Many people stop getting better at pool because they didn't realize they missed a turn. They keep on doing what worked for a while and when it stops working they reach the wrong conclusions.
When a player first learns pool they have to keep learning new shots. People keep showing them new things. "Hey, did you ever try hitting it this way?" "If you're ever in this spot here's a cool shot..." Etc. And little by little they acquire the tools they need to deal with those challenges on the table. Killing the cue ball, throwing balls in, playing multiple rail routes, using inside english. At first they are terrible at some of these shots, but they keep at them and the make percentage continues to climb.
So their formula for improvement is set: Keep learning new shots and keep improving at them. This works for a time. They do keep learning more shots, and they do keep improving. But then a funny thing happens. The improvement tapers off. Slowly at first, and then screeching to a halt. They have days where everything works and, knowing all the shots, they feel the issue is 'consistency'. They just can't figure out why they can't put their game together to where it works more than once in a while. They are good enough to win sets off the top local players, but why can't they become the guy who wins match after match until they are the last man standing?
Do they question their approach? No! It got them this far! Everything was working just fine until they got stuck. They take a lesson from a top player they end up learning a few obscure trick shots and think they benefitted because they did technically learn something. They work with an instructor and often end up believing it is all fundamentals. They decide that consistency stems from fundamentals, so they go all in. Then you see people go down really weird rabbit holes. They read books and watch videos and spend countless hours lagging the cue ball to the head rail and staring at their back arm. Practice becomes miserable and the game starts becoming harder and grindier. Maybe they show a little improvement and that, coupled with their occasional good sessions, convinces them they are still on the right road. But as the years start to roll by and it is clear they aren't making progress then they fall back to blaming it on a lack of time or talent. "The only way I could get to the next level is if I put in a TON more time than I have right now. I can't put pool in front of family/work so this is where the buck stops". Or "I guess some people just have the extra something, lord knows I've worked as hard as anyone but it just wasn't meant to be for me".
Of course you need to develop your fundamentals, put in work at the table, and it helps to have two eyes and two arms. But having worked with many, many players in this range I will die on the hill of saying that isn't the biggest problem. The problem is they missed the turn a while back.
The path they need to take forward involves less shots, not more. See, in the beginning you really did need to learn all the shots. So learning more shots was a good thing. And developing your skills at them was critical too. But only to a point! Because after you stall out you need to read the signpost: There is a limit to how consistently you can execute each different shot! Some are 99% shots, some are 90% shots, some are 75% shots, and some are 50% at best. No amount of time and no stance is going to change the fact there are limits on our make percentages on these difficult opportunities.
So how to make progress? Well, first it's good idea to start to identify which shots are which. Instead of saying "I should be able to make all of these, better keep working on that stroke until it comes together for me", get real! Say "Man, some of these shots are going to cause me to lose a lot of games if I build my runs with them!" Learn which shots are high percentage and which shots are low percentage.
Next, let's take a good look at the 99% and the 90% shots. You need to get really good at these. Not just pocketing, but really fighting for every inch with the cue ball. You need to become deadly accurate with these types of shots. Why? Because great pool comes from committing to building and executing runs with only 90%+ shots! If you play to a zone that ends up with a 75% shot and then miss, it is silly to conclude "I should've made that". WRONG! You can never make that 100% of the time. Quit fighting it! Instead go to the 95% shot where you missed your cue ball target and left yourself a tester. Sure you were the favorite. But if you take two 75% shots a rack you are now a coin flip to dog it every time you step to the table. No way to make that consistent.
In short, first put together a great set of shots, then put most of them away. Recognize that improvement comes from improving cue ball accuracy with high percentage shots that allows you to avoid gambling on tougher maneuvers. With my most advanced players that is all I do, help them sort out which shots are which, work on maxing out the percentages by understanding the nuances of the high percentage shots, and then demonstrating how to build runs that stick to those shots only.
It's not sexy. It's a lot more glamorous to teach someone a cool double the rail spin shot than it is to break down routine cue ball transitions and help identify where you can pick up a few percentage, or which of two similar moves is slightly more accurate and can get you better speed control. I sometimes feel for my most advanced players (who are coming to learn new things) they find themselves paying me to take tools away from them. But that is what needs to be done. Less tools, less shots. They only feel disappointed until they realize they aren't turning over the table as often and it is coming easier.
