How to become a better player

I kicked PoolSponge's butt last night. Thanks Scott :)
Problem is he's beating me in golf now.. RARR.

To make this post at least a little bit on topic, I highly suggest that you start with understanding the fundamentals of the pool stroke by finding a highly qualified instructor (whether it be a certified person, or a local pro - certified gives better information IMHO). With that said, I'd recommend very specific goals (ie, mother drills - or something similar) during practice sessions.

All the best.


PS, Scott, I'm up 1 full level in our handicap system since taking your lessons :) I'll have to find 10 guys for a group lesson up here in Canada, maybe you'll spend a few hours with me privately then for free :) Also waiting for the banking system with SAM :)
 
Get you a string of girls. You know, the top shelf kind. Now, you're gonna have to market this in the right way. Start off with only four or five. Wait, I'd better go back and read all but the opening line.
 
DavidMNienow said:
I understand your desire, and I am making the same effort for myself. The thing that I have done this summer is to create a personal training workbook that for me I will work through to the end of the year. In my workbook I pulled material from all the key books that I have in my own pool libary. I pulled material from my Phil Capelle books, The Pro Skill Drill volumes that I have, and The Pro Books by Bob Hemming. I analyzed for myself those skill areas that I felt I still needed to greatly improve upon, and at the same time still strengthen and refine my strongest skill sets. I organized my practice material into a 3 inch binder and broke it down into 31 days of specific subject material. Mind you this is material to cover for 5 months of practice.

I also chose to incorporate the PAT 1 testing materials into my 31 day system.

Bear in mind though that no matter what material you choose to practice and work on, the practice itself isnt going to be sufficient without some means of measuring your own performance from one practice session to another. Record keeping is a key element to my own training regimen. Each day that I am in the pool room, I have my selected set of drill and practice material to work that day. But I keep a log of how successful my practice efforts are from drill to drill.

Every drill is different, and every drill involves a set number of balls that your trying to successfully pocket. Most players do a drill and they may do it for 5 minutes, 10 minutes, maybe more. But how many attempts were actually completed? And how many balls were succesfully pocketed in the practice effort? By what percentage of success did you achieve in balls pocketed versus your failed shots? If you did the same drill last week, and again this week, what percentage improvement did you record if any between the 2 attempts?

Gurantee that nearly every player that practices drills cannot answer any of those kinds of questions regarding their drill practice. Because no one makes an effort to 1) set a define number of attempts on a given drill, 2) caluclate the maximum number of makeable balls in a set number of attempts on the drill, and 3) keep track of balls pocketed on each drill attempt for the total number of defined attempts to be made, and thus be able to calculate a percentage of success achieved. Thats what it takes to know how you are performing.

By keeping a record of performance during each practice session and for each drill your practice by, you give yourself the means of knowing what your performance is. And when you come back around to make another attempt on a drill that you have done before, you now have the means to set a goal so that you can attempt to improve upon a previous known level of performance.

If your goal is to become an elite athlete in the sport of pocket billiards, then you have to begin to adopt an attitude and discipline regarding your training, that is no different than the the same attitude and discipline that any other top athlete would take on in any other professional sport. And if you look at the training methods used by other athletes in other sports, you will find that a key element of those training methods is the recording of personal peformance, for whatever is appropriate for those sports. That means defining some basic forms for the record keeping of your practice efforts.

When I do a drill, and depending on what source the drill is coming from, I will generally do 10 attempts on a drill. But on occasion, particualarly for PAT 1 series testing material, I will practice those particular shots as many as 25, 50 or 100 times. And I keep a record of performance for each shot attempt made. When you start this kind of record keeping habit, you will find it hard to have to write in your log book a low level of performance. But you have to be honest in the record keeping. And know that down the road your numbers will go up. Its been frustrating having to write in some low number, like a 1, 2, 3, or heaven forbid a ZERO. But its going to happen, and you have to accept that it will occur, and occur alot at the begining of the process.

