And now a few words about Pool Tables
By Duane Giles

This table was developed and designed out of love for the game. After watching players in wheelchairs struggle to make shots that would have been easily made by a standing player, I could see that if certain physical obstacles were removed they would be able to compete with the non-handicapped players. A standard pool table prevents the wheelchair player from "facing up" to a shot, as their chairs and knees prevent them from getting close enough to make the shot properly. They usually endedup sitting sideways to try to make a straight-on shot, or using a bridge. The underneath edges of the standard table (aprons) are coarse and rough, and tear clothing and inflict injury to legs which have no feeling. I talked to as many pool players who were confined to wheechairs as I could find, to discover what problems with the standard table hindered them the most, and they expressed the desire to have the following things incorporated in the design of the table. A. clearance for legs and chairs B. smooth configuration (This is particularly important to prevent injury if the player has no feeling in his legs.) C. pockets that are soft and will fold. D. padded pedestal to protect feet and knees. E. standard-height table so they can play against non-handicapped players. Most wheelchair players prefer to play on the regulation 7-ft. table, but, we offer it in other sizes as well. We have found that on larger tables the playing field is beyond the reach of most players in wheelchairs, whil on small tables the playing field feels "cluttered". Using this information, we have designed our table to alleviate the problems that people in wheelchairs told us they encounter while playing on a standard pool table. Although the table is made to accomodate them, it is standard height and the playing surface is the same as any pool table so that it can be used by players not in wheelchairs as well. They have complete access under any edge of the table. The pockets are soft and moveable so they will fold out of the way upon contact. the underside of the table is smooth so that clothing will not hang up or tear when contact is made. The pedestal is padded to protect the players' knees and feet from injury. The base is low to give clearance to the wheelchair foot rest. The table is designed to be bolted to the floor with flush shells, although this may not be necessary. (People in wheelchairs often pull themselves around the table by the rails. Therefore, the rails are bolted to the table in such a way that they will not come loose.) It comes completely felted and assembled, just level and play. This table satisfies ADA requirements.

This picture illustrates how our table allows the player in a chair to get closer to his shot. Notice how the knee and a significant portion of the chair slide easily under the table. This simply cannot be done with a convential table. The guy in the background? That's Duane Giles, the designer of the Accessible Pool Table.

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