Developing Expertise In Pool

I had my niece tell me that years ago.

I decided to look and see for myself and she was right. So, I quit making the funny face.

Maybe that's why my game never went to pro level?...I been looking at things the wrong way.o_O



Jeff Livingstono_O
Who knows?
Maybe the lesson is to trust the inner process.
Maybe what we need to learn is how to get out of our own way.
 
The brain mapping thing is interesting. I know far less about this than you, but I remember Oliver Sachs writing that a 'phrenology' approach would be misguided because the brain was so plastic in mapping functions to new/different areas. But looking at the relative size of each area clearly makes a lot more sense.
ROS and Stephen Lee talk about a squeeze dynamic between those three digits, creating a penetrative sensation during tip to ball surface interaction.
Are there particular interviews where they go into this level of detail, or is this information picked up from bits and pieces of 'normal' interviews?
Barry Stark used professional reports while drawing the ball.
When the pro reported sensing a prolonged surface contact, a 35,000 fps camera clip was analyzed.
The pro stroke sensitivity awareness, was backed by a slight extra length time of contact, in real time.
When you say he used professional reports, is it the FPS films (and similar studies) you're referring to?
 
When you say he used professional reports, is it the FPS films (and similar studies) you're referring to?
There is YouTube video where the 35000 fps camera was used.
The claim of professionals being able to maintain tip contact longer and I assume spin the ball better with the extra grip, was tested.
The self report by the pro would have been to test awareness of the feel vs just just looking at the timing of better draw shots vs ones with less.
Timing would obviously be better on stronger spin shots, but was the player feel sensing it and did the video timing validate their feel?
Are there particular interviews where they go into this level of detail, or is this information picked up from bits and pieces of 'normal' interviews?
ROS in his masterclass series talks about the timing and squeeze, not in great detail.
During his last World Championship victory, he mentioned the penetrating sense timing was off slightly and spending time at the practice table between sessions working on it.
Stephen Lee has a number of YouTube clips where he demonstrates using the same pace and varying the height of contact to get different draw effects.
During one narrative he talks about the varying of squeeze pressure being a developed sense over years of practice.
So it is bits and pieces gleaned from mainly instruction clips, but also an interview reveal of competition prep between sessions.

Your questions reveal that you read with a similar level of listening for detail that I approached the same clips.
The difference between superficial understanding of a narrative vs a deeper level insight recreation of the speakers inner description can be huge.
Love the digging in search for the complete sense of intended communication.
Listeners miss so much without really hearing the whole message.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Pin
looking at the relative size of each area clearly makes a lot more sense.
Just realizing how the bigger picture is built gives us clues as to where everyone’s strengths lie.
The tapping of inner awareness resources is about understanding what is right under our noses.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Pin
Your questions reveal that you read with a similar level of listening for detail that I approached the same clips.
The difference between superficial understanding of a narrative vs a deeper level insight recreation of the speakers inner description can be huge.
Love the digging in search for the complete sense of intended communication.
Listeners miss so much without really hearing the whole message.
I've been making an effort recently to read more carefully because I'd caught myself in a couple of errors skimming things.
But to fully extract that deeper insight is another level again. It takes a lot more mental effort, but you can get so much more out of some things. We habitually get bombarded with so much information that it does take some self-discipline to slow down and process things carefully.
 
As players strive to get better they focus on the fundamentals, but is that the path to being an expert? They say elite athlete’s advancement lies in their ability to make finer and finer distinctions. Skiers learn to differentiate between types of snow, current weather effects, how packed it is and then minute shifts in the edges and placement of weight on the skis to make high speed adjustments. Where most race car drivers focus on the 3 basic parts of a turn, entry, apex and exit, and think 2 corners ahead, world renowned driver, Jackie Stewart, when tested, focused only on the current turn, it’s details and his descriptions and fMRI results showed he segmented turns into 8 parts. He knew the devil was in the details. Breaking down the skill into minute awareness bits allowed him to find the small ways he could gain time on his opponents. When tested he didn’t show better reaction time than other drivers. He learned where to focus to get his edge.

The question players, who want to take their game to the next level, need to ask themselves is "what part of what I’m doing can give me an incremental advantage."

What do you think is the primary area, of finer distinctions, that most likely will lead to expertise in pool?
There are many different levels of fundamentals, I've experimented with several throughout my career. However, when I found out what all the champion players were doing I took 2 weeks and changed how my body connected so I could go down on each shot the same way and with the ideal perception. From my personal experience teaching thousands of students privately and by video/article I can safely say that almost all players that aren't at the championship level are out of alignment when getting ready to go down on the cue ball to shoot.

