Can anyone recommend these instructional products?

Blackball75

Blackball75

Blackball75
Silver Member
I know some of these are reviewed on Amazon, but I also want to hear YOUR thoughts :) :

The 8 Ball Book by The Monk

http://www.azbmarketplace.com/products/The_8_Ball_Book-100273-110.html

How To Be a Winning APA Captain

http://www.azbmarketplace.com/products/How_To_Be_a_Winning_APA_Captain-267-313.html

Practicing Pool by Phil Capelle

http://www.azbmarketplace.com/products/Practicing_Pool-309-310.html

Pleasures of Small Motions by Bob Fancher

http://www.amazon.com/Pleasures-Sma...=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1268861188&sr=1-4

How to Play Pool Right DVD

http://www.insidepool.com/order/Poo...ion+Books+&+Videos/How+to+Play+Pool+Right+DVD

"The Best Damn Pool Instruction Book, Period!" COMBO PACK

http://www.insidepool.com/order/Poo...mn+Pool+Instruction+Book,+Period!"+COMBO+PACK

8-BALL, THE BREAK, THE PATTERNS, THE STRATEGY by Bert Kinister (DVD vol.44)

http://www.bertkinister.com/

Thanks for your views! :)
 
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Pleasures of small motions is very good if you are already a player, it is into the mental thing.

A Bert Kinister video by itself doesn't do much good. The Best one is the first video "60 Miniute Workout" If you can master those shots you will have a game.

The Monk stuff. I didn't care for his book. Some stuff just doesn't make sense like snapping your wrist back on a draw shot.

I also don't know of anyone that back up his claim that he was banned from playing in tournaments here in Michigan.

All of Capelle stuff is good.
 
My philosophy is this: if I buy a 30 dollar book that is 250 pages long and 95 percent of it is old information or just poorly written, but I learn one thing that makes my knowledge of the game more complete and has a positive impact on my play then its worth it. Consequently I buy everything I run across. My collection is large.
 
There will always be someone that likes a particular book, video or dvd, and there will be those that don't. I personally like all of Robert Byrnes' stuff.
 
the capell book i won and like. he also wrote a book called "a mind for pool" which i liked a lot more than "pleasure of small motions". "pleasure" just wasn't for me. but books are books and what doesn't work here may be god sent for you. the other stuff on your list i haven't seen or read.
 
Anything by capelle is gold. I'll second byrnes books.

I like kinister stuff. The drills are good and you can see real honest to god scrubs struggling with them. Or sometimes it's neils feijen struggling with the drill, and then you don't feel so bad knowing a top level pro can't finish 'em either. The only problem is it's a mixed bag. He makes videos about key stuff with lots of useful info, and other times it's an entire video about one drill, and sometimes it's a video about what his cat horked up in the basement. He's entertaining to watch though.

If you have to buy only 1 book, I'd say the 99 Critical Shots in Pool is the one by ray martin. It's like 11 bucks, you're robbing yourself if you don't pick up a copy.
 
I have the Monk's 8-ball book, some mental game book and two of his DVDs, there is better material for either subject, like Phil Capelle's 8-ball book and "The 8-ball Bible" by Givens. "Pleasures...Motions was good and Bob Hennings "The Stroke Zone" was about the same book, just an easier and quicker read. Max Eberle's Zen Pool has some cool tidbits of info as well.

Get anything Joe Tucker!
 
Oh, I also forgot to address the Bert Kinister DVDs. I have three or four of his DVDs and one that you mentioned. Only "Advanced Fundamentals" has really helped me and all that material is covered in the 1st 15min or so on the PAT-1 DVD, plus you get a good amount of all different kind of drills for your game - more worth while IMO. Some of Bert's stuff is good, like the "60 min" but then I would just go with Tucker's "Guarenteed Improvement".

I don't mean to dig on other peep's material but I've spent a lot of money and I bought an opinion ;)
 
How to play pool right is excellent. I'm not a big Monk fan but his 8 ball book is worth the money get it. Anything by Capelle is worth having. Winning Captain is a good read. Some good tips.
 
From Capelle i can highly recommend *Practising Pool* and *Play your best straight-pool* absolutley *must-have* lecture :)

From the *Monk series* are several very good books to have- all worth in my opinion

If you re a *beginner* (sorry if not) the DVD from RandyG and Scott Lee is very good.

