I set two goals for 2010 - get back to the table and post a video of a decent 14.1 run. Well, second part is still to be achieved, but I got back prastising! Please keep in mind that I haven't done that for about 20 months, and during that period of time I played 8-10 times overall. So I'm pretty satisfied with what you could see there.
I don't have a camcorder yet so I decided to shoot some video with my PDA. It worked out pretty well I would say. Sorry about the white balance though, it changes like crazy from almost blue to almost yellow
After I edited the clip (I show only good tries) I ended up with an hour of footage I wanted to present to you. Provided there is nothing really useful and no any runs, I decided to double the speed so that the viewers don't waste an hour. Geez, Tony Drago still seems faster Also you'd better watch the vids with sound on as I tried to entertain viewing a tiny bit.
Blackjack, sorry I misspelled your name in azbtv description ("d" and "s" keys are too close) and noticed it only after uploading.
Due to magnify.net upload restrictions I had to split my file in two parts.
Practice session part 1
Practice session part 2
Note I decided I will continue shooting in case of a miss every time, just to deal with a given pattern to the very end. So I don't have any run that counts for me but all I wanted so far was proper planning and execute as good as I could.
Please share your opinion on my patterns and breaks.
------------------------------------------------------------
Below I describe the video contents and provide my comments to some positions.
First part of the video features 3x3 drills explained by Blackjack in his YouTube videos (End Pattern Drill and
End Pattern Drill 2) and his 14.1 Boot Camp post.
In the second part I practice a special drill Blackjack favors. 10 balls are racked, 2 balls are potential break ball candidates, 2 other are good key balls, and one is a first shot to break the cluster.
Last, there is a 3-minute compilation of all the break shots of the session when I managed to make a ball. There is some strange pattern my cue ball follows almost every time.
Part 1
9:22 - I have no good shoth other than 8 ball, but I go with that secondary break right away because I have an insurance ball (stripe to the right corner). I get very good spread and have pretty wide shot selection but decide to play a combo. 9 and 11 were aligned very good, almost straight to the corner. I didn't play the solid ball to the left side because I wanted to save it as a potential key ball. That might have been my mistake since I had to pocket it right after an awful miss.
Part 2
2:37 - bad shape on the 1 ball. I'm forced to go one rail route instead of a stop shot and make another mistake wjile trying to restore position and play th 9 in the side. I have to play it to the corner and got much harder break shot (which I miss).
(On a side note, I think that's positions like this which drive them 9-ball players crazy about 14.1. In terms of 9-ball I didn't fail: pocketed both balls no matter how. In terms of 14.1 a tiny mistake ruined the pattern. You know people straight pool is a bery demanding game.)
12:40 - I'm unhappy about the 13-11 cluster after I make a ball. Tried to break it immediately, missed but still had an option to break it using 2 ball, Missed the cluster again nad forced to play it later having a severe close cut on 13 - and I have no shot after that! I'm forced to jump a half ball tomake the 11. Of course I use my playing cue, and I pocket the ball! Right after that I miss a gimmie...
Apparently I have to play more to return the feel and the aim, al the fundamentals. I hope that if I eliminate stupid misses I could run at least 20. My personal best is occasional 47...
What I liked about that session though is now I feel more convenient at the table, I don't feel lost every time like I did when I played 14.1 before without knowledge about patterns and other details I learnt from The Forum and John Schmidt's "How I run 100s" video.
16:32 - last part, The Break. I really have trouble controlling a cue ball, it parked on the end rail almost every time! When the cue ball was not parallel but closer to the middle of the table I was trying to hit with draw and outside English. At the same time I didn't want to blast the pack, so probably draw resulted in drag shots. Note outside English grips on the cushion and pulls the whitey further to nowhere. So I come up with no shot or very hard shot after a break.
Then, there is a shot when I scratch trying to follow the cue ball, a couple of successful follow attempts, a couple of good control examples (I hit with deep draw). On the last break the cb travelled up table to my surprise.
What am I doing wrong? Should I pay more attention to which portion of the ball in the rack the cb hits? I suppose this is the primary reason - the cb was reflected forwards by the lower portion of the ball. What is the general rule then? One is "follow on parallel cb and above, draw on below". What if I should hit with draw but hit a lower portion then?
