Tightening pockets

[tcollick]

Hi everyone...Could anyone please tell me if it is possible to tighten the pockets without replacing the cushions, and if so whether it is something I can do myself?
Also, if the cushions do need replacing to tighten the pockets, is that a job that can be done (without being a professional fitter). The problem is that I live in Japan and there are no fitters where I live, so I either have to do it myself or not do it atall. I would really like to do though because the pockets on my table are really on the generous side. But I don't want to mess up the table either! I saw a dvd for sale on table recovering that is giving me some hope that I could do it. Both the cloth and cushions are in good condition so if there is a way "to add" to the cushions near the pockets that would be the easiest solution for me. But i'm not sure if rubber can be joined together. Any advice on this would be really appreciated. Thanks.

[andy carson]

personally i would get a pro in to do it, if you do manage to cock it all up, it may cost you a small fortune in getting everything you messed up redone / replaced /repaired...

if however a pro came and did it and broke stuff and his fault.... then its out of his pocket not yours

[tcollick]

Thanks Andy but I'm not sure if there are any pros who can do it. There are some pool repair companies around for Brunswick tables because pool is quite popular but not sure if they would do a snooker table properly. They've probably never seen a snooker table before and would be frightened away by the size of it!

[Terry Davidson]

I don't know of any way to tighten the pockets without changing the rubber and then you would have wear lines on top of your cushions and also you might not have enough cloth on the rails to staple it down again.

Also, it's a big job as you would have to re-cloth all six cushions.

Besides which, my advice would be to leave your table generous as you will learn more quickly that way as you will pot better and be able to concentrate on your positional play more.

Terry

[tcollick]

Hi Terry..thanks...its been a while.
I actually said the same thing to a mate I was playing with today to defend my table (I've only just had it fitted)..that it might be good for our confidence if we are making loads of 40-50's rather than 20-30's . He didn't agree and felt that it would be easier to improve on a tough table because it made you to focus more and rewarded less, thus giving more incentive to work on improving...this would then make most other tables seem much easier. I guess there are two camps. Saying that hes not a coach.