And also the PAT 1 and PAT 2 DVD including the training books are very good (not sure if the training-books are available in english, too-if so- get them)-

If you re starting how i shown up, the DVD from Randy and Scott are very good- and if you re gettin also the PAT 1 DVD you ll see here in the first 20-30 minutes very important and excellent descriptions for getting good fundamentals.

And of course- all stuff from Dr.Dave from colostate.edu is a *must seen*!

lg
Ingo
 
How to play pool right is a good DVD for the basics. I would recommend RandyG and Scotts two DVD set as being a good bit more detailed.

Fancher's book is great for the mental game.

Randy, Scott, and Fancher combined will give you a lot of great information.

Or, you can just sign up for pool school with Randy, Scott, myself, Rufus, Mark, or any number of other SPF instructors and get it all wrapped up in one very intense weekend.

Steve
 
pooltchr said:
I would recommend RandyG and Scotts two DVD set as being a good bit more detailed.

Steve
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Many thanks for your recommendations, everyone! I have now drawn up a to-buy shortlist.

@Steve: can you give me a title of the 2 DVDs you mention, or provide a link?
I can't find any mention of them on the homepages of the two authors. Thanks.
 
Blackball75 said:
Many thanks for your recommendations, everyone! I have now drawn up a to-buy shortlist.

@Steve: can you give me a title of the 2 DVDs you mention, or provide a link?
I can't find any mention of them on the homepages of the two authors. Thanks.
Click to expand...

Capelle’s book is good.

However, I would suggest you look into:
Play your best pool and Play your best 9-ball both by Capelle.
Both are excellent.

For DVD’s encyclopedia of pool shoots by Dr. Dave is excellent investment.
 
One more thing for basics IPAT 1 & 2 are good DVD's, I wouldn't waste my money on the books. Max Eberle Powerful Pool is great too.
 
Blackball75 said:
Many thanks for your recommendations, everyone! I have now drawn up a to-buy shortlist.

@Steve: can you give me a title of the 2 DVDs you mention, or provide a link?
I can't find any mention of them on the homepages of the two authors. Thanks.
Click to expand...

Shoot a PM to Scott Lee right here...he can hook you up.
I believe they are called Play Better Pool Vol. I and II

Steve
 
"Or, you can just sign up for pool school ":thumbup:
Listen to Steve I think that's the best advise given so far.My game "Literally" jump up levels after getting a coach.Reading is great,I do it everyday,"BUT" a real live coach is gonna catch every little fluke and flake you make and can consistently reinforce the fundamentals.Most of the books I have read on our great sport have to be interesting for most readers of all levels,but they really have more in common with those that have a good grasp on the basics.
 
CreeDo said:
Anything by capelle is gold. I'll second byrnes books.



If you have to buy only 1 book, I'd say the 99 Critical Shots in Pool is the one by ray martin. It's like 11 bucks, you're robbing yourself if you don't pick up a copy.
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forgot about the 99 critical shots. i will always recomend that. it's worth every penny.
 
NineballBEN said:
"Or, you can just sign up for pool school ":thumbup:
Listen to Steve I think that's the best advise given so far.My game "Literally" jump up levels after getting a coach.Reading is great,I do it everyday,"BUT" a real live coach is gonna catch every little fluke and flake you make and can consistently reinforce the fundamentals.Most of the books I have read on our great sport have to be interesting for most readers of all levels,but they really have more in common with those that have a good grasp on the basics.
Click to expand...

And all for less than the cost of many pool cues! There is no better bargain in pool. We will give you something that will last a lifetime!

Steve
 
5 *****

5 ****'s for MASTERING POOL by world champion Mika Immmonen a 3 dvd set. The most professional (Bright HD picture & Pro Sound) produced pool video's made to this date. Makes most of the other vhs and dvd's look like they were made by 8mm bell & Howell home cameras and copied a thousand times.

4 ****'s for Dr_Dave's 5 dvd set. I've only bought the first (of 5). It has lots of very good data but not as professionally produced (Picture & Sound) as the above set, but very decent. Dr-Dave (narrator) is a little monotoning. Need to hire a professional narrator. No offense meant, just my opinion. Based on the good pool data, I will be buying the rest of the set.

Nothing beats watching these on a 58" Plasma flat panel. I recommend buying both sets.

Jerry
 
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Preview PAT books for Free

All the PAT books are now available in a downloadable e-book format and you can preview them for free. You can download them here, but you will only be able to read them for a day or two (after that they'll ask you to buy the books). But that should be enough time for you to see if you like the material.

Personally, I would recommend the book Modern Pool by Ralph Eckert.
 
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