need a good drill to be a finisher in 8 bal

judochoke · Dec 23, 2018

I have problems finishing in 8 ball. never seem to get straight in for the last shot.
now im putting 4 balls and the 8 on the table and trying to finish nicely. seems like putting 7 balls plus the 8 is too many balls, 4 seems to be a good number for me.

any other drills I can do to help me get perfect straight shape on the 8 ball? thanks, judo

pt109 · Dec 23, 2018

Practise straight pool.

jrctherake · Dec 23, 2018

judochoke said:
I have problems finishing in 8 ball. never seem to get straight in for the last shot.
now im putting 4 balls and the 8 on the table and trying to finish nicely. seems like putting 7 balls plus the 8 is too many balls, 4 seems to be a good number for me.

any other drills I can do to help me get perfect straight shape on the 8 ball? thanks, judo

Most everyone that ask that question and pretty much anything similar need to:

Know how to use rails mixed with low/high english instead of spin to get/stay in line... otherwise your DEAD IN THE WATER!!!!

If you want to finish something, finish some control and speed drills...... that is, "if" your stroke etc...etc... is developed properly enough to move forward.

Any other way, dont care what anyone says, you will NEVER reach whatever potential you actually have.

Rake

Poolmanis · Dec 24, 2018

Break balls. Take a ball in hand. Take away so many balls as needed to get that magic number 4.
Take a little time to think whole table layout backwards.

-Which are the balls that gives best chance to land to easy 8-ball if they played as key ball before 8-ball.
-Which is a ball that gives easy or easy enough position to get that last ball.
-Try start from a ball that is problematic to play position .
etc..
Rinse and repeat daily.

deanoc · Dec 24, 2018

quit trying to get straight on the 8 ball
start shooting it at an angle

then you won't worry about it

bbb · Dec 24, 2018

lots of 8 ball patterns here (rotation too)
https://www.zerox-billiards.com/pattern-puzzles

Black-Balled · Dec 24, 2018

Yeah, the straight in on the 8 is not a worthy goal.

Slap yourself in the face and shoot the damn ball/s in the hole/s.

hang-the-9 · Dec 24, 2018

Something I did with my league mates to try to help them win more is place the 8 or 9 ball in various positions between the spot and end rail, and then setup random shots and have them play position for that area. Since in most games the last ball ends up in the area of the rack, that seemed to me a good idea to try to be comfortable to learn good routes to that spot, especially since a lot of position paths there can lead to a scratch in the side or corner pockets by the ball.

Bob Jewett · Dec 24, 2018

judochoke said:
I have problems finishing in 8 ball. never seem to get straight in for the last shot.
now im putting 4 balls and the 8 on the table and trying to finish nicely. seems like putting 7 balls plus the 8 is too many balls, 4 seems to be a good number for me.

any other drills I can do to help me get perfect straight shape on the 8 ball? thanks, judo

Eight ball involves patten play. If you can't control where the cue ball is going, it will be impossible to play patterns.

Can you control the cue ball? Can you send it three feet and land within a foot of where you want? On what kinds of shots?

I have had many students who wanted to learn patterns -- you will need pattern play to achieve your goal above -- but they were not yet able to play simple stop and follow shots, and draw was a big problem.

Where is your basic position game?

sixpack · Dec 24, 2018

The 8-ball is different in that you don’t have to play position for another ball after it. A good tip is to play position for the 8 ball and then play position from the 8-ball as well. Usually for a safety or at least difficult leave for your opponent.

us820 · Dec 24, 2018

Concentrate on picking a good key ball to get on the 8 easiest every rack and worry about getting any simple shot more than a straight in shot.

Jimmorrison · Dec 24, 2018

There is the rub

Bob Jewett said:
Eight ball involves patten play. If you can't control where the cue ball is going, it will be impossible to play patterns.

Can you control the cue ball? Can you send it three feet and land within a foot of where you want? On what kinds of shots?

I have had many students who wanted to learn patterns -- you will need pattern play to achieve your goal above -- but they were not yet able to play simple stop and follow shots, and draw was a big problem.

Where is your basic position game?

You can pick a pattern, but if you can’t put whitey where you want him, you won’t be shooting that pattern. As stated above, you don’t need straight in shape on the eight. If you are disappointed you didn’t get there, your chances of making it go down. Be glad you got a shot and fire it in.

