I asked a lot of good players about shotmaking/firepower, and where it came from, and almost every player gave me a different answer. One said it was natural ability, one said it was practice, another said it perception of the angles, someone said it was rhythm, and someone else said it was the stroke.
This has been a contention of mine for a long time; shotmaking/firepower comes from the same place in pool as it does from anything else:
Talent + Knowledge + Practice = Better
I taught this girl one time that is legally blind without her glasses, literally tripped up the stairs to the pool room sometimes, was fairly “bird brained” and had ADD to the point that it was unbelievable. After 2 ½ years of lessons I decided that I had done about all I could for her. I taught this kid that was a junior tennis champion before he tore his rotator cuff 10 too many times and so never was able to go professional, he took 2 lessons a week from me and practiced every day, he went through my entire program in a little under 6 months.
So there isn’t anything you can do about #1; you have the intelligence, eyes, ears, bones, eye-hand coordination, legs, arms etc.. etc.. that you have and that’s that.
I'm a good well-rounded player
I wish I were, I suck
I feel that my shotmaking may be one of the things that holds me back the most from breaking into the next level.
It is not you it’s every player that has ever lived, the only difference is if they know it or not.
…. What do I need to do to improve my pocketing ability? ....
You can start by becoming a student of
your game and not just
the game as Fran said stance is a really good place to start; video yourself, you will be surprised at what you will be able to see all on your own as far as stance, stroke, PSR, idiosyncrasies, shot choice and much more, learn aiming systems and give them the time and attention they deserve.
People hate to make major changes their general approach they have to the game, they are comfortable with “the way they do it”. They would much rather “keep what they have” and just make improvements to “what they already do and what they already know” Keep an open mind to anything that may help you. If it turns out that aiming systems aren’t for you that’s fine but try all that are available to you before you make that determination. I know 10 different aiming systems and don’t use any of them anymore but the way I aim balls is my own conglomeration of the base knowledge of them all. If you are a “good well rounded player” as you say then you already know how important focus & concentration are but I still suggest reading the Dave Sapolis articles until you have all but memorized them.
Pool is like anything else the better you get the harder it becomes to get to the next level; but “trying” to get to the next level rarely does anything but get you frustrated and that leads to negativity and that is always bad.
My suggestion for getting to the next level is focusing on your mechanics as deeply as you can, might sound simple but this works for most people.
I can practice tough shots over and over, and it helps, but if I stop doing it, I can feel my shot making falling back. Any suggestions would be great.
Going a practicing that shot that you missed 100x is soothing and good for you; so is just setting up the same “tough shot” over and over again, as Bruce Lee said “I fear a man that has practiced 1 kick 10,000x more than I fear the man that has practiced 10,000 kicks 1x; but it is not a substitute for structured practice; drills are a big key to the game. And I have a standard answer to those who say “I hate drills” and when someone says that my answer is “what do you want to play for?”, good luck and please give us a repost on your progress, I would like to hear back from you in 3-6 months.
