14-1, gonna improve my highest break

Roy Steffensen

Roy Steffensen

locksmith
Silver Member
Today I practised a new version of a straight pool game.

Rack 15 balls, break the balls hard with cueball in the kitchen, and start with ball in hand and try to run out all 15 balls. Don't think of leaving a breakball, just run out. Then rerack, break them up, start with ball in hand.

I did this 30 times and my results were so bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad that I will not even post them here.

I played for 8 hours today. I did also take a test with many different drills, and played probably the worst pool I've played for months.

The good thing about this day is that I got so mad on myself that it motivated myself for improving my 14-1 game. This is by far my weakest game, mostly because I lack the patience which is needed to check all angels.

I play ok 9-ball and 10-ball and my favourite game is one - pocket. I hate 14-1 when playing bad, and think it is only ok when playing good. I have never liked the game really much, probably because it is so easy to see my weaknesses in it... :o

But now I have decided to improve my highest run of 49, and after the Norwegian 9-ball Championship this coming weekend, I will only play 14-1 for 2 weeks, or drills related to 14-1. I normally practise for 3-5 hours average each day, so will get plenty of time to get some runs.

Please feel free to give me some good drills or advices before I entering these 2 weeks in "hell" ;)
 
One good drill is to take ball-in-hand with the cue ball and to place it anywhere in your palm, then to drill it into your forehead repeatedly. It really opens up your game once you master it.

I think what I mean is I feel your pain. I think I'll try practicing 14.1 more also.
 
Roy Steffensen said:
Today I practised a new version of a straight pool game.

Rack 15 balls, break the balls hard with cueball in the kitchen, and start with ball in hand and try to run out all 15 balls. Don't think of leaving a breakball, just run out. Then rerack, break them up, start with ball in hand.

I did this 30 times and my results were so bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad that I will not even post them here.

I played for 8 hours today. I did also take a test with many different drills, and played probably the worst pool I've played for months.

The good thing about this day is that I got so mad on myself that it motivated myself for improving my 14-1 game. This is by far my weakest game, mostly because I lack the patience which is needed to check all angels.

I play ok 9-ball and 10-ball and my favourite game is one - pocket. I hate 14-1 when playing bad, and think it is only ok when playing good. I have never liked the game really much, probably because it is so easy to see my weaknesses in it... :o

But now I have decided to improve my highest run of 49, and after the Norwegian 9-ball Championship this coming weekend, I will only play 14-1 for 2 weeks, or drills related to 14-1. I normally practise for 3-5 hours average each day, so will get plenty of time to get some runs.

Please feel free to give me some good drills or advices before I entering these 2 weeks in "hell" ;)
Click to expand...

IMHO - based on a guess of your overall pool skills, what you need to
get familliar with is...Paterns, paterns and, paterns.

Running balls<making a break> in 14.1 requires a precision you just
don't see in 9 Ball.

One Pocket Alert:
some good news here - developing the ability to open up clusters
and shooting thru tight paterns should help immensely with
your one pocket game.

BTW - on balance, IMHO One POcket demands much more
patience than 14.1

Dale
 
This is my contention regarding the games of pool and why pool is such a wonderful game. Agree or not, these are my feelings.

Nine ball and Ten ball are relatively finite games in terms of testing ones ability to play pool when compared to straight pool.

Excelling in nine ball merely scraps the tip of the iceberg and ..... if you are not aware of the wonders of 14.1 you can easily be fooled into thinking you (you being a generic term) are a great player.

Straight pool is a humbling experience to say the least. Nine ball is the exploration of you home town roads whereas 14.1 is the exploration of outer space. The possibilities are infinite. Runs can go on theoretically forever as can layouts.

Running nine balls (actually 8 or less after a successful break) hardly touches on the intricacies of the game.

I think its wonderful to read that the game has captivated you. You will be a much better player for it. :)
 
pdcue said:
BTW - on balance, IMHO One POcket demands much more
patience than 14.1

Dale
Click to expand...

I don't feel that One Pocket is not just another pool game, it's something more, something more worthy. I'll never have lack of patience by playing that game :)

I agree with you what you said about paterns. I have almost never played any 14-1, and I know that 14-1 will improve my overall poolskills, so it's actually pretty stupid not to start with it as soon as possible...

But first, 9-ball tournament this weekend, then only 14-1 for 14 days. Will be great. (I hope)
 
3andstop said:
This is my contention regarding the games of pool and why pool is such a wonderful game. Agree or not, these are my feelings.

Nine ball and Ten ball are relatively finite games in terms of testing ones ability to play pool when compared to straight pool.

Excelling in nine ball merely scraps the tip of the iceberg and ..... if you are not aware of the wonders of 14.1 you can easily be fooled into thinking you (you being a generic term) are a great player.

Straight pool is a humbling experience to say the least. Nine ball is the exploration of you home town roads whereas 14.1 is the exploration of outer space. The possibilities are infinite. Runs can go on theoretically forever as can layouts.

Running nine balls (actually 8 or less after a successful break) hardly touches on the intricacies of the game.

I think its wonderful to read that the game has captivated you. You will be a much better player for it. :)
Click to expand...

that was deep
steven
 
Roy,

Try these. They force you to split up the pack, and to practice your primary break shots - and secondary break shots. Let me know how it goes.

Practicedrill1.gif


Practicedrill2-1.gif
 
another nice drill

how's it going?

I have a nice drill for You:
Just spread 15 Balls on half a table and try running them...if You start feeling comfortable with it, move to a quarter of the table. This will improve your positional play and straight pool patterns big deal.
 
what people dont realise is how tough 14-1 really is, id definately say its the hardest out of 9 ball 10 ball and one pocket pool, as its precision pool which takes a high level of concentration and not patience(unless someone else is making a monster run)! While playing try and think a few shots ahead and when the rack opens up a bit think about what ball/balls cud be used for the breakshot! This needs to be done to achieve the high runs. Set yourself sum targets and look to slowly improve at 14-1, although you might not see a huge improvement in 14-1 you'll definately notice it in other areas.

I havent really played for about 4 yrs and only just started to practice properly again in the last week! i know it will take me at least two months of hard practice to be consistant enough to try and break my highest run (237) crossed fingers il hopefully be taking over a club soon. if that happens il definately be practising more and will put some clips up on the net!!

Will advice you to practice straight pool for some of your preparation for the tournament as it definately helps, but be sure to play sum 9 ball aswell a few days b4 the tournament to remind yourself of playing paterns. eg running out racks in sequence and then the usual breaking, kicks and jumps.

"practice makes you better not perfect";)

All the best and good luck

R114

P.s. theres a nice T.Hohmann vs Allen Hopkins 14-1 match on propoolvideo.com can learn a thing or two from watching those guys play!! both have different styles of playing but class acts!! :cool:
 
Krisz said:
how's it going?QUOTE]

It's NOT going at all... If Stevie Wonder decides to take up 14-1 I will not play him!!!

This week I have played drills to improve my small position play, and I am doing well, and I have played a lot of 14-1. I have infact played more pool than normal this week, and man, I have never been so mad as I am this week... Coincidence? I guess not...:confused:

I have played 17 straightpool-matches, and won 8 of them. I have in fact made exactly 1600 balls in 14-1 this week, and my average run is 5,24... My highest run is 33, and my average high run in all matches is 17,38.

Today I decided to play 30 innings and see how many balls I made. I made 211, and had 20 as highest run. Average of 7,03.

I just don't get it. If I have 7 balls clustered in the rack, and I am playing one-pocket I will most likely find a way to run them, and stay focused. Playing straightpool I will hit the rail on the first shot.

I just don't know what to do... When I miss an easy shot in 9-ball, 10-ball, one-pocket or 8-ball, I don't lose my focus or concentration, but when it happens in 14-1 I get so mad. Infact, after a 14-1 session I am normally mad for hours after I quit playing.

I can see progress in my game when doing drills, playing the ghost, recording myself ++, but I just can't find the magic in 14-1.

