diff --git a/table.go b/table.go
index 57286a6..ebf3caf 100644
--- a/table.go
+++ b/table.go
@@ -12,9 +12,16 @@ static int get_table_length(lua_State *L, int index) {
 */
 import "C"
 import (
-	"fmt"
+	"strconv"
+	"sync"
 )
 
+var tablePool = sync.Pool{
+	New: func() interface{} {
+		return make(map[string]interface{})
+	},
+}
+
 // TableValue represents any value that can be stored in a Lua table
 type TableValue interface {
 	~string | ~float64 | ~bool | ~int | ~map[string]interface{} | ~[]float64 | ~[]interface{}
@@ -22,22 +29,41 @@ type TableValue interface {
 
 func (s *State) GetTableLength(index int) int { return int(C.get_table_length(s.L, C.int(index))) }
 
+// getTableFromPool gets a map from the pool and ensures it's empty
+func getTableFromPool() map[string]interface{} {
+	table := tablePool.Get().(map[string]interface{})
+	// Clear any existing entries
+	for k := range table {
+		delete(table, k)
+	}
+	return table
+}
+
+// putTableToPool returns a map to the pool
+func putTableToPool(table map[string]interface{}) {
+	tablePool.Put(table)
+}
+
 // PushTable pushes a Go map onto the Lua stack as a table
 func (s *State) PushTable(table map[string]interface{}) error {
-	s.NewTable()
+	s.CreateTable(0, len(table))
 	for k, v := range table {
 		if err := s.PushValue(v); err != nil {
 			return err
 		}
 		s.SetField(-2, k)
 	}
+	// If this is a pooled table, return it
+	if _, hasEmptyKey := table[""]; len(table) == 1 && hasEmptyKey {
+		putTableToPool(table)
+	}
 	return nil
 }
 
 // ToTable converts a Lua table to a Go map
 func (s *State) ToTable(index int) (map[string]interface{}, error) {
 	absIdx := s.absIndex(index)
-	table := make(map[string]interface{})
+	table := getTableFromPool()
 
 	// Check if it's an array-like table
 	length := s.GetTableLength(absIdx)
@@ -59,7 +85,10 @@ func (s *State) ToTable(index int) (map[string]interface{}, error) {
 		}
 
 		if isArray {
-			return map[string]interface{}{"": array}, nil
+			putTableToPool(table) // Return unused table to pool
+			result := getTableFromPool()
+			result[""] = array
+			return result, nil
 		}
 	}
 
@@ -71,12 +100,13 @@ func (s *State) ToTable(index int) (map[string]interface{}, error) {
 		if valueType == C.LUA_TSTRING {
 			key = s.ToString(-2)
 		} else if valueType == C.LUA_TNUMBER {
-			key = fmt.Sprintf("%g", s.ToNumber(-2))
+			key = strconv.FormatFloat(s.ToNumber(-2), 'g', -1, 64)
 		}
 
 		value, err := s.ToValue(-1)
 		if err != nil {
 			s.Pop(1)
+			putTableToPool(table) // Return table to pool on error
 			return nil, err
 		}
 
@@ -108,3 +138,7 @@ func (s *State) SetTable(index int) {
 func (s *State) GetTable(index int) {
 	C.lua_gettable(s.L, C.int(index))
 }
+
+func (s *State) CreateTable(narr, nrec int) {
+	C.lua_createtable(s.L, C.int(narr), C.int(nrec))
+}