I haven't missed a ball in weeks.
Asymmetric play
- Thread starter BlackWing
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I do not think this is a good idea (see below)
It depends on the level of player; this would not really work in upper tier play IMHO.
This is the 1st thing I teach at the beginning of the strategy 1/2 of my course, it is funny how many players don't do this; you get so many benefits and 0 setbacks by doing it. Great advice.
This is a common misconception; if you are breathing, calculating and "centering" you will have a serious impact on your game, if you are slumping, beating yourself up and looking around the room you will also have a serious impact on your game, but in the wrong direction. If you do the former when you return to the table you will be more ready to win the game/match than if you do the latter.
IMHO I think you are mistaking "not wanting to watch the other guy" and "meditating" there is a huge difference; also pros are not "perfect" they make mistakes in their "chair skill practice" just like everyone else, they just USUALLY do it better than the rest of us.
I think every player analyzes their opponent shots as too what they will do. It's a total learning curve no matter what level of you are. For most pro's it's the same position plays, but some times it's just what the shooter feels more comfortable with. As you skill level advances you will follow the patterns play better and the only way too do this is watching and learning. Shooting the right shot in the pattern whether it's a hard shot are not is the key too success. Watching good players getting shape on tied up balls and breaking them out and seeing how they move after is keys also.
Recently there was a rule set/instructional manual link posted here that I think covers what you want. I can't find the link right now, but I'm sure someone has it.Good approachI, on the other hand, like to keep track on what's my opponent doing. I first look for obvious weaknesses, and then do my best to exploit them. A few days ago I played against a much more skilled player. Sure, I used smart tactics like intentional white pots and defensive positioning, but I took him down with my favorite strategy when it comes to asymmetric play. I call it Artillery Bombardment
Instead of beating their accuracy with my own (which is impossible), I shoot into formations of my balls with full power. I make a good assessment though. I won hundreds and hundreds of matches that way. It's the most effective strategy against better opponents I've seen.
A useful concept in pool (and elsewhere in life) is "fake it til you make it".
Act extremely confident even if the guy intimidates you. Mirror what you see actual pros do. For example, you ever hear a pro say "I hit it too hard" or "I missed cuz I was trying so hard for shape on the next ball"? No, that stuff is amateurish. You go back to your chair (maybe with a grimace, like you just ate a bad chicken wing) and sit down.
Does the other guy know you're not as good as him? With the right confident vibe, maybe you can fool him for a little while. If you can make him worry for even a second that you might be stronger than he is, it might affect his next shot.
Act extremely confident even if the guy intimidates you. Mirror what you see actual pros do. For example, you ever hear a pro say "I hit it too hard" or "I missed cuz I was trying so hard for shape on the next ball"? No, that stuff is amateurish. You go back to your chair (maybe with a grimace, like you just ate a bad chicken wing) and sit down.
Does the other guy know you're not as good as him? With the right confident vibe, maybe you can fool him for a little while. If you can make him worry for even a second that you might be stronger than he is, it might affect his next shot.
Yeah, I forgot to ask, does any of you use something similar as my "artillery bombardment" strategy (which I explained in my second post here...)?
You sound a lot like a guy that was banned twice already. He had this "8 ball guide" ....
We all like to shoot random shots, it's how we all got good you know. Close eyes, forget the rules and hit hard, whooooo hooooo! It's how the marksmen do it in the Olympics too, and good hunters also. If you can't hit the deer, just run out yelling wildly and shooting in random directions, people will flock to you for lessons.
Bob, I think that is the same guy. His posts read exactly the same.
I think a local player named "Hotel Al" was the prototypical bombardment guy. He was low-to-medium rated in the local handicapped 9-ball tournaments which meant I had to give him 2 or 3 in a race to 6. He knew perfectly well that he had no chance to run most racks. Lots of players with Al's level of pocketing skills never catch on to this. Al's genius was that he asked the next question, which few weak players ever do: if you're not going to run the table out, how can you win?
For those not really familiar with the rules of nine ball, if the nine goes in on a legal shot, you win the game right then and there. Many, many beginning nine ball players don't understand that. Maybe it's harsh to point out that they're clueless, but it is, simply, the truth. Here is Hotel Al's great discovery: if you can make the nine ball move at high speed on an early shot, it's got an excellent chance to fall in and then you win the game.
If Al was shooting the 1 ball, he would not play for shape on the 2. What would be the point? He would play to line up the cue-ball/2-ball pointed somewhere in the direction of the nine. And then he would let fly. He was pretty good with caroms, too, sending the cue ball one, two or three cushions from the object ball towards the money.
Why do weak players pretend that they are Efren or Earl? Why don't they play within their own game and with their own strengths? They have a lot to learn from Al.
Here is the theoretical basis of Al's technique: the rails are 10% pocket. (Measure it for yourself.) If you can get the nine ball to hit ten rails during a game, you're the odds-on favorite to win. It is simple mathematics.
There are two not so obvious advantages of Al's technique. Many good players panic when they see the nine flying freely around the table every other shot. Their knees buckle and their arms turn to spaghetti. Secondly, random shots often leave a safe position. It's not clear that Al ever tried to park the cue ball on a rail for improved safety possibilities, but that would be a good extension of his technique.
One of the most satisfying wins I ever had in those tournaments was against Al. One evening I decided that I would try to out-Al Al. Four of my six games were won by the nine falling early into some random pocket. At the end, Al looked shell-shocked.