This alignment issue will put a demand of 60%-70% (that its probably conservative) of their subconscious mental "horsepower" and under pressure it will usually fall apart, especially playing an accomplished player. I have a lot of success teaching this technique as the foundation of what it takes to be a World Class competitor - all it takes is the willingness to change and desire to practice it for up to two weeks (an hour a day is plenty).

The Game is the Teacher
 
There are many different levels of fundamentals, I've experimented with several throughout my career. However, when I found out what all the champion players were doing I took 2 weeks and changed how my body connected so I could go down on each shot the same way and with the ideal perception. From my personal experience teaching thousands of students privately and by video/article I can safely say that almost all players that aren't at the championship level are out of alignment when getting ready to go down on the cue ball to shoot.

This alignment issue will put a demand of 60%-70% (that its probably conservative) of their subconscious mental "horsepower" and under pressure it will usually fall apart, especially playing an accomplished player. I have a lot of success teaching this technique as the foundation of what it takes to be a World Class competitor - all it takes is the willingness to change and desire to practice it for up to two weeks (an hour a day is plenty).

The Game is the Teacher
The upper body is the key to proper alignment.
The lower body needs to morph to adjust to the equipment and other demands that might arise to keep the upper body delivery system in place.
The role of the standard stance, as presented in instruction, is to help us find that alignment slot.
That acts as a reference once established.

I use a simple sheet of paper to help illustrate that alignment.
Set it in portrait mode in front of you.
Take the lower left corner and move it diagonally up and towards the right edge of the paper.
The bottom edge of the paper needs to be aligned to the right edge as the paper starts to fold.
Precisely aligning the bottom and right side edges and smoothing the paper creates a diagonal crease.
The crease is the object lesson.
With the crease anywhere else the right sides don’t align.

The paper represents the body with the alignment opposite the right side.
The hips represent the bottom edge, square to the alignment line.
The body folds along the hip line if you bend from the joints not the waist, our crease line.
When the left foot or knee are moved forward it changes the hip line as it rotates in a clockwise direction.
As the crease created by folding along the hip line, the bridge hand can be reached over to the right edge, the shot alignment.
When the hip plane is right the fold aligns naturally and the body can fold flat.
If the left foot is too far ahead, the flattened back will push the alignment too far right or not be able to get right down fully.
If the left foot stays back square and doesn’t advance, the hips folding forward, make it hard to get and keep the heads position over the shot line.
The hands can adjust that right side alignment somewhat but the flat back plane constrains the variability.
Idealists would find the alignment of the aim line, the cue, the upper arm positioned behind the head’s aim perspective, with a vertical cueing arm, and body right down, the gold standard.
This process can place the body there.

Once the body finds the proper position for the upper body, muscle memory can bookmark that slot.
This process was just to find that unencumbered reference, to start from.
The rest is the ability to morph the lower body including the hip line and still retain the aim and delivery alignment.

And, you are so right, about how that puts attentional demands on the player mentally.
Add the pressure of coping with competitive stress and the fabric of the alignment can unravel under pressure.
That is why a trigger like the folded hip line position can reduce the thought process to a straight delivery from an aligned position.
 
Last edited:
The upper body is the key to proper alignment.
The lower body needs to morph to adjust to the equipment and other demands that might arise to keep the upper body delivery system in place.
The role of the standard stance, as presented in instruction, is to help us find that alignment slot.
That acts as a reference once established.

I use a simple sheet of paper to help illustrate that alignment.
Set it in portrait mode in front of you.
Take the lower left corner and move it diagonally up and towards the right edge of the paper.
The bottom edge of the paper needs to be aligned to the right edge as the paper starts to fold.
Precisely aligning the bottom and right side edges and smoothing the paper creates a diagonal crease.
The crease is the object lesson.
With the crease anywhere else the right sides don’t align.

The paper represents the body with the alignment opposite the right side.
The hips represent the bottom edge, square to the alignment line.
The body folds along the hip line if you bend from the joints not the waist, our crease line.
When the left foot or knee are moved forward it changes the hip line as it rotates in a clockwise direction.
As the crease created by folding along the hip line, the bridge hand can be reached over to the right edge, the shot alignment.
When the hip plane is right the fold aligns naturally and the body can fold flat.
If the left foot is too far ahead, the flattened back will push the alignment too far right or not be able to get right down fully.
If the left foot stays back square and doesn’t advance, the hips folding forward, make it hard to get and keep the heads position over the shot line.
The hands can adjust that right side alignment somewhat but the flat back plane constrains the variability.
Idealists would find the alignment of the aim line, the cue, the upper arm positioned behind the head’s aim perspective, with a vertical cueing arm, and body right down, the gold standard.
This process can place the body there.

