Learning From Your Mistakes

[Guapo]

I've been playing seriously for a little under a year now. Mistakes are inevitable. I believe that one of the differences between the average bangers and players that get better are learning from your mistakes and consequently, not repeating them over and over.

Sorry if there's a similar thread to this but a quick search I did didn't yield any.

I thought it'd be a good idea if the more experienced players can chime in with some quick tid-bits that us newer cats can pick up and better our game.

For example, last Sunday I was at a local bar and this guy was shooting a hanger on the 8. The way people play at that bar is you challenge the winner. There's only one table in this little spot.

So this guy shoots the 8, trying to draw the CB but ends up scratching the CB in the same pocket after making the 8. Game over for him. Get your butt back in-line.

I learned this one long ago. If it's hanging, there's no way I'm going to risk a scratch by hitting it full. I hit it soft with a half-ball hit or atleast enough angle for the CB to hil a rail after. There's no way the CB is going to follow it.

Another example would be when I accidentally scratch in the 8-ball after shooting at one of my object balls. Last time I did this was a while back. I was down to my last 2 or 3 balls and my opponent still had about 5 or 6 of his left on the table. I was a little mad at myself for losing when I seemed to have a good chance of winning.

Ever since then, I'm much more mindful of my CB path afterwards and more importantly, taking note of where the 8-ball is on the table before I shoot. I don't risk it if there's any chance of getting the 8-ball moving towards a pocket.

I'd love to hear any "golden nuggets" any of the more experienced guys would be willing to share.

 

[woody_968]

Good post. One reason I feel a lot of people dont learn from their mistakes is they are not willing to take resposability. As an example they will shoot a ball in the corner and play two rail shape which scratches in the corner. Their reply is often they got a bad roll. It wasnt a bad roll the cueball went where they stroke they put on the ball sent it. Instead they should be thinking how can I hit that shot differently so I dont do it again. So my advise is to understand there is no such thing as a bad roll when you are at the table, dont ever allow yourself to think that way.

You example of the 8 hanging in the pocket is a good one. But one thing that I will mention is that you say you hit the shot softly. Keep in mind that many bar tables dont roll straight, so if the table rolls off you could still follow it in. I would advise using a kill shot instead. This way the cueball has less of a chance of rolling off but you can still play the shot the way you describe.

Of course if someone doesnt have confidence in hitting a stop shot with a ball hanging in the pocket I will tell them they should really learn what makes the cueball stop and learn how to play the shot from everywhere on the table. The stop shot is the single most important shot in pool for understanding position play.

Woody

 

[PhilosopherKing]

Until you develop correct and repeatable fundamentals, I think it's hard to do much about execution errors.

As for decision making, I think you really need to take the time to figure out everything(within reason) that can go wrong, what the table will look like for you or your opponent if things do go wrong, and what you can do to mitigate the consequences of a mistake.

For example, you may ask yourself:

Is it better to under-cut or over-cut this shot?

Is it better over-run or come up shot of ideal position here?

If I hit this shot too hard, does the cue ball scratch in a pocket?

Does an offensive or defensive shot give me a better chance of winning this game?

Which kick angle gives me the biggest ball?

If I go into balls, will I tie something up that I don't want to tie up?

Also, when you do make a mistake, I think it's important to identify exactly what went wrong and ask yourself if you shot the right shot.

 

[JoeyA]

One of the best ways you can learn from your mistakes is to remain completely still, before, during and after you complete the shot, moving only your forearm to shoot the shot. As you shoot the shot, you watch the cue ball hit the object ball and you watch where the cue ball goes.
Whitey's path or lack of path will tell you everything you need to know but you will not be paying attention to it if you jump up to see if you made the object ball.

That's all you get. I have to save some of these for the commentary booth. :wink:

Good luck,
JoeyA

 

[Luxury]

If you are missing shots often then however you believe you should be aiming is probably wrong on a lot of shots. Make a mental note of whether you undercut or overcut every single shot. Note that you were wrong on what you thought was the right aim and that you should have cut it more for example. Next time you shoot it, even if it looks right remember that you needed to cut it more. Don't be stubborn.

If you don't make a note of whether you hit too thick or too thin your brain won't make the necessary adjustments. So learn from every shot. Even the ones you make you need to note if you undercut it. For instance if it hits the rail but still goes in you need to make a note to cut it just a hair more when you get that angle again.

 

[Llama]

It has been said, but it is worth repeating.

Until you are able to deliver a repeatable stroke, there is no way to correct your inconsistancies. You must also remember what you did. How did I aim? What english did I use? What happened? What did I want to happen? How can I correct this? Really think about these things. This is just a short list of things that you may think about during and after the shot.