I personally am now just entering the 2nd month of my 5 month training regimen that I created for myself. As I entered the 2nd week of the 1st month I began to get a feeling that some small improvement was taking place in my overall game. And a couple of my playing buddies started to comment on seeing some improvement. At the end of the 1st month , I started to see more success in my placing in the money in the local tournaments, and hearing more complaints about my overall improvement from some of my local competitors. So I know I am making an impact on my game. That success has helped to reinforce my committment to my training process. And that's what its going to take, a committment of discipline to your training.

It does not mean you have to spend 8 hours a day at the table. But it does require at least 1 to 2 hours a day committed to practicing under an organized structured system of practice and record keeping. Do it long enough and you will see some serious improvement in your game.

I will also tell you that if you compete in a regular schedule of local tournaments, and play in any leagues, then use that competitive schedule to define a set of competitive goals that you want to achieve. For myself I have a dozen different competitive goals for the last half of this year. I have a certain number of tournament vicotories I want to achieve by the end of the year, I have a percentage of win/loss I am wanting to achieve in my BCA league, and some other goals as well. But those goals help to foster another level of committment to the playing effort, as I work on my daily training regimen.

So if your serious about wanting to improve your game, then make the effort to analyze the areas you need to both strengthen and refine, organize some appropriate instructional material, commit to a schedule of practice, and be discipline in your record keeping efforts each day that you do your practice.
Apply that kind of commitment and discipline to your practice efforts and you will see the improvement that your seeking in time.

David "Glamour Dave" Nienow
Click to expand...

I started with EXACTLY this 1 year ago. The first thing I did was to create a goal, and then decide how to reach it. My goal was simple, become Norwegian Champion within 3 years. My best performance in the Norwegian Championships before I started was 4 times finishing 17th. I have now a 5th and a 3rd place, only lost to those who have won.

My first 3 months I did nothing else but work 8 - 4, play pool, then sleep. I practised more than 5 hours EVERY day for 3 months. I practised mostly drills. For the next 3 months I practised 2,5 hours in average. For the last 6 months I have practised 15-20 hours a week, but will start to play more again now, and will spend about 2,5 hours average each day the next 2 months.

It takes hard work - but it's fun (btw: I made a bet that I would achieve my goal. If I lose I have to pay 200 $, if I win I get 10 000 $)
 
Last edited:
DavidMNienow said:
What if a player is in a situation where they do not have a local BCA certified instructor to help them with that video analysis? What if the nearest instuctor capable of providing that kind of analysis is outside of the travelling area of the player? Or the player is not able to simply afford the expense of having that kind of analysis done?

If a player is not in a situation for whatever reason to have a video analysis done of their game, then what would you suggest that a player do to test themselves and give themselves the necessary understanding of what their current stroke/playing process is, and know what level of 'perfect' it is?

David "Glamour Dave" Nienow
Click to expand...

Steve Davis recommends setting a mirror up so that you can see what you stroke looks like. Post 5 in this thread

http://forums.azbilliards.com/showthread.php?t=108525&highlight=instruction+davis+jack

You can video yourself front side and rear to see what your cue and arm are doing and compare to the professional examples.
 
I think the best way to shorten the curve of improvement is to get lessons from a good instructor. Get your fundamentals to be rock solid so your stroke is repeatable everytime. Without this, everything else is done on sand instead of concrete.

I would give Scott Lee a favorable recommendation. He can get you on a pathway to rock solid fundamentals in stroke and speed control. Do the drills he gives diligently, and you will become a much better player. The things you learn will also assist you with every other drill you ever do.

I also think using a mirror or video can help, although you can start to outhink yourself at some point also.
 
Mechanics. Until anyone has "perfect" and repeatable mechanics their potential will be severely limited. After that you'll need to perfect your aim and cue ball control, and then spend a few million hours practicing and eliminating any weaknesses, and then it all comes down to mental strength and ability.
 
Last edited:
crawfish said:
Get you a string of girls. You know, the top shelf kind. Now, you're gonna have to market this in the right way. Start off with only four or five. Wait, I'd better go back and read all but the opening line.
Click to expand...

This post belongs in MuFuggin PiAmp section.

OT- To be an 'elite' player, youd have to be a threat to finish high...oh, why bother.

Why do you want to do that?
 
