How to make myself a better player

cleary

cleary

Honestly, I'm a liar.
Silver Member
Hello. Ive been playing pool about a year now. Well, ive been hitting the balls around since i can remember but ive really started to learn the game about 11 months ago. I went to a beginners clinic held by a BCA instructor. He showed me the stance, bridge, basics of aiming, draw, follow blah blah blah...the basics. Well since then I have went from horrible to a decent pool player. My routine is just setting up either 8 or 9 ball, breaking and trying to run out. This past week I started going to the pool hall and just setting up a shot and shooting it 30 times until it feels natural. Ive also been setting up the 7, 8 and 9 ball in similar situations and running it. (sounds pretty easy to you, but im only 7 out of 10 with this) Then I throw the 6 ball in and im about 4 out of 10. I guess my question is, how can i improve my game. Should I look into some more instructions? If so, who is good in the NYC area. Are there drills that will improve my game better than this 3 ball and 4 ball that im doing? Anything that would help me would be awesome.
 
cleary said:
Hello. Ive been playing pool about a year now. Well, ive been hitting the balls around since i can remember but ive really started to learn the game about 11 months ago. I went to a beginners clinic held by a BCA instructor. He showed me the stance, bridge, basics of aiming, draw, follow blah blah blah...the basics. Well since then I have went from horrible to a decent pool player. My routine is just setting up either 8 or 9 ball, breaking and trying to run out. This past week I started going to the pool hall and just setting up a shot and shooting it 30 times until it feels natural. Ive also been setting up the 7, 8 and 9 ball in similar situations and running it. (sounds pretty easy to you, but im only 7 out of 10 with this) Then I throw the 6 ball in and im about 4 out of 10. I guess my question is, how can i improve my game. Should I look into some more instructions? If so, who is good in the NYC area. Are there drills that will improve my game better than this 3 ball and 4 ball that im doing? Anything that would help me would be awesome.
Click to expand...

Search through this forum for some excellent Internet pool information.
A good instructor can shorten the learning curve.
Hit lots of balls and then hit some more.
Keep an open mind.
Never be satisfied with your level of play.
Plan on becoming more consistent from week to week.

Good luck,
JoeyA
Many are called but most fail to pass the muster as few are willing to give what pool requires.
 
My concept on improvement is that everything flows from having an absolutely dead straight stroke. Many fine players got their start in pool simply from having a decently straight stroke, and then they refined their game later.

What I did to provide myself with a straight stroke is to practice stroking into a tall liquor bottle. I practiced this for an hour a day while trying to improve. I practiced this until my arm muscles "grooved" in such a way as to where I never had to "think" about making a straight stroke. My stroke simply "was" straight. Practice stroking at fast, medium, and slow speeds.

When you have that stroke grooved, you can then practice shotmaking with LOADS more confidence. If you miss a shot to the left of the pocket, you simply adjust your stance until you consistently make the shot.

Many players have the problem of not lining up right on the shot, and they subconsciously move their arm to aim on the correctly line when they should move their whole body into the shot.

My bottle drill will prevent this. If you spend enough time on the bottle drill, you will feel uncomfortable adjusting your arm once you get down on the shot.

It is horribly boring, but I have read interviews with a LOT of pros who had a similar drill. Jimmy Wetch used to stroke through hollowed out cubes of chalk.

Hope this helps.

Russ
 
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Wear a big fat rubberband on your wrist when playing. Whenever you miss or do something stupid...pull it way back & let it smack!!!:eek:
You'll simply be amazed how you suddenly remember to do all the right things.;)
And don't worry...years later, no one will even notice the scars.:D
 
What made me improve the most was one handed drills, which taught me the right alignment for my body type, and writing down and repeating a pre-shot routine on every shot until it sticks.

These days I've gone to the extreme of counting out my warm up strokes before shooting. Keeps the fear of missing from entering, for the most part.

Get lessons. Tony should do the trick. ;) Oh, and enter tournaments. A stroke is not a stroke until it can withstand competitive pressure.
 
thanks everyone for your input. I think my biggest thing is becoming more disciplined. I seem to get lazy sometimes and wonder why i screw up.

lewdo26: Who is tony and how can I contact him? Any weekly tournaments that wont cost me my paycheck here in the city that you would suggust?
 
cleary said:
thanks everyone for your input. I think my biggest thing is becoming more disciplined. I seem to get lazy sometimes and wonder why i screw up.

lewdo26: Who is tony and how can I contact him? Any weekly tournaments that wont cost me my paycheck here in the city that you would suggust?
Click to expand...
Tony Robles. Call Amsterdam Billiards. Play at Master Billiards on Wednesday nights at 8. Good luck and let us know how you're shooting.
 
