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

[Jaden]

practicing on a small pocket table will improve your game on tight pocketed tables...

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:

PLaying on loose tables and tight tables requires different knowledge and different skill sets....

Playing on tight tables will increase your shot accuracy, just like playing position on smaller tables will increase your positional accuracy...

If you want to improve your shot making accuracy, play on a twelve foot snooker table. you won't make a single shot without good shot accuracy unless the ball is hanging in the pocket.

The problems that arise from playing on tight pockets are there also though.

You'll tend to shoot softer and stay away from the power strokes (which can be hard to learn if you don't practice stroking the harder power stroke shots).

You'll be aiming for tighter tolerances so you won't learn to play the pocket for position which will tend to minimize playing for pinpoint shape, you'll play more area shape.

My suggestion would be to find a happy medium if you're trying to determine what to do at home, or to play on as many different tables as you can while playing close attention to what you are playing on and choosing how you play on the equipment that you play on purposefully...

Jaden

 

[berniep]

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:

For rotation 9/10 ball I think a tight table will only enhance the need for better position (right side of ob). In this case tight is good but not tighter than 4 1/8".

For 14.1, practicing on pockets less than 4 1/2" will become frustrating due to difficulty of stringing racks together.

For one pocket, practising on pockets greater than 4 3/8" will make digging balls out of your opponent's pocket so difficult that it will take away from the true essence of the game.

Thanks.

Bernie Pettipiece.

 

[mantis99]

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 agree with this. It really makes you focus on making the shot perfectly, whereas wider pockets allow less concentration. My table is a good example. Whe I had it setup, I knew little about different pocket sizes, cloth, etc. They set the table up with 5" pockets. When I play, I definately notice times when I make a shot that I know woud have missed on a tighter table.

I don't really like the idea of a shimmed home table though. If the pockets are too tight. it stops your ability to make cuts in to the side pockets, and limits your ability to practice certain shots for position play such as cheating the pocket. I don't see any reason to have your table under
4.5". I have the pocket reducers that take my 5" pockets and knock them down to around 4". I practice with those in to improve my shot making and concentration, and take them out to play against people.

Also, if you have people over who are not very good and you have 4" pockets, they are going to become very frustrated very quickly.
I like 4.5" pockets with reducers in for practice.

 

[pt109]

pool is not snooker

if you play safe on a loose table you better park whitey on a dime
if you play safe on a snooker table,often a man-hole cover is close enough
Mosconi was a genius at pattern recognition,not robotic accuracy
if i had my druthers,4.75 with a clean fall would be world standard

lets keep pool fast and loose....IF YOU MISS YOU LOSE
The best player still wins,what more do you want?

 

[chicken ranch]

what size are the openings at the u.s. open,derby,wpc,etc.

 

[curly]

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

I feel the same way Ken. Tight pockets are good for 1-pkt but not for 9ball or 14.1. Buckets aren't good either. I heard Pat Flemming of Accu-Stats mention that the table they use in his "arena" has 2 sets of rails for that table..one set for 1pkt (to make the pockets tighter) and another for the other games. Do golfers change the size of their cups? I never heard of that but maybe they should...lol...
Curly

 

[Tom In Cincy]

IIRC all the major tournaments have 4 1/2 inch pockets.

We have 4 inch pockets in our tournament room. Hardly anyone ever complains.

 

["T"]

Is the concensus yes and no or yes or no?

I think it depends on what you need to work on. Aiming and stroke accuracy, okay. Confidence and cue ball control, maybe not so much.

 

[christyd]

Is that a slam or a compliment?

Its like saying your not as ugly as your sister....

LOL

Ken

It's both all rolled into one!...lol:wink:
Love u!!!!

 

[APA Gene]

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:

There are some tables I have played on that are so ridiculously tight that it is difficult to shoot balls and move the rock with any confidence. Seems like you are just cinching shots instead of playing position. I don't believe tables like that help your game. Rather, I feel they inhibit your growth as a player because you don't learn good patterns or position play. Nothing wrong with tight as long as balls shot down the middle with reasonable pace are accepted and not spit out. Tables that spit out balls that are shot down the rail just because it hits the facing of the end cushion (how else can the ball go in?) have no place in the game. IMHO : )

 

[Siz]

I'm used to playing on tight equipment and I feel that it's easier to adjust, going from a tight table to a loose table than the other way around.

