Will practicing on a small pocket table improve your game or not?

professor1967

professor1967

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I was just wondering how much will a players game improve if he or she is all ready agood b+ player an is started practicing there 9 ball an 10 ball game on small pocket table? The table specs are 9ft. brunswick , pocket specs: the corners 4 .1/8 th inches an the sides are 4.3/8s inches an he or she practices atleast 2 or more hours a day. Is there game going to improve when they go play on a big pocket 9ft table or stay the same? I know there is some good opinons out there in az land that come from instructors an great players that post on here.: What do u guys think?:wink:
 
well prof....my table is basically a GC 4 with 4-1/4" pockets. To me, the table feels normal, and keeps me honest. When I go out to the rooms to play I always feel like I'm playing on "easy bucket" tables. Even if I run into a tight Diamond, or wedged up tables, I just feel like I'm at home :)

I did have a GC 4 yeas ago that had sub 4" pockets....no good, and cut wrong. That table had my game in a shambles. Too tight can be a bad thing IMO.

G.
 
I play on tight tables often at Kolbys, one is 4 1/8 and the other is around 4 1/4, the loosest table I play on is 4 1/2. I do go out to other places and running out seems much simpler when your splitting pockets. :smile:
 
depends

I think it all depends on you. In my experience if, I start with some simple shots and work to the more difficult shots, the tight pocket table helps. Tight tables are a blessing as well as a curse sometimes, they'll either build your confidence or crush it. If you notice yourself getting frustrated goto another table and after you've built your confidence come back to the tight table.
 
Gerry said:
I did have a GC 4 yeas ago that had sub 4" pockets....no good, and cut wrong. That table had my game in a shambles. Too tight can be a bad thing IMO.

G.
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I had a friend here where I live who had 2 Gold Crown tables set up at his home with 4" pockets and i'd never played on a table that tight before. I found that playing on a table that tight made me worry more about missing medium hard shots than making the shot and getting position. I talked to him about it and he told me that the 4" pockets made you a better shot maker and that may be true if you are just trying to make hard shots, but for me it wrecked my game. I found that I was cinching the shots and not playing good position and I decided to quit going to play on those tables. Tables that are too tight aren't for me.........

James
 
I spent a year and a half playing on a shimmed brunswick with 3 7/8 inch pockets and the only thing i think it helped me on was keeping my concentration level up cause if you wernt 100% focused you would miss very easily hope this helps
 
I had a home table that when installed, I had them shim the pockets to about 4 1/4 inches and it did wonders for the consistency of my game. No matter what hall I played in, pocket size had no meaning as I was used to the pockets being tight. Unfortunately I had to move and the new home had no room for a table so it had to be sold.
I personally wouldn't have a table that did not have tight pockets. If you aren't contacting the rail before the ball drops, pocket size has little meaning IMOH.
 
keyser139 said:
I spent a year and a half playing on a shimmed brunswick with 3 7/8 inch pockets and the only thing i think it helped me on was keeping my concentration level up cause if you wernt 100% focused you would miss very easily hope this helps
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Think that is correct, and FOCUS is the name of the game.

Plus you can practice with these.
 
I disagree.

Hear me out before the flaming, but I think it is stupid to do this. Here is why, when there was a table in my hometown they had a table with really really tight pockets. Sound familiar?

But what happened was instead of making better shotmakers it made us more tentative on the table and we shot safeties instead of running out where we would have run out normally.

We also shot balls at "pocket speed" instead of using part of the pocket to get shape.

So at the end of the day, we learned how to play on THAT table, but not how to win and play on other tables.

JMO

Ken
 
Since I play on various tables of different size openings, I have learn two things.

1. If you always hit the center of the pocket, the pocket size doesn't matter.

2. The amount of pocket speed used depends on the angle of attack of the object ball into the pocket.

If I don't hit dead center on a shot, I consider it a miss. By always striving for dead center and hitting it, you can learn to cheat the pocket way better.

Also, by striving for dead center all the time, when a shot goes in , but not dead center, you know your were off somewhere.

One more thing, there is no device, no book, no gizmo that will improve your game. The one and only thing that will improve your game is YOU. Your drive, your desire, your motavation is what does it. If you are looking for something outside yourself for improvement, you are looking in the wrong place. Go look in a mirror, there is the answer.
 
