How do I practice one pocket?

C

cwilmeth

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I have not played much one pocket. I gambled at it Friday night and got tortured by someone I drill at a rotation game.
So how do I practice by myself to get better?
I have an oversized 8 ft table at home so that should be ok to practice the basics.
I'm ok at shot making l, I just suck at the strategy part
 
Watch Accu-Stats videos or matches that are online, there are also some good instruction videos out there too. You can also check out www.onepocket.org for more stuff on the game, there is scenarios regularly posted with table layouts and different shots you can shoot.
 
cwilmeth said:
I have not played much one pocket. I gambled at it Friday night and got tortured by someone I drill at a rotation game.
So how do I practice by myself to get better?
I have an oversized 8 ft table at home so that should be ok to practice the basics.
I'm ok at shot making l, I just suck at the strategy part
Click to expand...

Good question; I am in the same boat as you and just started playing 1 pocket a bit after playing mostly rotation games for about 20 years.

I believe the best way is to watch pro-level matches to see the strategy that they employ.

If strategy is your weak point (same as me btw) then watching better players is probably the best way to get better. It is difficult to practice strategy if you don't know what the strategy is if you know what I mean.
 
watching professional matches will give you some good insight into the strategic aspect of the game, especially if there is some commentary explaining why the players shoot some of those shots. to learn how to execute those shots though, you need to play a good one pocket player. I assume because you mentioned an 8 ft table you mean practicing at your house, but it's a good idea to get out to a room and try to play some racks against good players
 
I sometimes just play myself to practice. Just put a coin by the pocket you break to. At the end of every inning just slide the coin to the other pocket. This helps keep up with which pocket you are playing currently. Try to score in the current pocket, without selling out to the other pocket on misses. Play to leave multirail bank shots at best on misses. This forces you to practice alot of bank patterns as you practice. If you are giving up easy banks, you need to work more on placing whitey in safer positions. The more things you can accomplish safely in each shot the better. Moving balls close to your poscket is not necessarily a good strategy if you are playing a good banker, it's suicide,,,,,,,,so work on moving balls AND protecting them. Another inportant step,,,,,,,,,play with better players and learn to protect yourself from whatever strategy they use to beat you.
 
I would suggest practicing with someone a lot better at one-pocket than you. It's like paying for lessons, except you get them handed to you in your wallet.

Play the competitor weekly until they can't beat you. Play for $20 or more a game, that will give you & your competitor some initial incentive. As time goes on & the spot goes down, bump it to $50.

There has to be an incentive to play safe or lose.... or you & the competitor have a tendency to shoot at flyers (real tough shots that might make or break a game).

Try to play the down table game, as much as possible. The up-table game (kitchen area) is not the best way (IMHO)

Get some One-Pocket books & Videos to give you an understanding of the game. Lots of U-Tube videos... look at the one-pocket website
 
Go to your local room find the best player in the room at the game take no spot! That is very important.
Play for 5 a game loose 6-8 games do this every week.

Eventually you'll start winning then playing the players below him you will beat or atleast give a good run for the money.
 
buy this book
http://www.amazon.com/Upscale-One-Pocket-Jack-H-Koehler/dp/0962289035
buy this book and dvd
http://www.pooldawg.com/product/pro-skills-drills-volume-6-one-pocket
http://www.pooldawg.com/product/3030?review_tab=1

find an experienced player who will teach you as you play
whether its by the hour or for cheap sets
watching others play is helpfull but if you dont know why someone shot what they did it doesnt help
thats where the accustat dvds with commentators is very educational
they explain to you shot options reasons for selecting shots etc
 
Instead of playing a better player for cash..... see if they will play and you pay the time. That would be my choice for learning the game. I don't think it is necessary to take a bath to learn the game. Obviously a new player is not going to beat a seasoned player. Or find a pro to play with and pay them an agreed amount to teach you.
 
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I learned by playing a much better better player for three dollars a game and I was losing sixty bucks a night easily but I watched what he did and learned he would not say a thing when I made a mistake for a month but eventually started coaching and now I have to pay for time and pay for his lesson because at three dollars a game he wouldnt make enough to cover his time now. I think one pocket has to be played for money against better players for you to learn the "right way" to play because it is very easy to swing at a shot when you are playing for free than when you have some sort of money on the line.
 
Renegade_56 said:
I sometimes just play myself to practice. Just put a coin by the pocket you break to. At the end of every inning just slide the coin to the other pocket. This helps keep up with which pocket you are playing currently. Try to score in the current pocket, without selling out to the other pocket on misses. Play to leave multirail bank shots at best on misses. This forces you to practice alot of bank patterns as you practice. If you are giving up easy banks, you need to work more on placing whitey in safer positions. The more things you can accomplish safely in each shot the better. Moving balls close to your poscket is not necessarily a good strategy if you are playing a good banker, it's suicide,,,,,,,,so work on moving balls AND protecting them. Another inportant step,,,,,,,,,play with better players and learn to protect yourself from whatever strategy they use to beat you.
Click to expand...


I'm not an instructor, but a played some 1 pocket a long time ago & I'm now thinking about joining an in house money league. I agree with Rengade. Back then that is how I practiced because it was not easy to find someone to play 1 pocket with all of the time. I think it is becoming very popular as of late. It's a great game & a fairly full test of skill.
 
