A strategy to consider

C

Cameron Smith

is kind of hungry...
Silver Member
I have always found that in any game/drill which requires you to break open the balls, and you continue shooting regardless of whether you make a ball, the best strategy is to break soft. Of course this applies primarily to games in which you aren't required to pot balls in a paticular order (not including 8 ball).

Hit them hard enough to get a spread over half of the table. If you watch your patterns you shouldn't have to shoot too many long tough shots, if any. Furthermore you won't scratch and you will very likely have some type of shot if you control the cue ball off the break. That shouldn't be too hard with a soft break.

By the time you have potted five balls, you should start to figure which balls you want to leave till last. Try and leave yourself as easy a pattern as possible. Although I realize that is easier said than done.

1st 5 balls- deal with any clusters and problem balls

2nd 5 balls- Finish dealing with clusters and problem balls if necessary. Primarily you want to clear the way and set yourself up for the rotational portion of the game. Run off the balls on the rails, especially the ones close to the side pocket. Basically you wan't to avoid leaving balls in positions that are difficult to get to. I like to leave them either near pockets (ideally) or out in the open, such that I have a choice of pockets to shoot at if I over run position.

3rd 5- Run 'em out. Most of you play 9 ball, so I don't need to elaborate here.

It would be a good idea to leave the lowest number ball close to a pocket. Not necessarily over a pocket but close to one which would give you more freedom to get in line for the last four balls. That is if you are not in line already.

The rotation aspect of the game can seem daunting. But remember you decide how difficult the layout will be. Keep your wits about you and don't miss.:)
 
if you don't have a Sardo make shure you rack'em up good. I like to plan almost everything as due to my low scores is when i just start firing and then i get ahead of myself and forget which five balls will be my last. Never start a session going in cold, i like to get my drills and practice outta the way first. Clusters and Combos a must get rid of like it has been mention'd, and like a game of eightball i like to clear one half of the table, my strategy.
 
In session #4, I started off with a 20-16-20. I thought, "Hey I better get the video camera so I'll have proof." The remaining 7 games were a 5-8-6-4-5-20-0. :mad: I was going to post it on youtube but the file is too big. Plus I have dialup. It would probably finish uploading sometime after the DCC.
 
I haven't tried breaking soft at all in previous years, maybe I will try it out for a few racks when I begin. The problem is that I'm on an eight footer and the soft break is gonna leave clusters at the bottom of the table most of the time, I will probably end up using a medium to hard break where I can still control the CB. I almost always leave the first of the last five balls over a pocket or close, it really sets up your run for the rotation part of the game.
 
Hal said:
In session #4, I started off with a 20-16-20. I thought, "Hey I better get the video camera so I'll have proof." The remaining 7 games were a 5-8-6-4-5-20-0. :mad: I was going to post it on youtube but the file is too big. Plus I have dialup. It would probably finish uploading sometime after the DCC.
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Ditto on the dialup thing, i wanted to post up some videos myself but after learning my lesson downloading movies i said naw :D What i do when i practice and doing my drills i play this game, only thing is i do not break, just throw the balls on the table with no cluster and one time i did a ten set with perfect 20's so the break does have a big difference, and why i say make shure the rack is rack'ed good :cool:
 
Cameron Smith said:
I have always found that in any game/drill which requires you to break open the balls, and you continue shooting regardless of whether you make a ball, the best strategy is to break soft. Of course this applies primarily to games in which you aren't required to pot balls in a paticular order (not including 8 ball).

Hit them hard enough to get a spread over half of the table. If you watch your patterns you shouldn't have to shoot too many long tough shots, if any. Furthermore you won't scratch and you will very likely have some type of shot if you control the cue ball off the break. That shouldn't be too hard with a soft break.

(snip)
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Try that on a smaller table and you are doomed....doomed, I say!... bwaaa ha ha hahhhaaaaaaaa...dooomed!:eek: :eek:

My small 8 footer leaves little room for 15 balls. If I don't break as hard as I can, I've usually too many clusters to deal with and not enough room to do 'em. I'm thinking this game is easiest on a 9 footer with big pockets.

Course, my hardest break might seem soft to you, so maybe I'm off base here?

Jeff Livingston
 
chefjeff said:
Try that on a smaller table and you are doomed....doomed, I say!... bwaaa ha ha hahhhaaaaaaaa...dooomed!:eek: :eek:

My small 8 footer leaves little room for 15 balls. If I don't break as hard as I can, I've usually too many clusters to deal with and not enough room to do 'em. I'm thinking this game is easiest on a 9 footer with big pockets.

Course, my hardest break might seem soft to you, so maybe I'm off base here?

Jeff Livingston
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lol. You're right actually, I wasn't thinking about 8 footers when I originally posted that. On that size of table I would probably just break hard because I wouldn't have to move cue ball around too much and pockets are never that far away.

The other thing I didn't consider, that bit me in the ass in one of my sessions, was that a softer break doesn't work that well on nappy cloth.

So, anybody playing on a smaller than 9 foot table, and/or with slow cloth, disregard the first paragraph of my original post.:)
 
TheConArtist said:
(snip) Never start a session going in cold, i like to get my drills and practice outta the way first.(snip).
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That is a good idea. I keep thinking I'll come out of my temporary slump if I just start out and simply play this game. I like coming out of the chute fast and furious so I normally start my practice sessions by setting up an 8-ball table for a "simple" runout as my first step in practice. Sometimes I succeed, sometimes not, but I do get used to playing "cold," which is my goal with that idea.

