How did you learn 14.1?

sjm said:
This is a drill for experts, Lou, and I agree that it's good for developing one's skills. In this thread, however, a newbie to straight pool whose high run is 14 is asking for advice.
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I disagree, Stu.

A newbie doing this drill is going to start out making just a few and as they learn to work the center of the CB their high run at it is going to go up. I certainly didn’t mean to give the impression that the expectation was to run all 15. That’ll take a while. But if they do this drill often enough I think that a 14 ball runner will soon become a 28 ball runner.

Which brings me to this. A few days ago a local guy asked me for advice, saying he seemed to be stuck at 28 balls. I told him that to go further, and like be a 40 ball runner, he needed to work on his end patterns. Specifically, to go beyond thinking about a break and key ball and think of the last three, four balls in the same general area of the table near his break ball. A lightbulb went off and he immediately got it.

Lou Figueroa
 
There is a drill called "Equal Offense". Rack 15 Balls, break open like 8-Ball and then run the table. Then start over again. Goal is to make at least 120 in 10 innings.

Level 1: BIH after the break, 2 misses allowed
Level 2: BIH after the break, 1 miss allowed
Level 3: BIH after the break
Level 4: No BIH after the break

If you reach 120 twice, you can move up a level. Sounds easier than it is. Doesn't teach you break shots, but also improves your 8-/10-Ball break ;-)
 
measureman said:
14.1 was the game back in the '60's.
I grew up in N.J. and got to watch just about every great and near great player there was.
I studied what they did and copied it.
I ran my first 100 at age 16.
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bruce we still havent met in person but is there any way i could convince you to play some straight pool and berate my game??

we can play a game to 125 and ill just rack the balls for you and observe 🤓
 
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lfigueroa said:
I forget where I picked this up but a great exercise to improve your 14.1 is to spread out all 15 balls, leaving them all separated and reasonably off the rails (like maybe 6"), and running them without hitting a rail.

Lou Figueroa
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Yes, Jim Rempe has a video demonstrating this, and it is very difficult to do. However, it teaches you patterns and how to minimize cue ball travel-

-dj
 
lfigueroa said:
I forget where I picked this up but a great exercise to improve your 14.1 is to spread out all 15 balls, leaving them all separated and reasonably off the rails (like maybe 6"), and running them without hitting a rail.

Lou Figueroa
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Rempe and Lou Butera both recommended this practice drill for 14.1:)
 
soyale said:
bruce we still havent met in person but is there any way i could convince you to play some straight pool and berate my game??

we can play a game to 125 and ill just rack the balls for you and observe 🤓
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I don't play at that level anymore.
I'm 75 and the eyes aren't what they once were and I only play once a week,but I still have the knowledge.
I'm at Felt every Saturday at 10 AM.
 
Best way is to hit a lot of balls. Watching videos of high level pros playing the game also can be of some benefit but there is no replacement for time at the table. Simple things like becoming expert at controlling the cue ball off one rail and being able to pick off open balls and then getting shape on a secondary break shot will improve your game significantly.
 
David in FL said:
I grew up watching Frank (Sailor) Stellman play in his room in Racine, Wisconsin.

One table was separated from the rest and was reserved for 100 ball runners only. I‘d sit on the rail and watch for hours.

Never got any good at the game, but I‘ve always been in awe of those who are.
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I can’t play a lick of 14.1
 
lfigueroa said:
I forget where I picked this up but a great exercise to improve your 14.1 is to spread out all 15 balls, leaving them all separated and reasonably off the rails (like maybe 6"), and running them without hitting a rail.

Lou Figueroa
Click to expand...
Also, not running in to another ball
 
lfigueroa said:
I disagree, Stu.

A newbie doing this drill is going to start out making just a few and as they learn to work the center of the CB their high run at it is going to go up. I certainly didn’t mean to give the impression that the expectation was to run all 15. That’ll take a while. But if they do this drill often enough I think that a 14 ball runner will soon become a 28 ball runner.

Which brings me to this. A few days ago a local guy asked me for advice, saying he seemed to be stuck at 28 balls. I told him that to go further, and like be a 40 ball runner, he needed to work on his end patterns. Specifically, to go beyond thinking about a break and key ball and think of the last three, four balls in the same general area of the table near his break ball. A lightbulb went off and he immediately got it.

Lou Figueroa
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Sorry, Lou, on this occasion I misinterpreted you. The late Johnny Ervolino used to love this drill.
 
skogstokig said:
check out jim rempes how to run 100 balls video. iirc he comments ball by ball.

i've tried to play hohmann style but i find that his break style doesn't suit me, too risky. for active pro players today i would look to emulate ruslan or darren who plans their racks diligently and emphasizes patterns. watch darren's 200-ball run vs bustie
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I think for us mere mortals, that's the right approach.

The Hohmann way, which is also the Feijen way, involves overpowering the table, hitting break shots in a way that a lot of issue-less racks are encountered. Yes, there is a slightly greater risk of losing the cue ball on the break shots, but Thorsten and Niels have shown that, at least for them, the rewards more than justify the incremental risk.

Players like Ruslan and Darren (and, even more so, Rempe) have a style that is more duplicable for most players.

By the way, in my view, Rempe's how to run 100 balls is as good a video as has ever been made on straight pool.
 
