a newbie taking up bandwith-help

prewarhero

prewarhero

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Okay, i will let you experts make my ears (eyes) bleed. I have been taking lessons for a couple months now by eastern Iowa's Best. Spending all my extra cash. I have wroked on stroke and and have become pretty good on draw. I practice 9 ball and try to work hard on leave. Here is what my problem is. I can sometimes run a rack with ease and other times I can't sink a duck. Yes, consistency is my problem. But I also get out of shape too easy. All the people that have given me lessons can't help anymore. I mean I know the basics but just don't exicute. I practice 4 hours a day, everyday and have seen some but not a lot of improvment. What is my next step to getting better? Am I not giving it enough time and am I being too hard on myself? Or do I just suck? I want to get good, real good.
 
Practice

Practice,Practice,Practice!!

I have two other suggestions.
One, work on your visualization and preshot routine. It's only physics. You will miss ducks because of your mental focus and lack of concentration. Two, find someone close to your speed or a little better to gamble with. You will be surprised how a little pressure can improve your game.
 
Time Away

prewarhero said:
Okay, i will let you experts make my ears (eyes) bleed. I have been taking lessons for a couple months now by eastern Iowa's Best. Spending all my extra cash. I have wroked on stroke and and have become pretty good on draw. I practice 9 ball and try to work hard on leave. Here is what my problem is. I can sometimes run a rack with ease and other times I can't sink a duck. Yes, consistency is my problem. But I also get out of shape too easy. All the people that have given me lessons can't help anymore. I mean I know the basics but just don't exicute. I practice 4 hours a day, everyday and have seen some but not a lot of improvment. What is my next step to getting better? Am I not giving it enough time and am I being too hard on myself? Or do I just suck? I want to get good, real good.
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THIS WORKED FOR ME. TAKE SOME TIME AWAY FROM THE GAME, A DAY, A WEEK, WHATEVER IT TAKES TO CLEAR YOUR HEAD FROM POOL. I TOOK 4 DAYS AWAY, DIDN'T EVEN THINK ABOUT THE GAME. THAT HELPED ME GET MY FOCUS BACK.
 
there is a certain learning curve that is fairly common across all new things. once he feels the spark of interest in something, a person tends to temporarily obsess over it and start to make drastic improvements. then there is the point at which you temporarily level out. this usually causes a person to feel bad and start to do poorly, often leading them to abandon the thing they have been learning. once you get past this point, though, it tends to be a much more gradual learning process that is way more rewarding.

i've just gotten back to the up-slope after having about 6 months or so of not taking anything too seriously, just trying to go by feel and bang stuff around. i've been playing for around two and a half years, and am just now getting to where i can hold my own against some of the local one hole players. it feels good, but i still hit little slumps.

the only answer is to get to the room and work on specific shots and routines. throwing balls out on the table and shooting them down randomly is an exercise for people who are already excellent players. for those of us that are learning, specific practice habits are very important.

when i can't make a shot, i stop and start working on banks. somehow, focusing on shots two tables long (and making them) makes those table length cuts seem a lot easier!
 
You have to make the best of any given situation. Bottom line.

You help your situation by thinking about it and trying to make it easier before you get there (position play), but making the ball is priority #1.

Sometimes, you get a tougher shot than you would like. Too bad- refer to first paragraph- make it work. That's what separates the pro's from the rest. They will make any given shot on a more consistant basis than mortals.

Of course, that's the object of the game, yes?

Oh, and pool is just repetition, the more you do it, the more comfortable and consistant you (should!) get, but you do want to play other people. Tournaments/ leagues are probably a good idea for you, but if you suck after a year, perhaps computers or bikes or golf are better for you!! No shame in walking away...

Good luck!
 
It isn't how often you practice, but how you practice. You need to keep focused on the game at all times, whether you are practicing or competing. If you practice by throwing 9 balls out on the table and just running them, if you miss you just keep shooting, that isn't good practice. You need to challenge yourself and constantly make the challenges harder and harder as you go. This way you will start to see tangible results as you practice.

Try this practice routine: Rack up 9-ball and break. If you scratch, score one for your imaginary opponent. If you don't scratch, take ball in hand and try to run out. Making an early combination on the 9-ball is okay. If you run out, score one up for you. If you don't run out, score one up for your opponent. Play a race to 11 that way and see how you do.

You can make this easier by removing some balls after the break. Before you start to shoot, remove the 1 ball, or the 1 and 2 ball, etc. You can make this harder by not taking ball in hand, or even harder still by forcing yourself to make a ball on the break.

This is how I used to practice and it improved my game a lot. Give it a try. If it doesn't work for you, try to think of something else that will challenge you. Trust me, this method will give you confidence, it will force you to focus since you can't miss a single ball without losing, and it will help you imporve your game.

Good Luck

Andy
 
Thanks so much for all the input. I am going to take your advice. But, if you have more please keep it coming. I am going to start a journal and keep track of drills of shots that give me trouble and my progress. I will also take a few days off. Thanks,
Jordan
 
Andy Segal said:
It isn't how often you practice, but how you practice. You need to keep focused on the game at all times, whether you are practicing or competing. If you practice by throwing 9 balls out on the table and just running them, if you miss you just keep shooting, that isn't good practice. You need to challenge yourself and constantly make the challenges harder and harder as you go. This way you will start to see tangible results as you practice.

Try this practice routine: Rack up 9-ball and break. If you scratch, score one for your imaginary opponent. If you don't scratch, take ball in hand and try to run out. Making an early combination on the 9-ball is okay. If you run out, score one up for you. If you don't run out, score one up for your opponent. Play a race to 11 that way and see how you do.

You can make this easier by removing some balls after the break. Before you start to shoot, remove the 1 ball, or the 1 and 2 ball, etc. You can make this harder by not taking ball in hand, or even harder still by forcing yourself to make a ball on the break.

This is how I used to practice and it improved my game a lot. Give it a try. If it doesn't work for you, try to think of something else that will challenge you. Trust me, this method will give you confidence, it will force you to focus since you can't miss a single ball without losing, and it will help you imporve your game.

Good Luck

Andy
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Hello,

I know of one other way, to make playing the ghost really hard, and get some real results...
I knew a guy who would play the ghost, race to 5 (eventually bumping up the money and going to 7, 9, 11 etc., for $20 a set with somebody on the side, and after handing over $20's for a couple of weeks, he was an A+ player, started going home with a little extra money every night, and after awhile, nobody would BACK THE GHOST!!! and as far as i know, he is still playing at that speed, you might want to give it a try, i see a lot of people getting in on ring games, that really have no chance of coming out ahead, but after awhile... they do...

Thanks

Jon
 
Good practice, Bad practice

I agree with Andy, it is how you practice. If you practice bad habits (ie. shot selection, form, preshot routines, jumping up, etc.), you will make the same mistakes in competition. If your missing consistently acuire knowledge on why you are missing. Try to understand fully the physics of the game.

Good luck
 
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