Once the body finds the proper position for the upper body, muscle memory can bookmark that slot.
This process was just to find that unencumbered reference, to start from.
The rest is the ability to morph the lower body including the hip line and still retain the aim and delivery alignment.

And, you are so right, about how that puts attentional demands on the player mentally.
Add the pressure of coping with competitive stress and the fabric of the alignment can unravel under pressure.
That is why a trigger like the folded hip line position can reduce the thought process to a straight delivery from an aligned position.
The footwork is the real key to alignment, once a player understands how the left foot controls the body positioning of their left side and the right foot controls the body positioning on their right side they are entering a higher level of understanding.

It's amazing to me that this part of pool is not taught correctly, there's many, many theories on footwork, and alignment, but I haven't seen any that make the connection between the two.... they go together like peanut butter and jelly with the top level champion players.

This isn't hard to learn although it's much more challenging to teach. If I didn't have over 1700 martial arts lessons, and 50+ hours with Hank Haney before he was Tiger Woods coach I never would have figured it out at a level it's now fairly simple. They say "it's easy to make something appear difficult, and hard to make something appear easy".......this carries forward in many aspects of life, anything something sounds extremely difficult its a sign that there's probably a better way......in this case a much, much better way to position your foundation (footwork) and build a Game that can improve every day for the rest of the player's life.

The Game is the Teacher
 
The footwork is the real key to alignment, once a player understands how the left foot controls the body positioning of their left side and the right foot controls the body positioning on their right side they are entering a higher level of understanding.

It's amazing to me that this part of pool is not taught correctly, there's many, many theories on footwork, and alignment, but I haven't seen any that make the connection between the two.... they go together like peanut butter and jelly with the top level champion players.

This isn't hard to learn although it's much more challenging to teach. If I didn't have over 1700 martial arts lessons, and 50+ hours with Hank Haney before he was Tiger Woods coach I never would have figured it out at a level it's now fairly simple. They say "it's easy to make something appear difficult, and hard to make something appear easy".......this carries forward in many aspects of life, anything something sounds extremely difficult its a sign that there's probably a better way......in this case a much, much better way to position your foundation (footwork) and build a Game that can improve every day for the rest of the player's life.

The Game is the Teacher
Agree.
The folding of the hip crease is determined by the left and right foot placement.
Once the body knows what the upper body cue delivery alignment looks and feels like, the footwork to get it there using the initial reference position, acts as an anchor triggering the alignment.
Balance is part of the footwork learning progression.
Of all the possible positions the feet can take and the upper body still being lined up, the criteria of being anchored, balanced and in control quickly sort out the best options for the situation.
As Bandler and Gallwey both noted, the outcomes are just feedback, no judgements.
Find what gives you the outcomes you want, rinse and repeat, modeling success.
 
Agree.
The folding of the hip crease is determined by the left and right foot placement.
Once the body knows what the upper body cue delivery alignment looks and feels like, the footwork to get it there using the initial reference position, acts as an anchor triggering the alignment.
Balance is part of the footwork learning progression.
Of all the possible positions the feet can take and the upper body still being lined up, the criteria of being anchored, balanced and in control quickly sort out the best options for the situation.
As Bandler and Gallwey both noted, the outcomes are just feedback, no judgements.
Find what gives you the outcomes you want, rinse and repeat, modeling success.
There's one approach that works for everyone, it makes the student do something opposite of what they've always done. Most players look at the Line of the Shot FIRST, and what I teach is how to put your body in the ideal position to play pool FIRST! This may not seem like a substantial adjustment and I assure anyone it's easier read than done. Once they overcome the mind's persistence to look at the Line of the Shot first and start putting their body in position First, it opens up a way of playing that's is much more consistent and doesn't break down under pressure. I made these changes 30 years ago and not only did it improve my game, it made my life more effective physically and mentally.

The Game is the Teacher.
 
There's one approach that works for everyone, it makes the student do something opposite of what they've always done. Most players look at the Line of the Shot FIRST, and what I teach is how to put your body in the ideal position to play pool FIRST! This may not seem like a substantial adjustment and I assure anyone it's easier read than done. Once they overcome the mind's persistence to look at the Line of the Shot first and start putting their body in position First, it opens up a way of playing that's is much more consistent and doesn't break down under pressure. I made these changes 30 years ago and not only did it improve my game, it made my life more effective physically and mentally.

The Game is the Teacher.
I do both.
On shots where I can make a reference stance, I walk into the shot.
On less standard situations, aligning the upper body then finding my foot placement, is the solution.
 
