Cant Get Better

Fundamentals

Read some books that cover the fundamentals well. Make sure you understand and practice the fundamentals. If you are still not 100% on them go to an instructor for atleast a Video analysis. Maybe 1 or 2 lessons working completely on fundamentals.

From there make sure your practice sessions are only as long as you can stay really focused. It is not the Quantity of practice. Banging balls for 6 hours is no where near as good as 30 minutes of high focused and specific practice. Quality of practice is key.

Find local players that are better than you and talk to them. Some may not help you but others will. But work from the ground up - Fundamentals, Basics of shotmaking and position play, and mental game.
 
As you advance in your play you will hit various plateaus and your improvement may slow from time to time. It is good that you recognize your rate of progression but keep in mind the mental aspect is not typically mastered in a year or even a lifetime. Keep your mechanics sharp through practice and understand that the mental aspect develops at a different pace depending on situation and the individual. You can battle the mechanics of making balls and cue ball control etc through practice but the mental aspect at least to a degree needs time and experience to develop because different distractions, moods, atmosphere etc. present themselves. I have played decent in my life but the biggest mistake I made in the development of my game was not figuring out how to practice being focused. I learned how to focus for the cash somehow but that is not reliable enough. The champions have solid and practiced mechanics and they are focused every time they address the table. (probably why you don't see them just batting balls around against much weaker players). Just my opinion but if your progression goes anything like mine did you will find that when you hit a Plataea it is something mental and usually a lack of focus.
 
2rgrbn said:
Just my opinion but if your progression goes anything like mine did you will find that when you hit a Plateau it is something mental and usually a lack of focus.
Click to expand...

I was hoping somebody would bring this up. If your shot is fundamentally straight, regardless of whether it's "good" or not, and you're mechanically capable of making shots with regularity, the only real gap in your game might be the mental aspect. You can work with instructors or other better players to improve the mechanics of your stroke, to learn new techniques for dealing with position and shots, and to learn strategy for runouts and safeties, but you are the single most important person for improving your mental game.

Approach each shot with the same routine. Decide what shot you need to hit to give you position on the next ball. Line it up, and make your decisions about spin and speed before you get down on the shot. Once you're down on the shot, you already know exactly what you're doing, so all you need to do once you're down there is make sure you're on the right line and make a good stroke. When you're playing for position, the precision you need for the shot itself is immaterial.

Every shot is as difficult or as easy as every other shot, and you should go through the same process every time. Once you have your shot routine (other people call it a pre-shot routine, but I consider it the shot once the balls have stopped moving), keep it without variation. If something distracts you during the shot, stand up, start over, and make your shot again. Give yourself the opportunity to win by keeping your mind in the game.
 
I can and will help............

RyanC_9-ball said:
Ok, my name is Ryan and i play 9-ball pool. Ive only been playing for about 9 months now and in those 9 months ive gotten suprisingly good. Ive won several tournaments but the problem is i cant get any better. I practice about 6 hours everyday as always but i still find myself making crazy mistakes and missing reletavely easy shots. Is there any advice you higher skilled players can give me to help me inprove my game? Thanks
Click to expand...

Hi there Ryan,

The reason we miss these easy shots is eye alignment. You have a dominant eye and a non dominant eye.

When we miss a shot that we thought looked good it is almost always because the wrong eye is working as the dominant eye just a little or it could be a whole lot.

I've been teaching this with great results to hundreds of players over the past 2 years.

In 15 minutes over the phone with me you will understand why this happens and how to correct this optical illusion that most pool players have to deal with.

Give me a call some night after 8:30 and I'll run you through it a little. It will open up a whole new world that few players even know exists.

My number is 715-563-8712.

What I teach is the cure for missing the easy shot. But it will also make things alot better on the tough ones.

Have a great week Geno.............
 
Not bad for 9 months. Definitely take professional lessons. Learn correctly from the start. It's a lifetime of fun....you'll just keep getting better.
 
I actually have a very different position on all of what was told to you with some similarities. I can honestly agree that you should not have the up down motion in your stroke, at this POINT in your game, you should make a genuine effort in keeping your elbow level and use it as a pendelum. A stroke is simply a fluid motion, coupled with the speed. Make it fluid and straight, and your game will come along great.
Just back and forth. Another thing I saw you do is decelerating once or twice. Your practice strokes ought to be fluid and the same speed that you plan to contact the ball with, which helps with accuracy as well as english, when you become advanced enough to use it correctly.
Where I would disagree is here : your stroke, once you find something that you hit 99% accurately with, get good english control, and speed control with, it will be far from the fundamentals of stroke in most cases. Nevertheless, you must learn the fundamentals so you can make your own personal advancements and tweaks to your stroke from watching pro's and other higher level players. You can look at most of the strongest strokes in the game, and you will see alot of things that you shouldn't do, because you dont a solid foundation yet.
But to tell you what your doing right, you are staying down (mostly) for your shots, you dont have a death grip on your rear hand during the stroke, and you looked or lined up most of your shots before you shot. keep up the good work !!
 
