How did you learn 14.1?

Mike the Beginner said:
I've been trying 14.1 for the past two days and not doing very well.

How did you learn 14.1? Did you rack and then shoot till you miss? Or did you keep going despite misses?

It seems like all I do is rack the balls! I've racked about 60 times and my high "run" is 14 so far. I keep getting trapped, run a bit too far, or suddenly miss a shot I can make 9 times out of 10.

I did keep going despite misses a few times but then didn't do a good job of leaving the break ball.

Telling on myself: once when I DID leave a good break ball, I unthinkingly collected it to go into the rack! Dumba*s.

Thanks in advance.
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Don't listen to to many people, find one thats good at what they do and stay with it , Like studying for exams... memorize the wright only
 
TheBasics said:
Howdy All;

I started in June of 61, it was old school all the way, sit and watch, sit and watch, try what I'd seen.
Players would give me a "lesson" for .25 or .50 cents a game, Had to deliver a lot of papers to get
more lessons.

hank
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I was in the navy some hustlers wanted a dollar, but it sure did help... Kennedy was the boss and we had the Cuban conflict 1961 a good year...
 
sjm said:
This is a drill for experts, Lou, and I agree that it's good for developing one's skills. In this thread, however, a newbie to straight pool whose high run is 14 is asking for advice.
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I haven’t ran 14. My high run in 1P is higher than in 14.1. That’s a fact not a joke.

I made a ball and ran 8 & out and made a ball and ran 7. So 15 in my best 1P run. Almost a 2 pack💪.

In 14.1 I’ve never made it to the break ball. Ever once

I’ve ran 75-80 throwing balls out 15 at a time on 5” pocket Bwick with no balls tied up leaving myself some sort of shot. Maybe more than 5 racks, but I doubt 100. I never counted.

Here’s my problem. When I have to pocket a OB and send the CB into the stack, my concentration gets divided. And I either miss the OB & hit the stack or brush the ball I want-I get a great CB and miss. Or I pot the OB and lose the CB. I have 2 minds when I play 14.1. I know this sounds dumb, I’ve posted this before.

Oddly enough when I play 1P this doesn’t happen, I can control both the CB and pot or do what I want with the OB.

There’s something about 14.1 that divides my attention and I just can’t play it at all, less than zero. It’s amazing how bad I am at it.

It’s profoundly difficult for me. Feels like a completely different game than any other pool game. 3C seems easier and we know that’s not true.

I’m done crying

Best
Fatbaby👶👶
 
Fatboy said:
I haven’t ran 14. My high run in 1P is higher than in 14.1. That’s a fact not a joke.

I made a ball and ran 8 & out and made a ball and ran 7. So 15 in my best 1P run. Almost a 2 pack💪.

In 14.1 I’ve never made it to the break ball. Ever once

I’ve ran 75-80 throwing balls out 15 at a time on 5” pocket Bwick with no balls tied up leaving myself some sort of shot. Maybe more than 5 racks, but I doubt 100. I never counted.

Here’s my problem. When I have to pocket a OB and send the CB into the stack, my concentration gets divided. And I either miss the OB & hit the stack or brush the ball I want-I get a great CB and miss. Or I pot the OB and lose the CB. I have 2 minds when I play 14.1. I know this sounds dumb, I’ve posted this before.

Oddly enough when I play 1P this doesn’t happen, I can control both the CB and pot or do what I want with the OB.

There’s something about 14.1 that divides my attention and I just can’t play it at all, less than zero. It’s amazing how bad I am at it.

It’s profoundly difficult for me. Feels like a completely different game than any other pool game. 3C seems easier and we know that’s not true.

I’m done crying

Best
Fatbaby👶👶
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There are many pitfalls in 14.1 play. I think, as beginners to this game, people have their expectations set too high. They want perfect patterns and breakshots etc. Really, what your focus should be, as a good player is to remove the balls off the table, making sure not to end up behind a ball, make sure not to end up straight in with the cue ball on a rail and making sure to stay above the balls (rack) as much as possible. For a good 9 ball player, keeping these things in mind will often get you through the rack well enough. That may be too many things at once, to think about, so to keep it even simpler: Don't try too much finesse and getting too close in. Just keep the cue ball in a safe area with no obstructions as much as humanly possible. Get the balls open, and keep the cue ball free in a nice open area and don't touch anything after they're open. The rails are lava, keep your cue ball away from them, you can touch them, but then make sure to get away (so your cueball doesn't melt)!

