Any tips for a beginner?

SARDiver said:

The OP's question about whether to work on things as a prelude to getting into 14.1 vs. shooting 14.1 as a means to improve got me thinking about what I have been doing.

Capelle mentions that straight pool is largely a game of 90-99% shots, meaning that should be the probability of making each shot, if you're really doing it right.

I noticed that I was attempting shots that were too difficult to fall into that 90-99% window. That told me that my cue ball control needed work. Everyone has to make a nail biter periodically to keep a run going, but it was happening too often for me. That told me that my shot selection may also need work.

However, I was also missing a fair number (25% or so) of those gimmes. That told me that there was something wrong with my shotmaking.

I reviewed Tor Lowry's videos, video taped myself, and saw that there were flaws that I have been compensating for all these years. Like a golfer who adapts to his slice when on the course, I had been working around those flaws. You can do that in 9 ball, and 8 ball to an extent. Straight pool exposed the flaws in my game.

First thing I did was make sure my fundamentals were better. Got rid of my elbow drop, fixed my stance, and above all, started staying down on the shots with a solid follow through. This helped immediately. Some long shot drills Lowry talks about were just the ticket.

My advice would be to make sure your fundamentals are good, and then stick with 14.1 with an emphasis on hitting an index card size target for the CB between shots. I'm still working to hit my 5 meter target (20 ball run), but I'm close.

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Sounds like very good advice. I have recently been working on tuning up my fundamentals after a two day session with Mark Wilson. My high run was 57 almost 8 years ago. Since then, I've had about 4 or 5 50s but nothing higher. My cue ball control has been very suspect, my fundamentals very flawed and my shot making very erratic. Hopefully, at my advanced age, I can still improve my fundamentals and maybe put together some reasonable runs.

Another, integrated and perhaps more time-saving variation on the same type of drill, with or without contacting rails, with emphasis on end pattern and break shot:

https://youtu.be/CSWkz7eWrMI

Greetings from Switzerland, David.
_________________

„J'ai gâché vingt ans de mes plus belles années au billard. Si c'était à refaire, je recommencerais.“ – Roger Conti

philly said:

In my opinion 14.1 is the king of games. It's an evolution and you will need every bridge and shot there is. Learn how to master the rake. Good luck. The toughest thing to do is figuring out how to stay at the table.

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There is a guy in Center Square Pa wants to go 50 points with you.
I do not play a lot of Straight but when I play with someone equal or a bit better it is a fun session.
I think my best advice to new player. ... Scatter 4-5 balls out in the break area and work on break patterns.

I also love the game and would like to offer some thoughts to you that I believe are very important and a necessary foundation.

First, you mention you are a lower lever league player. From that statement I have to assume you have a lot to learn physically about the game of pool and depending on how committed you are, what you get out of the game is based on what you put into it.

For the time being I would not advise you to focus on "how to play straight pool" specifically, but rather what the physics of these colliding balls is all about. Enjoy playing the game and learning about it, but your primary focus has to be basic improvement if you want to play straight pool with any level of proficiency.

For example, understanding the tangent line. understanding the effects of draw and follow on the tangent line. Understanding how speed can affect how long the CB stays on the tangent line.

Understanding how all bets are off regarding not only the standard information about the tangent line, but also accuracy, if you decide to attempt to stroke your shot slightly off parallel to the table.

Understanding the importance of a smooth, level, accelerating stroke follow through. So many newer players hear this information .... "yeah, yeah" it, and yet never experiment with accomplishing it, become proficient with it, or the experience the drastic improvement in shot accuracy it holds.

Understanding the effects of sidespin off rails, off balls, and how to execute proper position.

Straight pool is the advanced form of the game if it is played anywhere near correctly, and no matter how much material you read on the game itself, unless you can execute basic and advanced CB control the logistics of the game won't matter, and in fact may end up frustrating you more.