I would recommend practicing the different aspects of 14.1 in isolation. For example,

  • Brainwash drill to learn patterns
  • Similarly, just toss 15 balls on the table and see how many times in a row you can run them out. If you can’t run 50 with them spread apart, then you can’t run 50 playing proper 14.1. You can make this a bit more difficult and set up small clusters to break open. Even the most open of racks will often have tiny clusters to deal with. But I think the key here is also just learning how to make a million balls in a row and maintain your concentration during a prolonged run.
  • Set up just 5 balls and a breakshot and practice getting on the breakshot. You can take this a step further and shoot the break shot, and then remove all but 6 balls from the table to try and get on another break shot.
  • Set up various different types break shots and cue ball positions. Practice making the ball first, then try to control the cue ball.
  • Try a very soft opening breakshot to practice working around and opening up a big cluster. Don’t just just blast open your first rack.
  • Finally, 9 ball drills are good for straight pool too. You need to know how to move the cue ball around the table. Sometimes it’s a good idea to take a 2-3 rail route to get to problem ball as opposed to taking off several useful balls while trying to work your way over.
 
sjm said:
The Hohmann way, which is also the Feijen way, involves overpowering the table, hitting break shots in a way that a lot of issue-less racks are encountered.
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I feel that Jayson and Schmidt have that approach as well, and have variously said that they find that approach to break shots has become their preferred way.

The unique thing that both Jayson and John share is their total confidence with deliberately setting up the most acute imaginable, back-cut break ball angles on their break shots. More acute than any of the top high-runners.

There's a self-evidently instructive principle in becoming very comfortable with those alarmingly acute angles. Needless to say their make-miss percentage on them is off-the-charts positive..

Arnaldo ~ Mosconi himself routinely and daringly set up for his break ball exactly as JS & JS do in modern times. Few of Willie's competitors were as daring and flawlessly accurate with those uncommonly acute breaking angles. It just occurred to me that aspiring high-runners could have a leg up by going down to city hall and for $25 bucks get their name legally changed to a first and last combo that conferred on them the initials JS.
-- Couldn't hoit to try that. :)
 
Mike the Beginner said:
I've been trying 14.1 for the past two days and not doing very well.

How did you learn 14.1? Did you rack and then shoot till you miss? Or did you keep going despite misses?

It seems like all I do is rack the balls! I've racked about 60 times and my high "run" is 14 so far. I keep getting trapped, run a bit too far, or suddenly miss a shot I can make 9 times out of 10.

I did keep going despite misses a few times but then didn't do a good job of leaving the break ball.

Telling on myself: once when I DID leave a good break ball, I unthinkingly collected it to go into the rack! Dumba*s.

Thanks in advance.
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Great question! When I was a teenager there was an older gentleman who always commandeered the front gold crown, and played straight pool. And he was a good B player. And would run 30s or more quite often. He LOVED straight pool. I remember he played with an old Captain Hook MEUCCI.....and from tons of daily use, and "cleaning" with a green scouring pad, the shaft had become needle thin. He must have been 6ft 6", a big man with giant hands. Could have been an NFL player...and it was a sight to watch him stretch out over that pool table. Lots of different guys would get on there to play him. He also played some 9 ball and a lot of 9 ball ring games and was often the winner. It took a player to beat him. I watched him and/or played him quite often. It wasn't until I had gone away to the Air Force and came back years later, I was able to hang with and sometimes beat him. That felt like a real accomplishment. When I was a teenager, he'd often be in the middle of a game and call me over, handing me a wad of cash and the keys to his black mercedes. I forget what model, but it was an 80s model (which I still think looked the best) with a shiny black paint job, and tan leather interior. He'd ask me to go fill up his gas tank, or go get the oil changed for him and keep $20 or something for myself. So...a teenager got to drive a shiny MERCEDES around, and make an easy $20. I loved it! He was very proud of me when I joined the Air Force. I never knew him outside of the pool room, but I'm sure he's passed away by now.

Anyhow, he taught me how to keep score with the various markers, the rules of the game (which I still get confused about some of the weirder rules when something strange comes into play), and just general strategy. I also started watching a TON of accu-stats tapes back then, watching the greats like the Miz, and Varner, and Sigel play straight pool. Now all of that is FREE on YOUTUBE. People are so lucky. We had to pay $40 a piece or more back in the day for VHS tapes of these great matches and were happy to do so.

Here is how you practice....set up a break shot. Try all kinds of variations and englishes. Make the break shot, splash the rack, and shoot with the intention of running 100. If you miss....start over.

Edited to add what STU advised. If you are SUPER NEW....just throw 15 out and learn how to run those out. When you get competent at that....work on setting up break shots, etc.
 
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arnaldo said:
I feel that Jayson and Schmidt have that approach as well, and have variously said that they find that approach to break shots has become their preferred way.

The unique thing that both Jayson and John share is their total confidence with deliberately setting up the most acute imaginable, back-cut break ball angles on their break shots. More acute than any of the top high-runners.

There's a self-evidently instructive principle in becoming very comfortable with those alarmingly acute angles. Needless to say their make-miss percentage on them is off-the-charts positive..

Arnaldo ~ Mosconi himself routinely and daringly set up for his break ball exactly as JS & JS do in modern times. Few of Willie's competitors were as daring and flawlessly accurate with those uncommonly acute breaking angles. It just occurred to me that aspiring high-runners could have a leg up by going down to city hall and for $25 bucks get their name legally changed to a first and last combo that conferred on them the initials JS.
-- Couldn't hoit to try that. :)
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Nice post. You may be on to something with the initials thing. Perhaps Jerry Seinfeld should try his hand at straight pool.
 
lfigueroa said:
I forget where I picked this up but a great exercise to improve your 14.1 is to spread out all 15 balls, leaving them all separated and reasonably off the rails (like maybe 6"), and running them without hitting a rail.

Lou Figueroa
Click to expand...
YES! I've practiced this, and learned this exercise from a champion. Great advice
 
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