How do I stop touching my balls?

Floppage said:

Sorry but it was too obvious of a joke to pass up.

OK, so here's a question that I don't see asked very often so I'll create a new thread.

I noticed that the Open has a "foul on all balls" rule. As a beginner, I find that I do actually bump other balls on the table from time to time. Obviously, it's not something I'm trying to do but when bridging over a ball or very close to another ball I do have a bad habit of bumping a ball with the my arm or bridge hand every now and then. In most leagues and tournaments I have played in, you simply tell the opponent and they have the option to leave it or put it back. However, it's always embarrassing and now it looks like if I played in a bigger tournament it might be a foul.

Are there any techniques or pre-shot routine steps that you take to prevent hitting balls as much? Should I try actually bridging my hand without the cue in a spot to make sure I'm clear of other balls before setting up my shot?

Is it just an experience and confidence issue?

Any suggestions are appreciated.

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Floppage said:

Sorry but it was too obvious of a joke to pass up.

OK, so here's a question that I don't see asked very often so I'll create a new thread.

I noticed that the Open has a "foul on all balls" rule. As a beginner, I find that I do actually bump other balls on the table from time to time. Obviously, it's not something I'm trying to do but when bridging over a ball or very close to another ball I do have a bad habit of bumping a ball with the my arm or bridge hand every now and then. In most leagues and tournaments I have played in, you simply tell the opponent and they have the option to leave it or put it back. However, it's always embarrassing and now it looks like if I played in a bigger tournament it might be a foul.

Are there any techniques or pre-shot routine steps that you take to prevent hitting balls as much? Should I try actually bridging my hand without the cue in a spot to make sure I'm clear of other balls before setting up my shot?

Is it just an experience and confidence issue?

Any suggestions are appreciated.

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Floppage said:

I do have relatively small hands so bridging over balls is kind of a hassle. My instructor is pretty good and has been working with me but I don't always think it's a form thing. I think what gets me in trouble is going to bridge, feeling like it's too far or too close to the cue ball and then adjusting, adjusting poorly and re-adjusting, and so on. I will bring it up with my instructor again but I was just curious if anyone else experienced that same issue. I don't hear about it all that often so I wasn't sure if it was just me.

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FranCrimi said:

How many hours have you practiced shooting with all ball fouls? You may think I'm not being very helpful about this but you have to do the work.

Why do people not want to do the work anymore? Unless you're a child, your hands will be large enough to keep you from touching other balls.

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Floppage said:

Honestly, until very recently I had no idea there were tournaments where that was a foul. 10 months ago all I knew about pool was that it was in a Tom Cruise movie so I'm still picking up details. I was reading the Open rules when I found out that some tournaments make it a foul.

I played a number of games last night pretending it was a foul and being a lot more careful about setting up my bridge hand and what I did immediately after the shot. I touched a ball at one point but it didn't move but I looked up at my opponent right away and he just shook his head "no".

And I appreciate the advice but assuming that I am asking about this because I don't put in the work is a little condescending. Outside of league, tournaments and friendly games at the bar, I practice about 15 hours a week right now running drills and doing the "homework" from my pool class. I have gone from no pool at all to the league director basically telling me my "c" status is about to go bye-bye, all during the span of less than a year so I understand what it means to work. I asked the question not to avoid working but to see if anyone had any drills or techniques they found effective. It seems like the best way to handle this gap in my game is to just assume in my head it's always a foul, even in a friendly game and start being more disciplined.

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Floppage said:

For now, my approach to getting past this is going to be to suggest during friendly games that we play all balls foul for awhile just to help me get past it. Most of the people I have been playing are much better and don't seem to object to that much..

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Floppage said:

Honestly, until very recently I had no idea there were tournaments where that was a foul. 10 months ago all I knew about pool was that it was in a Tom Cruise movie so I'm still picking up details. I was reading the Open rules when I found out that some tournaments make it a foul.

I played a number of games last night pretending it was a foul and being a lot more careful about setting up my bridge hand and what I did immediately after the shot. I touched a ball at one point but it didn't move but I looked up at my opponent right away and he just shook his head "no".

And I appreciate the advice but assuming that I am asking about this because I don't put in the work is a little condescending. Outside of league, tournaments and friendly games at the bar, I practice about 15 hours a week right now running drills and doing the "homework" from my pool class. I have gone from no pool at all to the league director basically telling me my "c" status is about to go bye-bye, all during the span of less than a year so I understand what it means to work. I asked the question not to avoid working but to see if anyone had any drills or techniques they found effective. It seems like the best way to handle this gap in my game is to just assume in my head it's always a foul, even in a friendly game and start being more disciplined.

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Floppage said:

I am not trying to be ungrateful or disrespectful but her comments in this thread were a little less than helpful.

"How many hours have you practiced shooting with all ball fouls? You may think I'm not being very helpful about this but you have to do the work.

Why do people not want to do the work anymore? Unless you're a child, your hands will be large enough to keep you from touching other balls."

Without even bothering to ask me what I had or had not tried she asked the question "why do people not want to do the work anymore?"

To me, regardless of her accomplishments, that felt condescending.

At the beginning of the thread I pointed out that I didn't even know there was such a thing as all balls foul. In the leagues and tournaments I had played in so far the rule was simply that you had to notify your opponent and let them decide whether to put the ball back or leave it. So my question was out of ignorance and not laziness.

In the 10 months since I discovered and have tried to embrace pool I am shocked at the number of times I get jaded answers from more experienced players. So many people ask why pool is struggling these days and from my perspective, it is the attitude that beginners encounter getting into it that is wrong with pool. NO ONE is going to fix pool from the top down. If you want more money in pool it is only going to come as new money.

In my lifetime, as an adult, I have taken up violin, tennis, golf and distance running. In all cases, taken years of lessons or group training and practiced/rehearsed for hours and hours and in all cases found the industry and community in those activities to be open, helpful and at least gave beginners the benefit of the doubt. All of them shared one common understanding: the bills are paid by beginners and not experts.

For many beginners, that is not the experience they get in pool at all. For me, I have been very fortunate to have found an instructor in my area from the very beginning to help smooth out the rough edges for me but I feel bad for anyone else trying to get into it who does not have that advantage.

I don't know Fran and I certainly didn't mean to alienate or offend her but if I ask for advice on a topic I had just suddenly encountered I certainly didn't expect to be told to just put in more work with no suggestions on drills or approaching practice a different way.

For what it's worth, since this post I have been playing "all ball fouls" more in friendly games and in certain drills I have tried to be more careful and deliberate in how I set my bridge hand down and what happens after the shot. I feel like I do touch the balls less accidentally now. I didn't have to "put in the work" as much as I just needed to apply that mindset to the work I had already been putting in.

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Floppage said:

No offense taken. I was simply explaining why I replied to her stating that it felt condescending.

I get that there is a pecking order on forums and I am at the bottom of it here but at some point I think there is a line and I'm not afraid to step up and call someone out when I feel like they are crossing it a bit.

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