Begginer
- Thread starter Joe12
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I would suggest throwing a few balls on the table and run them out with ball in hand.
You are at the early stages, keep it fun and build that muscle memory and konwledrse re: what happens...
When Spheres Collide
You are at the early stages, keep it fun and build that muscle memory and konwledrse re: what happens...
When Spheres Collide
Welcome, young pool player. You have come to the right place to live, learn, and appreciate the fine art of pocket billiards.
Try this. Play nine-ball in reverse. Put the eight and nine ball out on the table and make the eight, and then the nine. If you don't miss, add the seven ball.
Keep adding balls until you miss, then start over if you do.
And whatever you do, learn One Pocket. You'll thank Grady, and me, later. :smile:
Try this. Play nine-ball in reverse. Put the eight and nine ball out on the table and make the eight, and then the nine. If you don't miss, add the seven ball.
Keep adding balls until you miss, then start over if you do.
And whatever you do, learn One Pocket. You'll thank Grady, and me, later. :smile:
Pot the ball..!!!
Best advice and drill there is
Enjoy
Best advice and drill there is
Enjoy
tell 'um!!!!!!!!
Place them anywhere you like. Make the eight, then the nine. If you don't miss, put the seven anywhere you like, then run them in order (7,8,9). If you don't miss, place the six out on the table anywhere you like and repeat the process. Keep doing this until you are capable of running the entire rack.
Pratice breaking as it's own session. That is: Rack the balls. Break the stack. Then repeat.
By-the-way. If you are truly a beginner, as in never having played, I would strongly suggest finding a BCA certified instructor and schedule some lessons.
We have some great teachers here on the forum who whould be more that happy to help. :smile:
We have some great teachers here on the forum who whould be more that happy to help. :smile:
get a lesson by a certified instructor before you have ingrained bad habits
to learn how to have a consistent ,reliable,straight stroke
without that you will always have consistency issues because you wont be hitting the cue ball where you are aiming
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-n-O_GyuKc
use a marker for the spot for the object ball and cue ball
give yourself alittle angle
this drill wil help you learn how small changes in tip placement help you control the path of the cue ball from the tangent line
to learn how to have a consistent ,reliable,straight stroke
without that you will always have consistency issues because you wont be hitting the cue ball where you are aiming
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-n-O_GyuKc
use a marker for the spot for the object ball and cue ball
give yourself alittle angle
this drill wil help you learn how small changes in tip placement help you control the path of the cue ball from the tangent line
Banks
Banned
Both. Do whatever is keeping your focus. You need to learn how to break well, so you've got to practice that somehow. But, reracking for yourself over and over can get boring at times, so just throw some balls out and fire away when that happens.
place 5 or however many balls in a row from side pocket to about the middle of the table. Take ball in hand every shot and shoot everyone straight into the corner. Focus on hitting them as straight as possible. If you miss, start over. After you've made all 5, start over with the cue ball further away this time.
edit. I should add you don't want the cue ball squirting left or right. You want to shoot these balls straight in with a touch of bottom.
edit. I should add you don't want the cue ball squirting left or right. You want to shoot these balls straight in with a touch of bottom.
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What others said about the instructor, it's true. If you learn bad habits early, it can be a real b*tch to fight them later.
Trust me. I still fight mine over ten years later.
If you feel you're not ready yet to open up your wallet for lessons, see if someone will teach you for free,
but ask around the pool hall and seek out one of the strongest players.
You don't wanna learn from someone who's like 10% better than you,
you wanna learn from someone who's 250% better if possible.
Fair warning, even strong players might give bad advice, some of them shoot well despite bad habits.
But your odds of getting bad info will decrease if you seek out the best possible player to teach you.
Get the 99 critical shots (book by Ray Martin). It hasn't been made into a DVD but it should be.
It's the ultimate "quick start guide" for pool. Try each shot in the book, one at a time, as a drill.
When you feel you have the shot down, move to the next one.
Trust me. I still fight mine over ten years later.
If you feel you're not ready yet to open up your wallet for lessons, see if someone will teach you for free,
but ask around the pool hall and seek out one of the strongest players.
You don't wanna learn from someone who's like 10% better than you,
you wanna learn from someone who's 250% better if possible.
Fair warning, even strong players might give bad advice, some of them shoot well despite bad habits.
But your odds of getting bad info will decrease if you seek out the best possible player to teach you.
Get the 99 critical shots (book by Ray Martin). It hasn't been made into a DVD but it should be.
It's the ultimate "quick start guide" for pool. Try each shot in the book, one at a time, as a drill.
When you feel you have the shot down, move to the next one.
Agree with most of what has been already said. And absolutely get the 99 Critical Shots in Pool.
