I totally forgot about it, but i hit over the 2000th post, so i feel i have to give something back for all the hours spend on this forum.
I wont post a thank you list. I did that on the 1000th post, so i'll try to post something constructive, that might be helpfull for everyone.
Here are some tips that have made me a better player. This is just my 2c, and feel free to try them or ignore them as you wish
I'll start with my favorit game : straight pool.
TIPS/ADVICE:
1/ Learn to master inside english on the breakshot. I never thought it would make a difference, but i have been comparing breakshots with outside and inside english and i was AMAZED about the difference i got. I can't explain it, but it just does. Setup the same breakshot up , hit it 5 times with outside, and 5 times with inside. Take a picture of how the balls are spread each time and compare.
2/ for easy runouts:
A/ identify the breakball, and clear the balls around it ASAP. There shouldnt be a ball in the area (3balls wide) around it.
B/ Clearing the balls that are located in the triangle. is the second thing you should think about anything else. (VERY often there will be 2 balls close to eachother. Learn to pot one of them and using topspin to bump the other one out of the triangle gently transforming it from a problem ball into a breakball. (
3/ general tips.
A/ When you use a secondary breakshot, dont just use any ball. look at what rail the balls are closest to. Try to use a breakball close to this rail so to push the balls away from the rail. When opening a pack, try to touch only one ball (so you know where the cb will be going), and chose the ball that will open most of the balls. Each pack has a weak spot. Find it.
B/ Good secondanry breakballs are ideally : cb on the end rail and cb traveling upwards after contact. This will push the balls higher on the table instead of the side rail when cb is in middle of table and potting a ball in the corner, and cb travels in the pack pushing the pack closer to the rail.
C/ on the breakball, learn to identify the correct speed to play the shot. If you hit it to hard, the balls will just go to the siderail and bounce right back in the triangle.
D/ My favorit main breakshot is a high ball. Not the cb going into the side of the rack. But a breakball lying CLOSE to the toprow of the traingle, and cb hitting one of the 2 balls full in the face.
E/ never pot a ball that is a perfect insurance ball for a secondary breakshot.
4/ if your cb has to travel small distances (0.5-2cb distances), dont roll the ball in, but use a harder stroke. Learn to play the same positions using a stop/stunshot. Slowroling a ball is always dangerous. (ball can role off)
GERENAL THINGS THAT HAVE MADE ME PLAY BETTER:
A/ Quiet eye technique. If you don't know what i'm talking about, do a search on this forum and read the article. Most important thing to remember. If you look at things, you have to look at it for at LEAST 2 seconds, before your brain can fully grasp all the info the image can give it. 2seconds is alot longer then you think. if for example you are swapping your eyes from OB contact point to tip position, to pocket etc, you need to look at each point focused for 2seconds at least/ Also find your own EYE PRESHOT PATTERN, and look at how the 3d image changes when bending down. You need to absorb the image while bending down !! The bending movement and the images it gets when doing so are SO important
B/ STAY DOWN after the shot. from the post that was made about it, the best advice that worked for me was: imagine that there is a chainsaw right above your head, that only disapears when all balls are stopped moving
C/ BASICS. A repeatable straight forward stroke with no side movement at all, is SO much harder then most would think. I play 30-50 straight in , table lenght, cb and ob 1inch from the side rail, every day.
D/ Play one handed. I do this alot (1h/day before every training session) and i advice it to everyone. What it will learn, is that if your stroke is perfectly straight, you don't even need a bridgehand. I can pot long table straight in shots one handed like no one else can. When im missing balls, its usually because my stroke is not perfect straight, and best way to check this, is to play some shots one handed straight in. When im playing 2 handed, i always imagine that my bridgehand is not there and im playing one handed. It makes me focus on a straight delivery.
E/ BHE, BACK HAND ENGLISH, BHE, BACK HAND ENGLSIH, BHE..... The most powerfull weapon for those hard recovery shots where alot of side, speed etc is needed.
F/ try to NEVER USE BHE :grin:. Meaning, learn to play the same positions with tipplacement in the vertical line true the center of the CB.
H/ Accelerate true the cueball, and try to maximise the time your tip is in contact with the CB. I don't know if it actually contacts longer, but if i do so, the hit just feels better, the stroke is better, and im missing less balls. (accelerating and increasing tipcontact with CB are related i think)
I/ Think before playing, and play without thinking. (dont remember who rote it, but that says it all)
J/ Visualise what you are planning. (especially the path of the cb. If you want the cb to be in a certain place, imagine there is a golden ball at that place, and you want to just softly touch it. it will increase your cb controle.
K/ doing everything i said above, for EVERY SHOT, EVERY TIME. if not, it wont work
L/ Enoy the game and eliminate every possible negative thought from a miss.
