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New Pool Table Advice

5/30/2010 6:45:17 AM

New Pool Table Advice

I have a friend who has a 9' pool table that he doesn't use and he's offered it to me. The room I have to put it in is 17' long, which and gives me 5+ feet of clearance on the long sides but only 4' on the ends. I'm hoping you guys can help me figure out the best way to do this.

Options as I see them:

  1. Get some shorter cues. From testing, it feels like an extra 6" of space would make a standard 57" cue work ok, probably even for shots from the rail. I see that you can buy 52" or 48" cues. How much of a difference will that make? That is, are there decent quality 52" cues? Or will it feel like I'm playing with one of those 36" crap sticks? Also, I don't have a good feel for how many shots it will affect. That is, balls 6"+ off the rails would probably work ok with a full sized cue. That said, I don't really want to have to change cues for every shot.
  2. Try to trade the 9' table for an 8' table. That gets me an extra 6" on each end, which feels like it would work ok with a full sized cue on almost every shot.

I don't know how easy / practical trading tables would be. I don't know the brand/model of this table offhand, but my understanding is that it's a reasonably nice table. It's effectively never been played on and has always been covered, so it should be in great shape.

Suggestions? Advice? If only the room was a foot or two longer.

New Pool Table Advice

Replies & Comments
  1. hyzerfoolquickshot on 5/30/2010 7:52:47 AM

    Here are the stats for tables spaces: 7 ft table....14 X 17.4, 8ft table.....14.4 X 18, 9ft table...14.10 X 19. These are the minimum comfortabe space allotments for regulation cues. You should be able to figure out what lenght cues you will need for any short sides your table may present. Don't try to figure out how many potential shots a short cue will be needed for. Just get a decent one for use when needed.

  2. hyzerfoolhyzerfool on 5/30/2010 8:07:34 AM

    And that's one of the things I'm hoping to get insight on, how much difference will playing with a short cue make? I've never done it, that I remember.

  3. hyzerfoolquickshot on 5/30/2010 8:20:17 AM

    Do not agonize over it. You will not be playing with it. You will only use it for an occasional shot and after you use it a few times you will be use to it. Or better still, if it comes down to needing a short cue, play with it on the short side of the table for a few shots and you will soon find out how it feels. Do not create a mental problem where none exist.

  4. hyzerfoolLDY1190 on 5/30/2010 11:45:10 AM

    YOU HAVE PLENTY OF ROOM TO HAVE FUN. I ASSUME THAT YOU WILL NOT BE PLAYING FOR BIG MONEY ON THIS TABLE. I F YOU DO.... THE SHORT SHOTS WILL BE WHEN YOU LEAVE THE CUE BALL ON THE RAIL AND SHOOTING STRAIGHT ACROSS THE TABLE. PRACTICE LEAVING THE CUE BALL IN THE CENTER OF THE TABLE LIKE YOU SHOULD BE ANYWAYS. IF YOU DO PLAY FOR MONEY.....REMEMBER A GOOD 'SAFE' WOULD BE ON THE RAIL. ALSO,,,,,, I WOULD CUT THE BUTT OFF A DECENT 'HOUSE CUE' (WITH A GOOD TIP) FOR YOUR SHORT CUE. HAVE FUN WITH YOUR TABLE AND CENTER IT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE ROOM.

  5. hyzerfoolMitch Alsup on 5/31/2010 2:03:15 PM

    I have an 8 foot table in a 17'6" foot room with a corner obstruction. So, I also have a 52" cue for the long end shots (see alter). At first this bothered me, but it was as big a table as I could fit in the room I have available. The guy at the company that sold me the table gave me a short cue to use for this predicament.

    After playing with this for a year, I have the following advice:

    1. it is easier to make a rule allowing the CB at the end rails to be moved forward (to the first diamond) than to go and get the short cue. This adequately deals with 95%+ of the trouble provoking situations. A further rule that says if you still can't make that shot after moving the CB away from the rail by about 1 diamond, then you can't shoot that shot and must shoot something else--covers the next 4%. Pool was not meant to be fair, so I don't bother defining what to do with the last 1%.
    2. Shooting with a short cue that has adequate weight and balance is "no biggie" just don't try to perform feats of magic with english, or spin as the cue is not what you are used to. Just shoot the shot, hope for the best, and go on with life.
    3. the corner obstruction proved to be a bigger impediment. For this I slowly (slowly) learned to shoot and go for position such that this corner almost never comes into play. To a certain extent you do the same with positions near the end rails and over time, you use less and less of the 'special' rules above.
  6. hyzerfoolhyzerfool on 5/31/2010 5:38:45 PM

    Thanks for the advice, guys, I appreciate it.

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New Pool Table Advice

  • Title: New Pool Table Advice
  • Author:
  • Published: 5/30/2010 6:45:17 AM