For those not really familiar with the rules of nine ball, if the nine goes in on a legal shot, you win the game right then and there. Many, many beginning nine ball players don't understand that. Maybe it's harsh to point out that they're clueless, but it is, simply, the truth. Here is Hotel Al's great discovery: if you can make the nine ball move at high speed on an early shot, it's got an excellent chance to fall in and then you win the game.
If Al was shooting the 1 ball, he would not play for shape on the 2. What would be the point? He would play to line up the cue-ball/2-ball pointed somewhere in the direction of the nine. And then he would let fly. He was pretty good with caroms, too, sending the cue ball one, two or three cushions from the object ball towards the money.
Why do weak players pretend that they are Efren or Earl? Why don't they play within their own game and with their own strengths? They have a lot to learn from Al.
Here is the theoretical basis of Al's technique: the rails are 10% pocket. (Measure it for yourself.) If you can get the nine ball to hit ten rails during a game, you're the odds-on favorite to win. It is simple mathematics.
There are two not so obvious advantages of Al's technique. Many good players panic when they see the nine flying freely around the table every other shot. Their knees buckle and their arms turn to spaghetti. Secondly, random shots often leave a safe position. It's not clear that Al ever tried to park the cue ball on a rail for improved safety possibilities, but that would be a good extension of his technique.
One of the most satisfying wins I ever had in those tournaments was against Al. One evening I decided that I would try to out-Al Al. Four of my six games were won by the nine falling early into some random pocket. At the end, Al looked shell-shocked.
I should mention that if you have absolutely no interest in pocketing the lowest-numbered ball, the caroms become a lot easier. If you do adopt Al's technique, you will soon discover that you want to keep as many pointless balls on the table for as long as possible. Among other advantages, if one of them falls in during an unsuccessful flight of the nine, you get to shoot at the nine a second time in one inning, an advantage Earl and Efren rarely get.
I should also give an answer to the OP and others even if he is banned, what do I do when I am up against a stronger player than I? Well when going against a weaker player than I, I outmanuver them; so when playing a stronger player I just do the oppisate I go on the offense. It is not the same as Poolkillers/Black-Wing's AOO :rotflmao1: It is more like this if I am playing the weaker player and the offensive shot vs. the defenseive shot is lets just say a 60-40 proposition; against the weaker player I will take the defensive shot and against the stronger player I will take the offensive shot. This has to be at least a handicaps disparity between the 2 of us, if they are anywhere around my skill level the %'s are played as %'s are played.
I can see the point of this. A weaker player has less of a chance to make a good hit or know how to move around a safety, where a strong player would. You can have a greater chance of winning if you "crap" in a ball or move things around and tie something up or make a harder position shot that a good player is likely to try to do something with.
I'm guilty of just batting the balls around when playing much weaker players till they leave me a wide open table with 3 balls left, not so much to make it easy for me to win, but so they can have a sense of accomplishment by making some shots instead of just sitting there and watch you run out. They'll be happy to lose just about every game as long as they have some shots, and you'll hear things like "I almost had you there".
Nice story, thanks! There is a guy in a local room near me that people say is "lucky", he is lucky because he keeps going after the 9 every shot or close to it, which gives him lots of chances to get lucky.
No-one ever said that he's "a good player" though :smile:
But it's a strategy many have, just go for the 9. There is a group of people I know that play cheap sets, usually partners. You hear them holler like monkeys across the room whenever anyone makes a 9 on the break or craps it in like it was the holy grail of pool, making a ball on accident.
No-one ever said that he's "a good player" though :smile:
But it's a strategy many have, just go for the 9. There is a group of people I know that play cheap sets, usually partners. You hear them holler like monkeys across the room whenever anyone makes a 9 on the break or craps it in like it was the holy grail of pool, making a ball on accident.
Back when my friends and I were learning how to play pool we understood that we were not good enough to play nine ball so we played six ball (which is nine ball with three fewer balls). I think it is a much better game for players who run out maybe one in 50 or 100. And if you are the betting type you can put a dollar on the 3 and two on the 6. Also, six ball doesn't have the racking problems that nine ball has.
But I would disagree with the use of "accident" above. I think such players fully intend to make 9 even if they often fail to guess just where.
Banks
Banned
I disagree with the more frequent safety idea against lower players. I'd rather a weaker player attempt to out-shoot me, because they'll most likely screw up and then I'll punish them. When I was lower rated in APA, getting a good safety in there could allow me to keep up with better players. Better players usually want to run out on you.. they best way to beat them is to stop them from doing that.
If you're worried about a better player responding to your safety, try thinking how a better player's going to respond to a flat-out miss.
If you're worried about a better player responding to your safety, try thinking how a better player's going to respond to a flat-out miss.
I don't know if you mean that as a joke or not, but it sounds funny.
Failing to guess where the ball is going is an "accident", no? Like "failing to guess" if you get heads of tails on a coin flip.
There is actually a group of players that stopped making games with those guys, we tried to get to switch to 10 ball or at least play 9 ball with called shot and no 9 on the break as a win. Seems they'd rather play the wild and wooly randomness than actually go with a more skilled version of the game.
Never liked the sometimes random wins of 9 ball, at least not since I got past a C player.
I really like your posts. You always have something constructive to say. This is a really good tip. Please keep them coming.
Hey thanks ^^ I'll do my best. You too!
yea,i haven't been playing much lately too.