1) Play 6-10 hours per day for 6 months.

2) Play as good as you can for as cheap as you can. Watch how the better player plays the balls off.
 
JoeyInCali said:
Quit your job then fly to Manila.
Click to expand...

Out of all the replies so far I honestly think this one is closest to the real answer.

Yes, learning good mechanics and doing lots of practice routines will help you become a GOOD player. But if you really want to be an ELITE player you need to do pretty much only one thing - Spend as much as your life as possible playing with the best players you can find. You must live, breath and eat playing. You must put aside almost everything else you consider important.

Can anyone name an "elite" player who got that way only through reading books, watching videos, taking lessons and practicing by themselves, then one day just turn up and snap off a major Pro tournament?

Whilst moving to a foreign country might be a bit extreme (assuming you are in the USA) if you don't live in an area with very strong local players and tournaments you should move to somewhere that does. Living in close proximity to really good players is part of the background of almost all "elite" players.

If you look at the resume of almost every "elite" player they all have a period, usually when they dropped out of school/ran away from home/got thrown out of home/got out of jail and/or got together with other similarly minded players and went out and just played for years "on the road". Almost all of them did this during their late teens/early twenties.

Of course, of the thousands of people who have done this, only a handful end up as "Elite" players. The rest end up quitting because they just can't ever develop that much skill. They will often end up broke, homeless, friendless, poorly educated, lacking any marketable skills and quite often unhealthy and/or addicted to something.

For every Reyes and Bustamente who have clawed their way out of poverty by their sheer talent there are thousands more penniless Pinoys who lost everything they ever had trying and failing to imitate them.

If you really want to be "Elite" you really need to risk everything to attain this. If you do there is only a small chance you have actually been born with the base talent and temperment to achieve it. (Pool is littered with technically great players who could never perform in competative environments.)

I love the game in it's purest sense. I love playing it, learning it, practicing it, reading about it and watching it. I enjoy all these aspects of it. However I will never enjoy throwing away everything else in my entire life just for a chance at being an "Elite" player, even if I thought such a thing were possible for me.

I'd recommend you read this excellent short story by the incomparable David "Hamster" Malone. It's not very long but very educational.

Good luck in your quest.
 
Last edited:
Scaramouch said:
if he hadn't made it with a cue he would probably be sweeping the streets; he had no education because he spent all of his time potting balls.
Click to expand...

No, if he'd have spent his time getting an education instead he would have reasonable paying jobs the rest of his life, although of course no-one would ever have heard of him.

However there are some exceptions. I know Max Eberle went to college, because I heard he played in some kind of collegiate tournaments.
 
holidayinn47 said:
I am looking to become an elite player whether it takes drills or whatever it may be. I do drills from time to time but looking for new ones. I am looking for some insight from anyone. Is there anything i can do in order to become a better pool player?

Appreciate it in advance
Click to expand...
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 having good fundamentals, but especially on a straight 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 Accu-stats, TAR, and other videos are also your friend.

7 When possible, ask someone how they did a certain thing, 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.
 
im not gonna read every post, but i can say this......If you want to be an "elite" player play with elite players....when you get beat, and beat and beat again, if by that time your desire is there then your halfway home......you can practice for 20 years and not get what you can from one match from an elite player...why? cause you dont know the game until you see how its really played.....



:grin:
 
There's a lot of wisdom here, IMHO especially the Scott Lee posts. Did anyone hear the comments that Stevie Moore made the other night after beating Chris Bartram so severely ? Stevie played at a level that the average pool player rarely sees. He went for very long periods without missing or getting out of line. Not long ago, when Chris handed Mike DeChaine a similar defeat on TAR in a race to 100 Chris played almost flawlessly. In this case, he was playing someone on another level.

Not quoting Stevie, but paraphrasing him, he said that he knew he played well, but was surprised to hear that in one stretch he almost ran 12 racks ! He was in the ZONE ! He said that he wanted to give credit where credit was due. He said that he owed it all to his instructor, Stan Shuffett. He said that he had been working with Stan for a year and a half or so, and that Stan had given him the tools to structure his game around a routine. A system that Stan taught him that he even coaches Stevie on the phone regularly about. Stevie warmed up doing drills that Stan teaches to help a player refine and develop a repeatable stroke. I happen to know that Stevie is also using Stan's aiming system, Pro One. It's not really Stan's system but rather one he refined I guess.