So, like an idiot, I did this on my first rack here this year, scored a focused 20, as I've practiced shooting cold, and then proceeded to fall downhill from there as I was not warmed up at all. :rolleyes: So methinks I'd better do some drills before my next round and see if that helps correct my downward trend during the ten racks.

This game is so simple, but it seems to really help with the mindset of keeping focused for the whole ten racks, vs. winning one short game of 8-ball, for example. I love it madly!

Jeff Livingston
 
One of my main strategies (goals?) this year is to never get a 10. I hate 10s more than 9s. I hate them. They are evil. They are below any number there is. I'd rather have a zero than a ten. If I get a ten then that means I've set up my rotation incorrectly or executed the setup in a stupid or haphazerdly way. I hate that. Hate.
\
Sooooo, on my second round, rack #8, I was faced with getting shape on my first rotation ball and I had little chance of doing that. So, I considered not even potting my number 9 ball. I can do it, I said, so I did but ended up with a thin, thin cut on my first roatation ball, but at least I had a chance. I made it, but didn't have any shape on the 11th ball. Know what?....I did NOT care!! Not a bit! I was jumpin' for joy..literally...You should've seen me, like a little kid, jumping around the table with my hands in the air, hootin' and hollerin'. NO TEN No 14 either, but NO TEN!

Did I say I hate 10s?

Jeff Livingston
 
chefjeff said:
One of my main strategies (goals?) this year is to never get a 10. I hate 10s more than 9s. I hate them. They are evil. They are below any number there is. I'd rather have a zero than a ten. If I get a ten then that means I've set up my rotation incorrectly or executed the setup in a stupid or haphazerdly way. I hate that. Hate.
\
Sooooo, on my second round, rack #8, I was faced with getting shape on my first rotation ball and I had little chance of doing that. So, I considered not even potting my number 9 ball. I can do it, I said, so I did but ended up with a thin, thin cut on my first roatation ball, but at least I had a chance. I made it, but didn't have any shape on the 11th ball. Know what?....I did NOT care!! Not a bit! I was jumpin' for joy..literally...You should've seen me, like a little kid, jumping around the table with my hands in the air, hootin' and hollerin'. NO TEN No 14 either, but NO TEN!

Did I say I hate 10s?

Jeff Livingston
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I'd rather ten 10's, than ten 9's. Personally, I hate 0's.
 
Cameron, I think all the basic rules of straight pool strategy apply, except you gotta plan your final pattern further in advance. Like, instead of lead ball, key ball, break ball, you plan lowest ball, and whatever other balls connect with it with a minimum amount of cueball and OB distance... like you said, easier said than done.

One strategy that I think might be worth mentioning is, if you do have a table-length spread, get rid of balls in the middle of the table so they won't block position lanes.

A question: Do you think it's worth it to, after the break, or maybe after the first 5 balls, to look for the lowest numbered ball on the table and figure out whether it's good to start your pattern?

In other words, look at the 1 and see if it's "saveable" (much like a break ball or keyball in 14.1), then by process of elimination, look at the 2, 3, 4, etc. in rotation until you hit upon a ball that gives you an easy start for the rotation section of the drill. From there you can plan backwards, like you would a 9 ball rack. Ideally the balls in rotation would be on one half of the table but not congested, and not in the middle or on the rails.

Do I make any sense?
 
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I'm not very good at this, but one thing I don't mind doing at all is taking the -1 right off the bat. If I can find a pattern of at least 5 or more balls or if I can use it to break up a cluster right off from one of the other cue ball locations after the break, II will go ahead and move the cue ball and take the -1. I feel starting out in line should produce higher scores then trying to shoot yourself back in line; at least at my level. Also a 19 is as good as a 20 for me any day. But like I said I suck. I average in the 130's usually.
 
lewdo26 said:
A question: Do you think it's worth it to, after the break, or maybe after the first 5 balls, to look for the lowest numbered ball on the table and figure out whether it's good to start your pattern?

In other words, look at the 1 and see if it's "saveable" (much like a break ball or keyball in 14.1), then by process of elimination, look at the 2, 3, 4, etc. in rotation until you hit upon a ball that gives you an easy start for the rotation section of the drill. From there you can plan backwards, like you would a 9 ball rack. Ideally the balls in rotation would be on one half of the table but not congested, and not in the middle or on the rails.

Do I make any sense?
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Definitely. I like look at this as soon as I can (usually when trouble areas have been cleared up).

As far as the running of the balls go, I like to start at one end of the table and clear that end and then the middle and so forth (if possible, that is). It's just so that I can avoid long shots. It also reduces cue ball movement.
 
Thanks Cameron. I'm a little behind schedule but the couple 20s I got in the first session I would attribute to the kind of planning you described, not so much the physical part of the game.

I also found an optimum speed to break toward the middle of the session. I was getting no clusters but wasn't breaking them too hard, so I got short shots throughout the rack.
 
lewdo26 said:
Thanks Cameron. I'm a little behind schedule but the couple 20s I got in the first session I would attribute to the kind of planning you described, not so much the physical part of the game.

I also found an optimum speed to break toward the middle of the session. I was getting no clusters but wasn't breaking them too hard, so I got short shots throughout the rack.
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Awsome, that's great to hear. I've been a bit lazy getting into my last session myself. Although I have been playing for the past month, I just haven't been taking things very seriously. I'll definitely force myself to finish it up on saturday. I hope.
 
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