How Did You Jump To The next level?
- Thread starter Johnnyt
- Start date
I purchased a stroke from Stan Shuffett. Then, I practiced with it...a lot.
Stroke is King and Routine is Queen.
Stroke is King and Routine is Queen.
Practice, work, practice, competation, practice, work, practice, competation, again, and again.
Hello,
Are you speaking in regards to instruction from Stan or purchasing a CueTrack from him, or possibly both? I know Stan is an advocate of the CueTrack. I hope to visit Stan one day soon!
Learnign a good aiming system or two is an excellent point.
"A Jump Cue!" of course.
To me, it has always been about finding the right people to play. I got pretty good, playing better and better players straight up. The next step was beating guys who were not as good as I was. By playing up a level, I had adapted in such a way that I was also playing down to peoples level. I got close to cracking that one and then got married.
Now that I am back at it, I am back to working on stroke first, aiming second and moving on to redevelop good shot routines. This will be a hard 2nd go at this game. Before I was putting 4 to 8 hours a day into the game! Now I will have to relearn with much less time! . . .and I had my own table + free time at the university pool room.
To me, it has always been about finding the right people to play. I got pretty good, playing better and better players straight up. The next step was beating guys who were not as good as I was. By playing up a level, I had adapted in such a way that I was also playing down to peoples level. I got close to cracking that one and then got married.
Now that I am back at it, I am back to working on stroke first, aiming second and moving on to redevelop good shot routines. This will be a hard 2nd go at this game. Before I was putting 4 to 8 hours a day into the game! Now I will have to relearn with much less time! . . .and I had my own table + free time at the university pool room.
For me the biggest jump came from not lying to myself about shots (i.e. their difficulty, how to play them, whether they're realistic, the amount of work needed to get leave, etc) and letting go of all wishful thinking. You have to recognize when you're in a tough spot, admit you screwed up to put yourself there, and be smart enough to know how to get out of it. Then you have to be willing to commit to playing the right shot with the right speed and english to get your leave... even if it's difficult and even if you increase your risk of missing. You have to be willing to play smart safes instead of trying to shoot your way out of every situation.
Also I stopped englishing in every ball and using draw when it wasn't needed. I learned to work with center, follow and inside english more. I learned to make my stroke more 'textbook' without any last minute swerving or jumping or theatrics.
That's how I went from about C+ to B or B+.
I spell out more details and specific examples here:
http://forums.azbilliards.com/showthread.php?t=136438
Also I stopped englishing in every ball and using draw when it wasn't needed. I learned to work with center, follow and inside english more. I learned to make my stroke more 'textbook' without any last minute swerving or jumping or theatrics.
That's how I went from about C+ to B or B+.
I spell out more details and specific examples here:
http://forums.azbilliards.com/showthread.php?t=136438
Practice properly. Every time you go to the practice table you should be going there with a purpose. You should have something in mind that you want to work on, whether it be your mechanics, position play, safety play etc.
I often see players come in to practice and they will set up a rack of 9 ball and bunt the balls around for an hour. They never improve because they seem to believe the very act of being at the table will improve their game.
Always keep an open mind to new ideas. Never assume anything you do is perfect. We all need to have a tune up in our fundamentals from time to time. I've seen B and C players tell instructors that they don't want to work on their fundamentals, because they are fine. These guys will stagnate for the rest of their playing career.
Play all games. Every game requires a necessary skill (ex. break outs in 14.1, Kicking and banks in One Pocket), that translate well to other games.
Finally you need to believe in yourself. If you don't think you can get to the next level, you never will.
I often see players come in to practice and they will set up a rack of 9 ball and bunt the balls around for an hour. They never improve because they seem to believe the very act of being at the table will improve their game.
Always keep an open mind to new ideas. Never assume anything you do is perfect. We all need to have a tune up in our fundamentals from time to time. I've seen B and C players tell instructors that they don't want to work on their fundamentals, because they are fine. These guys will stagnate for the rest of their playing career.
Play all games. Every game requires a necessary skill (ex. break outs in 14.1, Kicking and banks in One Pocket), that translate well to other games.
Finally you need to believe in yourself. If you don't think you can get to the next level, you never will.
I stepped up to the table one day and the ghost ball just "appeared". I always tried to use the ghost ball method because it requires some pretty specific spatial memory, and I thought I was pretty good with that stuff. When it wasn't working, I began doubting me, but all of the sudden.... It was there. A lightbulb moment. I'd like to say I popped up from a C to a B. I'd probably be up higher but with muscle tremors in my back and arms from the injury...it's hard. Hard...but not impossible.
Perseverance is what will bring anyone's game to that next level.
Perseverance is what will bring anyone's game to that next level.
That sounds like great advice Mike. Hope you're doing well.
Last edited:
Good thread Johnny
After you have enough experience on a table with shot making, english, pattern play and everything else that can drive you crazy in this game I would say learning how to play Insurance Position is key to stringing racks in many games.
I will try to explain without a pool table in front of me.
Lets say you can move the cue ball 1 foot and play position for 1 pocket. If you get on the wrong side of the ball now you have to recover, we all know what that means, stroke, juice, power, finesse or whatever, you now have to go out of a preferred ball click speed and stroke. What do you say to yourself (That's not where I wanted to land) Say hello to negativity?