As for the break shot, you play good one pocket so you know how to play position very well. Do not try to hit the breakshot 300mph. Try to opt for a shallower breakshot and play position off it. Go forward with inside spin to the middle of the table (either from below the stack or side of the stack) or draw out from the side of the stack. People get so occupied with the stack and they miss. Play the shot and the cueball and forget the stack! Your goal should be to pocket the ball with a nice smooth stroke. I've found that when following with inside, people manage to forget the stack more, because they are focusing on the cue ball. It's a mental trick of sorts. When they try to follow with all their power and no english their eyes shift at the last moment and they steer the shot out. Similarly, I'd recommend putting some side on your drawshot too, if you have these problems. If you're a beginner IN GENERAL, naturally that recommendation would not be a good one, only for someone whose having your specific problem and have general pool skills. Also, focusing on hitting a precise part of the pocket may help. Anything to keep your eyes from darting to the stack. When practising, ALL the attention should be on pocketing the object ball on the break shot. I dont' care if you even touch the stack! That will come later. If you want to get good, practise breakshots softly. Ridiculously softly. If people are laughing and pointing, and you're making the ball, you're doing it right. We'll see who laughs later when you start cranking up slowly but surely to Pat Fleming-esque speed with more control than they'll ever have. If you can't do something softly, you can't do it hard. Got to start somewhere. You need a little bit of speed, but you might be surprised just how little. No better way to learn than starting too softly and working up.
 
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Straightpool_99 said:
There are many pitfalls in 14.1 play. I think, as beginners to this game, people have their expectations set too high. They want perfect patterns and breakshots etc. Really, what your focus should be, as a good player is to remove the balls off the table, making sure not to end up behind a ball, make sure not to end up straight in with the cue ball on a rail and making sure to stay above the balls (rack) as much as possible. For a good 9 ball player, keeping these things in mind will often get you through the rack well enough. That may be too many things at once, to think about, so to keep it even simpler: Don't try too much finesse and getting too close in. Just keep the cue ball in a safe area with no obstructions as much as humanly possible. Get the balls open, and keep the cue ball free in a nice open area and don't touch anything after they're open. The rails are lava, keep your cue ball away from them, you can touch them, but then make sure to get away (so your cueball doesn't melt)!

As for the break shot, you play good one pocket so you know how to play position very well. Do not try to hit the breakshot 300mph. Try to opt for a shallower breakshot and play position off it. Go forward with inside spin to the middle of the table (either from below the stack or side of the stack) or draw out from the side of the stack. People get so occupied with the stack and they miss. Play the shot and the cueball and forget the stack! Your goal should be to pocket the ball with a nice smooth stroke. I've found that when following with inside, people manage to forget the stack more, because they are focusing on the cue ball. It's a mental trick of sorts. When they try to follow with all their power and no english their eyes shift at the last moment and they steer the shot out. Similarly, I'd recommend putting some side on your drawshot too, if you have these problems. If you're a beginner IN GENERAL, naturally that recommendation would not be a good one, only for someone whose having your specific problem and have general pool skills. Also, focusing on hitting a precise part of the pocket may help. Anything to keep your eyes from darting to the stack. When practising, ALL the attention should be on pocketing the object ball on the break shot. I dont' care if you even touch the stack! That will come later. If you want to get good, practise breakshots softly. Ridiculously softly. If people are laughing and pointing, and you're making the ball, you're doing it right. We'll see who laughs later when you start cranking up slowly but surely to Pat Fleming-esque speed with more control than they'll ever have. If you can't do something softly, you can't do it hard. Got to start somewhere. You need a little bit of speed, but you might be surprised just how little. No better way to learn than starting too softly and working up.
Click to expand...
That’s a good idea. Don’t miss and break soft. Even if it’s end of inning it’s better than missing the stack. Either way it’s end of inning. I always tried to break at the(what I figured was optimal speed) never tried to crush them.

Why I get that split focus is a very weird thing. And it’s very powerful, difficult for me to not get it, yet when I’m playing 1P or a rotation game and have a cluster I don’t get it 1% but in 14.1 it’s full blast.

Appreciate your post, I’m gonna mark it and re-read it.

Kindest regards,
Fatboy


🟧Fatboy Approved🟧

Posts like that make AZB great!
 
Straightpool_99 said:
There are many pitfalls in 14.1 play. I think, as beginners to this game, people have their expectations set too high. They want perfect patterns and breakshots etc. Really, what your focus should be, as a good player is to remove the balls off the table, making sure not to end up behind a ball, make sure not to end up straight in with the cue ball on a rail and making sure to stay above the balls (rack) as much as possible. For a good 9 ball player, keeping these things in mind will often get you through the rack well enough. That may be too many things at once, to think about, so to keep it even simpler: Don't try too much finesse and getting too close in. Just keep the cue ball in a safe area with no obstructions as much as humanly possible. Get the balls open, and keep the cue ball free in a nice open area and don't touch anything after they're open. The rails are lava, keep your cue ball away from them, you can touch them, but then make sure to get away (so your cueball doesn't melt)!

