Help with road/run block

[Jallan]

I am in need of some advice.

I have been playing 14.1 for only three years and have only seriously focused on it for the last 6 months or so. My "long" runs are ususally 10-12 and on a good day I can hit the high teens a couple of times. My potting is decent when I concentrate and I make the shots I should. My shot making is what I consider good and I get myself out of several jams I should not be in on a regular basis.

I play regularly with two players that are of a higher caliber than I am. Each of them have vastly different approches to the game. Player A began teaching me several years ago and is very aggressive. To the point that his opening break is the corner ball bank out of the rack. He and I do not keep score although I generally know about where we are at.

Player B is an extrodinary shot. He, however, is very conservitive. He makes four and hooks me as opposed to going into the rack and opening it up. When he does attack the pile he most often removes two or three balls at a time.

Player A I can beat on a good day. His aggressiveness leaves me many chances at open piles.

Player B will spot me 35 in a game to 150. I have beaten him once.

Now the question.

I am aware that my control needs help and I have been focusing on it as much as I can. What is the best way to work on positioning myself on top of the rack. 80% of the time my runs are stopped not by a miss but by getting severly out of line.

Are there certain routes or plays I need to get educated on that come up on a regular basis.

I would also welcome any advice you can offer on safties.

Player B will take me for $20 once or twice a week and I am well aware when we start I will not win. He does give me little bits of advice, when we are finished of course, that I think are directed to help me. I just need more information faster. I learn watching him and from what he tells me but I am sure there are times when he plays routes with the cue ball that are more difficult than they need to be becuse he can. I try to replicate that play and I think it is doing more harm than good.

If anyone has any advice it would be appriciated.
Thanks

 

[selftaut]

Sounds like you need to work by yourself to improve your cueball control. A couple things you can do at the practice table.

Take a small napkin or piece of paper about 4" x 4" , place it on the table anywhere. Set up shots attempting to have the cueball end up on the paper. On the very same shot, attempt to get on the paper in different ways, 1 rail/2rails/ etc...Then again on the same shot, move the paper to a different area and do the same thing. Repeat with all shots you can think of, even straight draw shots.

Another practice drill, throw out randomly 6 balls on the table, from where they lie pick out your last 3 balls, the setup ball, the key ball, and lastly your break ball. Take ball in hand on the first shot and run down to get perfect on the breakball using the pattern for the last 3 you mapped out, do this over and over and over.

Best of luck!
Kev

 

[Bob Jewett]

I am in need of some advice. ...

I think we need some more info. Have you read any books about straight pool? Watched DVDs? Ever seen someone run 100? Taken lessons? What drills do you do now?

 

[Jallan]

I have not read any books, however, I have two in the mail at this moment. Buying them is what spured me to make this post.

I have watched everything I can find on the net. Crane 150 out, all the DCC stuff that you were nice enough to put up and a lot of older stuff on youtube and google videos. I have watched a lot.

Never taken lessons. I have had an instructor tell me that my stance and stroke are not poor form. I feel like I have a good grip on the basics.

I have put together 2 racks of 8 ball on a few occasion and can most often beat the six ball ghost as well as the seven ball ghost.

When I do drills I spend a lot of time with all 15 in the middle of table and trying to run them with out making contact with a rail or another ball with the cue ball. I am successful about one in five tries. I always have my shots planned 3 balls ahead and make adjustments if I get out of line.

Hope this helps, although I'm not sure it will. Thanks for taking the intrest in my issue.

 

[mullyman]

Jim Rempe has a pretty good tape through accu-stats about how to run a rack. It's pretty detailed. It may help with ways to look at things.

Personally, and I'll probably catch 16 kinds of hell for this, I don't think the 150 ball run videos are very good as a learning tool at our level of play. Running 100+ balls takes technique and talent that we just don't have at this point in our games. They make it look so easy, and if it looks easy then you KNOW they are doing something fantastic. I like to watch matches with runs between 20 and 40. Those types of matches have mistakes and I personally feel that you learn more from a mistake than from watching perfect play. You can see the mistake and analyze what happened. On top of that if you have the right commentator that is breaking everything down for you then I think that is a great way to learn. I have some 150 ball run videos but they are pure entertainment for me.

Oh, I would also suggest, if you watch videos of 14.1, that you should watch players like Nick Varner, Mike Sigel, Dallas West etc... Efren is not a good one to watch and expect to learn. The older guys play traditional straight pool with very little cue ball movement. If Efren gets out of line he doesn't hesitate to go 3 or 4 rails for position.........pin point position. He really is a magician. hehe!!

Good luck and keep is updated on how things are going,
MULLY
you may get varying opinions on old school vs new school players too. I personally prefer the old school.