Well, let's do this again, I had it all typed out, was closing out the tabs to the links, and closed out the wrong tab and lost it all.
You said you are serious about the game. So I will take you at your word and give you the truth. No sugarcoating, just what I observed. Take from it what you will. If you really want to get better, it is going to take honestly looking at the truth, and a lot of hard work on your part.
A number of people have said that you looked pretty good. I strongly disagree. What you are doing now will hold you back to mediocrity. You might be able to get to a low B level, but that is about it.
You say you can't afford lessons. I understand that. Personal lessons are by far the best way to go, but not always feasible. However, you can cut back for a couple of weeks on some things and afford Mark Wilsons book.
http://playgreatpool.com/InstructionBook.aspx Where I will point out some of the more obvious flaws you have, it takes a book to go over each one. He wrote that book. There isn't room here to go over it all. You can also go to Dr. Dave's website. He has tons of free info there, and has DVD's available also.
http://billiards.colostate.edu/ Or Bob Jewett's articles.
http://www.sfbilliards.com/articles/BD_articles.html
Pool is all about precision. What you are doing is about generalities, and that is the result you will get with what you are doing. It's a 1mm game. Every thing has to be very precise.
Here's a list of some of the things you are doing wrong, in my opinion.
-You approach the table a little different each time, yet are shooting the same shot.
-Your only goal seems to be to pocket the ball, and if you do, then that equates to success for you. Very far from the truth.
-Your warmup strokes have no set pattern to them. You look like you are sawing wood, not precisely lining up the tip to an exact spot on the cb and a precise line to the ob.
-Your alignment is off causing you to steer the cue.
-You start out different distances from the cb.
-You have no set eye pattern.
-Your only goal is to pocket the ball, not control the cb. And that is all you observe after the shot.(cb was all over the place after the same shot each time)
-Sometimes your elbow drops too soon.
-Looks like you are tightening your grip as you come forward on the final stroke.
-You aren't hitting the cb where you think you are.
-If the shots truly were straight in, you aren't hitting them straight. Most shots, the cb went to the right afterwards.
-You are raising up during your final stroke each time.
-You aren't being precise about any of it.
-There is no pause in your stroke.
-There doesn't seem to be any real plan on just what you want to have happen other than just make the ball.
Now, that may seem like a lot to you. It is, and the bad news is that I didn't list everything. I also didn't list the things you did right. Essentially, that was this- you made the ball.
If just making open balls is your only goal, you will do fine on shorter shots. If you actually want a real game, you will have to learn to become much more precise. You will need a very solid PSR (pre shot routine), and learn to become very precise with where you hit the cb. Without doing so, your position play will suffer greatly. It's a 1mm game. To play at the upper levels, requires great precision. The things I listed above will greatly hinder that precision if not make that precision impossible.
Pool played correctly is a very hard game made to look very easy. It's all about the fundamentals. The sooner you work hard on those, the sooner you will advance. Good luck in your journey. And, don't take what I have listed as a "downer", but instead look at it as places to improve. How much you improve is up to you.
