Honestly, I'm REALLY fed up with straightpool.

i average about one 20-35 ball run in a race to a hundred, rarely more, often less. it helped me to just play the game and let the runs happen, rather than to just keep expecting it every time you get to the table. i think it gets overlooked at how much more there is to 14.1 than just running out. just play the game. for me personally running x amount and then playing safe will get me in stroke much quicker than trying a hail mary shot praying that the 16 ball run i'm on turns into 50 or higher. maybe i missed the point completely, i'm awful adept at that. i'm sorry if i didn't address your point.

justin.

it's not the exact same thing, but it seems related in my head.

When I'm in a slump, I find myself trying to get out of it over and over and over. It causes me to think about every single shot. And when I miss, I beat myself up about it.

The best "trick" that I've found to get out of a slump is to stop trying to get out of it. Just simply play the game and the dead stroke will come to you... don't chase the rainbow sorta thing.


I could tell a story about this as a comparison sorta thing, but it'd just bore you... so never mind.

Sire, I don't mean to sound cold but join the group. You, sir, are not alone with that frustration. I ran a 47 last night but there were plenty of 2's and 3's before and after it. Only thing you can do is work on your problem areas, like Bob said. Don't wait for them to come up in practice. I don't have the patience to sit at the table and practice for long amounts of time *BUT* I can prctice break shots over and over until I'm blue in the face. I don't know why but the various 14.1 break shots really intrique me. Even if I don't run out I want people to at least say "He's gotta pretty good break........too bad he can't make shit after it though" hehehehe!!!

Yeah, watching the pros play can be pretty disheartening but you just have to remember that they are pros. When it looks so easy then you know they are doing something fantastic. Personally, out of all the pros I've watched play straight pool Jim Rempe seems to be my overall favorite and, hate to say it, Reyes is my least favorite. Reyes' straight pool doesn't look like classic straight pool. God love the guy, he's one of my favorite pros, but his straight pool doesn't sit right with me.....even though he's frickin' great at it. I just prefer someone like Rempe when it comes to straights.
MULLY

Sire380 said:

The thing about it too is that I miss the easiest shots that I would never miss playing 8 or 9 ball. It's almost like my stroke inadvertantly changes and I lose all of my mechanics and start steering the cue stick. I just can't concentrate on the shot when there is so much traffic and I know that I'm going to have to go into balls.

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If going into balls makes you nervous then you need to practice that. 9 ball is a very different game, so you can't expect to be as good at 14.1 as you are at 9 ball. It seems like an easy game, but it really isn't -- you have to give it due respect. You have to shoot the balls in a logical order, and go into clusters the right way (and at the right time). If you don't know these things, it will be a lot harder to make big runs.

Good luck!

Dan White said:

If going into balls makes you nervous then you need to practice that. 9 ball is a very different game, so you can't expect to be as good at 14.1 as you are at 9 ball. It seems like an easy game, but it really isn't -- you have to give it due respect. You have to shoot the balls in a logical order, and go into clusters the right way (and at the right time). If you don't know these things, it will be a lot harder to make big runs.

Good luck!

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You know, you make a great point here. 9-ball and straight pool are two very different beasts, but in time you will find things within each game that you can use from the other. Even though I still have a ton of 2's, 3's, 5's etc... I find that I'm missing balls that I would almost never miss playing 9-ball. I think the biggest part of that is confusion. I'm still new to 14.1 and I'm learning so many new things about it. I'll get good solid runs now and then but for the most part I'm favored to run up to the end of the rack, possibly make the break and then shit out from there. But, I've learned a lot about making positions to break small clusters of balls. I've learned how to go into those clusters with confidence and the necessary speed so they don't go flying all over the table. With that in mind, recently when I'm playing 9-ball I find myself seeing clusters, when they appear, and instantly seeing how I'm going to break them up. I've found myself saying in my head "Sure, go ahead and leave those balls locked up, I play straight pool, this is par for the course for me".
MULLY

Sire380 said:

Believe me, I have the utmost respect for the game. Come to think of it, talking about going in to balls. I think I'm shooting too hard when I go in to clusters therefore severely lowering my accuracy.