I don't have a camcorder yet so I decided to shoot some video with my PDA. It worked out pretty well I would say. Sorry about the white balance though, it changes like crazy from almost blue to almost yellow
After I edited the clip (I show only good tries) I ended up with an hour of footage I wanted to present to you. Provided there is nothing really useful and no any runs, I decided to double the speed so that the viewers don't waste an hour. Geez, Tony Drago still seems faster
Also you'd better watch the vids with sound on as I tried to entertain viewing a tiny bit.Blackjack, sorry I misspelled your name in azbtv description ("d" and "s" keys are too close) and noticed it only after uploading.
Due to magnify.net upload restrictions I had to split my file in two parts.
Practice session part 1
Practice session part 2
Note I decided I will continue shooting in case of a miss every time, just to deal with a given pattern to the very end. So I don't have any run that counts for me but all I wanted so far was proper planning and execute as good as I could.
Please share your opinion on my patterns and breaks.
------------------------------------------------------------
Below I describe the video contents and provide my comments to some positions.
First part of the video features 3x3 drills explained by Blackjack in his YouTube videos (End Pattern Drill and
End Pattern Drill 2) and his 14.1 Boot Camp post.
In the second part I practice a special drill Blackjack favors. 10 balls are racked, 2 balls are potential break ball candidates, 2 other are good key balls, and one is a first shot to break the cluster.
Last, there is a 3-minute compilation of all the break shots of the session when I managed to make a ball. There is some strange pattern my cue ball follows almost every time.
Part 1
9:22 - I have no good shoth other than 8 ball, but I go with that secondary break right away because I have an insurance ball (stripe to the right corner). I get very good spread and have pretty wide shot selection but decide to play a combo. 9 and 11 were aligned very good, almost straight to the corner. I didn't play the solid ball to the left side because I wanted to save it as a potential key ball. That might have been my mistake since I had to pocket it right after an awful miss.
Part 2
2:37 - bad shape on the 1 ball. I'm forced to go one rail route instead of a stop shot and make another mistake wjile trying to restore position and play th 9 in the side. I have to play it to the corner and got much harder break shot (which I miss).
(On a side note, I think that's positions like this which drive them 9-ball players crazy about 14.1. In terms of 9-ball I didn't fail: pocketed both balls no matter how. In terms of 14.1 a tiny mistake ruined the pattern. You know people straight pool is a bery demanding game.)
12:40 - I'm unhappy about the 13-11 cluster after I make a ball. Tried to break it immediately, missed but still had an option to break it using 2 ball, Missed the cluster again nad forced to play it later having a severe close cut on 13 - and I have no shot after that! I'm forced to jump a half ball tomake the 11. Of course I use my playing cue, and I pocket the ball! Right after that I miss a gimmie...
Apparently I have to play more to return the feel and the aim, al the fundamentals. I hope that if I eliminate stupid misses I could run at least 20. My personal best is occasional 47...
What I liked about that session though is now I feel more convenient at the table, I don't feel lost every time like I did when I played 14.1 before without knowledge about patterns and other details I learnt from The Forum and John Schmidt's "How I run 100s" video.
16:32 - last part, The Break. I really have trouble controlling a cue ball, it parked on the end rail almost every time! When the cue ball was not parallel but closer to the middle of the table I was trying to hit with draw and outside English. At the same time I didn't want to blast the pack, so probably draw resulted in drag shots. Note outside English grips on the cushion and pulls the whitey further to nowhere. So I come up with no shot or very hard shot after a break.
Then, there is a shot when I scratch trying to follow the cue ball, a couple of successful follow attempts, a couple of good control examples (I hit with deep draw). On the last break the cb travelled up table to my surprise.
What am I doing wrong? Should I pay more attention to which portion of the ball in the rack the cb hits? I suppose this is the primary reason - the cb was reflected forwards by the lower portion of the ball. What is the general rule then? One is "follow on parallel cb and above, draw on below". What if I should hit with draw but hit a lower portion then?