A miss is something positive !!!!!! even more then a good pot or a good run out. You can't learn anything if it all went perfect. The information you can get from a miss, is crucial information (if you also use this information to do something with it)
M/ if the safety is as difficult as the pot, go for the pot. Dont play the pot to hard so the ob wont travel to much (more predictable) and place the cb so you wont leave anything in case you do miss. or in other words. MAny think there are only 2 options: safety or pot, but there is a third. A Shot to nothing. Don't underestimate the power of this option. Find it, because it will always be there. When i'm playing players who are ALOT better then me, i try to do this on EVERY single shot. IF you miss 3 times, and they are snookered 3 times, beleave me. Most players will go NUTS, and there frustration will be so big, they won't be able to play .
N/ Elbow dropping on follow shots (power follow shots ONLY). it really helped me getting more action. but this is the only shot where i advise dropping the elbow.
O/ i never use 100% center hit. I always use a that (1/4th of a tip of folow) to avoid kicks. Can't really explain why, but roling the cb + center ball hit, has given me more kicks then any other type of shot.
P/ finding the distance between the center of the cue, and the line verticale from your dominant eye, straight down for each situation. In my case, it does change from day to day. When i'm tired, when it's early in the morning or late at night. its never 100% the same and it might even change from table to table (maybe light difference has something to do with it, or stress, no idea). The difference might be as small as 1/4", but it can be enough to miss shots. Before each match, i play 5 straight in table lenght shots close to the rail to check where my eye has to be ebove the cue, so that my eyes give the right sighting information to my brain.
Q/ Always take the first frame,DON'T talke during matches and NEVER look at your opponent. There is no information he can give you that will make you play better, only worse.
R/ find your opponents weak spot. EVERYONE has one. Straight in shots, long shots, tin cuts, safety play, jumpshots,.... use it to your advantage when playing position.
S/ The most...... unfriendly..... but not illegal thing you can do to make you opponent miss. Look him straight in the eye when he is down on his shot (dont just stand stupid straight in his line of sight.). Even from the side, and even if he can't see it, he can feel it, and even if (im a scientist, I can't give ANY explanation to WHY it works) but it works in 80% of the shots. I rarely use it, as i find it unfair, it works THAT good, but if my opponent is a jurk, i will use it, and it will work... (this is the most stupid, but also the most powerfull advice of all.)
Thats basically what i have learned over the last couple of years, and what has made me a better player.
Hope my 2000th post isnt to boring, and i hope the info will be helpfull.
Thanks AZB for making this such a nice place, and kinda my personal pool coach. I have learned ALOT in here, and i'm glad to be a part of the family.
EDIT: my goal before the 3000th post is= running 5 racks of 8/9ball and making a run in straightpool over 50.
I wont post a thank you list. I did that on the 1000th post, so i'll try to post something constructive, that might be helpfull for everyone.
Here are some tips that have made me a better player. This is just my 2c, and feel free to try them or ignore them as you wish
I'll start with my favorit game : straight pool.
TIPS/ADVICE:
1/ Learn to master inside english on the breakshot. I never thought it would make a difference, but i have been comparing breakshots with outside and inside english and i was AMAZED about the difference i got. I can't explain it, but it just does. Setup the same breakshot up , hit it 5 times with outside, and 5 times with inside. Take a picture of how the balls are spread each time and compare.
2/ for easy runouts:
A/ identify the breakball, and clear the balls around it ASAP. There shouldnt be a ball in the area (3balls wide) around it.
B/ Clearing the balls that are located in the triangle. is the second thing you should think about anything else. (VERY often there will be 2 balls close to eachother. Learn to pot one of them and using topspin to bump the other one out of the triangle gently transforming it from a problem ball into a breakball. (
3/ general tips.
A/ When you use a secondary breakshot, dont just use any ball. look at what rail the balls are closest to. Try to use a breakball close to this rail so to push the balls away from the rail. When opening a pack, try to touch only one ball (so you know where the cb will be going), and chose the ball that will open most of the balls. Each pack has a weak spot. Find it.
B/ Good secondanry breakballs are ideally : cb on the end rail and cb traveling upwards after contact. This will push the balls higher on the table instead of the side rail when cb is in middle of table and potting a ball in the corner, and cb travels in the pack pushing the pack closer to the rail.
C/ on the breakball, learn to identify the correct speed to play the shot. If you hit it to hard, the balls will just go to the siderail and bounce right back in the triangle.
D/ My favorit main breakshot is a high ball. Not the cb going into the side of the rack. But a breakball lying CLOSE to the toprow of the traingle, and cb hitting one of the 2 balls full in the face.
E/ never pot a ball that is a perfect insurance ball for a secondary breakshot.