I've never played in a league and don't know much more about it than what the rating system was when leagues played in the poolroom I used to own years ago. Going by that ... then ... I'd say if you are a level 5 or lower you have much work to do on fundamentals and while you can certainly enjoy playing straight pool, put your efforts into developing a toolbag of stroke techniques and the ability to navigate the table.

People suggest all kinds of books so I'll put in my 2 cents. In all that has ever been done to explain the game, I still very strongly recommend you view Robert Byrnes DVDs on the physics of how the game is played. I don't think anything done to date is more complete or better presented than what Byrnes put together.

I totally agree that it is imperative to find a good instructor early. Problem being the word "good".

A good instructor should come with an oil can for your elbow, not just words. :thumbup:

P.S. And if Dennis resized his image before he posted it .... you wouldn't be scrolling to read this ...... LOL> Dennis give this a try!

3andstop said:

P.S. And if Dennis resized his image before he posted it .... you wouldn't be scrolling to read this ...... LOL> Dennis give this a try!

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No time now.

Later.

GoldCrown said:

I think my best advice to new player. ... Scatter 4-5 balls out in the break area and work on break patterns.

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Definitely DO NOT do what I used to, which is roll out all 15 balls (too lazy to rack) and start shooting.

Its not too hard to make the first say 10 balls, because no matter how poor your CB control, you will always have at least one ball to shoot at. When you get to the last 5 balls, things get much harder.

In short, I am fully agreeing with GoldCrown about starting with 4-5 balls, that will force you to work on the part of the game which is most important, most challenging and most unique to 14.1, namely transitioning from one rack to the next.

Ralph

This an offer you should not take lightly...

Bob Jewett said:

It sounds like you need to get an hour or two of lessons. First is to make sure your basics are OK, but you also need an introduction to some aspects of position play. You will be needing side spin in all games.

I'll be in your area in April, at the SBE in Valley Forge and the US Open 14.1 after with a stop at Sandcastle (in Edison) in between if you would like to get a lesson.

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michael4 said:

Definitely DO NOT do what I used to, which is roll out all 15 balls (too lazy to rack) and start shooting.

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I think that is a good exercise. Throw the balls out...take ball in hand and develop run patterns....and play for the break shot.

GoldCrown said:

There is a guy in Center Square Pa wants to go 50 points with you.
I do not play a lot of Straight but when I play with someone equal or a bit better it is a fun session.
I think my best advice to new player. ... Scatter 4-5 balls out in the break area and work on break patterns.

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Tell that guy in Center Square he's got a game if he makes it 125 points.

Great that you've become interested in 14.1 Lots of good advice on this thread. Also, sent you a PM.

Good luck with the game!

Larry Moy

Bob Jewett said:

I disagree with this. I wish I had had instruction from the point I got hooked. At the start it would have been basics but I think 14.1 strategy would have been good to know about before I ever ran a rack and a half. Things like insurance balls.

The other thing I missed when learning was the chance to see people play at a high level. The first run of 50 I ever saw was my own and that was after playing for several years. These days YouTube takes care of some of that but I think it is better to see top play in person if possible.

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Great post! I agree 1000%.

Positively Ralf said:

Oh trust me, I'm not. I appreciate all the great responses from everyone here. It's just that work got so crazy this last week and a half and I haven't been able to make contact with the people who have PM'ed me and have offered ideas in this thread.

Thanks to all and I plan on getting back to you guys soon.

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Hey, just a little off topic:

I grew up in Yonkers.We just moved my parents up to Connecticut, selling my childhood home. I have to ask, where do you play nowadays?

When I was a young boy, there was Lad and Lady. Then I used to go up to Nanuet and play at Jay's place (can't remember what it was called....long gone too). And then there was Fieldston in the Bronx, again long gone.

What's left? Do you need to drive into NYC? I remember some place on Tuckahoe Rd, and I remember not liking it for some reason.

Tips for Beginners?

Tips for beginners, La Pro!