As others have said, try not to develop bad habits early regarding approaching the table and stroke. Toward the end of developing a consistent and reliable stroke, I would try the following two exercises until perfect:
1- Put the cue ball on the head string at the dead center of the line and, using center cue ball, aim for the center diamond behind the foot spot. Use a smooth, straight stroke and finish your stroke and stop the cue at the end of its stroke path. See if you can get the cue ball to return right to the center of your cue tip. This will ensure that you are stroking the ball as straight as possible and without imparting unintended english. This excercise is much harder than it sounds.
2- Start to develop your draw stroke by placing an object ball in the center of the jaws of the side pocket. Place the cue ball about 10 inches behind the object ball. Practice drawing the cueball back in a straight line cueing low on the cue ball, but do not deviate from its vertical axis. At first, just attempt to make the cue ball draw back at all, whatever distance you are able to. As you improve, try distancing the cue ball progressively further back from the object ball, while still attempting to draw the cue ball back in a straight line. To give yourself an added target, place another object ball in the opposing side pocket and try to make them both in one shot. This will train your draw stroke to be as straight as your follow shot and will also allow you to judge distance of draw.
3 - remember to have fun
As others have said, try not to develop bad habits early regarding approaching the table and stroke. Toward the end of developing a consistent and reliable stroke, I would try the following two exercises until perfect:
1- Put the cue ball on the head string at the dead center of the line and, using center cue ball, aim for the center diamond behind the foot spot. Use a smooth, straight stroke and finish your stroke and stop the cue at the end of its stroke path. See if you can get the cue ball to return right to the center of your cue tip. This will ensure that you are stroking the ball as straight as possible and without imparting unintended english. This excercise is much harder than it sounds.
2- Start to develop your draw stroke by placing an object ball in the center of the jaws of the side pocket. Place the cue ball about 10 inches behind the object ball. Practice drawing the cueball back in a straight line cueing low on the cue ball, but do not deviate from its vertical axis. At first, just attempt to make the cue ball draw back at all, whatever distance you are able to. As you improve, try distancing the cue ball progressively further back from the object ball, while still attempting to draw the cue ball back in a straight line. To give yourself an added target, place another object ball in the opposing side pocket and try to make them both in one shot. This will train your draw stroke to be as straight as your follow shot and will also allow you to judge distance of draw.
3 - remember to have fun
A lot of good points here by other members. Pool is a great game, but some people give pool a bad image. In a few years I hope you know where you want to go with pool. If you want to be a pro, a really good semi pro, a top level local player, or just a "good shot". Once you know then you can focus on learning other things about pool that will help you to get there. For now as you are just starting to play pool, I would say :-
1. Please don't be an jerk. Try to be a good sport.
2. Respect other players and in turn you will be respected.
3. Keep an open mind, listen to what other players are teaching/saying to you.
4. When you are playing on the table, act like if it is your own home table don't abuse it. Have good "pool side" manners. Like don't put drinks on the table, don't sit on it, don't hit it with your cue butt and other things that many people do.
**I know you asked for drills, but there are already some very good drills posted by other members. So, I thought to put some thing out there that's important to me.
1. Please don't be an jerk. Try to be a good sport.
2. Respect other players and in turn you will be respected.
3. Keep an open mind, listen to what other players are teaching/saying to you.
4. When you are playing on the table, act like if it is your own home table don't abuse it. Have good "pool side" manners. Like don't put drinks on the table, don't sit on it, don't hit it with your cue butt and other things that many people do.
**I know you asked for drills, but there are already some very good drills posted by other members. So, I thought to put some thing out there that's important to me.
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I'm not sure how much of a beginner you are but for anyone that is learning, muscle memory is key. This comes from repetition and can be a detriment to you if you are doing something the wrong way. The biggest thing i feel like you should focus on right now is standing correctly and stroking at the ball correctly. It really doesn't matter if you are missing balls at this point, in fact missing balls is very important at this stage. This guy is 18 and has pretty much a textbook stance and stroke:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1HYQjoHjwL4
Just try and copy him, it will improve your game tremendously. Part of what he does that is Incredibly important for you is to stay down, stay down, stay down, after the shot. Remember how i said muscle memory is key and that missing balls is very important? Here's why: when you are looking down the cue and actually strike the cue ball you are either going to make the shot or miss it. Staying down on your shot allows you to see whether the ball was made or missed FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF SHOOTING. It's very imporant to see whether or not the ball went in from the perspective of where you shot it from. Every time you make or miss a ball your brain is subconsciously recording exactly what you did during that shot, and what happened. The only way your brain knows what the outcome of the shot was is with your eyes. If you see the shot go in from the perspective of where you shot from then the next time you are about to shoot that shot your brain reminds you that if you, hit the cue ball here, it goes to here, hits the object ball here, and the object ball goes here. Your brain needs to know the outcome of the shot before you hit it and if your brain has seen this shot play out many times before from that perspective than making the ball is relatively easy. If you jump up after the shot your entire perspective of the shot changes therefore makin it MUCH harder to imagine the ball going in from your final shooting position. Obviously there are a million ways to mess up a shot but as long as you see the outcome of the shot from the same place that you shot it from your body and your brain will remember.
