How to improve when you're already a great player

[fastone371]

The only way to continue to improve is by spending more time at the table. For casual players, non pros basically, if you spend 4-5 hours of good hard practice time at the table playing the ghost you should be playing better that last hour than the first hour. Your break should be very nice, consistently pocketing balls and parking the cue ball, you should know the speed of the table better than the back of your hand, etc.. Now by not being a full time player every time you go back to the table its not that you need to re-learn everything but you do need some time to get fine tuned. The more time you can spend practicing the less fine tuning you need, everything you do at the table becomes second nature and comfortable without thinking about it. I play at least an hour a day 6-7 times a week, if I take a few days off it will take me a few racks to start feeling comfortable, my stroke feels different, my eye patterns are not good, etc..Its kinda like a job. You see some people and its enjoyable to watch them practice their trade because they are very skilled at it and they make it look effortless, but they also do that 8 hours a day for years and years. I think its the same thing with pool, there is no magic that makes your stroke perfect, your aim dead on, banks center pocket on every shot, only hard work if you want to be at the top.

 

[Mr. Bond]

The key to improvement at any age or skill level is knowing what you don't know, and/or accurate analysis of what you can and cannot do well. In other words, you must first define " better than what? " and then define where you are currently at on that scale.

Then, a higher goal should be set, appropriate steps taken, and another analysis made.

Rinse and repeat.

 

[Dimeball]

The only way to continue to improve is by spending more time at the table. For casual players, non pros basically, if you spend 4-5 hours of good hard practice time at the table playing the ghost you should be playing better that last hour than the first hour. Your break should be very nice, consistently pocketing balls and parking the cue ball, you should know the speed of the table better than the back of your hand, etc.. Now by not being a full time player every time you go back to the table its not that you need to re-learn everything but you do need some time to get fine tuned. The more time you can spend practicing the less fine tuning you need, everything you do at the table becomes second nature and comfortable without thinking about it. I play at least an hour a day 6-7 times a week, if I take a few days off it will take me a few racks to start feeling comfortable, my stroke feels different, my eye patterns are not good, etc..Its kinda like a job. You see some people and its enjoyable to watch them practice their trade because they are very skilled at it and they make it look effortless, but they also do that 8 hours a day for years and years. I think its the same thing with pool, there is no magic that makes your stroke perfect, your aim dead on, banks center pocket on every shot, only hard work if you want to be at the top.

Amen brother, preach it!

 

[thintowin]

i haven't a clue ..

 

[Cameron Smith]

If you always view your game as a work in progress you will continue to improve. At least that mindset has worked for me. I think too often players conclude that the work on their stroke, or their stance, or their pattern play, etc is complete and now all they need to do is compete and they will get better. These players get stuck.

This.

There is always work to be done on your technique. A top snooker coach named PJ Nolan has tons videos of pros and aspiring pros practicing on youtube. In the coaching videos, you see them making very slight adjustments, even though these guys are already consistent century break players.

Here are some examples,

David Hogan
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_XSAc6wvolk

Brendan O'Donoghue - working on the stance
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_VX87h6i9QU

The better these guys get, the smaller the adjustments that need to be made. But they are no less crucial, especially when aiming to achieve such exceptional consistency.

There are other aspects of course like shot selection, but a strong technique makes it easier to experiment and learn the proper patterns and shot selection.

 

[dnbnt]

First, I think its hard to objectively evaluate your own play. Admit shortcomings, weaknesses, faults, etc...

I know when I'm playing someone not my speed my game suffers. That angers & frustrates me and I slide further down that slope.

My Dad said one time when I had beaten a friend of his and commented on his weak play (to just my Dad), he admonished me and said many times after, "You can learn something from the worst player you ever face. If your eyes are open to it." :thumbup:

 

[philly]

Flip a pre shot routine from what Philly is referring to is the whole shot, not just 1 & 2 of the PRS.

Here is the Pre Shot Routine i teach players. 1,2,3,4,5.

1- Sighting/Aiming
2- Stance/Alignment
3- Bridge Hand/Arm
4- Backstroke/Pause
5- Follow-Through/Finish


Hope this clarifies things.

Lee

Exactly Lee. I don't think that Flip has gotten to the point in the game that he realizes that a PSR equals consistency. I think he is worried about potting balls and getting shape and not realizing to do it consistently you need that consistent PSR.
And yes good hitters in baseball do the same thing every time they get into the batters box. It is their Pre Swing Routine.

 

[erhino41]

There is no such thing as a plateau, you only stay still if you allow yourself to. And yes someone like Shane is better at evaluating his weaknesses and improving them than most people, that is why he is as good as he is. That is also a learned skill like anything else. If one can't overcome the boredom of practice for the sake of actually improving their weaknesses, they will never truly improve. Even though they will make small natural improvements, they will not make gains in the areas they need and will seem to plateau. All of this is mental though, any body can learn to assess and correct like Shane does, finding the time is the hardest part.

I also never quantify anything to myself using superlatives. An honest self assessment should never include things like "very good player" etc.. You should have the confidence to do the things you know you can do and the honesty to know what you can't do, and constantly seek to improve those things.

 

[HawaiianEye]

I used to beat 99% of the people I played and gambled over 90% of the time when I played, except when practicing by myself...when nobody would play.

