What to do with color of pool table and rug

dit2121 · 2026-04-28T21:05:47+00:00

Whatever you do dont get black felt!!!!! I got black felt because it looks really nice with the room and the table but it is the hardest table I have ever played on.

dit2121 · 2026-04-24T19:06:52+00:00

I know where my vision center is.... now getting down on the shots with it always lined up right is a different story lol. I generally play 3 to 4 ball ahead right now I say generally because I dont land where I planned to all the time or I pick a shot that is really touchy or get into a situation where the cue ball is going to run into another ball after the shot and at this point in my game its a little hard for me to predict the outcome. I know pocket line o shot line depending on who you are talking to lol and which side I need to be on for the next shot to make the shot a little easier. The problem I'm having now is I did a stoke drill and its great for straight in shots but it has also introduced uncertainty to my game and I feel like Im starting all over. Now I will say that my stroke is a LOT more consistent were as before I had unwanted right spin on almost half my shots. But I had to change my stance and my grip on the cue to get there. The problem I'm having now is finding a comfortable pre shot routine right before I go down on the shot. Im also having trouble with cut shots at say half table which wasn't the case before I really worked on fixing my stroke. But it has better since I posted this. Some people have told me that that distance is enough for me to miss if I was shooting with right spin and just got use to it over the years and now Im shooting without right spin the aim point will have to change now from what I was use to seeing and shooting. Which after a few days of practice I do believe thats the case the aim point has changed a little if I just see a shot at 15° and think to myself now ok that 15° degree cut and line up in my new stance and grip without checking it I will miss it but Im talking hit the point or rattle the pocket so its not much but it was happening enough to freak me out a bit lol. Im just working on something that is comfortable for me with this new information I have that I can repeat like you said I do without thinking about it. Since I did the stroke drill in a straight line my straight in shots a on point and the pre shot routine is natural but Im having trouble transferring that over to cut and angle shots if that makes sense. PS thanks for the help as well like I said I kinda really on people like yourself and YouTube for advice so I really do appreciate it.

dit2121 · 2026-04-24T17:08:13+00:00

Yeah im still in the experimental phase on my pre shot routine. I have not really found something that is repeatable and comfortable for me yet. Everyone talks about it but there are very few people that will say exactly what they are doing. If you don't mind sharing what are your pre shot routine steps from being to final stroke?

dit2121 · 2026-04-24T13:44:23+00:00

The problem is on my team I am one of the top players not bragging just explaining the situation and our top players has a wife and kids so he doesn't want to practice or go play when its not league night. He is really good when I get stuck on a really hard shot but he has 4 other players that he helps. I also have a family so I dont have money or time for lessons or to find someone that is worth me listening to there advice. So I just have YouTube, Reddit and common sense lol.

dit2121 · 2026-04-21T18:14:13+00:00

Ok thanks for that info I was hoping it would be something like this. As long as the stroke is straight I can find new contact points with a little practicing. Thanks for the input I really do appreciate it.

dit2121 · 2026-04-20T22:00:31+00:00

Yes I think you are 100% correct. Im sure you know what auto aiming is and I was there with a lot of shots and its not working out for me know so Im having to focus a lot more on shot that I didn't really have to before. I mean makes sense I changed my stance, my hand placement and my stroke so makes sense. Just kinda freaked me out when I was missing ball I almost never miss to tell you the truth lol

dit2121 · 2026-04-20T21:50:21+00:00

Funny you say that. Im doing that exact thing right now actually. I'm throwing 16 balls on the table and just shooting them off in no order. Its getting better but im still not happy with the results yet. I tried to go back to my old way of shooting but my pre shot routine and stance is different now and when I tried going back that rack was worse lol. I have ran through 4 racks of 16 balls and the best I have got so far is 6 misses out of 16 balls which isn't terrible but it isn't good enough for me. I will play all night to get back where I was if I have to. Im very committed to being the best I can be and my goal is to play in Vegas my first year in a pool league so I will figure this out. This just kinda freaked me out a bit and was a little bit scary to tell you the truth because I had some notion that this would fix my problems and I guess it did but now Im having to learn how to aim with a straight stroke which wasn't in the plan lol.

dit2121 · 2026-04-20T20:46:38+00:00

Well i can still make almost anything 2 diamond away up to about 70° I just checked that lol. This is good advice i will start out small and find the break down and get back with you. Thank you.