In any event, after shooting at a world class level in a 3 day race to 100, the first thing Stevie mentioned was Stan's instruction. Many of us aren't too keen on turning our game over to another. Far fewer will accept their fundamentals being critiqued. Pros in other sports have coaches and gurus. Why is it that pool players are stubborn about doing it all alone ? Food for thought. Myself, I'm going down to see Stan Shuffett again in a couple weeks. I wish I could get my game evaluated whenever I needed it. It's easy to see why Landon Shuffett is the National Junior Champion. He and Stan practice for 2 hours every night after supper. Oh, by the way, in addition to Stevie Moore, Landon and Stan both use the Pro One aiming system on each and every shot...Tom
 
sorry for the REAL crappy layout, but i can't use WEI at work.

This drill has everything that i need in a 9ball game.

play balls in order.

1 ball: learning: bridging over 2 for the 1 in the lowermidle corner.
2 ball: learning: draw the CB one diamond back to get an angle on the 3 and potting (i try to put the CB back where it all started) the 2 in the uppermiddle corner
3 ball: learning: switching sides, depending on how far the cb is, the speed will vary, and depending on the speed, the tips of ouside english will vary too to get high ebough above the 4 but there is Danger to scratch too in the lower middle pocket. potting 3 in the upper right corner. (HERE i only use one rail aka the upperrail)
4 ball: learning: switching sides the 4 in the lowerright cornerbut here the speed is the keyfactor. I try to get the speed exactly right so the cb ends as close to the rail as possible, and as close to the 2 as possible. (i dont have too, i just play it this way as i often find that i need to put the cb 1 rail right against the rail. for the 5 in the lowerright corner, . I need to have an angle to pot the 5 and go low on the 6. If my cb isnt close to the cussion, i often have to use throw and inside english to pot the 5 and still get an angle on the 6. the closer to the rail i am, the straighter the 5 ball is. ((HERE i only use one rail aka the lowerrail)
5 ball: learning: slowrole straight in shot or slow inside english. (i try to barely shoot it hard enough to pocket it = speed controle)
6 ball: pot the 6 in right uppercorner, learning speedcontrol to stop the CB back in middle of table for the 6.
7 ball: pot in upper left corner (same learning as 3ball= sideswitch, as depending on the positing of the cb, you will always have to use different tipofsets.
8 ball:pot in lower left corner (same learning as 3ball= sideswitch, as depending on the positing of the cb, you will always have to use different tipofsets. as close to where the 2 was)
9, 10 same as 5 6
11 ball+12 ball: alternating side pocketing but here i dont use the upper or lowerrail, but i use the left rail to go 2 rails; leave an angle on the 12 to go 2 rail to other side of the table for the 13
13 + 14 ball alternating sides pocketingbut i dont use the upper or lowerrail, but i use the right rail to go 2 rails

Gives me a drill with all my problems.
bridging, precise draw shots, switching side with various angles and speeds), speed of the table, 2 rail positioning cross table, alternating pockets 1 rail or 2 rails (upper and lower) or 2 rails (side + upper/lower ).


I'm 99% sure no one will understand what i'm saying, but without WEI its close to impossible. There are MANY ways to run this in rotation, but i always try to run it this way, as this gives me the best combo drill. I usually do this drill 20 times, and count down how far i got. and then average out. Usually i miss after 6 or 7 balls on average. so i have 6/20. My goal is to get 15/20.

when i come home from work: 20 times this drill, 30 minuts of stroke checking, 20 times this drill, 30 minuts of 9ball.
perfect preparation for a 9ball tournament. (hardest shots are getting the cb close to the rail after potting the 3 or 4 and not scratching, not touching the 13,14 after potting the 6) and getting the speed right on most of the shots.

im trying to find a way to include clusters....
 

Attachments

  • nouveau-1.jpg
    nouveau-1.jpg
    17 KB · Views: 145
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top