Best pool learning books?

[Banger]

What has already been recommended is all good, but likely information overload for the OP. I would suggest trying each new idea on the table and see if it works and if it is useful. Don't simply read through any book. Use it as a workbook. If you hit bumps, seek out someone who can explain the problem.

I think this is spot on!

I read a fair amount (as much as 40-50 books/year), and my reading comprehension is pretty good. But instructional/how-to books are a different animal from say, a mystery novel. They are more like reading a math book. As Bob says, work on one small section of these books at a time. Then move on to the next section.

"Banking with the Beard" is loaded with good information, and helped me a lot, with my bank game. But I had to get on the table and work on each shot, one at a time. It's a slow process, but there is a lot of information laid out in these books, and it can be overwhelming.

 

[pw98]

Watch all of Dr. Dave's videos, and read the stuff on his website. Then get to a table and practice each concept.

I have Phil Cappelle's book on 14.1, and it's terrible. I imagine his other books are the same.

Play your best pool and play your best 9-ball are good. I have play your best straight pool too and its not totally bad. Definitely the worst of the 3 though.

 

[Quesports]

Personally I am more of a visual learner so I seem to get more from that aspect of learning. In books though I love Freddy Bentivegna, for banks and it also helps with kicking. Robert Bryne's books are all excellent. Honestly if you get most and good books on pool you ought to be able to find a few nuggets of worthwhile info in all of them. Then it is all up to you anyway.. You got to want to learn so have an open mind!

 

[sjm]

Play Great Pool by Mark Wilson

The Byrne Standard Book by Robert Byrne

Mastering Pool by George Fels

 

[Poolhall60561]

With Joe Davis, Mark Wilson and Bob Henning’s books you could become a pro.

 

[Scratch85]

I have read many pool books, both instructional and story. Byrne’s “Standard Book of Pool and Billiards” easily provided the most useful information, as far as instruction. It may have been due to when I read it (20+ years ago), that it provided me with so much new information. Many of the instructional books I’ve read since offer strategy and specific uses for techniques I learned from Byrne’s book

My favorite Pool books for recreational reading are “Playing Off the Rail” and “McGOORTY”.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[TheBasics]

Howdy All;

I've read and studied just about all the books listed in the previous posts. What my biggest
problem is, somewhere inside my head there is a disconnect between the written words and
putting what I've read into action. So, I take the time to set-up the shots or situations as best
as I can (thankfully paper a**holes are cheap).
A lot of the basics I've known as I began playing/learning back in the summer of '61. A lot of
what I'm reading about is the "WHY" behind the shot or strategy of a game. The Fels' and Cranfield
as well as the Capelle books for 14.1 help explain the reasoning of why this shot over that shot.
Fells' from an 'Older School' mentality along with Cranfield's, Capelle's is more geared towards
the 'New school' 14.1 attitudes. Tom Wirth's book on 1-P is very illuminating but requires small
bites so to absorb the amount of material on each page.
Over the past 2 years there has been a huge amount of reading and a lot of re-reading books
as there weren't any tables available to set stuff up and figure it out. Now I'm trying to make up
for some of the lost table time.

It all boils down to getting on the table and shooting the shots, no other way to do it, truly there ain't.

hank

 

[gregcantrall]

Byrne has five books about how to play. You might also get his books "McGoorty"

How could I forget McGoorty. I read it to my wife as we were eating peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Our daughter came to the room to see what was so funny about the peanut butter jelly.

 

[CocoboloCowboy]

Banking with Beard is excelletent. Ninty-Nine Critical shots, By Ray Martin.

My thing with read, or watching DVD, or U-Tubes is review the material more than once.

Why first time through, you miss or do not get everything.

The more time you absorbed more of material.

 

[Sheldon]

No joke, this book has helped me more than any other.

 

[Bob Jewett]

How could I forget McGoorty. I read it to my wife as we were eating peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Our daughter came to the room to see what was so funny about the peanut butter jelly.

Was your daughter in the Girl Scouts at the time?

 

[Stickman9]

I have almost all of the books mentioned in this thread, and I have gotten something worthwhile from all of them.

On the mental game, I did not find "The Inner Game of Tennis" to be that useful. I have read several books on the mental game, and I think that, by far, the best book on the mental game is "The Mental Game of Baseball". It covers all aspects of the mental game and has some great stories about how professional baseball players dealt with their inner demons.

 

[straightline]

Play Great Pool by Mark Wilson

The Byrne Standard Book by Robert Byrne

Mastering Pool by George Fels

Mastering Pool came along just right for me. Plugged right into my practice and laid the foundation I stand on.

 

[Maxx]

Mark Wilson’s “Play Great Pool” is good.
If I’m struggling I go back to the fundamentals part and it snaps me out of it.

 

[CocoboloCowboy]

Back when I first played Pool in early 1950’s, don’t recall any instructional book, DVD, VHS, Internet was not invented.

Today we is very lucky, but people still bang away.

 

[cjl0s]

Currently re-reading the 8 ball bible by R Givens as topically this is what I need going back to a bar box after playing on big tables. I got a lot out the Capelle books about 20 years ago. Enjoyed "I Came to Win" by the Monk I also got a lot out of a local book called Time Out for Billiards which focused on kicking systems using a spot on the wall which is not explained too often. For adult entertainment you can't beat Grady's Bet High and Kiss Low. I bought a copy from him and he was kind enough to autograph to me and send a business card. Definitely not for children LOL...

 

[cjl0s]

I enjoyed McGoorty as well. Particularly liked when he thought he was hustling this guy who was the president of an insurance company and he finally came clean to him and told him he could never beat him. The guy said "I know that Dan but hasn't my game improved?" (paraphrasing). He was nothing more than a entertaining playing partner for what was cheap stakes to the insurance guy. I also appreciated his description of several legends he knew personally. Especially Shaefer Jr. who thought billiards was for idiots.

 

[Bavafongoul]

There are several other books I think are very helpful and for a beginner,
Ray Martin’s, The 99 Critical Shots In Pool is a great training aid. The two
books below offer insightful information and helpful illustrations for a player
that wants to really improve their overall pool game. I still refer to the Diamond
system explanation in Pool Player’s Edge because it is straightforward and easy
to learn. And it works very reliably thus resulting in few missed balls that otherwise
would reward your opponent BIH fouls. Banking With The Beard is his best work,
more so than The GosPool of Bank Pool he subsequently released. Get these two
books and study them, don’t just read the books. You’ll gain a lot of helpful knowledge.

 

[Poolhall60561]

Don’t forget about having some fun playing pool while you learn.
Jimmy Caras’s book was the standard.
Learn a few trick shots

 

[jjspelman]

"Play Great Pool" by Mark Wilson. Here's a taste:

Had never seen these. Great stuff.