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

Roy Steffensen said:
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.
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Wow Roy!

You just became my new hero!

:thumbup:
 
I went from a strong 'c' to a strong 'b' ......when I jump to an 'a' ......I will be happy to share my thoughts on this .......
 
ironman said:
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.
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I would have to agree-staying on the right side of the ball is HUGE.
 
Marvel said:
Wow Roy!

You just became my new hero!

:thumbup:
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Mine too! That is very impressive.

To the original poster, PRACTICE!!!
Just kiddin, I know you practice. What I believe would help you most at this time would be to play with or against some higher level players in fair games (on the wire) and get use to being in that situation, win or lose evaluate your performance (tape it if you can) go back and practice, rinse and repeat!
Its tough to become an "A" when you're not competing with them as regularly as possible.
 
I was always a shotmaker. I was and am perfectly capable of making all sorts of shots.

Problem was, when you are making shots and shots more shots and hooking yourself left and right, or leaving yourself more and more difficult shots/positional difficulties with no real recovery shot in sight, you will lose.

But of the times i have been known to play really REALLY solid pool, i had an excellent awareness of my position play. I mean, i was hitting things the right speed and getting on the right angles and that is what i focused all my energy on.
Precise position play.

The other thing that allowed me to do better was the DESIRE to win, not just to play for the heck of it. I found that i performed my best, when i really had that HUNGER in me. That desire to destroy all opposition, and it translated into a better attitude at the table, more focus, and better results.

And practice your shortcomings. Practice them like your life depends on them, so that they are no longer shortcomings, but instead transform into weapons that you use against your opponent.
 
tap tap tap....all of the above

I'm not sure what an "A" player is....I think I know it when I see one though :smile: I have to ad some advice I got from an A+ player I knew in the past.

-practice playing position with a piece of chalk. i.e.; play spot position, instead of area position.

I find that practicing this way and letting your mind see the result on each shot.....just being aware....takes things to a whole new level. Not sure if that is the difference between c and b, or b and a.....we've got some tough graders here!! :smile:

td
 
Pii said:
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.
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The difference is the percentage shot they play, in most cases the percentage shot for an A-player is a shot the B-player plays a safety on.

While safety play is a very important part of any game the different levels of player ability are based upon the shots they shoot. Safety play is something an A-player does when they can't run out, but the B-Player will rely on safety and use it to try and win games.

Now the major problem with this is, what a B-player sees as a good safety, will often either be reversed upon them or made by the A-player. So like I have said the major difference between levels of play are what is considered a percentage shot, and when it is necessary to play a safety.

Like others have said a lot of this is mental, but it is also learned by watching and not relying upon a safety shot when you could run out. It all boils down to confidants, but confidants is not built by by playing safe. It is built by shooting out, and knowing that you can accomplish what you are trying to do before you do it.
 
crawfish said:
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.
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I am not so sure about that toilet-thing you mention, but to play better players is absolutely the way to go! :D

I quit playing people who I definitely wouldn't learn anything from, either by watching them play or playing them myself. If they are too weak my game will not be 100 %, and then I consider the match waste of time.

The believe you'll win attitude is something you will need to learn - and learn it fast! In every tournament I compete in I believe I can win, and in chat with other players they normally say: "I hope to reach the quarterfinal" or "I hope to get in the money" etc. I used to say that before, but I have started to say (and believe, because practise gives confidence) "I think I can win. I know that I can beat all the players here in one set, so why should that set not be our match today?"

Before my attitude was play to not to lose - no it is play to win. The result will be the same if you succeed, but your attitude on the table change! Instead of being the underdog hoping not to lose you give it all going for the win!
 
speed control is huge. i'm not an amazing player at all, but i have the opportunity to watch them sometimes. when i see a strong player match up against a stronger player, they both make some tough shots, it just seems the stronger player has got better speed than the other and as such, gets out more often, plays better safes, etc. etc.

justin.
 
i had a strange thing happen, I took along time off serious pool-years. I came back after a back operation-i was in bad shape but for some reason within a few weeks i was playing better than ever, it lasted for a few months then my coordination got worse-back to where it normally is and i'm playing a full speed lower most times, once in a while i will play good for a day here and there. I can feel the difference, when i was playing better-it was just a joke to get out everything was going in, now i'm back to normal. explaine that???
 
jasonlaus said:
I would have to agree-staying on the right side of the ball is HUGE.
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that is huge, it wont take you from B to A, but it is HUGE. I believe a good B player is on the right side of the ball most of the time.
 