 

[decent dennis]

if you can't make the table better for yourself,play safe .don't just bump the balls,always try and know the outcome.

 

[Jimbojim]

The overcut/undercut aspect is very important because even if we make the ball there are times where the desired position could only have been obtained by cheating the pocket....but its not always something easy to see.

Off-Topic. Luxury! Who's that girl in your avatar? I don't know if its someone close and special to you but everytime I look at her, I lose focus from my work at the office....and since you post often...I might get fired!!! LOL :rotflmao1:

 

[beerpressure]

The overcut/undercut aspect is very important because even if we make the ball there are times where the desired position could only have been obtained by cheating the pocket....but its not always something easy to see.

Off-Topic. Luxury! Who's that girl in your avatar? I don't know if its someone close and special to you but everytime I look at her, I lose focus from my work at the office....and since you post often...I might get fired!!! LOL :rotflmao1:

christina model, do a search for that

 

[Guapo]

Good post. One reason I feel a lot of people dont learn from their mistakes is they are not willing to take resposability. As an example they will shoot a ball in the corner and play two rail shape which scratches in the corner. Their reply is often they got a bad roll. It wasnt a bad roll the cueball went where they stroke they put on the ball sent it. Instead they should be thinking how can I hit that shot differently so I dont do it again. So my advise is to understand there is no such thing as a bad roll when you are at the table, dont ever allow yourself to think that way.

You example of the 8 hanging in the pocket is a good one. But one thing that I will mention is that you say you hit the shot softly. Keep in mind that many bar tables dont roll straight, so if the table rolls off you could still follow it in. I would advise using a kill shot instead. This way the cueball has less of a chance of rolling off but you can still play the shot the way you describe.

Of course if someone doesnt have confidence in hitting a stop shot with a ball hanging in the pocket I will tell them they should really learn what makes the cueball stop and learn how to play the shot from everywhere on the table. The stop shot is the single most important shot in pool for understanding position play.

Woody

Great advice! It's too easy to blame other aspects rather than blame yourself. That's the easy way out and won't lead to any improvement.

What I meant by soft was not hard enough so that it'll come off of the rail and scratch in a corner or side.

I know that the best way to avoid that is to really get good at the stop shot. I just haven't gotten it down yet. Sometimes when I try to draw from long distances the cue-ball just dies.

I need to do more drills and work on my stroke. My aim is good but my CB control still needs work. I can't draw as often as I'd like.

Until you develop correct and repeatable fundamentals, I think it's hard to do much about execution errors.

As for decision making, I think you really need to take the time to figure out everything(within reason) that can go wrong, what the table will look like for you or your opponent if things do go wrong, and what you can do to mitigate the consequences of a mistake.

For example, you may ask yourself:

Is it better to under-cut or over-cut this shot?

Is it better over-run or come up shot of ideal position here?

If I hit this shot too hard, does the cue ball scratch in a pocket?

Does an offensive or defensive shot give me a better chance of winning this game?

Which kick angle gives me the biggest ball?

If I go into balls, will I tie something up that I don't want to tie up?

Also, when you do make a mistake, I think it's important to identify exactly what went wrong and ask yourself if you shot the right shot.

Great questions to ask! I've just recently started implementing the under/over cut question. Sure, ideally I'd like to make every cut-shot, but just incase I miss, which would give me better position next time. One usually leaves the OB close to a rail.

As far as tying up balls, this is something I've learned from watching weekly tourneys at a paisa (mexican) bar. These guys slow-roll everything. They hardly disturb any other balls unless they're trying to break up a cluster. It's a big difference compared to bangers that will tie stuff up on everyshot unintentionally.

Thanks again for the great advice.

One of the best ways you can learn from your mistakes is to remain completely still, before, during and after you complete the shot, moving only your forearm to shoot the shot. As you shoot the shot, you watch the cue ball hit the object ball and you watch where the cue ball goes.
Whitey's path or lack of path will tell you everything you need to know but you will not be paying attention to it if you jump up to see if you made the object ball.

That's all you get. I have to save some of these for the commentary booth. :wink:

Good luck,
JoeyA

This is a good piece of advice that can be implemented on every shot. It's also very useful as I'm trying to work on my position-play alot more now that my aim is getting good.

Luxury, your advice hit close to home because on some nights long-cut shots will be way off to where it'll hit the head rail and then kick into the OB. I'll definitely incorporate your advice to adjust my aim.

Llama, decent dennis, Jimbojim, thanks for the great advice also. I didn't want to quote every single reply and make this reply longer than it already is. I'll be sure to re-read this thread before heading out to play next time. I really enjoyed the reflective questions that I need to be asking myself before and after every shot.

Keep them coming fellas!