I made more money playing pool than I did working a full-time job at the same time.

In those days, I worked all day and then played pool 5 or 6 (or more) hours a night, 5 or 6 days a week.

I don't know high a level I could have reached if I had spent the entire work-day and night playing, but I didn't need to. The 1% that I maybe couldn't have beat, either didn't gamble, or didn't want to play.

I didn't need to be the world champion to make money in those days. There were plenty of players and lots who liked to gamble. Today, everyone wants a "lock" to play or some kind of outrageous spot. In the old days, you walked in and jumped in with the big dogs and either won some money or got busted. At some point your winnings started outnumbering your losses and you went from there. If your losses outnumbered your winnings, you either quit or found some smaller fish to play with.

Today, there is no reason for anybody to put in the number of hours it takes to "be all you can be". What is the outcome? You are still a broke pool player or making less than the guy selling hot dogs at Costco.

I play once a week, for only a couple hours on Sunday, and can still beat 99% of the all the league players that I've seen in our pool leagues. They spend tons of dollars and what do they get? Maybe a couple patches saying they made an 8-ball once, or if they are extremely lucky, they get a cheap trophy.

What would be the purpose of being able to spot Johnny Archer or Earl? All of those guys can beat any other guy or any given day. There is nothing to gain by being the world champion of pool.

You could take Efren, Allison Fisher, Earl, the Rocket, Daz, and 90% of the other world champions into Costco, and somebody would walk up to them and ask, "can you tell me what time you close?" The average person is clueless to pool and pool players. 90% of the people in the leagues can't name more than a couple pro pool players...except for maybe Jeanette Lee.

I'll practice up and start taking it serious again when I reach 75...

 

[jasonlaus]

Interesting answer but I think you missed the question. I didn't ask you to evaluate the differences between top pros. I wanted you to evaluate your own game and tell me why you haven't broken through to the next level.

For example, let's take your level of play. We'll call it B+. At some point or another, a top player such as SVB played at the B+ level. So what did he do to break through to the next level? And why haven't you done it yet?

First you say evaluate your own game(you dont know what you dont know) and then you say what did Shane do(a pro). You cant have it both ways.

 

[book collector]

I remember reading a while back that Shane had done the Billiard University test and had not scored at the level a player of his calibre should in one of the shot categories.
He said he was surprised and would be practicing that, until he had it mastered!

 

[justinb386]

How do you improve once you become a great pool player?

I think this is a problem that every pool player faces and the main reason that most players reach their final plateau.

In the beginning years of playing pool the information highway seems endless and you are constantly learning new things, whether it's fundamentals, strategy, physics, consistency, shot pictures, etc. you are always improving.

Then you reach the intermediate stage where you first hit a major plateau. You understand most aspects of the game but you just don't have the consistency or experience to take you to the next level. Eventually, with enough practice you'll naturally move up.

So now you're a pretty solid player. You're a favorite to pocket most shots and you usually get out when you should. Running a rack here and there is expected. But you're stuck and don't seem to be improving anymore.

So now what? How do you keep pushing forward? You can gamble and play tournaments but is that really improving your game very fast? You can try practicing alone but playing without any pressure makes you lazy and develop bad habits. You don't like trying drills either. So what do you do?

Ever wonder what top players have done to stay on the fast track? It can't just be natural ability can it? So what did they do? Why are they different than you? Did they just want it more? Are they better at evaluating their game and improving on weaknesses? Do they practice more or better than you? Do they have the focus that you couldn't devote to the game? What is it? What are you missing?

If you really want to get better (past a solid B rank for example), then I think that you really do need to do all of the boring drills that you do not care to do. I do not know, but I imagine that all of the top pro players, and even the good short stop (semi pro players) did all of the boring drills in order to get to the level they are at. You must also get a lot of experience by playing better players (that are stronger then you). You need to travel to some of the big tournaments, and get some good experience against the really great players (I think that really helps too, to move to the next level). If you are stuck at a certain speed, then you just have to will yourself into trying to learn more. Find a good instructor (like Mark Wilson for example, and pay for a weekend or a day with him). Mark Wilson helped a friend of mine greatly improve his game (he went from a solid B player to a solid A player within a short time after a a few days with Mark Wilson). You also need a great deep love for the game. If you get burned out, then there is no hope (I do not think).

 

[Str8PoolPlayer]

If you really want to get better (past a solid B rank for example), then I think that you really do need to do all of the boring drills that you do not care to do. I do not know, but I imagine that all of the top pro players, and even the good short stop (semi pro players) did all of the boring drills in order to get to the level they are at. You must also get a lot of experience by playing better players (that are stronger then you). You need to travel to some of the big tournaments, and get some good experience against the really great players (I think that really helps too, to move to the next level). If you are stuck at a certain speed, then you just have to will yourself into trying to learn more. Find a good instructor (like Mark Wilson for example, and pay for a weekend or a day with him). Mark Wilson helped a friend of mine greatly improve his game (he went from a solid B player to a solid A player within a short time after a a few days with Mark Wilson). You also need a great deep love for the game. If you get burned out, then there is no hope (I do not think).

This thread is now complete. The All-Knowing Justinb386 has spoken.