How did you get from b speed to a speed and above?

[student4ever]

OK the things I want to here is from the b players that became a players and above...Tell your story and things that you worked on to become an a player. I think this will be an excellent instructional thread if we can get some really good replys in it. There are so many players that are stuck at b speed and can't seem to break out of it other than those occasional nights when they feel dead on! I ask that all of you contribute some positive feedback. thanks guys! Ps- most b players I am talking about are able to run a wide open rack, sometimes small packs but can't seem to get over the hump of consistency!....So spill the beans old wise ones.lol. :thumbup:

 

[Neil]

..............

 

[manwon]

OK the things I want to here is from the b players that became a players and above...Tell your story and things that you worked on to become an a player. I think this will be an excellent instructional thread if we can get some really good replys in it. There are so many players that are stuck at b speed and can't seem to break out of it other than those occasional nights when they feel dead on! I ask that all of you contribute some positive feedback. thanks guys! Ps- most b players I am talking about are able to run a wide open rack, sometimes small packs but can't seem to get over the hump of consistency!....So spill the beans old wise ones.lol. :thumbup:

There are two ways to accomplish this lots and lots of hard work, or hard work and natural ability. Going from a B-Player to an A-Player or technically Shot Stop Speed is a very big step and it takes more than just practice it also takes thinking differently. One area that is a major change from B to A is shot selection and safety play. The lower ranked players use safety play in many situations why an A-Play will not only make the shot they will run the rack. This can be seen by watching better players play, they will consistently shoot shots and make them that lower ranked players will attempt to play safe on.

I think that you must improve your ability to consistently shoot shots that are beyond your skill level. While safety shots are important, they can be used as a crutch or used too frequently.

 

[BigDogatLarge]

And there you have it. Good advice from two A players. If you follow their words your game will go up.

Dwight

 

[softshot]

it's all about desire..most B players can crush 90% of pool players. they will just win..and for most of them thats good enough ...

if you can beat everyone you know you are a good player. and you consider yourself a good player.. rightly so..

. but cracking through to the big boys takes a bit more desire.. and a bit more effort.. once you can beat everyone you know.. you must start the search for someone you can't beat.. once you are on your way past the B level.. finding someone better than you becomes increasingly more difficult.. and if you are not careful your own ego will get in the way..

it becomes much harder to find the guys that can push you further.. and it comes back to desire... the guys are out there.. you just have to look harder and travel farther to find them...

regardless of how good you are... find someone you can't beat.. and play him until you can...then start the search for the next guy..

and don't forget to practice..

 

[Poolplaya9]

This was my response in the "How to become a better player" thread from about a week ago. Most of it pretty much still applies here.

1 Play a LOT.

2 Give 100% to your play and to your focus, whether you are playing with someone else, or just doing drills.

3 Concentrate on good fundamentals, and most importantly on a straight repeatable stroke and good follow through. Video tape yourself periodically, because you often aren't doing what you think you are.

4 Play better players.

5 Put yourself under pressure, whether it be in tournaments or in gambling.

6 Watch great players. In person is good, but you can also learn a lot from Accu-stats, TAR, and other videos.

7 When possible, ask someone how they did certain things, and why they did it that way. Be prepared to weed out bad information, because you will get some.

8 Read and watch instructional material (an instructor is another alternative), especially if you are still pretty new to pool. Again, be prepared to weed out bad information, because there is some out there. Here are a couple of great sites for this type of material:
http://www.engr.colostate.edu/~dga/pool/
http://www.onthebreaknews.com/JewettIndex.htm
http://www.sfbilliards.com/misc.htm

9 Play a LOT.

The rest of that thread also had some other good relevant stuff that you might want to check out.
http://forums.azbilliards.com/showthread.php?t=111583

 

[Roy Steffensen]

Well, I don't know if I am a D player who improved to become a C, or a C becoming B etc, but what I did was:

In February 2007 I travelled to Philippines for 2 weeks, inspired by the thread "your man in Manila", by Jay Helfert. At this time I used most of my time organising pool tournaments etc, ant not so much time playing.

I got tons of motivation from that trip, and learned a lot. Played like 8-15 hours every day for almost 2 weeks, against the top players.

Back in Norway I used a couple of months to sort some personal things out, and when I had finished that I realized I had much more sparetime now than before. So I decided to dedicate myself to practise, and see how far I could go.