Jimmorrison · Dec 24, 2018

judochoke said:
I have problems finishing in 8 ball. never seem to get straight in for the last shot.
now im putting 4 balls and the 8 on the table and trying to finish nicely. seems like putting 7 balls plus the 8 is too many balls, 4 seems to be a good number for me.

any other drills I can do to help me get perfect straight shape on the 8 ball? thanks, judo

The vids that show table layout, with cue in corner of screen. Shooter runs table, with tip position shown. These might be very helpful. Sharivari was posting some good ones here, but hasn’t lately. Any demo, where the shooter illustrates what he is trying to make happen and how he makes it happen, should be helpful. Gotta e lots of them out there.

MitchAlsup · Dec 24, 2018

Bob Jewett said:
Eight ball involves patten play. If you can't control where the cue ball is going, it will be impossible to play patterns.

In addition to patten play, you need to step back and analyze how to finish, and then plan the run so that you get there.

So, let's assume you have the ball in a given spot after a dry break.
a) you identify the key ball (or sometimes 2 key balls) the key ball allows to to get position on the 8-ball.
b) you identify the 2 balls to play leading up to the key ball
c) then you look at the table and identify the first ball you must shoot to get on table (i.e., a makeable ball that leads to better position on the second shot.
d) then decide on the pattern that takes you from making the first ball to the key ball.

So the mind set is a bit backwards from what you anticipated--you start the plan from the ending position and work backwards to the starting position. You don't worry about the middle position so much--except you have to get through it to win.

maha · Dec 24, 2018

and learn to think and not run out to the last ball or two where you then cant get out. that is the main reason weaker players lose the game.

Jimmorrison · Dec 24, 2018

FXbilliards on you tube, search 8 ball runout. The guy breaks and runs a rack. Then replays vid with voiceover. You could use donuts to recreate, then shoot it til you get it. IIRC runout requires several different styles of shape shots. Tedious to set up, but I bet it would serve you well.

KenRobbins · Dec 24, 2018

judochoke said:
I have problems finishing in 8 ball. never seem to get straight in for the last shot.
now im putting 4 balls and the 8 on the table and trying to finish nicely. seems like putting 7 balls plus the 8 is too many balls, 4 seems to be a good number for me.

any other drills I can do to help me get perfect straight shape on the 8 ball? thanks, judo

Your putting the cart before the horse. First you need a solid foundation, fundamentals. Practicing pattern play with poor fundamentals, won't get you to far. Just a quick search I found these, but there's also other unlimited resources available for free. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLbHCILPWG6XAM8e1se9ZwxDtzYmpElLUV

If you lack the desire to perfect the fundamentals, it will be less painful to jump out of an airplane without a parachute. Good luck

alstl · Dec 24, 2018

judochoke said:
I have problems finishing in 8 ball. never seem to get straight in for the last shot.
now im putting 4 balls and the 8 on the table and trying to finish nicely. seems like putting 7 balls plus the 8 is too many balls, 4 seems to be a good number for me.

any other drills I can do to help me get perfect straight shape on the 8 ball? thanks, judo

Equal offense. Balls are spread out like after an 8 ball break but you have to play shape for a 14.1 break shot.

dr_dave · Dec 24, 2018

judochoke said:
I have problems finishing in 8 ball. never seem to get straight in for the last shot.
now im putting 4 balls and the 8 on the table and trying to finish nicely. seems like putting 7 balls plus the 8 is too many balls, 4 seems to be a good number for me.

any other drills I can do to help me get perfect straight shape on the 8 ball? thanks, judo

Video Encyclopedia of Eight Ball (VEEB), especially Section 15 - End-Game Situations, which is on Volume IV.

Also check out the videos and articles on the 8-ball strategy resource page.

You might also benefit from CB control resources, including CB control drills.

Enjoy,
Dave

gregcantrall · Dec 24, 2018

I concur.

KenRobbins said:
Your putting the cart before the horse. First you need a solid foundation, fundamentals. Practicing pattern play with poor fundamentals, won't get you to far. Just a quick search I found these, but there's also other unlimited resources available for free. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLbHCILPWG6XAM8e1se9ZwxDtzYmpElLUV

If you lack the desire to perfect the fundamentals, it will be less painful to jump out of an airplane without a parachute. Good luck

This matches my thoughts.

need a good drill to be a finisher in 8 bal

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