As for the break shot, you play good one pocket so you know how to play position very well. Do not try to hit the breakshot 300mph. Try to opt for a shallower breakshot and play position off it. Go forward with inside spin to the middle of the table (either from below the stack or side of the stack) or draw out from the side of the stack. People get so occupied with the stack and they miss. Play the shot and the cueball and forget the stack! Your goal should be to pocket the ball with a nice smooth stroke. I've found that when following with inside, people manage to forget the stack more, because they are focusing on the cue ball. It's a mental trick of sorts. When they try to follow with all their power and no english their eyes shift at the last moment and they steer the shot out. Similarly, I'd recommend putting some side on your drawshot too, if you have these problems. If you're a beginner IN GENERAL, naturally that recommendation would not be a good one, only for someone whose having your specific problem and have general pool skills. Also, focusing on hitting a precise part of the pocket may help. Anything to keep your eyes from darting to the stack. When practising, ALL the attention should be on pocketing the object ball on the break shot. I dont' care if you even touch the stack! That will come later. If you want to get good, practise breakshots softly. Ridiculously softly. If people are laughing and pointing, and you're making the ball, you're doing it right. We'll see who laughs later when you start cranking up slowly but surely to Pat Fleming-esque speed with more control than they'll ever have. If you can't do something softly, you can't do it hard. Got to start somewhere. You need a little bit of speed, but you might be surprised just how little. No better way to learn than starting too softly and working up.
Click to expand...
I've always seen this with breaking. To this day I see some hundred and ten pound female players that break a good open table on 9's... I wish I had a slow motion so I could see if some of these power house breakers are pushing the CB after the initial contact... Guy
 
Fatboy said:
That’s a good idea. Don’t miss and break soft. Even if it’s end of inning it’s better than missing the stack. Either way it’s end of inning. I always tried to break at the(what I figured was optimal speed) never tried to crush them.

Why I get that split focus is a very weird thing. And it’s very powerful, difficult for me to not get it, yet when I’m playing 1P or a rotation game and have a cluster I don’t get it 1% but in 14.1 it’s full blast.

Appreciate your post, I’m gonna mark it and re-read it.

Kindest regards,
Fatboy


🟧Fatboy Approved🟧

Posts like that make AZB great!
Click to expand...

i honestly think that your only issue here is that you’ve decided going in that you can’t do it. 15 in one pocket is harder than a fourteenone break shot. I bet if you spent an hour working on a bunch of different break shots youd get out of the first rack in no time!

keep us updated on your progress!
 
Fatboy said:
That’s a good idea. Don’t miss and break soft. Even if it’s end of inning it’s better than missing the stack. Either way it’s end of inning. I always tried to break at the(what I figured was optimal speed) never tried to crush them.

Why I get that split focus is a very weird thing. And it’s very powerful, difficult for me to not get it, yet when I’m playing 1P or a rotation game and have a cluster I don’t get it 1% but in 14.1 it’s full blast.

Appreciate your post, I’m gonna mark it and re-read it.

Kindest regards,
Fatboy


🟧Fatboy Approved🟧

Posts like that make AZB great!
Click to expand...
Eric. Check me on this, so many fundamentals in our games, best to be like doctor specialist at what they do. And do best when all else is put out of mind and let the subconscious rule the man... If you are a 9 Ball man then 9 Ball is your money... Through our media we are programed to work this way all our lives... I wish you and I could Still play our game... Guy
 
Guy Manges said:
I've always seen this with breaking. To this day I see some hundred and ten pound female players that break a good open table on 9's... I wish I had a slow motion so I could see if some of these power house breakers are pushing the CB after the initial contact... Guy
Click to expand...
Counterintuitive but inertia is quicker. IOW a light stroke with no arm or grip hand going into the ball is the most speed you will be able produce. Low friction seems to go further than force. I use silicone based products and the impression I get from my swing is the stick is going into the ball at delivery speed with the minimum of impedance. This is by no means a bunt but a full stroke - sans muscle torque which is near useless against a cue ball.
 
Guy Manges said:
I believe it Golden West Family Billiards, Signal Hill...
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The name's familiar. Don't believe I got around to checking it out. This was in the 70s though. There was a bar called The Wagonwheel some place up there. Popped in for a look once, nothing going on. There was a family billiards on Imperial some place with the Brunswick package - 10 foot snooker table, maybe the billiard table and a bunch of GCs. Couldn't play a lick back then anyway. :)
 