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Ken_4fun said:
I disagree.

Hear me out before the flaming, but I think it is stupid to do this. Here is why, when there was a table in my hometown they had a table with really really tight pockets. Sound familiar?

But what happened was instead of making better shotmakers it made us more tentative on the table and we shot safeties instead of running out where we would have run out normally.

We also shot balls at "pocket speed" instead of using part of the pocket to get shape.

So at the end of the day, we learned how to play on THAT table, but not how to win and play on other tables.

JMO

Ken
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No Ken your completely correct, a pocket can be too tight. As you can't cheat it and gain or play proper position and pattern play. It can really effect the game of one pocket, as the tighter the pocket the less chance you have to dig a ball out of a hole.

Yes it can make you more focused on ball pocketing, but you have to remember guys no matter if the pocket is 10" wide or 2.5" wide you still shoot for the center of the pocket.

My friend is a good player, I told him last night that even tho he's running out on the bar box at the pool hall, that he is hitting the rail on almost every shot, but the table sucks the ball up. I said "you better start hitting the center of the pocket", as that kind of sloppy play isn't ever going to get you there on a good table.

No matter how big or small the CENTER of the pocket NEVER CHANGES!

Grey Ghost
 
I believe the thread asks about practicing on tight table, and not playing on them. Therefore I have to say that TIGHT is right in many ways, and tight pockets help you beome a more accurate shot maker. Players that are average shotmakers tend to shy away from tight tables because of the obvious, but for practice tight is good.



Now the next issue is how tight do you wanna go?
 
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The key word here is REASONABLY tight. I've played on tables so tight that it made the game a joke. I saw Linning take 3 innings to get out on this particular table with a fairly routine lay. If it's so tight that you can't hit em fairly firm down the rail, then it's a little too much and can actually change the way you might play the game. (afraid to draw the length of the table on a straight in rail shot)
Reasonably tight however will keep your accuracy skills sharp and make other tables somewhat easier.
dave
 
If you are Practicing shot making drills, tight pockets are great.

It would make more sense to Practice on a table that has about the same size pockets as the tables you would normally play on.

Too Tight-Not Right.............SPF=randyg
 
randyg said:
If you are Practicing shot making drills, tight pockets are great.

It would make more sense to Practice on a table that has about the same size pockets as the tables you would normally play on.

Too Tight-Not Right.............SPF=randyg
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try telling JA that , he uses 3 7/8 pockets
 
I find this an interesting post...

In 1989 I came over to Florida for the first time to play 9 Ball

I was a VERY strong player on the UK 8 Ball circuit,
Which as most of you will be aware is played on 7ft bar tables
With 2" balls and SUPER tight ROUNDED pockets!
And needs a very high degree of accuracy on all shots.

All my friends thought that I would rob everyone in the States because the pockets are HUGE!

LOL... Well I found that to be an education in different games.
Yes I could make balls from anywhere, with jawdropping accuracy..
but the different size cue ball and need to use spin more was a whole new ball game.

But thinking back the one way that playing on tight pockets held back my 9 Ball game
was that it took a long time to re-educate myself that I could CHEAT pockets.
Play it 2" down the rail and still make it instead of a thin cutting and having to do more with the cue ball.
 
I find this an interesting post...

In 1989 I came over to Florida for the first time to play 9 Ball

I was a VERY strong player on the UK 8 Ball circuit,
Which as most of you will be aware is played on 7ft bar tables
With 2" balls and SUPER tight ROUNDED pockets!
And needs a very high degree of accuracy on all shots.

All my friends thought that I would rob everyone in the States because the pockets are HUGE!

Well, I don't mind admitting that I found that to be an education in different games. LOL

Yes I could make balls from anywhere, with jaw dropping accuracy..
but the different size cue ball and need to use spin more was a whole new ball game.

But thinking back the one way that playing on tight pockets held back my 9 Ball game
was that it took a long time to re-educate myself that I could CHEAT the pockets.
Play it 2" down the rail and still make it instead of a thin cut giving me more to do with the cue ball.
I was actually making the game much harder for mysel, very frustrating!


So while I do think practice on a tight table will certainly enhance your potting ability..

Don't forget to practice shotmaking and runouts on the tables you will play most on..
Those are the tables you will play your tournaments and money games on!
 
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