Chris_Horton...I don't know where you got some of your ideas, but they are way off base in some of the things you have said here. Speed of practice swings has no bearing on speed of the actual stroke. The elbow is only level if you stand at a certain height over the cue. Stand lower and the elbow will be higher than the shoulder...stand higher and the elbow will be lower than the shoulder. Head height over the cue is a matter of personal preference. All that matters is that you finish your stroke to it's natural conclusion. Can you tell me at what point in a player's 'evolution' that they SHOULD drop their elbow?

Scott Lee
www.poolknowledge.com

Chris_Horton said:
I actually have a very different position on all of what was told to you with some similarities. I can honestly agree that you should not have the up down motion in your stroke, at this POINT in your game, you should make a genuine effort in keeping your elbow level and use it as a pendelum. A stroke is simply a fluid motion, coupled with the speed. Make it fluid and straight, and your game will come along great.
Just back and forth. Another thing I saw you do is decelerating once or twice. Your practice strokes ought to be fluid and the same speed that you plan to contact the ball with, which helps with accuracy as well as english, when you become advanced enough to use it correctly.
Where I would disagree is here : your stroke, once you find something that you hit 99% accurately with, get good english control, and speed control with, it will be far from the fundamentals of stroke in most cases. Nevertheless, you must learn the fundamentals so you can make your own personal advancements and tweaks to your stroke from watching pro's and other higher level players. You can look at most of the strongest strokes in the game, and you will see alot of things that you shouldn't do, because you dont a solid foundation yet.
But to tell you what your doing right, you are staying down (mostly) for your shots, you dont have a death grip on your rear hand during the stroke, and you looked or lined up most of your shots before you shot. keep up the good work !!
Click to expand...
 
well my point wasn't about the actual height of the elbow to the shoulder.. if it is 90 degree's or not, as long as its level at the impact, meaning not dropped then you have the correct contact. And the speed of a practice swing does have bearing on how you hit the ball if you start very slow and then hit very fast, you will always have a tendency to jerk through the stroke instead of "FLUIDLY" moving through your line. If you jerk through it, it was stroked, it was poked and you didn't hit it the way you wanted to.

finally, when is it ok for a player to drop their elbow. Well look at all the phillipino's that play the sport. They all have a "power" stroke built from the extra rotation of the shoulder. I have a personal friend that went home to the phillipines and played with efren and a few others and that is her stroke as well. She was also considered a female pro for roughly 5-6 years. All im saying is after years of the game, you develop certain habits within your stroke that make work for you personally. No two bodies are the same so somethings will work for you, and some against you. The fundamentals are fundamental because everyone can learn them.

And on another note, if you do have your elbow a touch higher than your shoulder, I can certainly see where dipping your elbow would be more of a problem. This is coming from a 20 year player, with quite a few great acheivements but it is with all due respect.
 
Well, I guess we'll just have to agree to disagree. The CB is gone in 1/1000th of a second after contact with the CB. So a "power" stroke has nothing to do with dropping your elbow. There are many top players that do not understand kinesiology and stroke mechanics, even though they play at a high level. The speed of practice swings has NO bearing on the stroke speed. It's all about the transition from the backswing to the forward stroke, on the final backswing. It must be smooth and deliberate, with at least a slight pause at the end of the backswing. The "jerk" you're talking about comes from both too much tension in the bicep, and too much tension in the grip...and a poor transition. Eliminate both of those and you can easily develop an accurate and repeatable delivery of the cue.

Scott Lee
www.poolknowledge.com

Chris_Horton said:
well my point wasn't about the actual height of the elbow to the shoulder.. if it is 90 degree's or not, as long as its level at the impact, meaning not dropped then you have the correct contact. And the speed of a practice swing does have bearing on how you hit the ball if you start very slow and then hit very fast, you will always have a tendency to jerk through the stroke instead of "FLUIDLY" moving through your line. If you jerk through it, it was stroked, it was poked and you didn't hit it the way you wanted to.

finally, when is it ok for a player to drop their elbow. Well look at all the phillipino's that play the sport. They all have a "power" stroke built from the extra rotation of the shoulder. I have a personal friend that went home to the phillipines and played with efren and a few others and that is her stroke as well. She was also considered a female pro for roughly 5-6 years. All im saying is after years of the game, you develop certain habits within your stroke that make work for you personally. No two bodies are the same so somethings will work for you, and some against you. The fundamentals are fundamental because everyone can learn them.

And on another note, if you do have your elbow a touch higher than your shoulder, I can certainly see where dipping your elbow would be more of a problem. This is coming from a 20 year player, with quite a few great acheivements but it is with all due respect.
Click to expand...
 
