Best way to improve your shot selection

M

MiscueBlues

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I play 8 ball and am very bad at picking the correct shots and planning out a good pattern, especially with ball in hand! :mad:

What are some things I can do to improve my decision making?
 
You might not like the simplest answer, but luckily, you're already doing it.

Make mistakes. Lots and lots of mistakes. Own them, and learn from them.

There is a little drill you can do that progressively gets more difficult.

1. Break a rack of 8 ball. Remove all solids or stripes, and then try to run out with ball in hand. If that's too tough at first, then remove all but 3 of your selected choice, and run out. Keep adding balls to your choice (4, then 5, then 6...) as you get better and better.

2. Once you get very good at that, keep all the balls on the table after breaking.

3. Finally, when playing a match, if you don't think you can run out. Don't try.
 
books, magazines, lessons

MiscueBlues said:
I play 8 ball and am very bad at picking the correct shots and planning out a good pattern, especially with ball in hand! :mad:

What are some things I can do to improve my decision making?
Click to expand...

There are a number of books out there that can help you with shot selection. "The 8-Ball Bible" by the late R. Givens is one of them. And DVDs. And magazines. I'm currently almost half way through my two year series, "Fifty Game-Winning 8-Ball Safety Shots" in Pool & Billiard magazine...two "problem" situations and possible solutions in each issue.

When I teach (strategy is one of my "specialties"), I spend a little time telling my students exactly what I'm thinking when I read a table, and how the thought process evolves during a game. In other words, I teach by example, how to think about strategy.

Such thinking involves a game plan beyond making a shot and playing position for the next. It includes things like...making the run easier through proper shot selection, while at the same time reducing your opponents chances of winning should they get to the table.

It means planning a run backwards, while at the same time considering some fifteen different varieties of defensive moves. Seems like a lot to think about, but as one learns to think about the game in tactical terms, it actually becomes easier.
 
Work backwards. Basically what you do is start from where you wish to end up and find the closest ball that connects to that. Continue doing that all the way to the last ball which is the 1st ball you shoot. You do this while playing natural position whenever possible.
Of course on a full table with interfering balls that's seldom possible so as you work your way back thru the rack in your mind you become aware of that and try to find alternate routes.
When attempting to run racks in 8B or 14.1 it's often essential to take a harder shot, &/or play intricate position to make it thru the rack.
Most beginning and intermediate players are hesitant to do this which is why they'll have BIH and paint themselves into a corner after 3 or 4 balls. of course you're not going to take a hard shot when you have BIH but it is a good opportunity to deal with a problem or play difficult or very precise position.
The problem with shying away from the harder shots or position is not that you miss or don't make it thru the rack, it's that it stymies improvement. Practicing and doing drills is fine but then it has to be applied under game conditions. I've noticed that people don't do this. The time comes to take the hard shot and they don't. And because of that, 2 or 3 shots later they're forced into taking an even harder shot. We almost always do better when we choose to take a shot as opposed to when we are forced into it.
Constantly expanding your comfort zone leads to quicker improvement.

As far as seeing how balls connect goes, the absolute best drill is the brainwash drill. It also helps with CB direction and speed; and the relationship between the two.
Hope this helps a little.
 
Shot selection

Shot selection is all based off pattern play. To practice this think of KISS (Keep it Short and Simple).

Start with practicing 3 ball. Break then take ball it hand. Try to find the simplest way to make all 3 (any order) without missing. Look for ways to link balls together. Stop shot is the most predictable shot so use this whenever possible.

Once you are consistently winning at 3 ball, add another ball. Keep trying and find out how many balls you can run on average.

When you have moved up to 5 or 6 balls in any order, then go back to 3 balls but play in order.

If you can work with an instructor, you could speed up your position play quicker.
 
its like the old saying..........good judgement comes from lots of experience. Lots of xxperience comes from bad judgement.

After your mess up and run and watch run a couple of zillion racks the patterns start to jump out at you.
 
Resources mentioned above are good for 8-ball. I also found Phil Capelle's Play Your Best 8-ball a nice book, goes over a lot of strategy situations from professional matches.

Ultimately you need to learn the principles, and then practice those principles, make mistakes, learn when to go against the principles, etc. through experience and repetition. Myself, I like to learn as many of those methods and principles from books, videos, instructors, etc., whatever your preference, to shave off the time needed to learn them the hard way.
Scott
 
fathomblue said:
The brainwash drill? Please elaborate.
Click to expand...

Spread all 15 balls out on the table leaving them at least 10" off the rails. Try to run the balls without the CB touching a rail. If you get proficient at doing this then start moving some balls closer to the rails. That makes it much harder. If one can get to the point of running the rack a good % of the time with 4 or 5 balls within 4-5" of the rails their CB control will have improved drastically.

It can't be done without both excellent CB control and superior pattern play. It requires and develops both. Some people think it's not that useful because you're shooting a large amount of stop shots. Big deal. Well yeah, it is a big deal, because stop shots are the cornerstone to playing position.
 
No one and I mean no one can teach you pattern play, maybe help you to see options, some tips,,,,,you can't think like me or anyone else,and visa versa
Put 10 racks on the table and ten pros will play them differently

Not sure of your level of play but you can try this.

