Becoming too Table/Equipment Sensitive

[bigbro6060]

Before last October, I used to play pool in a variety of pool halls, then i got my own table and whilst i do still play at pool halls, i do mainly play on my own table, 2-3 hours a day, everyday. I'm improved heaps playing on my own table, i break and run pretty often now, whereas before i couldn't. However when i do go and play at poolhalls now, i find i can't quite play upto the level i can on my own table. Here's how i see it using just arbitary levels

Last October when i just played in poolhalls i played at level 50

When i first got my own table, the first day, i still played at level 50

I now play on my own table at level 100

now when i go and play at poolhalls, i play at level 80

so yes i have definitely improved , even playing at poolhalls, the crux is this, my expectations have increased so much so that when i play at poolhalls, even though i play heaps better than i did before, because i don't play as well as i do at home, i get frustrated!

Even in say 6 months time when i can play at level 120 at home and 100 at poolhalls, i will still be frustrated even though i would have improved!

i definitely don't regret getting a table, i don't believe you can get really good without it. I mean i practice everyday at home, but if i didn't have a table, there is no way i would be bothered going to a poolhall to practice everyday, might only be 3 times a week. With my own table, i can come home, practice an hour, have dinner, relax, surf the net, then get another few hours practice in whilst watching tv ! plus i can do it all in my underwear ! (remember i'm in Australia, it gets to 40 C here). You can't goto a poolhall in your undies /ccboard/images/graemlins/blush.gif


anyone else play significantly better on their own table than ones at poolhalls ?

hell now i even take my own balls to poolhalls because i don't want to use their crappy ones !

[qSHAFT]

Hey BigBro,

Be very cautious of getting too used to your own equipment, chances are any matches of importance in your life won't be on it.

I used to play on a perfectly level table with clean balls and fast cloth. This made me develope a highly finesse oriented game with lots of gentle shots similar to straight pool (though I am talking about 8 ball). Totally different from what you need to play optimally on strange equipment.

Don't get me wrong, it is good to be able to play on the good stuff properly, but be better prepared for the poor equipment.

It takes extreme confidence in ones self to play well on dodgy equipment, and pace and position play change slightly. By shooting for "straighter" shots than normal you allow yourself to pot at pace (to kill the influence of table roll) and the white will kill its own speed cause of the fuller hit and allow for force stun position. Playing this kind of position will minimise rail hits which are sometimes tricky to judge on bad equip.

Ball throw is something else to consider getting used to, in my experience dirty ball sets outnumber clean ones 20-1, so you might be hurting your game by not playing with the dirty ones.

Cheers - qSHAFT

[snipershot]

I certainly play better on my home table then when I go out, I know my table like the back of my hand plus I'm comfortable with my surroundings playing at home. When you go out you might play on a table you've never been on and you might not be as familiar with the place your at, there's two completely different comfort levels which might be the reason why alot of people play better on their home tables.

Confidence might be a big factor too, playing at home is like having home court advantage. If you lose to your friends on your table you have to listen to them give you an earful for the next week on how they slayed you on your own table. There's also no way I would play in my undies, if I did that I would freeze my ass off /ccboard/images/graemlins/smirk.gif

[Wally_in_Cincy]

In "The Straight Pool Bible" Arthur Cranfield said while it's great to have your own table, you should play frequently on many different tables to allow yourself to adjust to adverse or changing conditions.

Wally~~keeps forgetting not to slow-roll on bar tables /ccboard/images/graemlins/tongue.gif