Pocket size for beginners

[jrc750]

What's going on here, every post seems to be mis quoting posts ???

[markz]

What's going on here, every post seems to be mis quoting posts ???

Good spot, not noticed that. Must be a bug.

[barrywhite]

[QUOTE=markz;866017]

Cheers Leo, I'll try get registered. My first post, as a newbie is it sensible to open the trebles up a bit lol.

Diamond wires; players hit 180s all the time. Much harder back in the day with less target area due to round wires and bounce outs....................

[Phil C]

I'm an administrator on thedartsforum, tell me your usernames and I'll get you all activated.

Its a very, very active board. Constant new threads and new people!

[Phil C]

[QUOTE=Shockerz;865965]

Got an uncle that is in his 60's and played darts since at school. He's played county and super league etc etc and still plays in the league now.

When I think I have a few cues it pales in insignificance; he has over 600 sets of darts.

Darts is very similar to snooker in it's discipline, we used to play for hours and hours, still love both. A little bit easier to get a maximum at darts though, nine darter takes some effort though!

Is he called Mike by any chance?

[Leo]

I'm an administrator on thedartsforum, tell me your usernames and I'll get you all activated.

Its a very, very active board. Constant new threads and new people!

I've just joined Phil and it looks a fantastic forum.

[Shockerz]

Nah.

He's called Pete and plays at Bognor nowadays but used to play out of Hampshire back in the day (many years ago!).

[cueman]

I'm an administrator on thedartsforum, tell me your usernames and I'll get you all activated.

Its a very, very active board. Constant new threads and new people!

Are you? I've been a member on there a while but don't post that often, only read the site. I'm barneyarmy on there!

[Phil C]

I've just joined Phil and it looks a fantastic forum.

Are you? I've been a member on there a while but don't post that often, only read the site. I'm barneyarmy on there!

My username is the same as here.

Its a fantastic forum. Very informative and knowledgeable. It has a family friendly environment, no arguing or bickering. Anything like that is dealt with swiftly and fairly if necessary

See you on there :snooker:

[inevermissblue]

Shorter matches. Bigger bags. It's fundamentally changed the game for the worse in my view and why people care less for it.

Well said! Lessening the degree of difficulty of this game has contributed greatly, in bringing snooker to its knees. This thread is further proof of this type of lazy mentality at present.

I don't mind telling you that reading this has made me feel sick to my stomach!

[barrywhite]

Well said! Lessening the degree of difficulty of this game has contributed greatly, in bringing snooker to its knees. This thread is further proof of this type of lazy mentality at present.

I don't mind telling you that reading this has made me feel sick to my stomach!

I can't completely agree with you and tetricky on this one. We know WS are cutting the pockets at 3.5'', Geoff Large has verified it. This is fine by me. I can't play the Trump shot down the rail on my billiards table at 3.25'' with a brushed, blocked and ironed 6811 Tournament cloth, even if I hit it plumb, the pockets won't take her. This is not a trite point. These sort of shots have made the game more entertaining and watching Robbo, Trump, Ronnie, Smurf play them is great. More open pockets have contributed (along with better technique) to the rise in centuries and maxis each season, shorter frames and matches (which punters appreciate because they've got to drive on the motorway home for ages). I'm not sure when WPBSA cut the pockets to 3.5'' but I'm guessing it was in the 80s because that's when Higgins flagged it up and he was brutally honest. Do we want to go back to the snooker we had before then?

The other thing is that snooker is not on its knees. In this country yes, but on a European and World level, snooker is thriving. We've got more tournaments and prize money is increasing again. We've got some European and Asian amateurs living in the UK and attempting Q school each year. The successful like Ding, Fu and Wenbo settle here and pay tax! Snooker is internationally competitive now, this is progress. Change can be a mixed bag; I like to focus on the good aspects. ;-)

[inevermissblue]

If you think that the pros play on big pockets then you are mad. Star tables have no undercut and play the same pretty much as the aristocrat. It just makes me feel sick when people try to dumb down the pro game. Then try to say that its a true reflection that pockets are as tight or tighter in their local club. Just rubbish! Unless you play at the club in Longton near me, where this is the case.
Our resident pro still makes high tons on the table. Which is tighter than any table I've ever seen! I'm not saying that pros aren't forced to play on 'manipulated' conditions, but the tour is definitely a stringent setup.

People need to just accept that the game is difficult. This is something that's been made difficult to do, with all these table fitters going around slicing rubber. There should just be a tournament cut pocket opening...job done.

[throtts]

There should just be a tournament cut pocket opening...job done.

Yep one 3.25" template for every tom , dick and harry. Learn on them or lump it..

[itsnoteasy]

I have never played on a proper match table except the one in the corn exchange, while the pockets were tight ( definitely smaller than 3.5 but by how much I don't know)even they didn't seem the same as on the TV from the TV ,the pockets are cut completely different to our club pockets, they may be the same across the fall 3.5 ( or not I dont know) but that's where the similarity ends, ours are far more generous they seem more rounded and not cut as square, I think this definitely gathers those balls in.If I lived closer I would love a few frames on your table Inevermiss, wouldn't pot much but it would be nice to try. I can't believe anyone within a couple of hours hasn't had a go ,just out of curiosity.
I watched Scott Donaldson practicing when up at the Locarno club, it's not until you see them that you realise just how good these boys are, out of this world, I was mesmerised just watching him, you just don't realise how far ahead of us mere mortals they are, it's not the potting as such, it's the cue action, the timing ,the ease of everything, even their way around the table it's all just right.:snooker:

[barrywhite]

Yep one 3.25" template for every tom , dick and harry. Learn on them or lump it..

The WS tournament cut is 3.5''. Why should we go back to 3.25''? Potting on a table with 3.25'' pockets and a slowish cloth is a nightmare. It would be easier with a fast cloth but why use the very old billiards cut? To compare yourself to the greats, you need to be using similar equipment. 3.5'' pockets on a Star are a fact of life. I think that SWSA cutting some tables at 3.25'' and others for the pros at 3.5'' are the ones at fault. All pockets should be 147 TV size, and that's 3.5''. I can't compare what I do on a slowish 3.25'' pocket table to anything on TV. 147 players haven't made a ton on my billiards table, so would my breaks be bigger on a proper snooker table. Yes, they are. All these old tables need recutting to the WS template so we can move with the pros and play the Trump shots. Snooker is more fun that way. It doesn't make the game easier, it brings in to play shots that are really hard but now possible, such as Judd's roster.

INMTB: Please read comment 84, from Geoff Large, Riley's trained fitter. He states that the pockets are cut to 3.5'' on TV tables. That's a quarter inch bigger than I practiced on today and the same size as another table I play on. a 1/4'' is a big difference on a table as you know. But I've changed my opinion along the way. Let's have 3.5'' and some fun.

For those who don't believe World Snooker pockets are big: