I have been watching the debate between 9 ball, straight pool, vs one pocket. I personally have a great respect for all games and marvel at a Nick Varner who can play all well. But I am a 9 ball dummy. Something happens to me when I play the game. I just cant get out! My brain goes blank, my arms get heavy, and I might have 4 balls left and I get out of line and fail! When I play 14.1 and one pocket I have no problems at all and beat fairly good players. I can identify with nine ballers who when they play me straight pool just cant run more then 5 balls while if they had to run out in rotation would be more succesfull. Or one pocket players who can run 8 balls in one pocket but have a hard time when faced with 6. I feel so comfortable if I have to come from behind in 14.1 and have to come up with a high run to win the game or out move a player in one pocket. But give me 9 ball and something happens to my brain and I cant make it work. Perhaps it is the pressure factor. You can apply pressure on your opponents in straight pool by having high runs and playing a good safe or pressure your victims in one hole by out moving them and pushing balls to your side thereby setting a trap. While nine ball you apply pressure by running out. People say 9 ball is so easy because the numbers in rotation dictate what ball is next. But for me I am completely hopeless. Help!
I am a 9 ball dummy!
- Thread starter yobagua
- Start date
A
amateur
Guest
Maybe better and more careful planning ahead? Who knows...
Also, you didn't define what "good" player is. One who runs 50 at 14.1 balls can be considered ok player. Anything below that I wouldn't call good.
Also, you didn't define what "good" player is. One who runs 50 at 14.1 balls can be considered ok player. Anything below that I wouldn't call good.
I'm a one pocket player, but in my opinion, 9-ball is the most difficult of all pool games. Why?
In straight pool, if you keep cueball movement to a minimum and don't use a lot of english, you will leave yourself relatively easy shots, and you'll run a decent amount of balls. Most shots are short shots on only 1/2 of the table.
One pocket is even easier than straight pool, because you get up to the table very frequently (so you don't get cold), the game rewards knowledge and experience, and dogging a ball (while making sure to keep the cueball safe) will not get you punished.
But in 9-ball, you don't get rewarded for "coming close". If you don't make shots, you lose. And because the balls dictate which one you must shoot next, you have to use a lot more english, a lot more power, and you have to shoot a lot more long shots. As if that isn't enough, you have to sweat out all of the luck. It's a game predicated on one ball, so you can't ever achieve the comfort level that you can in 14.1 or one pocket by gaining a lead in balls. Shit counts, you can win the game on a combo, you can win the game on the break, and you can even win the game by lucking the 9-ball in. And it's a rhythm game on top of that, so you can sit in your chair while your opponent run racks.
A lot of people think 9-ball's the easiest game, but it's really the hardest.
In straight pool, if you keep cueball movement to a minimum and don't use a lot of english, you will leave yourself relatively easy shots, and you'll run a decent amount of balls. Most shots are short shots on only 1/2 of the table.
One pocket is even easier than straight pool, because you get up to the table very frequently (so you don't get cold), the game rewards knowledge and experience, and dogging a ball (while making sure to keep the cueball safe) will not get you punished.
But in 9-ball, you don't get rewarded for "coming close". If you don't make shots, you lose. And because the balls dictate which one you must shoot next, you have to use a lot more english, a lot more power, and you have to shoot a lot more long shots. As if that isn't enough, you have to sweat out all of the luck. It's a game predicated on one ball, so you can't ever achieve the comfort level that you can in 14.1 or one pocket by gaining a lead in balls. Shit counts, you can win the game on a combo, you can win the game on the break, and you can even win the game by lucking the 9-ball in. And it's a rhythm game on top of that, so you can sit in your chair while your opponent run racks.
A lot of people think 9-ball's the easiest game, but it's really the hardest.
I think 9-ball is easy or hard depending on how you play the game. Pro's like Efren and Bustemante and a list of others who grow up playing all kinds of game all the time make the transition of playing styles appear to be seamless. For those who don't it's not that easy. EXAMPLE: at the DCC, Janette Lee on the one-pocket match. She is a good 9-ball player, but if she would have drew stronger comp for her televised one-pocket match, she would have been toast. She almost got toasted by a relative nobody. ANOTHER EXAMPLE: I was watching the DCC with Efren on the practice table before a match. He was warming up for a 9-ball match. He started out playing rotation pool, makes sense, did that for a couple of racks and then in the middle of one rack, he started playing one pocket. Those are two very different games and require different styles of playing. The argument of pattern vs. position may come up but I think it is just a different style. Same balls, same table, different rules that dictate how you play the game. Like Chess vs. Checkers, the different rules make you have to adapt to play a certain way. I have the same problem, I can play 8-ball with the best of them, put me in a 9-ball match and I am dead money.