Not really advice but a question as a novice 14.1 player. I learned the game and primary play on an oversized 8' with slow cloth and old balls. Difficult for me to string together a run over 10 balls (I know, i am a novice)

Went to a pool hall with brand new simonis on a 9' GC, aramith balls and I was running 5-12 balls at a clip regularly.

Was this mere coincidence or is this game harder on bad equipment?

alstl said:

I believe you need to reach a certain level of play before you start taking lessons or reading books. My advice would be to focusing on playing first and when you get to where you can run a couple racks the lessons/books/videos will make more sense.

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i just started reading this thread
THIS IS THE ABSOLUTE WORST ADVICE I HAVE EVER READ
jmho
you do not want to keep repeating bad habits
if your skill level isnt ready for strategy'
lessons wil help with your fundamentals
reading boooks will increase your knowledge
all good things
so you can reach that level of play alstl is talking about

Positively Ralf said:

I mainly practice in Cafe Billiards on Tuckahoe Road. And honestly, after going to Nanuet and playing at Diamind Jims, going to Astoria to play at Break Billiards, Raxx Billiards in Long Island and so on, I can see why playing at Cafe Billiards is not fun anymore.

Cafe is literally an old school pool room. It is basically a basement level room with no natural light coming in and the place has gone down over the years. Hey, $10 to play all day is an awesome deal(doesn't apply on Fridays or Saturdays) but it sucks cause they haven't reclothed any of the main tables in years(thy only re cloth ones that basically have holes in them and even then they us low quality stuff) and the balls have not been polished or washed in forever. The owner is just happy to have the only big pool room in the area and the high school crowd is always in there as it is. That and a lot of gamblers are known to frequent the room from places like manhattan and the bronx. but they don't bother noone.

I haven't been there in a month because of work but I've heard the owner may possibly be thinking of selling.

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It's coming back to me now. That place was brand new when I knew it, BTW. I'm really surprised is survived at all. I seem to remember a bunch of neon lights, and the place being packed with teeny boppers and things like that. I'll probably like it better now if it's a bit run down. I grew up playing in real pool halls, so I guess I like'em a bit less polished.

Do you remember Fieldston Billiards in Riverdale? I'm going to make you jealous. I went to Manhattan College, and lived about 5 minutes away, just behind Coyne park. I pretty much lived there, and I remember when they ripped out the bowling alley upstairs and packed the place with Gandys. Do you know that at one time, that was the largest pool hall in the United States! Now it's gone, turned into some church if I remember right, but it was awesome dropping in and playing for a couple of hours between classes.

Welcome to the wonderful world of straightpool! There are many good instructional videos, you have allready been given a link to a nice one by Mike Sigel. I highly recommend you watch that one. Mike Sigel runs the balls as well as anybody alive today, and he gives you very good information on the breakshots, which are very important.

As far as tips for playing the game, I recommend that you focus on first and foremost getting your technique in order, stance/stroke/psr. If all those are ok, I'd start focusing on running the balls.

I believe strongly in drills and structured excercises for all pool games. You dont have to spend very much time on those to get very good results. I'd spend most my practise time on a very simple drill where you throw 5 balls out randomly, run them off and try to get on a break ball. Simple drill that will teach you patterns and give you confidence. The rest of your structured excercise should be spent on shooting breakshots. If you spend a little time on these two things before you start playing, you will get a great foundation for high runs. Even if you can only get in a few minutes of this, I still think it's much better than randomly shooting balls in.

Playing the game, at the current stage of your development you should be aggressive, shoot at shots and really get into the pack to spread them wide open. In the beginning it's easy to obsess over the many technical details of patterns etc given in advanced books and videos. These things are important, but put them on the back burner for now. Don't be timid, you'll learn a lot of shots this way that will come in handy later and you'll also get practical knowledge of what is possible.Then, as you start getting up towards the 2 rack mark regularly, you can start to be a bit more deliberate. At the moment, have fun, be aggressive and try stuff out.