In July 07, I made a bet that I would become Norwegian Champion within 3 years. I bet 200 $ and if I make it I will win 10 000 $.

I bought mental books, instructional dvd's and matches on dvd's, and still do. Just got the Danny Harriman 280 run in 14-1 today, and will watch is as soon as I finish this post

I then made a practise-schedule/diary in excel, and used this to record EVERY SINGLE SHOT I did during practise, gambling or tournaments. I wrote when I started to practise, and what time I ended, I started to work-out more and eat healthier, and at the start of each week I decided what to practise on that week.

I followed this plan for 3 months, and in average I practised pool for more than 5 hours daily. For 90 days. After I finished job I went to the poolhall, then home to watch a dvd or read a book, then sleep.

After 3 months I practised about 2,5 hours in average every day for the next 2-3 months.

In this period I have visitied Philippines for 5,5 more weeks, 2 different stays, and used the weeks for mainly practising and studying the best players in the world.

Now I haven't been good in doing stats/notes etc the last 6 months, for some reasons I will not talk about here, and now I am only keeping record of all my matches/tournaments. I have planned a new 2 months practise period with minimum 30 hours a week, and will start on that very, very soon.

For me I have had awesome results. My highest finishes in the Norwegian Championships was 4 times in a row finish 17th. (Lost hill-hill all times).

After this hard work I have now a 5th and a 3rd place in the Norwegian Championships, only lost to the winners of the tournaments.

My break and run stats improved from 11 % in average to 23,5 % in average in 9-ball, and this was mainly because I was focusing so much on these stats. I was "afraid to dog" balls in matches, because I was doing notes, so my focus and will to make balls improved. For me this has been working as motivation, but I can see that for others it will distract their focus... (If I missed a ball I mark it on a paper with a letter describing what kind of miss it was. E = easy, P = position etc. When I started doing this over 60 % of my misses was easy shots that I should make 10 out of 10, now easy shots are about 30 % of my misses. The others are bad position, bad choice, bad contact etc.)

In the 3 month period I spent 33 % of my time doing drills, 10 % of the time playing 14-1 alone, 7 % of the time practising on my break in 8-ball, 9-ball and 10-ball, 20 % was used on gambling matches, 15 % on "friendly-matches", 10 % on tournaments and the remaining on instructional, cleaning table and balls, watching dvd's, reading books etc.

Before I used to drink beer when playing, now I am dead serious when playing, and try to be an athlete.

My game has definitely jumped some levels in this period of time, and even if I will not reach my goal, pool is a lot more fun for me now than I ever had before. And that says a lot! Practising to reach a goal has made me change my hobby from being a social thing to a sport, and I am loving every minute of it.

 

[Poolplaya9]

it's all about desire..most B players can crush 90% of pool players. they will just win..and for most of them thats good enough ...

if you can beat everyone you know you are a good player. and you consider yourself a good player.. rightly so..

. but cracking through to the big boys takes a bit more desire.. and a bit more effort.. once you can beat everyone you know.. you must start the search for someone you can't beat.. once you are on your way past the B level.. finding someone better than you becomes increasingly more difficult.. and if you are not careful your own ego will get in the way..

it becomes much harder to find the guys that can push you further.. and it comes back to desire... the guys are out there.. you just have to look harder and travel farther to find them...

regardless of how good you are... find someone you can't beat.. and play him until you can...then start the search for the next guy..

and don't forget to practice..

Thank you for the red rep that you gave me on my post in this thread "because I fvcked over Eddie Wheat." And here I was thinking that Eddie fvcked himself over. Silly me. At least find one of my posts about Eddie Wheat if you want to red rep me, or are you clueless about that too?

And aren't you the same guy that was issuing pompous challenges on here for the "King of AZ" but are still to this day ducking the people that took you up on it? Maybe you are Eddie Wheat under another one of his alias's and that's why you can't show up to your challenge matchs.

 

[jay helfert]

OK the things I want to here is from the b players that became a players and above...Tell your story and things that you worked on to become an a player. I think this will be an excellent instructional thread if we can get some really good replys in it. There are so many players that are stuck at b speed and can't seem to break out of it other than those occasional nights when they feel dead on! I ask that all of you contribute some positive feedback. thanks guys! Ps- most b players I am talking about are able to run a wide open rack, sometimes small packs but can't seem to get over the hump of consistency!....So spill the beans old wise ones.lol. :thumbup:

Good question. I'm not sure I ever got there, so I may not be qualified to answer. I do know that at some point I realized that there were just some pool players who were better than me, no matter how hard I practice or dedicate myself. Guys like Keith and Louie Roberts had so much God given talent that I could never hope to equal.

