I have been plying pool for a little over a year now. I play in APA league 8 ball and 9 ball. I like the games but i like straight pool more. My skill level makes it hard for me to enjoy playing as 14.1 is much more challenging.
My high run is 10-12 balls. My shotmaking ability is not the greatest. I have watched several DVDs and play often. I think 14.1 will make me a stronger player in the other games, any advice as to proceed? My weaknessess are many, concentration, staying down on shots, letting the cue ball loose too often. this is my 1st post so i'm new
One of the great things about straight pool as a learning tool is that, after a while, if you're paying attention, you will begin to see patterns emerge.
Now, I'm not talking about the patterns everyone usually talks about when discussing 14.1. I'm talking about the patterns in your own individual play. Given several multi-hour practice sessions you should see that you are missing the same shots, in the same way. Often a bit more difficult to see, but there nonetheless, are patterns that will also emerge that reveal problems in your positional play. Ferinstance, at a very basic level, the straight back draw shot, often through traffic (other balls), is a bread and butter 14.1 shot. What novices should quickly see and learn is how important it is to draw the ball absolutely straight back. A little to the right or left is not acceptable. And so, if you see this in your play, you should be stopping and working on that. But here's the thing: it's not a matter so much of setting a shot like that up and shooting it over and over again until it comes out the way you want -- it's much more a matter of setting the shot up and figuring out why it's going sideways. Here's where you can really make some progress: ironing out what in your stroke, alignment, head position, grip, bridge, footwork, is causing you to shoot the shot wrong.
And so, through these patterns, 14.1 can be instrumental in teaching you what to work on, if you're willing to listen. Here's something I wrote on this a few years back:
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> My 2 cents:
>
> I think the answer is to try and look at these misses in a totally different
> light -- after all, they're whispering something to you. When you miss an
> easy one, don't get all pissy about the fact that you missed, instead:
> "listen" closely.
>
> That "something" you might hear is the game telling you that you don't know the
> shot as well as you thought you did, and/or, that you have a flaw in your
> mechanics that has just manifested itself. Unless it's just one of those
> days when I'm pounding everything into the rail (and I don't play 3C) I like
> to look at these misses as signposts the game has laid out for me as I
> putter along, trying to figure out my way to the top of the mountain. In
> other words, these misses are the game's way of quietly telling me what I
> need to work on so that eventually, I'll have the tools and skills to make
> it further up the peak.
>
> When you blow a hanger, try and remember it. Not only the shot setup, but
> what position you were trying to play and whether you over-cut or undercut
> the shot. It's also worth remembering where the cue ball ended up and
> whether or not "you got there." Afterwards, set the shot up and practice it.
> Usually, what I've found when I miss an easy one, is that the position play
> I was trying to achieve had something to do with the miss. Maybe I was
> unsure how the cue ball would react, or I was uncomfortable shooting the
> shot at that particular speed, or the cue ball may have been in a spot that
> required making a bridge that I don't use frequently. Or it could be
> something else. Over time I've corrected several fundamental flaws in my
> game, all because of: missing the easy ones.
>
> I guess I like to consider the misses the game's way of helping me... you
> just have to quiet down long enough to hear the advice, instead of howling
> at the sky
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Lou Figueroa