Tony Robles is an excellent instructor, with a firm grasp of stroke fundamentals. I agree completely with Russ that a true stroke, based on proper mechanics, is the foundation you must establish. Without that, no matter how much you learn, it will be a house of cards that will collapse under pressure.

Another outstanding teacher of mechanics in the NYC area is Fran Crimi. She is also a superb communicator. In fact, at your stage, Fran would probably be my first choice. Not to say that Tony isn't excellent, as well as a very classy guy. I just think Fran knows mechanics as well as anyone and has a great talent for communicating. PM me if you want Fran's number.
 
Play for money!

Pick out a couple players and play even for small $ or pick out some good players and get some weight and see if you can play for small $. If you can't afford to play for $. Do it anyway. That should bring out something!
 
Masirib5 said:
Pick out a couple players and play even for small $ or pick out some good players and get some weight and see if you can play for small $. If you can't afford to play for $. Do it anyway. That should bring out something!
Click to expand...

Is that you Eddie Brown?
joeyA
 
Varney Cues said:
Wear a big fat rubberband on your wrist when playing. Whenever you miss or do something stupid...pull it way back & let it smack!!!:eek:
You'll simply be amazed how you suddenly remember to do all the right things.;)
And don't worry...years later, no one will even notice the scars.:D
Click to expand...

Is that why I have seen red marks on your wrists? :D :D
 
cleary said:
Hello. Ive been playing pool about a year now. Well, ive been hitting the balls around since i can remember but ive really started to learn the game about 11 months ago. I went to a beginners clinic held by a BCA instructor. He showed me the stance, bridge, basics of aiming, draw, follow blah blah blah...the basics. Well since then I have went from horrible to a decent pool player. My routine is just setting up either 8 or 9 ball, breaking and trying to run out. This past week I started going to the pool hall and just setting up a shot and shooting it 30 times until it feels natural. Ive also been setting up the 7, 8 and 9 ball in similar situations and running it. (sounds pretty easy to you, but im only 7 out of 10 with this) Then I throw the 6 ball in and im about 4 out of 10. I guess my question is, how can i improve my game. Should I look into some more instructions? If so, who is good in the NYC area. Are there drills that will improve my game better than this 3 ball and 4 ball that im doing? Anything that would help me would be awesome.
Click to expand...

Throw 15 balls out on the table with no clusters and run them out. Do it again and again and again. It teaches you to pocket balls, and you will very quickly gain an arsenal of shots that you never miss.
 
Russ Chewning said:
My concept on improvement is that everything flows from having an absolutely dead straight stroke. Many fine players got their start in pool simply from having a decently straight stroke, and then they refined their game later.

What I did to provide myself with a straight stroke is to practice stroking into a tall liquor bottle. I practiced this for an hour a day while trying to improve. I practiced this until my arm muscles "grooved" in such a way as to where I never had to "think" about making a straight stroke. My stroke simply "was" straight. Practice stroking at fast, medium, and slow speeds.

When you have that stroke grooved, you can then practice shotmaking with LOADS more confidence. If you miss a shot to the left of the pocket, you simply adjust your stance until you consistently make the shot.

Many players have the problem of not lining up right on the shot, and they subconsciously move their arm to aim on the correctly line when they should move their whole body into the shot.

My bottle drill will prevent this. If you spend enough time on the bottle drill, you will feel uncomfortable adjusting your arm once you get down on the shot.

It is horribly boring, but I have read interviews with a LOT of pros who had a similar drill. Jimmy Wetch used to stroke through hollowed out cubes of chalk.

Hope this helps.

Russ
Click to expand...
I agree w/ the bottle drill. The only difference is I used a beer bottle when I 1st started out. The hole is the same as the center of a cueball.

If looking for instruction I would suggest Bert Kininster or Randy G's Cuetec school in Texas. Tony Robles is a fine instructor as well. He learned from Bert. I have also taken lessons from Bert.