Once you reach 'B' player level, it may be more mental than physical that takes you the next step to being a champion. Bottom line, you've got to get your head right and believe in yourself. I accepted the fact that my stroke was never going to be as good as Buddy's or Miz's. So I was more limited in my range of options at the table. The better your stroke the more you can do. At least it was true in the old days of slow cloth.

 

[thomba02]

The jump is mostly mental, with lots of practice playing better players, and practicing tough shots. The mental part includes learning the percentages of certain shots. The best players will almost always shoot the highest percentage shots, and they will shoot it the same way whether they are practicing, playing a tournament, or playing a money match. Basically, consistency.

Amatuers pratice until they get it right, while pros practice until they can't get it wrong.

Just do it.

 

[Pii]

There are two ways to accomplish this lots and lots of hard work, or hard work and natural ability. Going from a B-Player to an A-Player or technically Shot Stop Speed is a very big step and it takes more than just practice it also takes thinking differently. One area that is a major change from B to A is shot selection and safety play. The lower ranked players use safety play in many situations why an A-Play will not only make the shot they will run the rack. This can be seen by watching better players play, they will consistently shoot shots and make them that lower ranked players will attempt to play safe on.

I think that you must improve your ability to consistently shoot shots that are beyond your skill level. While safety shots are important, they can be used as a crutch or used too frequently.

I actually find it the reversed. The good player seem to play the percentage shoot and will play a safe if the shot
1. Is low percentage
2. The shape will be hard to get on the next ball.

The "A" or pro will play safe and keep control of the table where a lesser player seems to "go for it" and end up selling out much more often.

 

[ironman]

I actually find it the reversed. The good player seem to play the percentage shoot and will play a safe if the shot
1. Is low percentage
2. The shape will be hard to get on the next ball.

The "A" or pro will play safe and keep control of the table where a lesser player seems to "go for it" and end up selling out much more often.

Actually, I think both of you are right. The big difference I've found over the years is that the better players simply put, pocket balls easier. To some, this is pretty easy and some struggle all their lives with it.

As Jay stated, you combine this with the natural stroke and you have natural talent.

Sometimes the safety is the right shot, and sometimes the shot isnn't as difficult as it may look and opinions vary on this. But, what changed everything for me was my conittment to shoot the right shot at the right time.This combined with play like you practice and practice l ike you play.

This game is no exact science and not every formula works for every player.

When I was young and watching every player I could possibly watch play, if I could have unzipped my self and stepped out, I wouldd have wanted to be Ed Kelly. In my eyes, when he was right, everything he did just looked absolutely perfect. It was sickening.

 

[Patrick53212]

I agree with you Pii. This is a large part of why my game has continued to improve. Shot selection and safety play. As I improve in my ability to make shots and control my positioning play, the number of run-outs has gone up a lot. However, knowing when and how to play safe has been very critical to my becoming a threat to those that used to run over me. Again a safety play that allows you to force your opponent's hand is really the smart play in most instances. Learning to gauge your opponent's skill level and play is critical. This will allow you to play the odds and you will soon see your win percentages increase. Going with the better odds is always the way to play when playing for money or playing to win period.

 

[KMRUNOUT]

I'm not sure if I am technically an "A" player, but I won our local B tournament series, including the season finale, and got kicked out. In the weekly tournament, I'm listed as an "A". In any case, I have certainly experienced a change in my game over the last year. Let me share some random thoughts about the kind of things I've worked on:

1) Mental aspect: This has been HUGE. I read "The Inner Game of Tennis". I really got into this book. I had always thought about a somewhat zen-like approach to life, and this book extends that to performance. The central concept is to get your judgemental, analytical mind out of the performance process, so that you really just "let it happen". For me, this consists of believing 100% that the stroke I will deliver will be world class caliber every time. I envision that Efren Reyes is about to inhabit my body for the next couple of seconds and deliver the stroke for me. I'm not even there, so I can't influence it, jerk it, move it, jump up, etc. I BIG thing here is learning the ability to deliver the stroke you intend independent of the natural tendencies (particularly under pressure) to give a little extra, adjust aim, try to do something in mid stroke. I often feel like if I just let go I might lose power. Ironically, my B player tendency is to overhit the shot. Coming up short soon turns into "great speed". Practice shooting short straight in shots and focus everything on letting the stroke go. Don't let ANYTHING creep in in mid stroke.
2) Shot selection: play simpler. Any position that involves more certainty is probably the one you should choose. Try to avoid powering the ball around. Use more follow. If you can roll the ball into a rail for position, do that. Make sure you consider the finer details of position. Always try to have the cue ball moving away from your next ball rather than towards it, generally speaking. I find this reduces the chance of screwing up your angle. Use angle more than speed for position. If you can roll the ball a short distance but need good speed, maybe hitting the ball firmer and going the longer route more easily guarantees the angle you need. Know the limits of the 1, 2, and 3 rail routes that come up most frequently.
3) Cue ball/cueing: Find the center of the cue ball. Learn the feeling of contacting the center with your tip. Learn to play position nearer to the center. I find that when I play my best, I am hitting the ball at about the same speed and sending the cue ball into the side rail and coming out towards the center of the table. I aim for 1/2 ball hits, because this gives me awesome speed control when I use the rail. Also, I can pretty much stoke through the same spot on the cue ball and just use a hint of english to open or close up my angles.
4) Break: Develop a great break. You need a relatively strong power break and a very accurate controlled break in your inventory. Learn to play position on the break. It is just another shot. Learn where the one ball goes and move the cue ball accordingly. You really need to be able to park the cue ball center table (or at least be able to to know that you can hit the head ball square). Consistent runouts come from consistent position on the break.

I'm sure there is lots I'm forgetting. Hope this helps!

KMRUNOUT

 

[CocoboloCowboy]

Pool is a very MENTAL Game, and no matter what you know, how practice you do, etc., when in Tournament Play it become very mental.

If you can not mentally remove everything from you mind but the shot you are making, and your next shots you are SOL.


If you fall into the TRAP of thinking about more than your NEXT COUPLE of Shots, or some thing like Job, Family, Girlfriend, etc. YOU ARE IMHO SOL.

 

[ironman]

Pool is a very MENTAL Game, and no matter what you know, how practice you do, etc., when in Tournament Play it become very mental.

If you can not mentally remove everything from you mind but the shot you are making, and your next shots you are SOL.


If you fall into the TRAP of thinking about more than your NEXT COUPLE of Shots, or some thing like Job, Family, Girlfriend, etc. YOU ARE IMHO SOL.

Sure, it is very mental and we all have days better than others. It is also a game of awareness. Staying on th right side of the ball and avoiding traps. These things must be picked up right after the break shot. Too short here means this and too long here means that. If we are concentrating on how to play the game.

For those who say, well, if I do this, I might get here and this might that? Then, we are not ready.

 

[student4ever]

THANKS for the great responses. I had to give out rep on some of them! What I think holds me back is my mental game+poor safety play. There have been several posts that I will be paying attention to....

 

[crawfish]

Play better players. Not half heartedly with that "Oh, I'm not supposed to win" attitude. Believe you'll win. Find someone that you look up to and emulate everything about their game. If they stand two feet away from the toilet, you stand two feet away.

 

[breakshot]

First thing you have to do is to get your head right. You HAVE to believe in yourself ALL the time. You HAVE to really pay attention to what you are doing. No more half-hearted tries. You must give your all 100% of the time.

You have to fine -tune your cueball. This takes practice. Whatever your stroke is, is has to be the same on each shot. You get tired, then slow down and make sure your fundamentals are still good. Develop a rythym, it makes it a lot easier, and is less tiring. Don't slack off on ANY shot. Give each shot, hard or easy, the same attention. Most runs in the 'B' level are ended on routine shots.

I think this is the best advice, -you have to be so in tune with the table, the balls, the cloth, the rails, your cue, your tip , etc.
You need to be able to feel, if the cloth is moist or if the rails are firm or soft, or if the balls are dirty(alot of friction) or clean (very little friction)---meaning between balls and also the cloth.

The old saying " be the ball " has never been truer!

 

[Pushout]

Lots of good suggestions here. For me, I'm still workin' at it