Now I'm not saying don't think about what you are doing at all and solely rely on your subconscious, although you Could do that with enough time playing at the table. Definitely take the time to think about what you are doing before the shot and take note of what the outcome was, your subconcious take care of all the tiny details that you conciously wouldn't even notice. A good example of this, but a Big one is speed and how hard you hit the ball. I basically know where i want the cue ball to end up and my subconcious takes over from there as to how hard to hit it.
Anyway I need to quit rambling so here are the things that helped me a LOT:
-Stay down stay down stay down
-Work on your stance and your stroke: be comfortable, be smooth and steady, keep the stick as level as you can to the table(this ensures best possible contact with the cueball), and try and keep the stick as straight as possible throughout your entire stroke. Honestly just try and copy Landon Shuffet, he is the text book example. From their you can add your own flair, you don't need to be exactly like him.
-Talk to good shooters that you know: There are a gajillion intricacies to this game and an equal number of ways to handle them. The really good shooters have lots of first hand experience that can help you a Lot. Remember that you are your own person though and that something that works perfectly for someone else may not work for you. Either way the more knowledge you have the better. What i used to do is find someone that is 100x better than me and ask them to play nine ball or something for say 3-5 bucks a game but only if they will tell me what they are doing and why they are doing it. I learned a lot this way. Pool is not a cheap thing to get into, it will cost a lot of time and money to really improve, but i think of it as a hobby I can have for most of my life.
-Try new things: The best time to try stuff is when you are new. It's much harder to teach an old dog new tricks as far as pool goes. Try things out, stay down on your shot and see how it works. You will never know ever single shot but the more you do know the better.
Anyway thats all i got and I hope it helps.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1HYQjoHjwL4
Just try and copy him, it will improve your game tremendously. Part of what he does that is Incredibly important for you is to stay down, stay down, stay down, after the shot. Remember how i said muscle memory is key and that missing balls is very important? Here's why: when you are looking down the cue and actually strike the cue ball you are either going to make the shot or miss it. Staying down on your shot allows you to see whether the ball was made or missed FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF SHOOTING. It's very imporant to see whether or not the ball went in from the perspective of where you shot it from. Every time you make or miss a ball your brain is subconsciously recording exactly what you did during that shot, and what happened. The only way your brain knows what the outcome of the shot was is with your eyes. If you see the shot go in from the perspective of where you shot from then the next time you are about to shoot that shot your brain reminds you that if you, hit the cue ball here, it goes to here, hits the object ball here, and the object ball goes here. Your brain needs to know the outcome of the shot before you hit it and if your brain has seen this shot play out many times before from that perspective than making the ball is relatively easy. If you jump up after the shot your entire perspective of the shot changes therefore makin it MUCH harder to imagine the ball going in from your final shooting position. Obviously there are a million ways to mess up a shot but as long as you see the outcome of the shot from the same place that you shot it from your body and your brain will remember.
Now I'm not saying don't think about what you are doing at all and solely rely on your subconscious, although you Could do that with enough time playing at the table. Definitely take the time to think about what you are doing before the shot and take note of what the outcome was, your subconcious take care of all the tiny details that you conciously wouldn't even notice. A good example of this, but a Big one is speed and how hard you hit the ball. I basically know where i want the cue ball to end up and my subconcious takes over from there as to how hard to hit it.
Anyway I need to quit rambling so here are the things that helped me a LOT:
-Stay down stay down stay down
-Work on your stance and your stroke: be comfortable, be smooth and steady, keep the stick as level as you can to the table(this ensures best possible contact with the cueball), and try and keep the stick as straight as possible throughout your entire stroke. Honestly just try and copy Landon Shuffet, he is the text book example. From their you can add your own flair, you don't need to be exactly like him.
-Talk to good shooters that you know: There are a gajillion intricacies to this game and an equal number of ways to handle them. The really good shooters have lots of first hand experience that can help you a Lot. Remember that you are your own person though and that something that works perfectly for someone else may not work for you. Either way the more knowledge you have the better. What i used to do is find someone that is 100x better than me and ask them to play nine ball or something for say 3-5 bucks a game but only if they will tell me what they are doing and why they are doing it. I learned a lot this way. Pool is not a cheap thing to get into, it will cost a lot of time and money to really improve, but i think of it as a hobby I can have for most of my life.
-Try new things: The best time to try stuff is when you are new. It's much harder to teach an old dog new tricks as far as pool goes. Try things out, stay down on your shot and see how it works. You will never know ever single shot but the more you do know the better.
Anyway thats all i got and I hope it helps.