If looking for a way to practice alone, I do what I call the 10 ball drill. Rack 10 balls up, break, take ball in hand and try to runout. If you scratch on the break, punish yourself by spotting any balls you make on the break. When you miss, the rack is over. Each ball counts 1 point. Do this for 10 racks and add your score up. Perfect score is 100 for those who can't count:D .This is a good drill for focus. I practice this everyday until I run 100. Somedays this is all I do. Others it is over in 20-30 minutes. Set your own goals and write your scores down so you can see improvement. Sounds to me like you are in the 40-50 range. Don't be offended if I am wrong.
Remember: PROS DON'T MISS THE EASY BORING SHOTS THAT COMES UP IN THIS DRILL THAT AN AMATUER WOULD. I am not a PRO, but I am an A player.

Hope this helps
 
cleary said:
.... I guess my question is, how can i improve my game. Should I look into some more instructions? If so, who is good in the NYC area. Are there drills that will improve my game better than this 3 ball and 4 ball that im doing? ....
Click to expand...
Figure out what your weaknesses are and work on those. You probably will have a hard time at first figuring out what those are. A good instructor should be able to show you how to find them and also how you can develop specific drills to fix those specific problems.

Practice the shots that make you uncomfortable.
 
Cameron Smith said:
Throw 15 balls out on the table with no clusters and run them out. Do it again and again and again. It teaches you to pocket balls, and you will very quickly gain an arsenal of shots that you never miss.
Click to expand...
Yes, I do that and I think it is important. But I would think it insufficient by itself. You also have to note the problems you're having while running those 15 balls and work on those. Otherwise I'd be denying myself the opportunity to learn through repetition. Don't you think?

Typically what I'll do is select 1 drill which addresses the most pressing problems I'm having in my game; and then I'll play the 15 ball drill or EO. When my focus level is waning or when I'm bored I'll do exactly what you said in between drills or racks with the ghost/EO. Phil Capelle calls them "trusting practice." I allow myself to relax and mostly run the balls out by instinct. I purposely ignore thinking about fundamentals or a pre-shot routine. The drill, ghost and trusting practice will take me about 2 hours.

It's only EO or the 15 ball drill that will make me note what kinds of mistakes I'm making so I can work on a drill that addresses that problem later on.

It's amazing how quantifying your drills and sets of EO/ghost will add pressure. It'll also give you motivation to beat your own records. If I'm simply throwing them out on the table and running them out, I play much better because there is no pressure. Both are important, IMHO.

I'm also learning the hard way to put a cap on my practice. Otherwise I grow frustrated and unproductive. Usually I'll allwo myself 10 racks of freely running balls in between drills/sets. I'd advise the thread-starter to write down what he intends to do prior to getting to the poolhall and restraining himself from simply running rack after rack indefinetely.

In sum:

1) select what you want to do beforehand with a goal in mind that addresses the most pressing problems in your game;
2) learn through repetition;
3) simulate the pressure of competition by quantifying your practice and playing the ghost & take note of errors;
4) put a cap on your "trusting practice";
5) allow practice and competition to complement each other - play tournaments and money games;

If I observe those rules in practice I'm rarely bored of frustrated. And I'm always learning something...
 
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cleary said:
Hello. Ive been playing pool about a year now. Well, ive been hitting the balls around since i can remember but ive really started to learn the game about 11 months ago. I went to a beginners clinic held by a BCA instructor. He showed me the stance, bridge, basics of aiming, draw, follow blah blah blah...the basics. Well since then I have went from horrible to a decent pool player. My routine is just setting up either 8 or 9 ball, breaking and trying to run out. This past week I started going to the pool hall and just setting up a shot and shooting it 30 times until it feels natural. Ive also been setting up the 7, 8 and 9 ball in similar situations and running it. (sounds pretty easy to you, but im only 7 out of 10 with this) Then I throw the 6 ball in and im about 4 out of 10. I guess my question is, how can i improve my game. Should I look into some more instructions? If so, who is good in the NYC area. Are there drills that will improve my game better than this 3 ball and 4 ball that im doing? Anything that would help me would be awesome.
Click to expand...

I like what you're doing. You're showing a strong work ethic and a desire to play high level pool. Where you're at, you might benefit from the Capelle's "Play Your best 9 Ball" and focus on Chapters 3 through 7, which is position routes and pattern play. If you practice all the shots he shows until you feel pretty good about them, it could take many months alone.

I would like to add that you should also go out and have some fun. It's just as important to have fun and play pool with others to maintain motivation and hone your competitive skills, table manners, and people skills. Although I can't get out as much as I would like, I've learned as much from other players as I have from practice.

