Game That Teaches The Most Skills?

ThinSlice said:
It’s one pocket. The most difficult game of them all. There is a reason for that. It includes ALL disciplines. But you can’t practice alone. It’s like playing chess alone. You need a counter pert.

1-1 pocket requires a touch
2-requires excellent safety play
3-requires banking skills.
4-requires a stroke. After long waits.

What other game requires this?

Straight pool banking is the kiss of death.

Nothing else to say on this subject. You just need someone to practice with.


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not at all sir, you just need to make 8
slop counts
you dont need surgical precision like high level 9ball requires
every game requires a touch
alot of points can be made by caroms, short combos, and banks or wildly slamming into the pack

safety is much harder in a game where you can give up ball in hand, not so much in 1pkt imo


14.1 is the hardest pool game by a long shot
 
Texas Carom Club said:
not at all sir, you just need to make 8
slop counts
you dont need surgical precision like high level 9ball requires
every game requires a touch
alot of points can be made by caroms, short combos, and banks or wildly slamming into the pack
safety is much harder in a game where you can give up ball in hand, not so much in 1pkt imo <===Many people overlook this. You can take those fouls in one pocket without giving up that ball in hand. And even if you shoot it in the hole or off the table he's still gotta' come from behind the line.
14.1 is the hardest pool game by a long shot
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I agree about 14.1. It is the toughest.
I despise the game because it is boring as hell to me (unless I'm shooting) but most of the time I sit there in the chair while the other guy barbecues me. Then I end up having to pay half of the table time on top of losing my bet.
I've tried to watch it on youtube and I just fall asleep.
Same as most all things in life...."different strokes for different folks"
:thumbup2:
 
Low500 said:
I agree about 14.1. It is the toughest.
I despise the game because it is boring as hell to me (unless I'm shooting) but most of the time I sit there in the chair while the other guy barbecues me. Then I end up having to pay half of the table time on top of losing my bet.
I've tried to watch it on youtube and I just fall asleep.
Same as most all things in life...."different strokes for different folks"
:thumbup2:
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i will only watch high runs
and i cant ever get anyone to play it with me, soo i dont despise it in any fashion lol
no billiard game bores me
 
No one game will get it.. my preference is One Pocket and
9 ball. 9 Ball for rotation position play and letting out the stroke,
One Pocket for strategy, banks, kicks, caroms & safety play.

And yes, I'm a patient :cool:
 
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JazzyJeff87 said:
But so what if it was? I’ll agree it’s not the best game to practice if that was all you could practice but in real life practicing 1 pocket helps tremendously with everything else.

I got 3rd in a 9 ball tourney last sat, partially helped by a few banks that are common in 1P. It’s a great game, the best in my opinion.

And anyone who thinks you can’t practice alone you should really try. Don’t short yourself, play as if it’s totally real and put yourself in the worst possible positions, and then see what you can do to respond.
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No, it doesn't!

It's people with your mindset that makes billiards become rejected from the Olympics. Yet, you all wonder why billiards is in such a slump.... :shakehead::shakehead:
 
Runner said:
No one game will get it.. my preference is One Pocket and
9 ball. 9 Ball for rotation position play and letting out the stroke,
One Pocket for strategy, banks, kicks, caroms & safety play.

And yes, I'm a patient :cool:
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Yet, the irony is that your handle really doesn't perceive who you think you are...
 
Texas Carom Club said:
not at all sir, you just need to make 8
slop counts
you dont need surgical precision like high level 9ball requires
every game requires a touch
alot of points can be made by caroms, short combos, and banks or wildly slamming into the pack

safety is much harder in a game where you can give up ball in hand, not so much in 1pkt imo


14.1 is the hardest pool game by a long shot
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:thumbup2::thumbup2::thumbup2:
 
I detect a large number of posters that know very little about one pocket.


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KMRUNOUT said:
I detect a large number of posters that know very little about one pocket.


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Agreed. Obviously some here have never been involved with a drawn out 1 pocket game or one that moves up table. To each there own as it was said. If they don’t know then they will never know. The comments about precision play baffles me. Oh well.


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I'm far from an expert at one Pocket. I have watched quite a lot of accu-stats tapes, and I've played a little bit. First With my friends (we all knew nothing apart from what the tapes had taught) then later with a truely expert player. This is my list of why I don't think playing one Pocket exclusively is a good way to get bettter at all games:

1. One Pocket banks. One Pocket banks are often lag banks. Lag banks are bad in pretty much any other game. You're risking roll off and bad contacts and they're hard to judge. ESPECIALLY 2 or 3 rails. You are approaching the Pocket diagonally, and are almost certain to leave it on (for the Pocket you are shooting at). That's pretty bad news if you're not playing one Pocket.

Then you have the extreme spin transfer banks. These are somewhat rarely used, but still viable for other games. I think most players can go a month without using any banks like that in other games, especially for the corners, which is what is used in one Pocket. I use them somewhat more often in the side Pockets, they offer bigger targets and usually give more opportunities to be used. But one Pocket is not about the sides.

2. Take out shots. These are completely useless in all other Pocket billiards games.

3. Bunt safeties. These are the standard safes where you bunt an opponents ball, laying on the short rail next to a Pocket, to the long rail next to the Pocket, leaving the cueball frozen to the short rail. Used as a kick as well as a bank. Vital for one Pocket, completely useless for all other games. There are also shots quite like this in other areas which are equally useless.

4. Tightly played short side shape. This a good skill, which one Pocket teaches well, also found in straight pool and 8 ball.

5. Reading the stack. Straight pool teaches this equally well. One Pocket has maybe more "Wild" and creative stack shots, because you are rewarded for near misses (creates threats). So I Guess maybe you'd learn a trick or two you could use in Straight pool if you're a fast and loose style player.

6. Moving (leaving balls near Your Pocket to create a threat, or moving oppents ball into non-threatening positions). Not useful in other games, except maybe 8 ball. The UK 8 ball games have a lot of this, because of congestion on the small table and tight Pockets but the way you do it is a lot different than in one pocket. In UK 8 ball it Works because balls on the rails are considered safe. It's really tough to shoot one in when it's on the rail on those tables. If you do this on a US table the shot as actually easier for Your opponent in many cases.I suppose you could combine them With a safety and use them in straight pool maybe. Personally I think it's too complicated for that purpose.

7. Side Pocket shots. One Pocket has none. Good to know in other games, wouldn't you agree? OK, OK I SUPPOSE you could shoot one in the side to spot it, not much used, not really emphasized.

These are some bread and butter shots in one Pocket and one not taught at all. Of course you shoot regular shots as well, but I don't think anyone would seriously suggest that one pocket is the best teacher of open table play?
 
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SlickRick_PCS said:
No, it doesn't!

It's people with your mindset that makes billiards become rejected from the Olympics. Yet, you all wonder why billiards is in such a slump.... :shakehead::shakehead:
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Did someone hustle you to play 1 pocket sometime or something? I’m a lover of all games on the upholstered rock.

One of the best things 1p has done for me is made me learn how to really aim a ball I’m hitting. In most games you only shoot for a pocket. I can shoot in near darkness because I know the angle I need for the pocket as long as I see the general relationship of the balls. But try shooting a ball into a diamond and it’s a totally different story. My safety game has gone way up in all games since I got into the single pocket. Sure the safety theory is different but the skills required are sharpened none the less.

Pool/billiards is a game. The best in the world but a game in my mind, just like all the games that end in -ball. I don’t think it will ever again be as popular as back in the day or be in the olympics and that has nothing to do with one pocket.
 
KMRUNOUT said:
I detect a large number of posters that know very little about one pocket. ...
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One of the questions in the OP was:

Which game demands the most unique skills?​

Perhaps someone can suggest another game in which you need to know how to send balls onto the floor.

(I need to specify current rules since at one point the BCA eight ball rules did provide situations where it was good to knock the eight ball off the table. There is also a situation at snooker in which it is good to drive red balls onto the floor, but such behaviour is disparaged rather than praised.)
 
Patrick Johnson said:
If you could only practice one pool game (rotation, 8-ball, straight, 1pocket, etc.) but you want to play all of them, which one would you choose to practice?

Which game demands/teaches the most important commonly needed skills?

Which commonly needed skill(s) does it lack?

Which game demands the most unique skills?

pj
chgo
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The game I already play almost exclusively: last pocket 8ball, no shot calling, no BiH, no rail hit requirement, CB on head spot after scratch.

Last pocket rule + no BiH + CB on head spot means you'll have to go for some difficult shots in almost every game, both to get out of messed up situations and to actually pocket something.

Last pocket also means special planning in advance to get a good angle on the 8 ball after pocketing your last ball.

No shot calling allows for probability-based tactics to come into play, in a much more complex way than "riding the cheese" in 9ball.

No rail requirement allows even more versatile defense.

Plus, there are plenty of other rules I listed in one of my recent threads that make this particular game a challenging and highly strategic experience.
 
Bob Jewett said:
One of the questions in the OP was:

Which game demands the most unique skills?​

Perhaps someone can suggest another game in which you need to know how to send balls onto the floor.

(I need to specify current rules since at one point the BCA eight ball rules did provide situations where it was good to knock the eight ball off the table. There is also a situation at snooker in which it is good to drive red balls onto the floor, but such behaviour is disparaged rather than praised.)
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Straightpool99's list of 1 pocket uniquities above illustrates this pretty well too. I'd add needing to control both CB and OB speeds and playing safe on every shot. Another unique thing I especially like about 1 pocket (not a skill) is the back and forth sparring - you get to react to almost every one of your opponent's shots.

pj
chgo
 
Patrick Johnson said:
Straightpool99's list of 1 pocket uniquities above illustrates this pretty well too. I'd add needing to control both CB and OB speeds and playing safe on every shot. Another unique thing I especially like about 1 pocket (not a skill) is the back and forth sparring - you get to react to almost every one of your opponent's shots.

pj
chgo
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Back and forth between shots:

Poker pool.......two way shot city.....
 
1p for the win.

I have noticed that my skills from other games translate to a better one-pocket game for me. Not sure one-pocket really improves any of the other games though.

Straight pool has helped me spot dead balls in racks/clusters as well as pocketing "easy" shots.

9-ball/Rotation has helped me with patterning, cue control, safety play, and getting all the balls I can out of an opponent mistake/great shot.

8-ball for bumping clusters, dodging traffic, safety play.

One thing that one pocket has that most of the other games do not is the ability to be creative. In other games, there is practically a road map, and the way the balls are laying tells you what needs to be done. There is usually just 1 or 2 shots that are the "right" shot or the "best" shot. In one pocket there can be 3 or 4 excellent shooters that attempt the same position with different shots and all of them can get an excellent result. I would say that one pocket also will easily pinpoint weaknesses in your own game when you have strong competition. You will discover really quickly that your patterning, cue ball control,run out ability,safety play, leaving dead balls in the rack, etc are really hurting your chances.
 
9 ball if you are a decent player, maybe one pocket if you aren't. with 9ball you can stay in shape for most other games because pocketing balls and moving whitey around is paramount to playing well in any game.
 
HI all- long time reader first time poster,

It reads to me that there are a few different discussions being had in this thread that are talking past each other a bit. It seems most responders (I think OP too) want to figure out which game if played exclusively would give the that person the best possible chance at excelling at all other games? Not sure that exists.

So if one only played one particular game to an elite level, how would they place in an all-around performance metric in a tourney that had all the other games? Tough one. Fun to think about.

I would lean toward 15 ball rotation producing the best chance for placing highest in the all-around. But I don't say it with a ton of conviction.

thanks
 
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