Pool Tables

By John Gibb

Bars and recreation venues in rural or urban areas offer to their visitors the excitement and the sportsmanship of a famous table-played game, called pool or billiard. On the billiards table’s totally flat surface, pool game fans strike, with the use of a specially designed long wooden stick known as “cue stick,” colorful balls moving them around the table’s area. Pool games attract a variety of publics from around the world, who enjoy the exhilaration of calculating angles and estimating how many strikes it will take them to accomplish their winning goal.

Pool tables are mainly separated into two categories, called carom and pocket tables. In fact, the word “billiards” when standing alone refers to the carom games played on a table without pockets, as opposed to games played on pocket billiards which people recognize as “pools” or also known as “snooker” tables. In Britain and Ireland though, the word “billiards” denotes the “English billiard” exclusively, which is the version of the table with the ball pockets. The difference between the two types is that carom billiards tables do not have six openings –four at each table corner and two at the middle of each of the table’s largest sides– in which the pool player is called to direct the colorful balls on the surface of the table by striking each one of them, or more than one at a time, with a white ball. The white ball acts as the “mediator” between the cue stick’s point and the round surface of the colored ball the striker aims to hit. If the striker manages to hit the white ball with the right speed and from the right angle then it will in turn hit the colored one which will be directed to fall into one of the tables’ holes. Pool table fans generally refer to pocket billiard games, such as 8-ball, 9-ball, straight pool and one-pocket.

Found in many sizes and styles, billiards or pools are tables in a rectangular shape and are generally twice as long as they are wide. When someone refers to the number of a pool table’s foots this actually denotes its longer sides’ length. Mainly a function of space, the pool table’s length varies. English billiard tables, for example, are 12 feet long, while bars typically offer 7-foot tables. Pool halls tend to have 9-foot tables for more professional players, whereas the once commonly found 10-foot tables are now considered collectible items. Finally, the “felt” or “baize” is the cloth that covers the pool table’s exposed surface and he higher its quality the faster the balls run on its completely flat surface.

While the word “billiard” has presumably originated from the French word “billart,” which means “mace”–an implement that was the predecessor of the modern cue–the game did not remain constricted in Europe. Evolving from an outdoor to an indoor game, billiard became known as “pool,” which originates from “poolrooms” where people gambled off their money betting on horse races. Since billiard tables were commonly found in this type of venue, pools became a synonym of billiards and gained fanatic supporters in every continent.

John Gibb is the owner of pool table resources
, For more information on pool tables check out http://www.pool-tables-resources2k.info

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By Reg Hardy

Casual billiards players often voice the opinion they are doing something wrong because playing once a week hasn't gotten them a consistently good game.

Yes, they get spurts of gold, a few 3-4-5 ball runs, and yes they somehow get into position for a second shot, but they aren't advancing on their own personal "King-of-the-Hill" the way they would like and seriously are expecting.

Too many of us get locked into the routine of working a 40--hour week and stopping by the old 8-Spot for a night out with the boys which includes about 4 hours of pool. The nights we lose, we tend to slough off as well at least I got in some good practice. Nope.

Chances are you were playing on a coin op bar box with a group of five-six players so your table time was actually less than half the time you were at the 8-Spot. Then take into account the number of games you sit out because you lost.

Your summary of the night: I find the lack of table time and the lack of just practicing affects my game to where my stroke is not consistent and my position player is off. Am I expecting too much of myself without really getting down and practicing? I think that I should be able to play and remember things that I have achieved before, am I wrong? Oh, if only it were that easy, we'd all be slotted for the IPT million dollar tournaments.

When you move from the billiards practice table to the real thing, you need to keep a couple of things in mind. In your practice session you are in learning mode. When you head to the poolroom for a game, league play, or a tournament, your mode must shift to one of competition.

Practice is really nothing more than a systematic form of training coupled with repetition. Bear in mind that your practice not only enables you to become a better player, but you can't help but become a better person. Consistent practice should be a growth issue. You are constantly stretching your performance to constantly heighten your ability.

During your practice sessions, pay close attention to yourself. You must know who you are training and what you are trying to learn. You need to find your weaknesses and maximize your strengths. Practice is a very personal thing, depending on your lifestyle. If you are working 40 hours a day, maintaining a family and playing billiards matches 2-3 times a week, your practice time is most likely where the pinch will occur.

To be meaningful, you must make the most of every session you get. Whether you have the freedom to practice 3 hours a day, seven days a week, or whether you can barely squeak in 3 hours a week, it must be priority time. Your use of this time is your personal choice. You are working on eliminating your weaknesses so you need to develop a plan that will increase your strengths.

One more thing, make your practice effective by making it progressive. To maintain your interest in weekly practice, it must be challenging. Each drill you adopt needs to grow harder as you improve. When you can consistently run 4-5 balls, up the ante to 10. When you are very effective at half-table cut shots, move on to 3/4 table spot shots. Only as your drills grow in difficulty, will you begin to master the easy ones.

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Reg Hardy writes mostly on billiards topics, primarily for
www.billiardscrossing.com Where Good Players Get Better.
His Billiards Crossing website features over 200 billiards resources.
A 7-day Trial Membership is $4.95
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