Once you can make these shots and position plays, I've found that watching video of pool matches and taking lessons heve been equally beneficial. Having a pool coach is an extra set of eyes and a wealth of knowledge. They will make suggestions and give you things to practice. Mine have helped me a lot with some simple but important fundaments - I owe them.

Chris
 
lewdo26 said:
Yes, I do that and I think it is important. But I would think it insufficient by itself. You also have to note the problems you're having while running those 15 balls and work on those. Otherwise I'd be denying myself the opportunity to learn through repetition. Don't you think?

Typically what I'll do is select 1 drill which addresses the most pressing problems I'm having in my game; and then I'll play the 15 ball drill or EO. When my focus level is waning or when I'm bored I'll do exactly what you said in between drills or racks with the ghost/EO. Phil Capelle calls them "trusting practice." I allow myself to relax and mostly run the balls out by instinct. I purposely ignore thinking about fundamentals or a pre-shot routine. The drill, ghost and trusting practice will take me about 2 hours.

It's only EO or the 15 ball drill that will make me note what kinds of mistakes I'm making so I can work on a drill that addresses that problem later on.

It's amazing how quantifying your drills and sets of EO/ghost will add pressure. It'll also give you motivation to beat your own records. If I'm simply throwing them out on the table and running them out, I play much better because there is no pressure. Both are important, IMHO.

I'm also learning the hard way to put a cap on my practice. Otherwise I grow frustrated and unproductive. Usually I'll allwo myself 10 racks of freely running balls in between drills/sets. I'd advise the thread-starter to write down what he intends to do prior to getting to the poolhall and restraining himself from simply running rack after rack indefinetely.

In sum:

1) select what you want to do beforehand with a goal in mind that addresses the most pressing problems in your game;
2) learn through repetition;
3) simulate the pressure of competition by quantifying your practice and playing the ghost & take note of errors;
4) put a cap on your "trusting practice";
5) allow practice and competition to complement each other - play tournaments and money games;

If I observe those rules in practice I'm rarely bored of frustrated. And I'm always learning something...
Click to expand...

I didn't mean to say that you should only do the 15 ball drill. Rather I think it is an important drill to practice. However you gotta make the layouts more difficult, with balls blocking other balls. I've seen people rigorously set up the table with no ball within six inches of each other, and I think "whats the point?". When I set it up, I rarely look at the table while placing the balls, and I get random and often difficult layouts, which keeps it interesting.

As far as other drills, at least for me, IMHO I find them somewhat useless. I prefer to set up scenarios in 9 ball or 8 ball or 14.1 and try and run out. I believe that this is far more useful then lining the balls up down the middle of the table. Prepare yourself for actual scenarios.

Pool may be one of the most difficult pursuits out there, but it is the easiest to practice. You can set up any scenario imaginable and try again and again and again and again and again.......

Golfer would love to have that freedom, to be able to hit a thousand balls out of the Hell bunker on St. Andrews.
 
In addition to the excellent advice that has already been offered on this thread, I submit the following:

1. Do position drills in addition to stroke and ball pocketing drills. Many of our runouts end prematurely simply because we do not properly execute the correct position routes. Bob Henning's The Pro Book contains a number of excellent position drills, as does Phil Capelle's Play Your Best Nine Ball.

2. Excellence in pool is not only the result of technique, but of knowledge. Regardless of how good your stroke is, you cannot play excellent pool unless you know what options are available to you, and can evaluate which option is best in a particular situation. Only then can you execute it with skill and confidence. As such, read all that you can about the game, pick up information from people you trust in your pool room and on forums such as this, and watch top players whenever you can. If you don't have the opportunity to see professional-caliber players in your area, you can order tapes of professional matches from Accu-stats (www.accu-stats.com). The play and the commentary from professional players are truly enlightening.

Lastly, take lessons if you can. If you are in the NYC area you simply can't go wrong with Tony Robles or Fran Crimi.

Good luck, and remember to try without trying!

P.S.--It is very important to spend at least 60% of your practice time in game-like situations. When you do repetitive drills, you are mostly trying to learn and reinforce techniques and concepts. As such, you will be engaging the left hemisphere of your brain and using your conscious mind a lot. When you play, however, you have to let go of much of your conscious mind and let the right hemisphere of your brain take over, allowing your body to simply do what you have trained it to do. Thus, spend a significant amount of your practice time doing just that. Playing the ghost in 9-ball, straight pool, or equal offense are excellent ways of doing this when you are on the table by yourself. And then, As Danny Di Liberto has often said, you've simply got to play a lot.
 
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