straightline said:
The name's familiar. Don't believe I got around to checking it out. This was in the 70s though. There was a bar called The Wagonwheel some place up there. Popped in for a look once, nothing going on. There was a family billiards on Imperial some place with the Brunswick package - 10 foot snooker table, maybe the billiard table and a bunch of GCs. Couldn't play a lick back then anyway. :)
Click to expand...
I believe there was a wagonwheel bar , If I remember right GoldenState or Golden West was a chain family billiards center, I think they had 6 locations in LA area, again I think they mfg their own tables. I think they still do. They had about twenty franchise locations all on west coast. If you remember the Brunswick family centers they were like that. They weren't bars, no alcohol, I think I had twelve 8's and 1 snooker, it was my part time job and I was the only one there at one time so I guess I was the manager. Bars close by were the foothill club, wagonwheel. One of the clubs was Merl Hagert's , country singer I'm not even sure I spelled his name wright. I remember the center didn't last very long... I think by the 1970s they were gone. I got a pocket billiard learning book signed by Willie that I keep but the Tad pool cue I got there is long gone. Guy
 
Guy Manges said:
I've always seen this with breaking. To this day I see some hundred and ten pound female players that break a good open table on 9's... I wish I had a slow motion so I could see if some of these power house breakers are pushing the CB after the initial contact... Guy
Click to expand...
Guy Manges said:
Eric. Check me on this, so many fundamentals in our games, best to be like doctor specialist at what they do. And do best when all else is put out of mind and let the subconscious rule the man... If you are a 9 Ball man then 9 Ball is your money... Through our media we are programed to work this way all our lives... I wish you and I could Still play our game... Guy
Click to expand...
I switched to banks and 1P when I was 40, something I should have done when I was 20. Somehow 8B became my best game. Funny how that works. I miss playing too.
 
Guy Manges said:
I believe there was a wagonwheel bar , If I remember right GoldenState or Golden West was a chain family billiards center, I think they had 6 locations in LA area, again I think they mfg their own tables. I think they still do. They had about twenty franchise locations all on west coast. If you remember the Brunswick family centers they were like that. They weren't bars, no alcohol, I think I had twelve 8's and 1 snooker, it was my part time job and I was the only one there at one time so I guess I was the manager. Bars close by were the foothill club, wagonwheel. One of the clubs was Merl Hagert's , country singer I'm not even sure I spelled his name wright. I remember the center didn't last very long... I think by the 1970s they were gone. I got a pocket billiard learning book signed by Willie that I keep but the Tad pool cue I got there is long gone. Guy
Click to expand...
Guess I've never been then. Golden West Billiards is still around though.

Home - Golden West Billiards

billiardmfg.com billiardmfg.com

They were sponsors on some of Daniel Busch's POV pool videos and events. He always spoke highly of their store. POV pool itself has some great matches; the Filipinos in their home away from home (Hard Times Bellflower), asstd pros and champs duking it out, great stuff.
 
straightline said:
The name's familiar. Don't believe I got around to checking it out. This was in the 70s though. There was a bar called The Wagonwheel some place up there. Popped in for a look once, nothing going on. There was a family billiards on Imperial some place with the Brunswick package - 10 foot snooker table, maybe the billiard table and a bunch of GCs. Couldn't play a lick back then anyway. :)
Click to expand...
Hard to believe but there might have been a thousand halls in LA at one time... Guy
 
straightline said:
Guess I've never been then. Golden West Billiards is still around though.

Home - Golden West Billiards

billiardmfg.com billiardmfg.com

They were sponsors on some of Daniel Busch's POV pool videos and events. He always spoke highly of their store. POV pool itself has some great matches; the Filipinos in their home away from home (Hard Times Bellflower), asstd pros and champs duking it out, great stuff.
Click to expand...
I guess I was before hard times, but Bellflower where I lived had many pool halls... I remember the name Brown in LongBeach that invented the practice circle... Maybe people won't believe that, I had some good players that we're regulars in the center... Guy
 
straightline said:
Guess I've never been then. Golden West Billiards is still around though.

Home - Golden West Billiards

billiardmfg.com billiardmfg.com

They were sponsors on some of Daniel Busch's POV pool videos and events. He always spoke highly of their store. POV pool itself has some great matches; the Filipinos in their home away from home (Hard Times Bellflower), asstd pros and champs duking it out, great stuff.
Click to expand...
Seems to me the tables we're more like Acme tables, I think they looked a lot like GC's might have been Monarch type tables, I'm enjoying this , I'm kind of slow minded but it will probably come back to me... lot of memories... Guy
 
Fatboy said:
I switched to banks and 1P when I was 40, something I should have done when I was 20. Somehow 8B became my best game. Funny how that works. I miss playing too.
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Thank you Eric, I to 8 Ball, I thought I read somewhere you were 9 ball. Are you the same FB that played Chicago area. I Never cared for 1p as for as tv's goes. Funny how I played a guy and he worked his way around the table making and spoting balls to shoot his pocket... I was posting earlier to tin man about scratching and spoting balls...
 
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