straight rail

I watched the clip you posted earlier in the thread of your 30 point run.

One thing that you could do more is to try to play position for gather shots when the balls are already close, rather than trying to score another petit point.

Edit: For example, a lot of times you'll have the balls pretty close, but you risk ending up between them after scoring one more small point. In those cases, you can often nudge the 2 into a favorable position for a gather. This is hard to describe in words...
Anyway, that's just an example...the general point is try to pay more attention to playing shape. You'll start averaging 3-5 in no time, I think. You already play pretty well.
 
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I watched the clip you posted earlier in the thread of your 30 point run.

One thing that you could do more is to try to play position for gather shots when the balls are already close, rather than trying to score another petit point.
yeah that was a long time ago lol
 
For all the straight rail players, I'm wondering what your progress in the game was like.

I'll try to summarize my experience so far:

5-1.5 pts/inning -- I was just trying to score points. I started off playing with my American pool cue (Dufferin 2-piece, 60 in., 21 oz), and the long bridge/stroke that was part of my muscle memory from 10+ years of pool. High runs were typically less than 10.

1.5-2.5 pts/inning -- I was starting to see some gather patterns, but when I got the balls close, I had no idea what to do with them. Within 2-3 points, I lost the position. During this period, I got a billiard cue for about $60 (brand name: Cheetah, about 17-18 oz, i think, and shorter than a pool cue).

Also during this period, I started learning the feel of the so-called "coup d'américaine." This is the short, soft stroke for small points. I still stunk at hitting the ball softly, but I didn't go into spasms trying to do it like I used to. I typically had at least couple of runs into the teens on any given day, and my high run was somewhere in the high 30s or low 40s, which I have not yet surpassed. Lastly, my game-to-tame average varied wildly.

3-5 pts/inning -- This is where I'm at now, and this jump has come in about the last 3-4 months. I see a lot of gather patterns, and it's amazing how many can be found. For example, I see a lot of 1.5-2.5 avg players going thinly of the 2 to ensure scoring on the 3, when learning to play a fuller hit often brings the 2 along to gather for the 3.

I had stopped playing for about 6 months before this last jump in my game. However, right before I stopped, a very nice master level player in my club took me aside for 30-45 minutes to explain to me the "rejet naturel," it's implications, and how to practice it and seek it out. The rejet naturel is the angle the cueball takes off the 2 when it is rolling without sliding...and that this angle is roughly the same when the hit is anywhere between 1/4 and 3/4 ball. I hadn't realized how much this idea could simplify the game for me. It was a revolution! lol. I could go on for a page or two about all the new moves I was able to explore using this idea, but maybe later. I believe that this one idea unlocked the game for me.

As I started scoring more points, other good players have been giving me more pointers here and there. So, I'm still improving. So far, my best average was about 5.8 pts/inning (100 pts in 17 innings). I regularly have runs in the mid teens, and high runs for the day are in the mid 20s. The difference, is that these runs now are much more controlled with much less effort.
 
Anyway, I wanted to share this story of my progress, and some of the main ideas that allowed me to go from one level to the next.

Hopefully there are some 10-30 pts/inning (or better) players on here who can share some notions on how to get to the next level.
 
There’s next to none here that have played it to that extent here
Bvm said he at one time he would run 400 at the start of each day
 
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im pretty sure thats as high as i can get on my own too
Sometimes you just can't get any higher.

Are you people talking about a 2avg in 1rail being hard? Nutty.

Presuming so, I'm gonna try it next time I see a table. I've tried it on a pool table and will agree it isn't as simple as it sounds.
 
Sometimes you just can't get any higher.

Are you people talking about a 2avg in 1rail being hard? Nutty.

Presuming so, I'm gonna try it next time I see a table. I've tried it on a pool table and will agree it isn't as simple as it sounds.
well I think you know the answer to that
Have you conquered 3c all on your own? Lul
 
And this is a straight rail thread not 1cushin lol
I forgot to ask how many points to determine avg...plus, where do you start from?

Straight rail ..still gonna try it.

I'm a tad peeved at 3c. People only play for time and they have raised my handicap to where if I win, I have to play so well they raise me up again...same crap happened with pool.
How the F are you gonna say somebody plays well enough to have to give a big handicap AND THEN take offense if he plays to that level? Whaddya think play of that quality looks like?

Conquered? Sheeeeeat. I'm a victim!
 
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