Maybe I should just accept that 14-1 is not my game, and keep doing the things that I see progress in? (But I know that if I improve in 14-1 I will imrpove in total....)

Please help me, I'm desperate!!!
Click to expand...
 
Isn't weird that players that I am "scared" of playing a 14-1 match against, I will gladly give the 7 to in 9-ball, or play 10 - 7 in one-pocket? I can run 5 runouts in 9-ball in a match race to 9, but can't do 2 racks in 14-1...

I think I am going to become the DCP of the 14-1 forum... I AM HAVING BAD ROLLS, ALL THE TIME :D (But I promise to only use 1 thread though)
 
honestly fella keep at it!!! watch that video i talked about in my previous comment (both previous world champs i believe) you will learn alot by watching them and then trying to recreate it in the practice room, think about quality of your practice not quantity and stop worrying things will come good,

Slow everything down and try concentrating on your pre shot routine for every shot, eg walk in,stance think about where the white needs to be the next shot etc etc until it becomes second nature!!! when it does youve still gotta work hard for it! Dont beat yourself up as every1 has bad days at the office at some point even the top players for one reason or another!

i personally had a love hate relationship with the game a few yrs back! loved it when things were going good, hated it and go crazy when things were bad (quenten hann/ strickland) style, stopped playing for yrs then grew up realised what an idiot i was being and realised that nothing comes easy in the game and youve gotta work really hard and keep working even when things are going bad!

two of the best lessons i learnt and try my best too do at all times are:

1:when you play a bad shot wipe it from your mind and concentrate on the next shot or when given your next oppertunity!!!

2: Always think positively on a shot! even if your screwed eg if i play this well ive got a great chance of winning or getting back into the game etc etc
insted of if i miss this shot or play it badly the other guy/woman is going to win


"Form is temporary, Class is Permanent"

All the best fella

R114
 
don't be mad at it. Part of it is you have big expectations of yourself, everyone thinks even an average player should be able to run 50 often... but it's not true.

Think of it this way... you average almost 8 balls run every time you step up to the table, and that includes safeties and dealing with a clustered rack and not having an easy opening smash.

If you average 8 balls every time you step up to the table in 8 ball, you'd be the god of pool :)

Little runs of 20 and so are nothing to get mad about. Every time you run 20 and have a clear path, step away for a second then pretend you're coming back to the table for the first time, determined to run a bunch of balls, and see if you can do 20 again.
 
Very well said, CreeDo.

@Roy:
Just in case, You didn't know:
Oliver Ortmann (I guess You've heard of him...;-) ) has an average run of 16.72 over the past two years in the German Bundesliga, and if You ask me, he is out of competition for most humans in straight pool.
I've seen him run 60-something and out in about 5 minutes!

I'm not quite sure, what You are capable of in other games, but I haven't heard of You as a world beater so far and Your numbers are not bad at all, considering You never played straight pool much.

1600 balls in straight pool...in a week...well, I've had days with more than that back in the days of school...;-)
Today, I'd give a lot, to have that much time for pool...
 
for many different reasons I haven't been able to play much pool lately, and the little I have played have been against female players :)

I beat Ine Helvik one week ago, former Norwegian 14-1 Champion for women, 75 - 72. Both played bad, and my highest run was 14 :((

Yesterday I played a long battle with Line Kjorsvik, former European 14-1 Champion for women, and lost 200 - 89 I think it was. High run of 20.

Today me and Line started a 100 ahead session in Straight pool, and I will get 2 points for each ball I make.

Was pretty cool, first time I have really enjoyed 14-1, because I felt I had a chance to beat her.

She did a 56 run and after 5 innings she had 94 balls, but after 9 innings I had 138 points and Line 136 :D

After about 2,5 hours of play we both played badly, so we stopped at 238 - 205 in her favour. Gonna continue on the match another day, after all it's high stake. Winner gets a Pepsi :D

(I have enjoyed playing straight pool only 2 times, both against Line. Today, and when I did 49 against her and won 75 - something. Guess I need to practise more with her)

Anyway, Norwegian 14-1 Championship this weekend.
 
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