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It goes a lot further than just hitting the balls too hard. Straight pool requires a different mindset than most other games. I have a student that shares your frustration. I have introduced him to the importance of drills that require intricate cue ball movement.

Most players try to play 9 ball-ish position while playing straight pool. You might get away with that on the first 13 balls, but when you get down to the key shot, you had better have gotten a stop shot, or an easy 1-2 rail position shot - or you will end up in BIG trouble.

Use the "Brainwash" drill (tossing out 15 balls and pocketing them without hitting any rails). This will force you to use stop shots, minimal draw, minimal follow - you'll learn how to "snip" balls in.

Also, practice end patterns. Leave 4-5 balls on the table that are set up where you can shoot them all in using stop shots to eventually get on your break ball. Do this over and over and then look for these patterns when you are running balls. Find ways to land on what I call "Triangle" and "Box" end patterns. I have some diagrams I can send you via e-mail. Just send a PM, or do a search on "end patterns" in this forum.

PRACTICE DIFFERENT BREAK SHOTS.

Most runs end because players don't set up for the correct break shot, or they just miss the ball.

Also, don't think you are alone in your frustration. I started out the year back in January shooting some awesome straight pool. I shot in 120, 163, I was making runs of 8 racks or more like it was easy. I had taken a few months off from teaching others, and I concentrated all of my energy on my own game. I was practicing 6-8 hours every day.

Well... that ended. I couldn't afford not to teach.

Since then, I have had a 109, an 84, and everything else has been below that. I haven't run over 60 in almost 2 weeks. If you get with John Schmidt and Danny Harriman, they will tell you the same thing that I am going to tell -

You won't run big numbers every time you play 14.1 - but you will learn a lot by using this game as the foundation for your practice sessions.

If you need any ideas for practice, get with me.

I know the fustration

mullyman said:

You know, you make a great point here. 9-ball and straight pool are two very different beasts, but in time you will find things within each game that you can use from the other. Even though I still have a ton of 2's, 3's, 5's etc... I find that I'm missing balls that I would almost never miss playing 9-ball. I think the biggest part of that is confusion. I'm still new to 14.1 and I'm learning so many new things about it. I'll get good solid runs now and then but for the most part I'm favored to run up to the end of the rack, possibly make the break and then shit out from there. But, I've learned a lot about making positions to break small clusters of balls. I've learned how to go into those clusters with confidence and the necessary speed so they don't go flying all over the table. With that in mind, recently when I'm playing 9-ball I find myself seeing clusters, when they appear, and instantly seeing how I'm going to break them up. I've found myself saying in my head "Sure, go ahead and leave those balls locked up, I play straight pool, this is par for the course for me".
MULLY

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I have recently become intrigued with straight pool as well. I know the feeling...missing easy balls and then sitting down and wondering how in the hell I can miss something that easy. I play mostly one pocket and a little 9 ball when no one is around that wants to play 1P. What gets me is I have played 1P and occasionally after running 8 and out have proceeded to run 13 or 14. But give me all the pockets and I become a 2-5 ball goof. I have noticed that I play more timid when playing 14.1. I think that may be my problem with the easy balls, along with over analyzing the situation. If I was going to give anyone any advice on the game it would be to find someone who both plays the game well and doesn't mind playing cheap sets. I play 14.1 with an older gentleman here who used to play some exhibitions in NY with Mosconi. He has told me some great stories, and has been TRYING to teach me some patterns, along with getting my $. He leaves with a little more $ and I leave with a little better understanding of the game and how to move.

Mark

Blackjack said:

Most players try to play 9 ball-ish position while playing straight pool.

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This is the biggest problem I've encountered in my game and in others who learned by playing 9-ball. In 9-ball you can get away with zone position and safeties when you're out of line. Straight pool requires much finer shape. Old habits die hard.

Have to agree there

tsw_521 said:

This is the biggest problem I've encountered in my game and in others who learned by playing 9-ball. In 9-ball you can get away with zone position and safeties when you're out of line. Straight pool requires much finer shape. Old habits die hard.

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Definitely have to agree with that, position needs to be much more precise when playing 14.1. Unless you just like running into your break ball and ruining everything or trying to avoid the break ball and missing the easy shot This is usually followed by the same sitting position wondering what happened while your opponent is drilling you.

