controlling shooting power and consistency

vapoolplayer said:
what do you mean by hard? plenty of shots can be made with a very firm stroke...........all depends on how straight you hit them.

VAP
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You and I both know that you can hit a ball straight into an American snooker table pocket fairly briskly. I also know that an above average player who has never played snooker is going to miss a lot of balls if he/she shoots hard or firm. I was just trying to point out that it takes more concentration to pot balls on a snooker table. If you're slamming balls like he states that he is on a pool table, you are not going to be as successful unless you can slam balls very, very accurately. I play pool every day and it takes me two or three games on a snooker table before I start feeling comfortable enough to hit them hard. YMMV
 
yeah i been working on the power meter some. I still have to think shoot soft but im getting there. Ive also found when i soften my hit up on table length shots i make them almost everytime. Also i been working on my shot mechanics. And i am noticing a big difference already. I been playing straight pool to practice and it is really a great game. I am still not sure about how the racking works after the first and such but i still give it a go. My cue ball positioning is another thing i am going to work on next. I am alot of times stuck with cb dead against a bumper and those are crap shots. But i realise that its i need to working on my leave after a shot. Thanks for all the help these ARE THE BEST FORUMS ON THE NET.period peace
 
Fundamentals

NewGuy said:
:D You sound just like me before I started taking lessons. First thing my instructor asked me after watching me shoot a couple of easy short shots was "You have problems with long shots, don't you?", and she was absolutely right. It turns out that my stroke, stance and bridge were pure shit. I corrected my fundamentals with her help and my game has improved tremendously. I agree totally with crawdaddio, see a qualified instructor right away. I waited a year after I started playing to take a lesson and I wish I hadn't. My game would've been so much better now and I wouldn't have formed so many bad habits.
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WHAT FUNDAMENTALS DID YOU CORRECT, AND HOW AND WHY.

HAL HOULE
 
Aiming?

BillardBill said:
I know what you mean. I have started to use somethings i have read about and seen from other players and they are working for me. I am still working on not shooting hard even though i know i still am just not as hard as i was.lol No i have learned alot from this site in even just the last week or two. I have also noticed i needed to stop taking shots for granted and rushing them so to speak. I slowed my game down and i am noticing a big difference already. Thanks for the tips proud to be a member here its a great board. thanks
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AND YOUR AIMING SYSTEM IS?

HAL HOULE
 
drivermaker said:
You say you're really a good player and great at the shots you listed, but what you WOULD be is a road player's or better players dream come true. Most who play this game have an over inflated view of the strength of their game. In other posts you say that you have quite a bit of trouble with long straight in shots, hitting too hard, and unexplained weird caroms with the CB. That's not a sign of a "good" player.

Do you know what a good player is? It's someone that can run rack after rack and just dominate anyone of lesser skills, as well as equal skills. It's someone that makes you think that a prank was pulled on you by painting your seat with crazy glue because your ass never comes up off of it to shoot. And when you do, you're just trying to get yourself out of jail and not foul. It's also YOU having the ability to do just what I said.

I'm not quite sure you know how "bad" you really are, but it sounds like you have a lonnnnng way to go. This may be blunt, OK it IS blunt, but sometimes that slap in the face might end up doing you more good than someone agreeing with you. BTW...you're real good in 3-ball combinations? Do you know how often a "good" player has that actually come up or would be willing to chance it unless it was lined up like a laser beam? Keep practicing and working at it...that's all I can say.
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GREAT post DM. BilliardBill judging by what you said you are probably no better than a "C" player, and you need to come to terms with that. Thinking you play better than you actually do is going to get you broke, frustrated, and you just might lose interest in the game for good if and when someone decides to give you a thrashing. Learn to accept how you play, but never be satisfied.
 
BillardBill said:
yeah i been working on the power meter some. I still have to think shoot soft but im getting there. Ive also found when i soften my hit up on table length shots i make them almost everytime. Also i been working on my shot mechanics. And i am noticing a big difference already. I been playing straight pool to practice and it is really a great game. I am still not sure about how the racking works after the first and such but i still give it a go. My cue ball positioning is another thing i am going to work on next. I am alot of times stuck with cb dead against a bumper and those are crap shots. But i realise that its i need to working on my leave after a shot. Thanks for all the help these ARE THE BEST FORUMS ON THE NET.period peace
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You were looking for tips? Here's a few i hope might help.

On the long straight in shots that are giving u problems pick for an aiming spot the point at which the ob touches the cloth. It represents exact dead centre and gives u a clear visible aiming point rather than looking at a solid surface.

When your jamed up against a rail, accept that your oppotions are limited and play only wut the table gives u. It's called 'taking your medicine'. With lots of practice on these shots they should never be a problem. Only your position options are affected, your shot need not be.

Yes pocket speed for most shots is always a good choice. One way to control Cue speed is to take a shorter bridge when you want a quieter shot. The other is to play the shot as a draw drag. This is especialy useful for the longer shots. Hit low on the cb and strike it like a draw shot. Guage it so the back spin wares off before contacting the ob. The effect will be that the cue ball will slow down on route and result in a softer hit than the original stroke would suggest. Very usefull. St.
 
While you shouldn't hit the ball harder than necessary, most good players, especially snooker players like to hit the ball firmly.

Firmer shots suffer less from skid(kicks) or unintended throw from side english. It also eliminates rolls. To use firmer potting you'll need to learn how to accurately control stun through (stun follow) and stun back (stun draw) shots. The only negative is that the pocket plays slightly smaller, but US table pockets are plenty big enough anyway for anyone with good cueing. Try knocking in a few balls down the rail on a tight-pocket pro-snooker table.

It will help a lot if you have good straight cueing fundamentals, and practice these with many hundreds of swings of the cue everyday. A good player should have very close to the same accuracy on soft and very hard hit shots.
 
Colin Colenso said:
While you shouldn't hit the ball harder than necessary, most good players, especially snooker players like to hit the ball firmly.

Firmer shots suffer less from skid(kicks) or unintended throw from side english. It also eliminates rolls. To use firmer potting you'll need to learn how to accurately control stun through (stun follow) and stun back (stun draw) shots. The only negative is that the pocket plays slightly smaller, but US table pockets are plenty big enough anyway for anyone with good cueing. Try knocking in a few balls down the rail on a tight-pocket pro-snooker table.

It will help a lot if you have good straight cueing fundamentals, and practice these with many hundreds of swings of the cue everyday. A good player should have very close to the same accuracy on soft and very hard hit shots.
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I was about to post a similar reply, I believe any pro player is more comfortable with a good firm stroke, even a very hard stroke, as compared to slow rolling a ball. If you watch accustats videos of tournament finals you might notice that most shots are hit with a firm stroke, even on fast slippery tables. A pro will hit a ball as firmly as he can, within reason. Often players roll too far and get out of line because they actually didn't hit the ball hard enough to control the cueball's english all the way through the shot.

A long straight in shot is one of the hardest shots in pool. A little sidespin can deflect the cueball and can throw the object ball off a lot, and it's hard to hit the cueball dead center. I say slam them in until you can make ten in a row stopping you cueball dead. Try and make the cueball sit dead still with no spin. Buddy Hall can show you how to make it look easy using a striped ball for the cueball, setting it straight up and down and stopping it straight up and down.

It's just about as easy to slam them in with extreme sidespin, stopping the cueball dead, but spinning very rapidly, if you know how to do it. A little english can throw the object ball off a lot more than a lot of english.

Just because a ball wobbles in when you hit it slowly doesn't mean you are playing better. Always try to miss the rails.

You must be smart Colin, you keep agreeing with me, LOL!

unknownpro
 
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