4/ if your cb has to travel small distances (0.5-2cb distances), dont roll the ball in, but use a harder stroke. Learn to play the same positions using a stop/stunshot. Slowroling a ball is always dangerous. (ball can role off)
GERENAL THINGS THAT HAVE MADE ME PLAY BETTER:
A/ Quiet eye technique. If you don't know what i'm talking about, do a search on this forum and read the article. Most important thing to remember. If you look at things, you have to look at it for at LEAST 2 seconds, before your brain can fully grasp all the info the image can give it. 2seconds is alot longer then you think. if for example you are swapping your eyes from OB contact point to tip position, to pocket etc, you need to look at each point focused for 2seconds at least/ Also find your own EYE PRESHOT PATTERN, and look at how the 3d image changes when bending down. You need to absorb the image while bending down !! The bending movement and the images it gets when doing so are SO important
B/ STAY DOWN after the shot. from the post that was made about it, the best advice that worked for me was: imagine that there is a chainsaw right above your head, that only disapears when all balls are stopped moving
C/ BASICS. A repeatable straight forward stroke with no side movement at all, is SO much harder then most would think. I play 30-50 straight in , table lenght, cb and ob 1inch from the side rail, every day.
D/ Play one handed. I do this alot (1h/day before every training session) and i advice it to everyone. What it will learn, is that if your stroke is perfectly straight, you don't even need a bridgehand. I can pot long table straight in shots one handed like no one else can. When im missing balls, its usually because my stroke is not perfect straight, and best way to check this, is to play some shots one handed straight in. When im playing 2 handed, i always imagine that my bridgehand is not there and im playing one handed. It makes me focus on a straight delivery.
E/ BHE, BACK HAND ENGLISH, BHE, BACK HAND ENGLSIH, BHE..... The most powerfull weapon for those hard recovery shots where alot of side, speed etc is needed.
F/ try to NEVER USE BHE :grin:. Meaning, learn to play the same positions with tipplacement in the vertical line true the center of the CB.
H/ Accelerate true the cueball, and try to maximise the time your tip is in contact with the CB. I don't know if it actually contacts longer, but if i do so, the hit just feels better, the stroke is better, and im missing less balls. (accelerating and increasing tipcontact with CB are related i think)
I/ Think before playing, and play without thinking. (dont remember who rote it, but that says it all)
J/ Visualise what you are planning. (especially the path of the cb. If you want the cb to be in a certain place, imagine there is a golden ball at that place, and you want to just softly touch it. it will increase your cb controle.
K/ doing everything i said above, for EVERY SHOT, EVERY TIME. if not, it wont work
L/ Enoy the game and eliminate every possible negative thought from a miss.
A miss is something positive !!!!!! even more then a good pot or a good run out. You can't learn anything if it all went perfect. The information you can get from a miss, is crucial information (if you also use this information to do something with it)
M/ if the safety is as difficult as the pot, go for the pot. Dont play the pot to hard so the ob wont travel to much (more predictable) and place the cb so you wont leave anything in case you do miss. or in other words. MAny think there are only 2 options: safety or pot, but there is a third. A Shot to nothing. Don't underestimate the power of this option. Find it, because it will always be there. When i'm playing players who are ALOT better then me, i try to do this on EVERY single shot. IF you miss 3 times, and they are snookered 3 times, beleave me. Most players will go NUTS, and there frustration will be so big, they won't be able to play .
N/ Elbow dropping on follow shots (power follow shots ONLY). it really helped me getting more action. but this is the only shot where i advise dropping the elbow.
O/ i never use 100% center hit. I always use a that (1/4th of a tip of folow) to avoid kicks. Can't really explain why, but roling the cb + center ball hit, has given me more kicks then any other type of shot.
P/ finding the distance between the center of the cue, and the line verticale from your dominant eye, straight down for each situation. In my case, it does change from day to day. When i'm tired, when it's early in the morning or late at night. its never 100% the same and it might even change from table to table (maybe light difference has something to do with it, or stress, no idea). The difference might be as small as 1/4", but it can be enough to miss shots. Before each match, i play 5 straight in table lenght shots close to the rail to check where my eye has to be ebove the cue, so that my eyes give the right sighting information to my brain.
Q/ Always take the first frame
,DON'T talke during matches and NEVER look at your opponent. There is no information he can give you that will make you play better, only worse.R/ find your opponents weak spot. EVERYONE has one. Straight in shots, long shots, tin cuts, safety play, jumpshots,.... use it to your advantage when playing position.
S/ The most...... unfriendly..... but not illegal thing you can do to make you opponent miss. Look him straight in the eye when he is down on his shot (dont just stand stupid straight in his line of sight.). Even from the side, and even if he can't see it, he can feel it, and even if (im a scientist, I can't give ANY explanation to WHY it works) but it works in 80% of the shots. I rarely use it, as i find it unfair, it works THAT good, but if my opponent is a jurk, i will use it, and it will work... (this is the most stupid, but also the most powerfull advice of all.)
Thats basically what i have learned over the last couple of years, and what has made me a better player.
Hope my 2000th post isnt to boring, and i hope the info will be helpfull.
Thanks AZB for making this such a nice place, and kinda my personal pool coach. I have learned ALOT in here, and i'm glad to be a part of the family.
EDIT: my goal before the 3000th post is= running 5 racks of 8/9ball and making a run in straightpool over 50.
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) always trying.