the First step

I applaud your optimism.

Be careful what you wish for.

I can't speak to becoming "pro" necessarily, but if you want to see your game improve watch all the pro matches you can get your hands on. Watch their fundamentals and their strategy. Also, when you go to practice don't just bang balls around or rack up 8,9, or 10 ball. Do drills. Stroke drills, position drills, saftey drills. Also, you should take Dr. Dave's Billiard University exams. They give you a pretty good gauge of where some of your strengths and weaknesses are, and the test "questions" double as good drills to do.

1. Finish school.
2. Learn a trade/get a day job, unless you want to live out of your car and never have a family.
3. Play 6 hours a day. Every day.
4. Compete...tournaments and/or gambling.
5. Keep yourself grounded and realistic about what a "pro pool player" is.
6. Wash and repeat.

blackcat13 said:

i already have a job and i play in 2 leagues. in one league i only have 1 loss on the 2 league all i do is lose lol. Someone told me to get a coach or someone like that who will bring my game to the next level.

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Leagues aren't a bad way to get initial seasoning and to learn...you can learn a lot from the better players you'll encounter. At some point, you'll need to focus on higher levels of competition to continue to grow, like a regional tour (check the AZB tours and events tab to see what's in your neck of the woods).

An instructor is a good investment, but buyer beware...they're all over the place. Most are good/great, some are not.

Practice, coaching, instructional videos/books, are all good, but the path to getting better is to constantly play players who are better than you until you can beat them regularly. :grin-square:

blackcat13 said:

I am an amateur pool player and i been playing since i was very young. I want to start to learn on how to become a pro. I know it will take alot of practice dedication studying books and videos. What is the first thing i should do besides playing and studying
thank you

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Every time you lose an important match, sleep in your car for that night.

blackcat13 said:

I am an amateur pool player and i been playing since i was very young. I want to start to learn on how to become a pro. I know it will take alot of practice dedication studying books and videos. What is the first thing i should do besides playing and studying
thank you

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Take up golf.

Let us know when you can beat your dad using a Cuetec.

Other than that, I think DoubleD and Cornerman gave some good advice.

How old are you and how well do you play now? Do you run out 9 ball racks with ball in hand a lot? If not, you have some years to go to even get to a level or 2 bellow pro speed. Lessons are great, but to play well against even regional top players you are looking at needing to be able to break and run 2-3-4 racks of 9 ball daily, consistently. There is a top local player that I have seen run 4-5-6 racks of 9 ball a few times during a single tournament, that player got a spot from a pro and lost. There are many people I have met that played for a very long time, and they do well in their group of 5 friends, but when coming up against even a B player, they often end up looking silly. I played a guy in a tournament and ran maybe 7 or 8 balls to win a rack of 9 ball, he was amazed that I did that, he said "wow, I never played anyone like you before". That shows that he has not really been in the "real world" of pool.

If the only book you have looked at was Jeanette Lee's, and you are asking this question, I'm thinking you are a C or D level player which is the bottom rung of people that play pool in any type of competition.

To get a rough idea of your rank, a good way is the 10 ball drill, rack 10 ball, break, take ball in hand. Try to run out 10 racks with ball in hand and keep track of how many balls you get each rack. This thread has some info http://forums.azbilliards.com/showthread.php?t=295717

My son just tried this last night, he's a good player for his age at 13, and was playing with me teaching him all the time and with watching videos and other good players live since he was 8. He did 3-4 balls a rack consitently, and in the league match he was able to run 6-7 balls in 9 ball several times. He's a C+, maybe a low B at his best.

As an aside, I did this a few times to warm up and I ran all 10 twice in a row, only had time for two racks. Wonder how I would have done if I kept going, although running out a full rack is not something I do very often even with ball in hand, I'm about a solid B player, B+ more and more often.

blackcat13...The very first step is to ask yourself this question: "Do I want to BE a pro player, or just play like one?" That is an honest question. If it's the latter, you have avenues you can follow...quality instruction should be your first step, to determine the quality of your stroke, where you stand in the poolplayer hiearchy, and give you things to practice (and how specifically to practice them) to start reaching for your goal. There are thousands of poolplayers who have that kind of skill, but realize that they really want a life, instead of 'the life of a pro player'!

If the answer is the former...good luck. About 1/10 of 1% of "professional pool players" make any kind of living, and you will absolutely sacrifice everything else in your life to achieve that goal (owning a home, family, a good job, etc)...if you even have natural talent (which is something almost every pro is full of). The risks are great, and the rewards are little if anything material. Among the American pro players, you can count on one hand the ones that make any kind of living at all.

Like someone else said...be careful what you wish for. I'm trying less to discourage you, than to wake you up the reality of what you think you desire. Good luck, whatever you do.