Take the same shot and move the cue ball 3,,4,5,6, feet. It opens you up for maybe 2,3,4 pockets and no matter where you land you will be on the right side of the angle to continue on and remain in a nice click speed. You will encounter trouble a lot less, feel more confident than you ever have just knowing that you were able to recognize how and when to use Insurance Position and used it to your advantage.
You will get out of a lot more racks more easily.
Watch your game jump up to a totally different level of play and confidence.
You play pool with the cueball, the other 15 balls are there for you to have fun with, they have nice colors and are shiney.
Many good posts in this thread
After you have enough experience on a table with shot making, english, pattern play and everything else that can drive you crazy in this game I would say learning how to play Insurance Position is key to stringing racks in many games.
I will try to explain without a pool table in front of me.
Lets say you can move the cue ball 1 foot and play position for 1 pocket. If you get on the wrong side of the ball now you have to recover, we all know what that means, stroke, juice, power, finesse or whatever, you now have to go out of a preferred ball click speed and stroke. What do you say to yourself (That's not where I wanted to land) Say hello to negativity?
Take the same shot and move the cue ball 3,,4,5,6, feet. It opens you up for maybe 2,3,4 pockets and no matter where you land you will be on the right side of the angle to continue on and remain in a nice click speed. You will encounter trouble a lot less, feel more confident than you ever have just knowing that you were able to recognize how and when to use Insurance Position and used it to your advantage.
You will get out of a lot more racks more easily.
Watch your game jump up to a totally different level of play and confidence.
You play pool with the cueball, the other 15 balls are there for you to have fun with, they have nice colors and are shiney.
Many good posts in this thread
teaching others. Im not close to being pro but when you get the time to sit back and evaluate what someone should be doing and help them acheive it. I helped one of my league teammates try and play thinking 3 balls ahead by having her play the 4 ball ghost. Just tried to show her which is the right side of the ball to be on, how to play position in the biggest part of the zone to be in, etc...things like that helped me put more thought into my game and helped me make better decisions.
Also i do get to half-watch some pros on dvd while im making cases. Alot of it is just audio since i dont actually get to look at the tv most of the time but for a while i quit watching family guy and watched the pros. I think it really helped me out with the level that im at right now, pushes me into trying new routes that i may not have tried before as well as trying to think like a pro.
I was also unemployed about a year ago and made most of my money gambling in various places. it seems to help you focus when you have to win or else your eating corn flakes for dinner. it also helps you realize your mistakes when you go home worse than when u walked in. youll remember those mistakes all the way home i promise. "shoulda played safe instead"
Last, take a break. Ive been working on cases and havent really played alot in the past few weeks. I went to league and really wanted to get some table time in since i knew i wouldnt get to practice that much in the next few weeks. I hit an epic draw shot playing a 3. whole table hanger and missed the breakout came all the way back and went half way back down the table. about 12 feet of draw on a ball that was about 9 feet away on an 8 foot table. of course there were no good players around to notice.
Also i do get to half-watch some pros on dvd while im making cases. Alot of it is just audio since i dont actually get to look at the tv most of the time but for a while i quit watching family guy and watched the pros. I think it really helped me out with the level that im at right now, pushes me into trying new routes that i may not have tried before as well as trying to think like a pro.
I was also unemployed about a year ago and made most of my money gambling in various places. it seems to help you focus when you have to win or else your eating corn flakes for dinner. it also helps you realize your mistakes when you go home worse than when u walked in. youll remember those mistakes all the way home i promise. "shoulda played safe instead"
Last, take a break. Ive been working on cases and havent really played alot in the past few weeks. I went to league and really wanted to get some table time in since i knew i wouldnt get to practice that much in the next few weeks. I hit an epic draw shot playing a 3. whole table hanger and missed the breakout came all the way back and went half way back down the table. about 12 feet of draw on a ball that was about 9 feet away on an 8 foot table. of course there were no good players around to notice.
TAP-TAP-TAP. Once again Woody, I feel you are "right on".
I also like another set of eyes watching my practice workouts.....SPF=randyg
APA Gene: Would you please say HI to Mark for me. Mark had come through Pool School several years ago. I think Mark could become one of the best Instructors around, he's got that much knowledge.....SPF=randyg
Continue to grow...
Never stop learning.
Never stop tryin'.
Have an intense desire/hunger to become better than you were yesterday.
Develope an absolute hatred for losing. Yeah, it sounds negative, but if you like losing or are ok with it this may not be an activity you want to get involved with. Sorry if you disagree, that's just my opinion.
Never stop learning.
Never stop tryin'.
Have an intense desire/hunger to become better than you were yesterday.
Develope an absolute hatred for losing. Yeah, it sounds negative, but if you like losing or are ok with it this may not be an activity you want to get involved with. Sorry if you disagree, that's just my opinion.
3Bros Billiards
Registered
I keep going through peaks and valleys in my game. I keep thinking that I've jumped up a level only to notice that I've come right back to where I just was before that, or sometimes worse!
Don't see him much anymore but I will tell him next time I see him. His instruction without a doubt is responsible for the largest jumps in my game. From a skl 4 to a skl 6 (big jump) and from a skl 6 (much more subtle!) to a skl 7.