Exact position vs. zone position

skipbales · 2018-12-15T13:46:42+00:00

There are two schools of thought on exact position. Most instructors teach exact or at least very precise position as achievable. They also add a lot of thought about how to maximize the area of acceptable position like going into the line of the shot and so forth but most of the drills they use involve committing to at least 3 balls ahead and getting good enough position to pocket the balls in specific pre-selected pockets. These concepts sound good and probably sell a lot of videos but I don't know if they are realistic for the average player. That is the basis for this discussion. One other instructor I had told me it was a waste of time to practice a pre selected pocket drill as "it is too hard". Possibly he meant too hard for me or for an amateur, not sure. Anyway there are other top instructors who are more about zones and opportunities. CJ makes the comment that it is not realistic to be that precise. He says "maybe a few players in the world can do it" but there is no player who could beat him in 8 ball if they had to predict even one ball ahead. There are just too many variables and too many opportunities present themselves. Everyone changes the plan based on the exact position the ball stops in. CJ favors going for areas where he has one specific next shot in mind but if he misses it has a lot of other choices. He hates to get one shot only position. In 8 ball this really helps me. 9 ball is a little tougher. You are forced to hit balls in sequence but you can pick the pockets. Even in 9 ball I find a lot of situations where I roll into an area where there are multiple pocket choices depending on how far I roll. This is helpful, especially if the cue ball has to travel a long way. So the discussion is how realistic is it for an amateur player to expect themselves to improve based on precise position? While I do strive for it and practice drills to achieve it, my game has improved more based on seeing areas of "good" position and taking advantage of the best available choices then by getting precise. Is precise position really attainable only at the highest levels of pool? or is it something an amateur can expect to accomplish. Don't get me wrong, I have a 3-4 ball ahead plan, it is just that I am prepared to completely modify it after each time the cue ball stops. As always your thoughts are valuable to me regardless of your experience.

Thread starter skipbales
Start date Dec 15, 2018

FranCrimi

AzB Silver Member

Silver Member

Dec 17, 2018

Scott Lee said:
They are not necessarily mutually exclusive, Fran!

Scott Lee
http://poolknowledge.com

After all these years you still don't know how to phrase a post that doesn't make you look like an arrogant, condescending brute who thinks he knows it all.

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