There were 2 things that really improved my game:

One summer when I played almost zero pool I watched Accu-Stats tapes over and over. I had them memorized to the point that when I had the shots come up in a match I just knew what to do. I took off almost 3 months of playing but I was easily a ball and a half higher when I got back to playing. I had the execution already so the knowledge was what got me to a higher level.

I picked to play better players to pick up some facet of their game. I was a good shotmaker so I didn't want to play another good shotmaker. I played players that were better than me defensively or had better position play. Both of these were just basically analyzing why someone was better than me. I also took a lot of lessons from a few different people on different things. Everything helped. Good luck in your pursuit of a higher level. I still feel as though I'm improving and after 18 years that's what keeps me coming back.
 
Poolplaya9 said:
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.
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I didn't send you red for EW I intentionally avoided that mess like the plague .... I sent you red for bragging about it... "wheat slayer"

be careful not to pull a muscle while you are patting yourself on the back..
 
softshot said:
I didn't send you red for EW I intentionally avoided that mess like the plague .... I sent you red for bragging about it... "wheat slayer"

be careful not to pull a muscle while you are patting yourself on the back..
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First off, your exact comment in the red rep that you sent me was "quit patting yourself on the back for fvcking over Eddie Wheat." That is an exact quote. I completely disagree with you that I or anyone else fvcked him over. He did it entirely to himself.

Eddie deserved to be banned in the worst possible way. You have a right to have "avoided that mess like the plague," but unlike you, I choose to take a stand against gross injustices when I see them, as was the case here where Eddie was clearly screwing some of our members.

I think people should be proud of standing up for what is right, or against what is wrong. Even if I was bragging about him being banned I wouldn't really see it as problem, and certainly not one that was deserving of red rep. But as far as the "patting myself on the back" goes, I wasn't even being completely serious with the comment under my name. It is kind of a joke about the fact that the comments that Eddie made that got him banned, happened to have been made directly to me. I am aware of the fact that I didn't magically cause his banishment. The responsibility for his being banned lies fully on him.

My comment was even intentionally put in quotation marks, and with a lol beside it, so that it was obvious that it was being said tongue in cheek. I guess the humor was lost on you. Any way you look at it though, it was a really silly thing to give me red rep for. IMO, red rep should only be given when someone says or does something that is socially, morally, or ethically reprehensible. I don't think that my tongue in cheek comment with the lol beside it comes anywhere close to fitting that that criteria.

(And don't pull a muscle running from the challenge matches that you called people out on.)
 
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from B to A >

Play the toughest toughest opponent you can find and play. Mental exercises help such as composure and relaxation but hit the practice table and play.

I would say the biggest thing would be going from moving the cue ball too much, to starting to mentall prepare yourself for taking a harder shot but traveling less distance with the cueball.

Also falling on the right side of the ball.. if your falling straight on balls you're a dead man.

To play a better safety game:

Find the best player you can and ask him/her if they are interested in this game: Rack of 9 ball, you can only make 1 ball in a turn, and you have to play a safety. You can play a safety instead of making a ball, or make a ball and play safety. Object of game is to put person on three fouls. That's it. Possibly may have to pay the person for your time who is the Open/Pro player but you will see how they stick balls and you should be on your way to playing some solid safetys.
 
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I believe that what 'c' and 'b' players get from playing / watching 'a' players is how they move .....sometimes you don't realize you have picked up something new until you are in a situation during a game , and your shot selection or the way you play position is different than it would have been ...
 
Good Input guys

:thumbup: Lots of good answers here. Big THANK you to all of you! I know for sure a few aspects of my game that need work and will be hunting down some better players to get some cheap sets/sparring going on!
 
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