Then they see the new road in front of them. It is a different direction from that of the first half of their pool journey, but fortunately it leads to the pool game they've always wanted.
When a player first learns pool they have to keep learning new shots. People keep showing them new things. "Hey, did you ever try hitting it this way?" "If you're ever in this spot here's a cool shot..." Etc. And little by little they acquire the tools they need to deal with those challenges on the table. Killing the cue ball, throwing balls in, playing multiple rail routes, using inside english. At first they are terrible at some of these shots, but they keep at them and the make percentage continues to climb.
So their formula for improvement is set: Keep learning new shots and keep improving at them. This works for a time. They do keep learning more shots, and they do keep improving. But then a funny thing happens. The improvement tapers off. Slowly at first, and then screeching to a halt. They have days where everything works and, knowing all the shots, they feel the issue is 'consistency'. They just can't figure out why they can't put their game together to where it works more than once in a while. They are good enough to win sets off the top local players, but why can't they become the guy who wins match after match until they are the last man standing?
Do they question their approach? No! It got them this far! Everything was working just fine until they got stuck. They take a lesson from a top player they end up learning a few obscure trick shots and think they benefitted because they did technically learn something. They work with an instructor and often end up believing it is all fundamentals. They decide that consistency stems from fundamentals, so they go all in. Then you see people go down really weird rabbit holes. They read books and watch videos and spend countless hours lagging the cue ball to the head rail and staring at their back arm. Practice becomes miserable and the game starts becoming harder and grindier. Maybe they show a little improvement and that, coupled with their occasional good sessions, convinces them they are still on the right road. But as the years start to roll by and it is clear they aren't making progress then they fall back to blaming it on a lack of time or talent. "The only way I could get to the next level is if I put in a TON more time than I have right now. I can't put pool in front of family/work so this is where the buck stops". Or "I guess some people just have the extra something, lord knows I've worked as hard as anyone but it just wasn't meant to be for me".
Of course you need to develop your fundamentals, put in work at the table, and it helps to have two eyes and two arms. But having worked with many, many players in this range I will die on the hill of saying that isn't the biggest problem. The problem is they missed the turn a while back.
The path they need to take forward involves less shots, not more. See, in the beginning you really did need to learn all the shots. So learning more shots was a good thing. And developing your skills at them was critical too. But only to a point! Because after you stall out you need to read the signpost: There is a limit to how consistently you can execute each different shot! Some are 99% shots, some are 90% shots, some are 75% shots, and some are 50% at best. No amount of time and no stance is going to change the fact there are limits on our make percentages on these difficult opportunities.
So how to make progress? Well, first it's good idea to start to identify which shots are which. Instead of saying "I should be able to make all of these, better keep working on that stroke until it comes together for me", get real! Say "Man, some of these shots are going to cause me to lose a lot of games if I build my runs with them!" Learn which shots are high percentage and which shots are low percentage.
Next, let's take a good look at the 99% and the 90% shots. You need to get really good at these. Not just pocketing, but really fighting for every inch with the cue ball. You need to become deadly accurate with these types of shots. Why? Because great pool comes from committing to building and executing runs with only 90%+ shots! If you play to a zone that ends up with a 75% shot and then miss, it is silly to conclude "I should've made that". WRONG! You can never make that 100% of the time. Quit fighting it! Instead go to the 95% shot where you missed your cue ball target and left yourself a tester. Sure you were the favorite. But if you take two 75% shots a rack you are now a coin flip to dog it every time you step to the table. No way to make that consistent.
In short, first put together a great set of shots, then put most of them away. Recognize that improvement comes from improving cue ball accuracy with high percentage shots that allows you to avoid gambling on tougher maneuvers. With my most advanced players that is all I do, help them sort out which shots are which, work on maxing out the percentages by understanding the nuances of the high percentage shots, and then demonstrating how to build runs that stick to those shots only.
It's not sexy. It's a lot more glamorous to teach someone a cool double the rail spin shot than it is to break down routine cue ball transitions and help identify where you can pick up a few percentage, or which of two similar moves is slightly more accurate and can get you better speed control. I sometimes feel for my most advanced players (who are coming to learn new things) they find themselves paying me to take tools away from them. But that is what needs to be done. Less tools, less shots. They only feel disappointed until they realize they aren't turning over the table as often and it is coming easier.
Then they see the new road in front of them. It is a different direction from that of the first half of their pool journey, but fortunately it leads to the pool game they've always wanted.