Scott Lee
http://poolknowledge.com

blackcat13 said:

I am an amateur pool player and i been playing since i was very young. I want to start to learn on how to become a pro. I know it will take alot of practice dedication studying books and videos. What is the first thing i should do besides playing and studying
thank you

Click to expand...

blackcat13 said:

I been doing alot of cutshot drills and when i play by myself. im gonna play straight pool., then rotation and 9 ball then 8 ball then do some drills then do the same thing. i been studying Jeanettes lees book a guide to killers pool.. Where is this exam at.

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Here is a link to the Billiard University drills and exams. Also, Janette Lee's book that you are reading is probably very good for beginners (which you may be one I don't know), but if you want something with a little more substantial info you can't go wrong with Play Your Best Pool by Phil Capelle.

Did anyone recommend Ray Martin's 'The 99 Critical Shots in Pool'?

blackcat13 said:

I played guys that run out racks constantly in my wed night league. i broke he ran out then he did a break and run. In the BCA type league im a solid 4+ wanting to move up with a 5 and 1 record. Last session in the same league i was within the top 3 of top shooters.

For my age im 28. might be too late but it doesnt hurt to dream big. Pool runs in my blood. My granddad taught my dad and my dad tought me but he never got me into leagues or instructors.

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You can only take records in leagues with a grain of salt IMO. Too many people sandbag during league nights and only play their true speed in tournaments. Don't look at your record compared to other people in leagues as more often than not one of the players on the bottom of the rung may be one of the best in the area.

One of the problems with pool that I've found is that it is easy to dream big. You never know what the next level is until you are there and then you look back and realize how little you knew.

Others were right when they asked what your average run is. If you run a table with ball in hand 80% of the time you are still a few levels below what is considered the pro level.

Let's take a more realistic look at it. Do you generally miss a shot because you leave yourself incorrectly or because you just miss and your aim is off? In that vein how often do you miss your leave by more than 2 inches? 1 inch?

Do you play on 9 foot tables or 7 foot tables? There is a HUGE difference between the two.

Can you consistently make three rail kicks with enough accuracy to play a safe or get the ball in a pocket or are you just happy when you get a hit?

It's never a bad idea to get instruction but you have to keep your expectations realistic.

Scott Lee said:

blackcat13...The very first step is to ask yourself this question: "Do I want to BE a pro player, or just play like one?" That is an honest question. If it's the latter, you have avenues you can follow...quality instruction should be your first step, to determine the quality of your stroke, where you stand in the poolplayer hiearchy, and give you things to practice (and how specifically to practice them) to start reaching for your goal. There are thousands of poolplayers who have that kind of skill, but realize that they really want a life, instead of 'the life of a pro player'!

If the answer is the former...good luck. About 1/10 of 1% of "professional pool players" make any kind of living, and you will absolutely sacrifice everything else in your life to achieve that goal (owning a home, family, a good job, etc)...if you even have natural talent (which is something almost every pro is full of). The risks are great, and the rewards are little if anything material. Among the American pro players, you can count on one hand the ones that make any kind of living at all.

Like someone else said...be careful what you wish for. I trying less to discourage you, than to wake you up the reality of what you think you desire. Good luck, whatever you do.

Scott Lee
http://poolknowledge.com

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I think this pretty much sums it up for me as well. It is a pretty accurate assessment.

Playing like a pro, and actually making a living off of pool are completely different things. They aren't even related. Good luck with your quest.

blackcat13 said:

I played guys that run out racks constantly in my wed night league. i broke he ran out then he did a break and run. In the BCA type league im a solid 4+ wanting to move up with a 5 and 1 record. Last session in the same league i was within the top 3 of top shooters.

For my age im 28. might be too late but it doesnt hurt to dream big. Pool runs in my blood. My granddad taught my dad and my dad tought me but he never got me into leagues or instructors.

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If you are a 4+ in BCA and have been playing since you were young, and are 28 now, I doubt you will have the ability to play at a high level, even being a high B or A would take a lot of work. That's a great goal in itslef, but saying you want to train to become a Pro is a bit of a stetch. Like the Kardashians wanting to be good mothers. Start small and play more in different places, playing against people that run racks won't make you a good player unless you do the same. And those guys you think are good will be barely a bump to go over to an open level player. I've run out short sets of 2 or 3 on players in tournaments, and I would not cause even an A player to sweat if they played me.

You would most likely have to break down your game totally and start from scratch to get to B or A levels, I more or less had to do that to go from a C to a B because I learned on my own for the first several years and did not have very good ideas of how to play although I got better over time. It's just at some level the improving stops without a fix or change of some sort. Your dad may have tought you, but did he do it right? Did he make sure your stance and stoke were good? Was he even good enough to know what a good player is and how to play like one?