problem w constant movement of a table is it needs to be leveled pretty much every time, similar to a piano needs tuned if you do any movement that stresses the frame.
 
I did what you are talking about. I had a pool hall give me used simonis when they redid the tables. Bought some cheap home style rails from here on AZ, that had the cushions and cloth already installed. Had a folding table with a plastic laminate top that was maybe 2' wide and 5' long. It only had one corner pocket set up (only bought 2 rails). I had it against a wall in my spare bedroom.

Basically, it was a waste of time. I almost never used it. You could play so few shots it was just worthless. I thought I'd just use it for long straight in shots, but I hated it so much, I didn't even use it for that.

If I had to do that all again, with no space for a proper setup, I'd get the cheapest table I could find on Craigslist, and jam it into a corner. I think a whole table in a corner, would be way better than a 2' x 5' practice surface.

Note, I since moved out of that location, and have a regular setup in my current location. I play on it all the time. I can't imagine not having a home table anymore:)
 
strmanglr scott said:
Still thinking a whole valley table that can drop down by hoist. Would still have room to pull in a vehicle when in its up position.

Got a jeep and a hoist system for the hardtop. My hardtop only weighs about 140# though. But I only use two kayak hoists.

The real problem w constant movement of a table is it needs to be leveled pretty much every time, similar to a piano needs tuned if you do any movement that stresses the frame.
Click to expand...

That's a great idea. I think that you could avoid the leveling issue by creating a solid enough base for the table to sit on. That way it could hoisted without any stress transferring to the table.
 
JB Cases said:
I have dreamed of making a coffee table sized table with everything to scale and the physics dead perfect, i.e. a miniature table that plays exactly like a real table. I think such a table would be perfect to train on and also even to do demonstrations on.
Click to expand...

I really like this idea for a couple reasons. First, I love the idea of a table that size w real full size physics. Second, given the previous, a player could learn pattern play and roll.

Problem is there is no real stroke happening. In that instance a computer game may be a better solution for learning vs a mini table. It would come down to somewhat which had better physics. The computer game would probably teach cue placement better.

All that being said, I would buy one in a heartbeat! lol
 
ctyhntr said:
What is your friend's skill level? I think for a D level player, any table is better than no table. For an A level player, it may hurt his game (not develop finesse) playing on a crappy barbox if he's going to be competing on 9' footers.
Click to expand...


His skill level is currently a C. And stays there for the most part simply due to lack of pocketing practice, drills, routine, aiming Etc - all the things those of us with tables have the luxury to develop on an accessible table. So we're trying to see what reasonable solutions there are.


LIVFST
 
K2Kraze said:
His skill level is currently a C. And stays there for the most part simply due to lack of pocketing practice, drills, routine, aiming Etc - all the things those of us with tables have the luxury to develop on an accessible table. So we're trying to see what reasonable solutions there are.


LIVFST
Click to expand...

Well, this is still my reasonable solution....
..I've seen Valley 7-footers go for between $500 and pick up for free.
..combine that with this table mover...
https://www.google.ca/url?sa=t&rct=...P__xG7cBVZQ44z1bg&sig2=DgWkE742TYscX0C7_mEQ5A
...$369.95....free shipping-lower 48 states

I think a cheaper solution would be money wasted
 
K2Kraze said:
Here's the problem recently posed to me by a friend and fellow pool player that doesn't have the room for a pool table, and his game suffers of course since he can only play on a few bad tables an hour away at the place he plays in a league....once a week....or at other friends' homes, and he is wondering IF he get his hands on (or builds) a portable TRAINING TABLE with folding legs of some sort that is not only full size but has the important things he needs - like K55 or K66 rail cushion rubber, correct rail nose height, the same Championship cloth and pocket openings to correct specs, etc, will that allow him to practice his fundamentals of cue ball control and ball pocketing skills adequately? Or be a complete waste of time?

Not slate for the bed of course. What other good alternatives are there?

He's thinking that if he can easily set up the table in either his cramped garage or small spare room at his home and simply put it away when the wife and kids are needing the space, it is surely a whole lot better than having nothing to practice on.

Anyone using a solution or strategy similar to this with good results?

Our conversation naturally turned to the things he would be have to accept with a light weight folding table (cutting corners if you will) in order to get practice time such as perfectly level vs close to level; playing surface not within any remotely close tolerances; and a few others. What he thinks he WILL gain is perfecting his PSR, stance, aiming, angles and lines that will help him work on his ball pocketing skills, banks, and cue ball speed, etc. All this by allowing him to put his portable training table up near a small bedroom wall or in any other space he can allocate without stealing space from his family and small home.

Is it worth it? What is he gaining vs losing?

Will using a "training table" lead to any other problems that he would have to correct on the tables he plays on for league? Getting used to table speed and table conditions is always a warm up / practice play session necessity he does before league play now, so that shouldn't change.

So ---- constructive ideas, anyone?

Yeah, yeah - I know. Tell him if it's that important to just move - find a different place to live - change his circumstances to meet his wants or else give up and change his wants entirely and accept reality - drive more often like so-and-so does that you know - go to someone else's place more often to play or get more friends with tables. Yep - those he's already tackled. No good answers. So I thought I'd post the challenge to the forum and see what's out there for options and brainstorming. When optimism and desire come together, you never know what can happen 😁

Thanks, everyone.
Click to expand...

Here is a misnomer about having you own table. It has to fit perfectly. A very popular posting on here is people showing pictures of dream home rooms they have built. These are nice and can be very discouraging for the guy who doesn't have a place like that to put a table.

Any table you have access to that you can hit balls on will be good. It doesn't have to be a perfect fit.. I won't use his name but one of the top straight pool players in the country when he was a teen had a 9 foot table in a room over his garage.

You could only actually play on two sides of it because the room was too small. It didn't matter to him, I would see the lights on in that room all hours of the night as he practiced becoming a super player.
 
macguy said:
Here is a misnomer about having you own table. It has to fit perfectly. A very popular posting on here is people showing pictures of dream home rooms they have built. These are nice and can be very discouraging for the guy who doesn't have a place like that to put a table.

Any table you have access to that you can hit balls on will be good. It doesn't have to be a perfect fit.. I won't use his name but one of the top straight pool players in the country when he was a teen had a 9 foot table in a room over his garage.

You could only actually play on two sides of it because the room was too small. It didn't matter to him, I would see the lights on in that room all hours of the night as he practiced becoming a super player.
Click to expand...

Young Hoppe?
 
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