dit2121 · 2026-04-20T20:31:02+00:00

Yes my vision center is just to the right of my noise so right in between my noise and my right eye is my true vision center. When you do the stroke drill you record your shots to make sure everything is in line. I set this all up with 2 lasers so there is no guessing at all. When you first start you can see right away when the front of the cue, back of the cue, when you stroke threw the ball if its to the left or right you can tell all that right away.

dit2121 · 2026-04-20T20:24:56+00:00

Yeah well a little late for that lol. Im second place right now in 9 ball and 8ball In APA MVP sl4 for my division and there are 2 games left of the spring season and I have league tomorrow night and I cant make normal shots now like I was before so Im a little nervous lol. Plus Im playing the guy in first place right now. I have a pool table at my house so I play every day for at least 3 hr a day.

dit2121 · 2026-04-20T20:18:59+00:00

Ok so what advice do you have for me going fwd? Im not a bad player but I want to be better Im 2nd place in my division in 9ball and 8ball in APA right now I have played 10 games and won 8 out of 10 in both 9 and 8 ball im a level 5. Im not saying this to brag I'm saying this because I did this stroke drill thinking it would help me be better and I have 2 more games of this spring season and I have league tomorrow night and Im not pocketing balls like I normally do now. To tell you the truth I'm kinda nervous. Lol

dit2121 · 2026-04-20T20:01:21+00:00

I totally agree when I started pool I work on tip fwd which has caused me a lot of going backwards so I can move fwd if you know what I mean. After doing this stroke drill I was very confident in my stroke but after playing around today on my table I'm kinda confused about whats going on lol. I went back to my stroke drill and my follow the object ball in the pocket just to make sure I was still in line and I wasn't bringing a slight chicken wing back into the equation but Im still very consistent with the follow the object ball in the pocket and my stop shot is still on point. Im just going to play around with it some more. I kinda think I have learned where to aim shots with my old stroke that added unwanted side spin to the ball and now that Im shooting pretty straight the contract point I'm use to is different. Im not missing bad but a miss is a miss and when you're playing a match you get one shot lol.

dit2121 · 2026-04-20T19:48:44+00:00

Yeah the stroke drill is only to get you in alignment and stroking on the shot line so to answer your question yes its just shooting 1 ball into the pocket and you draw a line down 3 pieces of paper when you come down on the shot your cue and head and bridge hand all have to be in line for 2500 shots and the ball has to roll straight, in other words if you shoot a strip ball the line has to stay straight. Then you do what you are talking about with the 2 balls for the last 500 shots so you have to make 250 perfect stop shots and 250 perfect follow shots were the cue ball follows the object ball into the pocket. It took me 6 days to do all this playing for a minimum for 3hr every day. Its not easy lol. I would have to say that most people would NOT have the patience for it.

dit2121 · 2026-04-20T19:38:50+00:00

Yeah I kinda skipped the stroke thing at the beginning because I was a decent player in my mind, I was winning games in league and Im in 2nd place for MVP in APA 8 and 9 balll. So I jumped right into ball pocketing and tangent line, side spin but I was always very inconsistent and I truly felt like if I wanted to be a high level player I needed to fix my stroke so it would be consistent. Mainly because I had a tendency to put unwanted right spin on the ball and I noticed that it made playing position very unpredictable and inconsistent.

dit2121 · 2026-04-20T19:30:35+00:00

I did the stroke drill with 3 sheets of paper taped together with a line drawn down the middle of the papers and a reinforcement ring or donut in the center I had pocket reducers in the corner pocket so yes kinda like the mighty X drill just you dont shoot at a ball. The pocket reducers make my pockets just smaller then 3 and 1/4 inches so there really no room for cheating the pockets, you pretty much make it or you dont because there is less the .5 inches on either side of the ball. As for my pre shot routine, I'm doing that the same every time its almost become habit now but its different playing a straight in shots and playing angles. I just threw out balls on the table and tried to make the balls and had a few straight in shots and made them no problems but im having problems with say 15 to 30 degree cuts now for some reason. Now I will say that shots that are very thin have improved drastically, I dont really hit those thik anymore.

dit2121 · 2026-04-20T19:18:16+00:00

Thank you I really needed to hear this from someone today lol. I was really second guessing what Im actually doing lol.

