I am thinking of buying a pool table of 7 foot, i have read that you must leave around 5 foot either side ....

Question

however i have a long room and i will not have five foot either side . i know some shots maybe quite difficult in the space as the cue will have to be held high but what space would you suggest to be the absoloute minimum

Answer 1

I have included a room chart that shows the required dimensions. Note that the dimensions used are not quite as large as if you had assumed the table was actually 3.5'x7' and used exactly 5' instead of 58" on all sides.

I think you could get away with about 12' across, but not much less than that. Just make sure you buy a short cue for those rail shots. But honestly, I've seen some tables crammed in tight spaces. Playing without enough space sucks, but it's better than nothing. My parents had a table when I was growing up that was in a room "almost" big enough for a pool table. Smacking the cue on the wall and into things sucked, but I think not having a table at all would've been a lot worse.

Whomever gave me a thumbs down is an idiot.

Answer 2

The rule of thumb for space around a pool table is a minimum of 4' on each side. That is even cutting it close if you have a ball on the rail and you have to stroke it butt up against a wall. With 48" of space between the table and the wall and given that a pool cue is 54" long, there isn't much room there for a decent stroke so it forces you to jack your cue up in the air.

Answer 3

5 ft but maybe 3-4 ft would be ok tho

good luck

Answer 4

a standard cue is 58" long (4.8') You are going to want that distance on at least 3 of the sides (the "kitchen" aka the end you will break from, and the two long rails) even that and holding the  cue up does not leave you with much space to draw the cue back for a shot on the rail. A short cue could make up for the last end but it would be a shame to have to use a short cue for the majority of the game. Far too many of your shots are going to be played from the "sides" and being cramped is going to ruin the fun and experience of the game.