Interesting. I find the opposite.

I find that adjusting to a tight table is relatively easy and immediate - I just devote more of my concentration to the pot and less to shape.

But I find going the other way round can be harder, even if superficially it 'feels' easy. When going from a tight table to a looser one, I know I can afford to concentrate more on my speed control etc. The problem is usually I don't - I just tend to get sloppy with the pot.

 

[willybang]

Guys from the uk always "think" they can play

Wow how did I miss this "cheap Shot"..

I didnt think my post was saying anything detrimental about the US game or players?
I was just explaining the different equipment makes for a different thought process on shot making.
Such a shame that you had to make a comment like that and drag the thread down.

My opinion on your opinion is this...

In the 80's, (85 I think Jim Rempe came to the UK to do some exhibitions, for a UK
brewery he played in different venues around the UK on the smaller UK tables.
He aquitted himself very well, played well on our tables and was a perfect gentleman.
I played him twice, and got to talk with him a lot. He won one match I won the other.

After the second match, I challenged him to race to 7 for £1000, to my surprise he declined.
I obviously asked him why not? and his reply was that as good as he was, he didnt think he
could overcome my knowledge of the different tables and rules without a lot more serious practice..

That came from a real Player with class, and if you dont mind I prefer to take his judgement of my ability than yours..


BTW I came over to the States in the early 1989 and 91-95, played the florida tour and all around Florida..
After a time of adjusting to the bigger equipt I relieved a lot of the florida "Road" players of their cash..
Im not here to boast or mention names, but I did pretty well for guy from the Uk who "thinks he can play"

 

[genomachino]

I like the tight pockets because it makes me get the eyes in the right position, stand right, focus hard, and think right.

If you play on a tight pocket table I feel you need to play alot because if you don't it will just chew you up. Tight is not for your once a week player.

Kind of like a race car driver that just drives once a week on a real tough track. He'll probably have alot of wrecks.

I get a variety of different table looks because I play in as many little weekly tournaments as possible and play as much as possible. Sometimes I match up on the tight pocket table and sometimes on the big pockets. They both have their advantages for improving your game.

I've played on some tables that the pockets are rediculously tight. Almost like a snooker table. I don't like practicing or playing on those. Exception though is when I'm gambling. Only if I feel the opponent will have more trouble pocketing the balls.

My best advice is make the pockets tough but not terrible tough. You don't want buckets either.

Have a great day geno.........

 

[AtLarge]

I sent Dennis Hatch the following message:

"Hello, Dennis. One of the threads on the Main Forum is about the pros and cons of practicing on a table with tight pockets. I was told that your home table is a Diamond with very tight pockets. It would be interesting to hear your thoughts on this subject. Here's the thread:

http://forums.azbilliards.com/showthread.php?t=165498​

Thanks in advance for any post you might make on this subject."​

 

[mullyman]

If I may chime in here.....no, practicing on tight tables isn't going to make you a better player. It will make you a better shotmaker. In my opinion, if you play good position it doesn't matter if those pockets are 3 inches or 10. I've always spent my practice sessions focusing on position play rather than wasting my time on pocketing balls. Now, don't take that as I never practice making shots that I have trouble with, but yeah, in my opinion position play is more important. If you play good position you won't have any hard shots.

As for myself, I have no interest in a table with tight pockets. If I had a home table it would be set up standard. I wouldn't shim anything or try to make it the tightest table on the planet so I can brag to everyone on how tight my table is. I stick mainly to straight pool. I like the option of being able to cheat a pocket if I get out of line and need to recover. I like the option of being able to use a rail before a pocket if I need to.

With all that said though, it doesn't bother me one bit to go into a place and get stuck playing on the shimmed table. I don't think it throws my game off.....if I'm playing 9-ball. 14.1 though, yeah, it probably irritates me.
MULLY
but then again, I'm awesome and never miss