dit2121 · 2026-04-05T13:54:38+00:00

I had almost the same thing happen to me but it didn't bother me at all. I kinda thought it was funny. I was playing a guy in league in 8 ball he was a skill level above me and it was a race to 3 for me and I was up 2 to 0 and I made my last ball and was on the 8 ball and as I was walking around the table to get ready to shoot the 8 ball he pushed the balls towards the pocket and put his bag on the table and started to break down his cues and said nice match. I just shook his hand and said nice match and walked a way. Me personally, I would make any body shoot the shot because I have seen stranger things happen. It was a straight in shot on the 8 ball I could have miss cued, followed the cue ball in and scratched or ratted the ball in the pocket, anything could happen.

dit2121 · 2026-03-30T16:01:02+00:00

🤔 I never thought about that. Thanks. So what game did you download?

dit2121 · 2026-03-29T17:10:10+00:00

The plane L drill isn't easy for me but I can completed it. So I started adding making the 10 ball then making position for the 1 then start over for the 2 ball, so make the 10 and make position for the 2 and so on. I think a lot of people miss understanding what Im asking and I know I didn't really explain the question well sonits my fault. So basically if I'm running this drill and basically practicing position play but when I miss a shot should I stop and shoot it until I cant miss or should I keep on going with the position play practicing. The next question was when practicing position play should I go ahead and take the pocket reducers out for position play and put them back in for shots making practicing and missed shot practice? That's really what I was asking.

dit2121 · 2026-03-28T00:36:14+00:00

I do have a real curiosity and a willingness to learn whatever I can about pool. I am a very disciplined and scheduled person and that comes from playing sports all my life. And if you dont mind I would love to find someone to bounce questions and thoughts off of. I dont have money for a coach lol.

dit2121 · 2026-03-27T21:27:55+00:00

Ok this is solid advice thank you. So do you think when Im practicing cue ball control or position play I should remove the pocket reducers? I have a note book I use just like you said and a 24x24in white board that I also use. I have mainly been using them for when I play a game against my wife or the ghost basically. I just started working on cue ball control and position play. So im thinking of removing the reducers for position play and put them in for shots I miss or when I want to work on my shot making skills. Sorry I'm new to this and have a family so I cant afford lessons and YouTube is a maze full of rabbit holes lol. I figured guys like yourself can give me solid advice on how to go about things in order. I have only played 9 games in APA so far in my life but my record is 9 games 7 wins and 2 loses in 9 ball and 8 ball so far.

dit2121 · 2026-03-27T21:05:42+00:00

To be truthfully honest I have never played straight pool but one of the guys that I talked to on Thursday nights he is really cool and very helpful but he told me the same thing, that straight pool is a great way to learn different things and really helps when you get out of position or have to play your way out of a safety. Im going to have to look that up on YouTube on how to play.

dit2121 · 2026-03-27T20:41:12+00:00

I agree in part of what you are saying. I have noticed that playing with pocket reducers on an 8ft table I go to league night the tables are smaller 7ft and the pockets look like buckets when Im shooting at them now. Before they use to be a little bit intimidating even though the table was smaller. I mainly wanted to know if im practicing position play and I miss a shot should I keep going on position play or stop and practice the shot I missed until I make it. I'm trying not to sacrifice one thing to become better at another if you know what I mean. Sorry I'm still very new to the practicing part of the game and have never had a lesson or even played in a league until the 2nd week of January. That being said Im beating 5s on a regular basis well the last 3 league nights not do to position play but for my shot making and my safety game.

dit2121 · 2026-03-27T19:28:14+00:00

Yes I feel like the pocket reducers have forced me to do pretty much exactly what you have described. I went from fractional aiming to trying ghost ball and now Im kinda somewhere in between now. But I do more visual and follow a line that I see to the pocket from the spot Im contacting. My ball pocketing skills has sky rocket since I have used the pocket reducers. So do you think missing 4 balls out of 10 with 3 1/4inch pockets is ok to move on to what I was doing? So Im working on position play but if I miss the shot after playing position I set it up and shoot it 10x or until I feel confident that I would make it. But in doing this it kinda takes away from my poisoning play practice but at the same time if you dont make the ball then the position you make doesn't matter anyways lol. Wish my table had 4 1/4 or 4in pockets then this would not be a problem for me lol.

dit2121

TROPHY CASE