I do both.
On shots where I can make a reference stance, I walk into the shot.
On less standard situations, aligning the upper body then finding my foot placement, is the solution.
Even "walking into the shot" indicates a player is looking at the Shot Line first, before setting their body position. And "aligning the upper body" first also indicates they are looking at the Line of the Shot before setting their body position into the ideal body position to play pocket billiards.

What I'm referring to seems like a slight adjustment however, it ends up making a HUGE difference in consistency and aiming because there's TWO REFERENCES, instead of just one (the Shot Line) - the Alignment Position is either Center/Center or Center/Edge EVERY TIME.....until a player experiments with this for a few hours they will never know how easy it makes the game because the connection is amplified considerably by setting the body position First, before aiming the shot. This also allows the player to Start Balanced and Stay Balanced, Start Centered, Stay Centered, so every shot seems the same, which is the key to unlocking uncanny consistency.

The Game is the Teacher
 
...the connection is amplified considerably by setting the body position First, before aiming the shot....


CJ, if you haven't aimed yet, what position could there possibly be to set the body to? ARe you saying to set a foot (feet) THEN aim? Aim at what, then?


Jeff Livingston
 
Even "walking into the shot" indicates a player is looking at the Shot Line first, before setting their body position. And "aligning the upper body" first also indicates they are looking at the Line of the Shot before setting their body position into the ideal body position to play pocket billiards.

What I'm referring to seems like a slight adjustment however, it ends up making a HUGE difference in consistency and aiming because there's TWO REFERENCES, instead of just one (the Shot Line) - the Alignment Position is either Center/Center or Center/Edge EVERY TIME.....until a player experiments with this for a few hours they will never know how easy it makes the game because the connection is amplified considerably by setting the body position First, before aiming the shot. This also allows the player to Start Balanced and Stay Balanced, Start Centered, Stay Centered, so every shot seems the same, which is the key to unlocking uncanny consistency.

The Game is the Teacher
Have to give it a good try.
Thanks for the insight.
I currently step towards the impact area so i can find my square hip position.
My left foot sets the hip line, by moving forward about half a shoe length then bending my hips, I fold into my aligned position.
My focus is on being in a looking straight down the cue position.
Any adjustment now needed to the shot line is the bridge setting the aligned right side on the shot line.
On occasion I need to get up because somehow bridging isn’t working without different footwork.
The cueing straightness alignment takes primacy on my criteria list.
That said where it’s pointed determines the outcome.

Are you saying to find the straightness alignment completely away from the shot then find the shot line from there and superimpose it onto the line?
 
Last edited:
Thanks for the post and follow up comments, very good stuff! Fundamentals are super important but there is so much more to the game as you’ve pointed out. Below are a few additional qualities that separate the great from the outstanding:

1. Shot Selection: Once you get to a certain level, anyone can and should run out the table. The trick is to choose the path that will give you the absolute best chance of getting out. Even if it’s only a 1% difference it’s important to diligently weigh all options and choose the correct shot. Getting slightly too flat on a shot can turn a simple run out into a tricky situation where you have force shape which lowers the odds of success.
I don't think this point can be overemphasized.

I demonstrated the importance of it to my beginner brother the other day.

We often play a match at home using USAPL Fargorate scoring and our race is 86 t0 35. He seldom, beats me unless I really screw up.

He is diligently trying to improve his fundamentals but I demonstrated to him that he can do far better even with his current shot making skills just through shot choice and awaremenss of the cue ball.

Instead of him doing shot selection I chose the shot for him. And I reminded him on each shot that he needed to be concerned not only with making the ball, but leaving the cue ball in a position bad for him or good for me.

He won two racks out of 4 and buried me simply by choosing better shots and without improving his shot making.
 
For some yes. But I've known and still know some great players that couldn't even spell "physics" or "geometry" if their bankroll depended on it. They have very little knowledge of the science behind the motion/action of billiard balls, but they have plenty of experience in knowing what happens if they do this or that. They just don't know why it happens, and as long as they get the results they expect there is no need to understand why it happens.

For others, however, understanding the why can open the door to a higher level of play.

I would argue this is true of most great players. That is why few become good teachers.

They do not understand the physics and mathematics of what is going on but their lower brain does.

The lower brain can do calculus and do it very effectively. Most people struggle with using their higher brain function to understand the motion of objects, which requires them to translate motion and quanity into mathematical symbols. But from the time they first opened their eyes and started to observe the world, their lower brains have been learning to watch objects in motion and predict the future of those objects using all the facilities that calculus is aimed at quantifying.

