Why Competing Changes Your Game Practice nights and casual frames with mates will only take you so far. The moment you sit down at a table with a scoreboard on the wall, a referee watching, and someone you’ve never played before on the other side, everything feels different. Your bridge hand shakes slightly. You rush…
What Is the English Pool Ranking System? English pool in the UK operates through a structured ranking system that allows amateur players to measure their progress, compete at the right level, and work toward national recognition. Unlike snooker’s professional tour, where ranking points come from prize money at televised events, the amateur English pool structure…
What Is English Pool and Why Do Leagues Matter? English pool is the game played on a 6ft or 7ft table with small, coloured balls, reds and yellows, and a white cue ball. It’s the version you’ll find on virtually every pub table in Britain, and it has a competitive structure that runs from local…
Two Games, Two Completely Different Setups Walk into a pub in Manchester and walk into a pool hall in Las Vegas, and you’ll find games that share a name but almost nothing else. English pool and American pool, most commonly played as eight-ball on both sides of the Atlantic, use different tables, different balls, different…
Why Cue Weight Actually Matters in English Pool Walk into any pool hall and you’ll find players with strong opinions on cue weight. Some swear by light cues, others won’t touch anything under 18oz. The truth is that cue weight has a direct, measurable effect on how the cue ball behaves after contact, how easily…
What the Numbers Actually Mean When someone says a pool table is “6ft” or “7ft,” they’re referring to the overall external cabinet length, not the playing surface. This catches a lot of buyers out. A 6ft table typically has a playing area of around 56 inches by 28 inches (approximately 142cm x 71cm), while a…
Why English Pool Potting Feels Different If you’ve come to English pool from snooker or American pool, the first thing that strikes you is how unforgiving the pockets feel. The balls are smaller, 2-inch (51mm) diameter compared to the 2.25-inch (57mm) balls used in American eight-ball or nine-ball, and the pockets on a standard English…
Why Solo Practice on the English Pool Table Is Different Practicing English pool alone is one of the most efficient ways to accelerate your game, but only if you’re working on the right things in the right way. The standard pub table, typically 6ft or 7ft, plays very differently from the 9ft American pool tables…
Why Positional Play Separates Good Players from Great Ones Potting a ball is one skill. Potting a ball and leaving the cue ball exactly where you need it for the next shot is another level entirely. In English pool, the difference between a player who scrapes together four or five balls before going snooker and…
Why Cue Action Is the Foundation of Everything Every shot in English pool, whether you’re playing a tight safety, screwing back across the table, or rolling in a gentle plant, lives or dies on your cue action. Potting ability, cue ball control, and consistency all trace back to the same thing: how cleanly and accurately…