Mark

This has been mentioned before, recently, in this section of the forum. If you play a lot of 9 ball, you may want to look at the physical mechanics of how long your bridge is and how far back on the butt your stroking hand is. As someone else already said, Straight pool is a completely different animal than 9 ball, or even 8 ball. I've seen veteran 8 ball players who can't run a rack in Straight pool because of the mind set.
You might want to try some Equal Offense or Fargo.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHj6KUw8xzE

Score Sheet: http://pool.fojavi.com/fargo_sheet.pdf

Hope this helps. Stick it out, you won't be sorry.

I agree with what everyone has said here. I just have a couple of things to add.

First of all, I'm a lazy practicer. My cueball control isn't as good as it needs to be to run 100s. If you point at a spot on the table for me to hit, I'll get within a foot and a half on average. I've seen people practice position by laying out a dollar bill. That's the kind of control I think that runs 100s. I think getting into the habit of picking an exact spot on the table to land on is one we all need to ingrain. It's so easy to get lazy and sloppy, and all the time we are ingraining laziness and sloppiness. I think if we diligently focused on this while we played, we would learn more precisely where the cueball goes as a side effect. It has to sharpen us up.

Also,
If you can run out racks of 9-ball, you can most certainly run more than 20 balls in straight pool with the following mindset. I'm not suggesting it's the way to think if you want to run 100s, because you will get trapped at some point because the balls have to cooperate. But when I think this way, runs over 20 come very often.

Before you shoot any shot think of only one thing, "Where is the safest place to put the cueball so that I have more than one shot to choose from on the next play?"

You empty your mind of all but insurance. You don't save break balls. You don't plan your end pattern. You only want to be aware of zones that have options available. When you're down to about 4 balls left in a rack, you choose the best one available for a break shot. It may not be ideal, but if it allows you to touch the rack, it may be all you need to string a couple or a few racks together.

Running balls this way gives me easier shots to play. No heroics necessary in order to preserve patterns. There's also very little brain energy required, so you don't worry and focus only on shotmaking and easy position.

Since the shots and the position play are going to be easy, you can be confident that there's no reason not to run a couple of racks just based on odds alone.

bluepepper said:

Before you shoot any shot think of only one thing, "Where is the safest place to put the cueball so that I have more than one shot to choose from on the next play?"

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I like this idea for a 9-ball player just starting the transition to straight pool. Once playing for insurance becomes second-nature, you can start to layer on more advanced pattern play, like key-ball/break-ball setups.

I've never had a run over 30 myself. Like you I used to get frustrated when my runs would end with some ridiculously low number. I couldn't understand why I could run 8 balls in 8-ball when I had half the balls to choose from and the other half blocking the way.

One day I decided to set up a break ball, break the rack like straight pool then run out one suit first. (solids vs. stripes), once that suit was down move on to the second suit and set up for a break shot.

After playing this way for a few weeks, I went back to shooting at everyball and able to have runs over 14 on a more regular basis.

The lesson I learned from it was that just because there were more options available to shoot at doesn't mean there are more right options, planning and focus was still necessary to be succesful.

SGM

Sire380 said:

I'm just absolutely, positively frustrated and I can't seem to get any runs going. There has got to be something I'm doing wrong. My high run is 18 and believe me I know how embarrassing it is to even call it that. It could be a number of things.

Perhaps it's the balls not being clean enough, or the cloth on the table or me putting too much pressure on myself to run a decent number. Maybe its me playing by myself with no competition. It just seems that I always get stuck a quarter of an inch behind a ball or the balls just don't break up right or something. I'm just not sure what I'm doing wrong. Believe me, not to be pretentious but I'm a pretty solid 9 ball player. I'm just wondering why this game is SOOO difficult.

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dont worry about it, i havent ever ran 10 balls, i can run a 4 pack playing 9B when my back is ok, over 50 points on a 12' snooker box, 8 and out playing 1P but i havent cracked 10 playing 14.1, it is just impossible for me, 100% impossible, I just go on tilt when I see all those balls and start with one idea and have 5 more ideas get confused and miss, the game simpally isnt for me, kinda like spelling I'm a smart guy and cant spell, i'm a solid player and cant play 14.1, i play games I CAN play..