billiardshot said:

why not just play Korean 4 Balls, that combined all! If it was Good for Sang Lee. It should be play more in USA.

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Korean 4 ball is just a version straight rail with an extra ball that is “poison” (opponents ball). Navigating around it or removing it is the goal. The free game always has unmovable static baulk zones in the corners, and in balkline the entire table has baulk zones.

Developing the skill of walking a line is valuable and applicable to Korean 4 ball, but removing the poison ball once infrequently isn’t applicable to the other games.

tailuge said:

Yes, this has been a hobby project of mine for years. The physics is slowly improving, but its mainly down the many free maths mechanics research papers published - I reference them here https://github.com/tailuge/billiards#cushion-bounce . Its a free open source project, what it really needs now is more players - hope to see you there someday for a game.

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Great work and thank you for open sourcing it. It’s the only public billiard physics software library I’m aware of.

Competition is hard to simulate in solo practice.
In practice I simulate Competition by playing one hand against the other. Teaching the second hand can be humorous at first. Makes the practice fun.
With my Left hand starting out at helpless it was my goal to at least build a solid foundation and developing a consistent stroke. Lefty requirements leaned to minimal moving parts in the beginning. .Solving the problems the other hand was encountering also helped me solidify my Right handed play.
Try it, you might like it. Besides it's solo practice so no need to tell anyone. Plus the funny shots can be very educational. I recall Efren speaking of watching novice players and noting the strange and unusual results. Then going to his practice table and perfecting the Goofy shots that provided good results.

Bert van Manen said:

Great to see that the classic disciplines simply refuse to die. There's no money to be made, international tournaments are scarce, but the game simply has a reason to exist because it's basic, brilliant and beautiful. I have no idea about your current average in the free game, so forgive me if I'm telling you things you already know. When learning how to play the free game, it's important to know that there are three types of shots in that game, I call it the 1,2,100 principle. 1. A shot is so difficult, you'd be happy to make it, period. Don't make it harder than it already is. 2. A shot is makeable and there is potential for position. You try to play it in such a way that you will at least have this point, and the next one. 100. You have the balls nicely gathered, maybe even in the Americain position. You are thinking "production". Whether that's a run of 12 or a run of 199, that's depending on how far advanced you are. If you are a beginner, always decide if you're playing a 1 or a 2!

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Good comments!

The way Gretillat puts it, is that you are always playing either a positioning shot or a gather shot. I’ve noticed myself that I can further divide that into whether I have the luxury of hitting a desired part of the object ball or just trying to make any contact with the object ball at all.

I already have pretty good rail control from practicing one cushion, even though I never played it properly. My knowledge gap is in the American and small lines (just keeping a line going). This is a lot of fun to practice because it is so hard to not mess up, and I am learning the exact amount of draw, spin, angle and energy to get the object ball banked back into the barrage. I can use the cue ball as an energy absorber, which is a bit scary but I am surprised to learn how it works. I think I can make a lot of progress this year.

If I can walk the pair of balls around the corner lines that would be huge!

My piques are also getting better and better and now I don’t know how to get back in line without them, and what a disadvantage it is for anyone who doesn’t know this skill (like me 6 months ago)

Skills built playing straight pool transfer to 8 ball nicely.
I recall watching Ray Martin playing in the Reno 9 ball pro event. His choices of paths to gain shape shouted Straight Pool. Choosing short distance with precision cueball over going around the table for 3 rail shape. He could do the around the table for shape, but just tended to keep the cueball movement to a minimum. Precision angles to keep each shot basic. Not flashy but efficient.

Bump!

Bump!

Morra works diligently at his game. Pure class too. Be nice to see him able to play more big events and take a few down.

I wonder if John's dad Mario (710 FR) would be a good match against him?