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Come to Buffalo Billiards in Metairie, Louisana and play in their FREE Friday, handicapped, one pocket tournament. You'll learn more about playing one pocket and by watching others play the game on that day than you will by doing just about anything else.
 
cwilmeth said:
I have not played much one pocket. I gambled at it Friday night and got tortured by someone I drill at a rotation game.
So how do I practice by myself to get better?
I have an oversized 8 ft table at home so that should be ok to practice the basics.
I'm ok at shot making l, I just suck at the strategy part
Click to expand...


Start by practicing your break, from both sides, until you can consistently lay down a decent break. When you can do that, break and then play the other side, and try and get out of your break.

You need to practice: safety play, banks, and running balls.

For safety play, remember you have to learn to play safe in opening, mid, and end game situations. Practice playing safe after the break, with the balls going up table, and when a few or most of them are up table.

For banks, start out with the little baby cross table banks, but remember it is highly unlikely your opponent is going to give up one of these, so learn to shoot the tougher ones *with* CB control.

For running balls, start out just throwing some loose ones, maybe four or five and practice running them to one hole. After that gets easy, throw the one through five on the table between the lower corners and side pockets, and shoot them off in rotation. As that gets easier, throw them further up table.

Watch Accu-Stats matches, not only to see the play, but to listen to knowledgable commentary on why you do and don't do things.

Play the game every chance you get, there is no substitute. Get a spot if you need it, but don't get too far out of your weight class. IOW, if you need a ball or two, that's fine, but don't go looking for someone that can spot you 11-6, because that's a totally different kettle of fish.

Lastly, learn to appreciate a well executed safety. Some guys who don't know any better say they get bored playing safeties. Let me tell you, there is nothing boring about hitting a safety that snuggles the CB into a death trap for your opponent and watching him squirm trying to escape.

Lou Figueroa
 
cwilmeth said:
I have not played much one pocket. I gambled at it Friday night and got tortured by someone I drill at a rotation game.
So how do I practice by myself to get better?
I have an oversized 8 ft table at home so that should be ok to practice the basics.
I'm ok at shot making l, I just suck at the strategy part
Click to expand...

Aside from technical skills, Keep the CB as close as possible to your opponent pocket and close to a rail as much as possible,

Patience and holding off from shooting low % shots is the key to winning at least 80-90% of times.
 
I would suggest NOT playing a much better player for $20 a game. You will only get frustrated and not want to play after losing hundreds and hundreds!!!

I would suggest playing for $5 a game with a better player and get the breaks from them.

Watch videos, read and play.

You will get much better quickly.

Russ.....
 
Buy Scott Frost's DVD from Fast Lenny, and master everything Scott shows in the DVD. BTW if you don't learn a trick or two, shame on you. Watch it again, and again. As each time you see something you missed on the first 49 viewings....
 
lfigueroa said:
Start by practicing your break, from both sides, until you can consistently lay down a decent break. When you can do that, break and then play the other side, and try and get out of your break.

You need to practice: safety play, banks, and running balls.

For safety play, remember you have to learn to play safe in opening, mid, and end game situations. Practice playing safe after the break, with the balls going up table, and when a few or most of them are up table.

For banks, start out with the little baby cross table banks, but remember it is highly unlikely your opponent is going to give up one of these, so learn to shoot the tougher ones *with* CB control.

For running balls, start out just throwing some loose ones, maybe four or five and practice running them to one hole. After that gets easy, throw the one through five on the table between the lower corners and side pockets, and shoot them off in rotation. As that gets easier, throw them further up table.

Watch Accu-Stats matches, not only to see the play, but to listen to knowledgable commentary on why you do and don't do things.

Play the game every chance you get, there is no substitute. Get a spot if you need it, but don't get too far out of your weight class. IOW, if you need a ball or two, that's fine, but don't go looking for someone that can spot you 11-6, because that's a totally different kettle of fish.

Lastly, learn to appreciate a well executed safety. Some guys who don't know any better say they get bored playing safeties. Let me tell you, there is nothing boring about hitting a safety that snuggles the CB into a death trap for your opponent and watching him squirm trying to escape.

Lou Figueroa
Click to expand...

lou as always excellent advice
i bolded that last paragraph
you know you are a one pocket player when the beauty of the safe/move
is equal or more thrilling than anything else
 
poolhustler said:
I would suggest NOT playing a much better player for $20 a game. You will only get frustrated and not want to play after losing hundreds and hundreds!!!

I would suggest playing for $5 a game with a better player and get the breaks from them.

Watch videos, read and play.

You will get much better quickly.

Russ.....
Click to expand...

If you're playing (and paying) to learn, I don't think you'd want to get spotted the breaks. Getting out of breaks is a hugely important skill that you'd miss out on entirely this way.
 
Who tortured u Chris? I was pretty hammered by that point and never saw u were over there playing. You should get Herman the German to play you some for 5 or 10 a game or a race to 3 for 20. He's got more one pocket knowledge than just about anyone in there but just doesn't have the eyesight to pull it off anymore. I'm trying to learn the game too and watching the pros helps a little but a lot of their shots are still pretty risky for us mere mortals.

Sent from my BlackBerry 9650 using Tapatalk
 
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