Play Cribbage...Break...any pocketed balls come back up.
Take ball in hand.
You will fry your brain with patterns playing this game. By taking ball in hand it is more difficult to make choices
If you are a lower level player remove 4 or 6 balls
You need to exercise your brain.
Some of the most uneducated people I have ever met can run rack after rack.
It's not rocket science, just work on your brain...solve the puzzle.
P.S. Cribbage is 2 balls that equal 15 points
 
Plan your breakouts early and plan them so as to give yourself the best chance of continuing the run, you don't always get on the ball your breaking out so you need options, a ball over the a hole is a good one :p so leave it there till you have to take it.
Often this means playing what the table gives you and working to get the correct angles for the breakouts so you may not be able to plan your whole run at the outset.

Once the balls are in open play I look for the last ball to get me to the 8 and try my best to not have to take that one early then I will look for a logical path to get me through the next few balls and this is often where I see the average league player stumble.
They will take an easy ball at the same end of the table sometimes a key ball in the pattern when the slightly more challenging shot up the table would afford them a simpler pattern to complete the run.
 
i am not an instructor
but dont you think if he finds someone ALOT better them him and pay him to walk him thru shot selection and position play he would benefit??
 
SmoothStroke said:
No one and I mean no one can teach you pattern play, maybe help you to see options, some tips,,,,,you can't think like me or anyone else,and visa versa
Put 10 racks on the table and ten pros will play them differently
Click to expand...

That's not 100% true. For proof of this, just watch any 9/10 ball match on YouTube. The commentators almost always pick out the patterns the pros will play.
 
BeiberLvr said:
That's not 100% true. For proof of this, just watch any 9/10 ball match on YouTube. The commentators almost always pick out the patterns the pros will play.
Click to expand...

I think you're referring to position routes.There is no pattern play in 9/10 ball, it's predetermined. You're right that most good players will take the same position routes the majority of the time. Pattern play is very important in 8B and despite what someone stated, it can be taught, learned & developed. Probably a lot easier than teaching someone the physical skills needed to play good pool.
 
BeiberLvr said:
That's not 100% true. For proof of this, just watch any 9/10 ball match on YouTube. The commentators almost always pick out the patterns the pros will play.
Click to expand...

Sorry I have to disagree. Many times the commentators are in disagreement and the player does something totally different. When the planets are in alignment and the balls are sitting in the hole ,my dog can run out, but maybe different than you dog.
 
Here's a fun drill I started doing recently.

1. Put a ball on the foot spot (rack area).

2. Now place balls (# to be determined by skill level) randomly around the table. You could also place them in set areas to work on certain shots. For example, all frozen to the rails.

3. The objective is to pocket one of the random balls and then the ball on the foot spot. Then you spot that ball, and repeat until all balls have been pocketed.

There are two things I like about this drill. First, it forces you to think ahead. Secondly, it teaches you the importance of center table position. After you can do this, you can also experiment with putting the ball that spots in the center of the table and then on the head spot.
 
I like to find pros playing 8ball on YouTube.(CSI just posted a bunch)

After each break pause the video.. look at the layout decide what you would do plan each shot..then play the video until the pro deviates from your plan.. pause and rewind until you figure out why they did what they did.. do that shot by shot for several matches and your patterns and decisions will get better...
 
Start with understanding the four types of balls in an Eight Ball rack.

Intermediate players often come to me and say they have trouble finishing a rack after running up to five or six shots. The run should get easier, not harder, as you progress through the rack. Here's my article on how to think through the next few shots in Eight Ball. Read it, both parts and then ask any questions you like on this thread or in a PM.

Thanks and good luck.
 
Here's a good shot selection drill I run with my league teammates. Break a rack of 8 ball, study the layout and pick your side, then take 3 of them off of the table (you can take more or less, depending on your skill level). Now take ball in hand and run the rest of the side, but you have to do it in an order that makes everything a stop shot (or very close to it). If your cueball moves more than 6 inches from the object ball you just shot in (that's the length of a standard American dollar bill), you're done. It helps get you analyzing the table the right way to pick good 8 ball patterns - if you watch the pros play 8, they move the cueball as little as possible and shoot as many stop shots as they can, even if that means moving up and down the table instead of shooting the balls that are close to each other.

Learning to play straight pool will also do wonders for your shot selection and pattern play.
 
carom each and every ball off the cue ball into the pocket.

MiscueBlues said:
I play 8 ball and am very bad at picking the correct shots and planning out a good pattern, especially with ball in hand! :mad:

What are some things I can do to improve my decision making?
Click to expand...

Sometimes it's not that you're picking "bad" shots, it's that you're not controlling the cue ball well enough. Being able to carom the cue ball effectively is very important in 8 Ball and I'd suggest you practice this.....it will make the "bad" shots suddenly "good".

I like to break the balls and carom every OBJECT BALL off the cue ball into the pockets....this will give you a LOT of experience truly controlling the caroms and you'll see right away that you really do need this type of practice.

Remember, carom each and every ball off the cue ball into the pocket......this will get easier if you make a point to practice it 20/30 minutes a day....within a couple of weeks you're game will improve in ways you'd not have expected. 'The Game is the Teacher'
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top