School Trip To The Pool Hall

Pidge said:
My girlfriend is a school teacher, she teaches kids aged 10-11 and we were chatting about how she was getting on so far this term. She mentioned that she has to go through angles and physics with her class before the term is over so I said there's lots to learn about that kid of stuff when you play pool. She laughed and sort of shrugged it off as if I was bs'ing her. So I got to explaining a few things and she came up with the idea of a class outing to the pool hall and asked if I'd go through a few things with the class, show them how to play whilst making it fun for them to learn. At first I was a bit skeptical about it, I didn't want 20 kids running around the hall when guys were there playing so I asked the owner if he could let us in a couple of hours before they opened and he said sure.

So, this is the situation I've found my self in. I have absolutely no idea how to get 20 kids undivided attention for 2 hours so please, give me some suggestions on how to make it fun but at the same time touch on angles and physics slightly...remember, they're only 10-11 year olds so I don't want to confuse them with stuff from Dr Dave and Bob! Ha

Hopefully I can get a few of them to love the game, go home to their parents and nag them for a cue or a table and maybe, just maybe some of them may play the game the rest of their lives.
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Get their attention by setting up some un-missable trick shots, have a couple of them shoot one or two and then explain the elementary geometry behind them. End with the Railroad Shot.

Then tell them to stop being nits and bet up their lunch money :-)

Lou Figueroa
 
Lucky_Lew66 said:
yeah i am sure that would go over real good with their parents. Hey why not throw in a beer and a joint and ask them to play races to 3 for their lunch money....lol... and teach them math percentages by introducing them to the the local bookies....lol.... some things arent for kids, a pool hall would be one on my list. They could watch the old Donald Duck video and learn the banking angles and be good clean fun for a ten year old.
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Geez! ^^^^^ Wet blanket.

Have a great time Pidge. Maybe set up some hangers and let them calculate the cue ball path?
At least then they can pocket some for sure!
 
dontlitethat said:
I think they will need to learn the mechanics of holding and stroking a pool stick properly so that it contacts to cue ball straight/flat/level... If not your asking for some ripped pool table cloth.


Rob.M
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They couldn't be any worse the some of the adult drunks I run into occasionally. Lol. But seriously this is a good idea. Let them set up their own banks and atempt to do the math to make it. If they hit it in correct spot on rail, but hit it too hard and miss short, explain the math of why it come up short. Keep it simple....one rail banks off of the side rails.
Then move to one rail kicks off the short rails (a little tougher when you hit long rail to short). After some stroke instruction of course. Maybe you will see a few advanced students in the class and go to two rail banks. Got to keep it fun. It should be a classroom that doesn't feel like a classtoom.
 
Lucky_Lew66 said:
yeah i am sure that would go over real good with their parents. Hey why not throw in a beer and a joint and ask them to play races to 3 for their lunch money....lol... and teach them math percentages by introducing them to the the local bookies....lol.... some things arent for kids, a pool hall would be one on my list. They could watch the old Donald Duck video and learn the banking angles and be good clean fun for a ten year old.
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I guess he didnt have his glasses on. I seem to remember to OP saying they were opening facility early just for them. There will be no unsavory elements to ruin a 10 year old. I have to agree with previous poster.....wet blanket.
 
Lucky_Lew66 said:
yeah i am sure that would go over real good with their parents. Hey why not throw in a beer and a joint and ask them to play races to 3 for their lunch money....lol... and teach them math percentages by introducing them to the the local bookies....lol.... some things arent for kids, a pool hall would be one on my list. They could watch the old Donald Duck video and learn the banking angles and be good clean fun for a ten year old.
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wtf?

Could you explain your reasoning here, please?

Jeff Livingston
 
Cheers for all the ideas guys, 2 hours doesn't seem long enough now!

One thing that I didn't think about was they're little kids...some will struggle to reach the table because of their height. I want them to get hands on at the table so any ideas about how to make something they can stand on? I don't want to use milk crates or anything, I don't want kids going back to school with broken bones!
 