You can see this even in a dog when you throw a frisbee. By the time it leaves your hand the eye to lower brain communication has already caused the dog to whirl, and without looking back, use initial information about the position, rate of change, and acceleration of the frisbee to race some distance to the approximate place the frisbee is headed. He then looks back and renews the calculus, considering the position, rate and acceleration to fine tune his target location. He then turns, leaps into the air, and (often) gracefully catches the object.

If the dog stopped to do any sort of upper brain calculation, he would be unsuccessful. All through puppy-hood he was observing objects and learning to predict their future location by determining current conditions (position, rate of movement and rate of change of movement). If you wonder why canines love to chase balls so much, it can be explained by the evolutionary necessity of catching animals to eat, and avoiding being eaten by other predators.

In all of sports this lower brain capability is trained to operate on its own after receiving instructions from the upper brain. Any upper brain activity that adds instructions at any time during the stroke will subvert it (with the exception of having a single "swing thought" that coordinates several other motions). In my opinion it is this interfering action from the upper brain that creates more failed shots than any other factor.

In many sports one must do these calculus calculations regarding an incoming object, such as a pitched ball or an incoming tennis ball. But in many cases the brain must also control future motion of the ball, such as the shape of a pitched ball flight or returned tennis ball.

In pool the lower brain is entirely using anticipatory calculation. The muscles are coordinated to create an impact that creates a future direction, rate, and acceleration of the object (both cue ball and object ball, which makes it much more complex than many other sports). This incredibly complex and difficult action can be accomplished only by the LOWER BRAIN. Once the stroke begins, the upper brain is completely incapable of accomplishing anything exccept interfering with the exqusite capabilities of the lower brain.
Screen Shot 2021-10-27 at 12.30.32 PM.png
 
There's one approach that works for everyone, it makes the student do something opposite of what they've always done. Most players look at the Line of the Shot FIRST, and what I teach is how to put your body in the ideal position to play pool FIRST! This may not seem like a substantial adjustment and I assure anyone it's easier read than done. Once they overcome the mind's persistence to look at the Line of the Shot first and start putting their body in position First, it opens up a way of playing that's is much more consistent and doesn't break down under pressure. I made these changes 30 years ago and not only did it improve my game, it made my life more effective physically and mentally.

The Game is the Teacher.
This is interesting, but it seems counterintuitive that you could position your body correctly for a shot without sighting the line of the shot to know where your body would need to be. I would think you would have to be keying off of some part of the shot to establish the needed position?
 
This is interesting, but it seems counterintuitive that you could position your body correctly for a shot without sighting the line of the shot to know where your body would need to be. I would think you would have to be keying off of some part of the shot to establish the needed position?

You asked it so much better than I did.

Waiting for answer....



Jeff Livingston
 
Have to give it a good try.
Thanks for the insight.
I currently step towards the impact area so i can find my square hip position.
My left foot sets the hip line, by moving forward about half a shoe length and I bend my hips I fold into my aligned position.
My focus is on being in a looking straight down the cue.
Any adjustment now needed to the shot line is the bridge setting the aligned right side on the shot line.
On occasion I need to get up because somehow bridging isn’t working without different footwork.
The cueing straightness alignment takes primacy on my criteria list.
That said where it’s pointed determines the outcome.

Are you saying to find the straightness alignment completely away from the shot then find the shot line from there and superimpose it onto the line?
Yes, it's different when you have a set reference for the body position every time, it's just two, then let your mind calculate the angle from there.....Center to Center or Center to Edge......on long, super thin cut shots I align Center/Center then try to hit the very edge, it keeps me from milling the entire ball, which is great for confidence and usually over-cut when it doesn't go in.
 
This is interesting, but it seems counterintuitive that you could position your body correctly for a shot without sighting the line of the shot to know where your body would need to be. I would think you would have to be keying off of some part of the shot to establish the needed position?
I worked on doing it last night.
In a way it’s a bit like the video game pov where the guy has his gun up walking straight ahead.
That guy knows the importance of being aligned to his gun.
The shot has less influence on the setup.
I’m left eye dominant and right handed, and sometimes I get aligned with my eye, the tip the tip contact point and shoot only to discover I was looking from the left side of the cue, having lost the shaft, in awareness.
My cue was pointed left as a result.
Doing it this way my shaft is never lost since I’m aligning to my cue first.
You can still plan and aim before the alignment process.
You can walk the aimed cue into the shot.
As CJ says the difference may seem subtle, however, every shot feels the same.
The influence of the shot on how I align is gone.
Aligning is basically the same, and feels that way, regardless of the shot.
The intended ball paths match expected paths.
The straight in shot is the acid test for most players.
Perceptual alignment meeting physical delivery alignment straightness, sees both balls following the same path.
 
Last edited:
Back
Top