Scott Lee said:
Well, I guess we'll just have to agree to disagree. The CB is gone in 1/1000th of a second after contact with the CB. So a "power" stroke has nothing to do with dropping your elbow. There are many top players that do not understand kinesiology and stroke mechanics, even though they play at a high level. The speed of practice swings has NO bearing on the stroke speed. It's all about the transition from the backswing to the forward stroke, on the final backswing. It must be smooth and deliberate, with at least a slight pause at the end of the backswing. The "jerk" you're talking about comes from both too much tension in the bicep, and too much tension in the grip...and a poor transition. Eliminate both of those and you can easily develop an accurate and repeatable delivery of the cue.

Scott Lee
www.poolknowledge.com
Click to expand...

Hi Scott, hope you re doing good,

...as usual..
hats off..as usual :-)

great posting,

lg
Ingo
 
Here's my $.02. And remember, most of the time my thoughts are in the minority, i make people mad, and everybody jumps on me. but here goes:

1) Get that stupid ballcap off your head and at least look like you are taking the game seriously.
2) Turn off that stupid music and concentrate on the game. Take the game seriously.
3) Cue moves too much. You look like you have to keep that cue moving with practice strokes. A top-notch instructor told me face to face to stop doing that. You are 5 times worse than i was.
4) Chalk up before every shot. That is a glaring mistake.
5) Listen to what people on here tell you because 95% of the time they are spot on. However, if you disagree with them and find that something works better your way, continue doing things your way. Some people on here think you ABSOLUTELY HAVE to do things their way or you wont ever be any good.

DCP
 
Last edited:
well I can surely agree on that, and hopefully one day when alot of us are at a pool tournament or convention, we can meet up and i'll show you what I am talking about and vice versa. I'll be in Vegas during the APA Masters, if your out there then that would be fine. Im sure we'll both be able to agree on some more aspects. :smile:
 
Not to knock it Scott, because I am very certain that you are a great player to be a BCA Instructor, but it sounds like I am reading the book when you post and I myself am a great player, and I dont do most of what you teach. My bottom line point is, there are many ways to make the same shot. The easiest way to make it is defined by your skill level, and consistency, not the masses. But, I can certainly say this, for the Beginner level players, a BCA instructor isn't a bad way to go. Nor would it be bad to ask a local pro for lessons. The fundamentals need to be learned before you move YOURSELF forward.
 
drcue'sprotege said:
here's my $.02. And remember, most of the time my thoughts are in the minority, i make people mad, and everybody jumps on me. But here goes:

1) get that stupid ballcap off your head and at least look like you are taking the game seriously.


Dcp
Click to expand...

Well, I thought it anyhow .... :D
 
What about expert and pro players who seek out BCA instructors...are they wrong to come to us, even if they play better than we do?

Scott Lee
www.poolknowledge.com

Chris_Horton said:
I can certainly say this, for the Beginner level players, a BCA instructor isn't a bad way to go. Nor would it be bad to ask a local pro for lessons. The fundamentals need to be learned before you move YOURSELF forward.
Click to expand...
 
No Scott they should ask if they can't figure something out with stroke or techniques and so forth but then again they normally got to where they are because they had a good teacher and now have the ability to self-diagnose their problems... after all it is my humble belief that once a pro level has been reached its because they understand how they needed to personalize their game to be that good fundamentals will only get anyone so far...
 
Chris_Horton said:
No Scott they should ask if they can't figure something out with stroke or techniques and so forth but then again they normally got to where they are because they had a good teacher and now have the ability to self-diagnose their problems... after all it is my humble belief that once a pro level has been reached its because they understand how they needed to personalize their game to be that good fundamentals will only get anyone so far...
Click to expand...

Chris, this is ridiculous. Do you know Tiger Woods regularly see's a coach about his stroke, even when he was winning what seemed to be every major event.

When a Pro or any high level player is off any, they go back to the fundamentals to see what is off. It is the fundamentals that all of us build our game on. And watching most players that are very inconsistent it seems obvious they built their game on unsolid fundamentals because any pressure and their game falls apart.
 
Really ? I said they should if THEY cant figure it out. You mean to tell me if Tiger Woods slices a ball he doesn't know that he has the club face too high at impact on the ball ?

You make it sound like I knocked the idea of a pro or expert level player seeing an instructor. I said they probably have the knowledge to be able to figure out what they are doing wrong. These are the same people that are very capable of teaching the FUNDAMENTALS of the game to a newer player or anyone that feels their game could use the help. Jesus, everytime something is said an argument is sprung from it.

You are truly unknowledgeable if you think that an expert player of this game cant go back to the basics themselves and fix their stroke hitch, or just automatically know what they did wrong because of what happened to the shot. You need to find some REAL pro's to shoot with on a regular.

To the root of the original post, Ryan, do yourself a favor and see an instructor or a local pro, and have them help you with your game. You will see a great improvement.
 
Chris...Well I agree with seeing a qualified instructor. The pro will likely know nothing about how to examine someone's stroke, and even less about how to help the student learn to fix it...other than "do it like this".

Scott Lee
www.poolknowledge.com

Chris_Horton said:
To the root of the original post, Ryan, do yourself a favor and see an instructor or a local pro, and have them help you with your game. You will see a great improvement.
Click to expand...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top