I remember standing on a milk crate at my aunt & uncle's bar when I was little learning how to play, maybe if you have a small step stool? Good luck, sounds like they're going to learn a lot from you about applying physics to pool!

Pidge said:
Cheers for all the ideas guys, 2 hours doesn't seem long enough now!

One thing that I didn't think about was they're little kids...some will struggle to reach the table because of their height. I want them to get hands on at the table so any ideas about how to make something they can stand on? I don't want to use milk crates or anything, I don't want kids going back to school with broken bones!
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Pidge said:
Cheers for all the ideas guys, 2 hours doesn't seem long enough now!

One thing that I didn't think about was they're little kids...some will struggle to reach the table because of their height. I want them to get hands on at the table so any ideas about how to make something they can stand on? I don't want to use milk crates or anything, I don't want kids going back to school with broken bones!
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Use the 2% milk crates....they're much shorter.
:smile:
 
Pidge said:
Cheers for all the ideas guys, 2 hours doesn't seem long enough now!

One thing that I didn't think about was they're little kids...some will struggle to reach the table because of their height. I want them to get hands on at the table so any ideas about how to make something they can stand on? I don't want to use milk crates or anything, I don't want kids going back to school with broken bones!
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A real step stool like you might use in the house.
We have an old heavy duty plastic one that doesn't fold up or have the raised bar.
Just 2 steps. Perfect.
 
I don't think anyone in my 5th grade class or for several years would have needed a boost to shoot pool.

I saw SVB when he was 6, and he did not carry a stool around with him.
 
Cheers for all the input guys!

Today is the big day, and I'm surprisingly nervous. I've got my 2 hour session planned out and I've even made some 'test' papers for them to fill out for some after school homework. I'll post how it went later today or maybe tomorrow depending on how much they tire me out!
 
Best of luck! I am sure it will go very well and have fun. I am excited to hear how this went.
 
Anything you do that may have the lasting effect of drawing even 1 of them to the game is a positive thing, good on you.
 
dr_dave said:
Good post Sean. I agree.

I would also show them the 90 and 30 degree rules and how stun/follow/draw work with a straight shot. You can talk about the spin and friction drag on the cloth or just let them see it.

Definitely use an Aramith measles ball for everything so the students can see the spin on the ball.

Here are some resources to help:

90 degree rule one-page summary
30 degree rule one page summary
stun, follow, draw one-page summary
basic kick and bank shot aiming system 2-page summary
famous and fun trick shots

Have fun, and report back to let us know how it went. Maybe you will have ideas for what others can do in similar situation.

Catch you later,
Dave
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Great stuff Dave. It's good to know I am right on track with kids. This is the first thing I teach them, stun, draw, follow, 90 and 30. My 10 year old is so smart with out me saying one peep more to not complicate things for her, she says and "that's momentum mom." :grin: I was all smiles. I think I'll keep her. Our oldest is learning even faster :)
 
Just a quite write up to say how it went...it went great! The kids seemed to have a great time. It was tough going keeping them all together when there was 30 free tables but they were really well behaved. We ran through the 90 & 30 degree rules, and we used string as a poster mentioned rather than chalk. They picked it up fairly quickly, then we ran through some fractional overlaps, kicks, banks, why the balls draw and follow, how many diamonds difference a tip of side makes and all that kind of stuff and they did excellent!

One kid really stood out though. His name was Tom and he said him and his dad play quite often. At the end when they rest were just having a go at some trick shots I saw he had previous experience so I got him to stand correctly, bridge correctly and it was an instant improvement. He was incredibly smart, too. I went over some standard 3 cushion diamond systems for 3+ rail kicks and how to apply them to a pool table and he picked it up right away. They took me weeks to memorize but this kid got them within 30mins. To my suprise the kid had gone home and told his dad about the day and when his dad dropped him off for school today he asked my girlfriend if I'd give him and his son lessons! I've yet to decide if I'll accept the offer, but probably will.

I've just got the test papers to look forward to marking. Some of the questions I made were really tough, so I'm looking forward to seeing some of the answers.

Thanks again for everyone's input.
 
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