So now I practice differently. Aside from my normal practice shot routine, I play ghost games of rotation, 14.1 and banks. I am trying to use those games to increase my fundamental skills so that I can adapt to any other game that may come about. The bottom line is practice, practice, practice. Pool is pool, but the different games require different disciplines.
So now I practice differently. Aside from my normal practice shot routine, I play ghost games of rotation, 14.1 and banks. I am trying to use those games to increase my fundamental skills so that I can adapt to any other game that may come about. The bottom line is practice, practice, practice. Pool is pool, but the different games require different disciplines.
fast larry
Banned
yobagua said:
You have a disease, called Chokendogorosis. Don't fell sad, millions like you are afflicted. The bad news is there is no cure for this. The good news is Doctor Fast Dude can write you a prescription, Rx, my new book, where if you fill it and follow its directions your symptoms will go away and doggin and choking will cease to flair up. Oh, now and then it will, but you can keep it under control and when you feel it coming on you can then stop it and chain it back up.
You will buy my book on the subject when it comes out this late summer, read it, then go forth to ravage the countryside on a pillage not seen since Attila the Hun. Your first born will be named after me. You will donate a portion of your new found wealth to have a Marble statue of me erected in front of your new multi million dollar home room you now own so I get my final and just reward, Pigeons can now defecate on my head forever.
chokendogorosis
I dont think that I was talking about choking or dogging it. I think more on the different rhythm or stroke you might use for a different game. I just didnt feel comfortable playing 9 ball like I did one pocket, straight pool or 8 ball. I didnt mean to seem like I couldnt play it at all. I have run many racks and have strung racks together. But I envy these guys that seem to take to 9 ball like a duck takes to water. It is always a struggle for me and can never find the rhythm. Im plodding even when I win. I was curious to see if others had the same problem. Some times my mind just goes blank playing the game and I have to work really hard to get out. Oh and "amateur" I think running 30 or 40 balls in 14.1 consistently is pretty good. Particularly on tight tables. I saw Mike Massey play 50 no count one day and he never could run 50 on tight pockets. And he is pretty good.
I dont think that I was talking about choking or dogging it. I think more on the different rhythm or stroke you might use for a different game. I just didnt feel comfortable playing 9 ball like I did one pocket, straight pool or 8 ball. I didnt mean to seem like I couldnt play it at all. I have run many racks and have strung racks together. But I envy these guys that seem to take to 9 ball like a duck takes to water. It is always a struggle for me and can never find the rhythm. Im plodding even when I win. I was curious to see if others had the same problem. Some times my mind just goes blank playing the game and I have to work really hard to get out. Oh and "amateur" I think running 30 or 40 balls in 14.1 consistently is pretty good. Particularly on tight tables. I saw Mike Massey play 50 no count one day and he never could run 50 on tight pockets. And he is pretty good.
fast larry
Banned
yobagua said:
Yes Mike does play mid level pro 9 ball tour skill, he was on the PBT tour for years. Mike is a great player, no question.
I understand, you do have this disease, millions do, you are in denial of my progonosis, that is normal. Soon you will realize this and slowly the truth will arrive to you. You will see my book advertised this summer, you will send me money, I send you the book in a brown paper bag, you read it, learn it, then go on your rampage of destruction. You will devaste every one you face.
Or you can ignore my offer and continue to choke the cheeze forever. I cannot save everyone, so many chokers, so little time.
a good bok to help with the game is the book by ray marti....ray martins 99 critical shot........then there is anothe r book to help you in the mental game......cant remember the author......want to say his last name is capelle........pool isnt that hard it just takes alot of dedication and desire to practice.....we all have the ability to be a champion just depends on whethere we can focus is all......juston
fast larry
Banned
cuewhiz189 said:
I am going light years ahead of these people.
I think 9-ball is a game that requires very little thinking. Basically, you're connecting the dots, from 1 to 2 to 3, etc. However, depending on how the table lies, you might have to force-follow a table length and back, draw 2-3 rails for position, kick at a ball if you're snookered, jump over a ball, bank a ball, to connect those dots succesfully---all situations that rarely occurs in a normal game of straight pool.
So I think mentally 14.1 is a vastly more challenging game, but 9-ball requires a more complete set of physical execution.
Roger
So I think mentally 14.1 is a vastly more challenging game, but 9-ball requires a more complete set of physical execution.
Roger
Thank you Fast Larry. You have made my day. OK I go for your prognosis. You remind me of my Dad who always told me there is nothing you cant conquer if you put your mind to it. In the 50's he took me to Detroit bought a new Caddy and he drove me through 38 States Canada and Mexico. Because he wanted me to see how great this country was. It helped me to take control of my self in my career and I have become pretty succesful at what I do. I havent yet transferred this to my pool playing yet I guess according to you. I hope someday we can meet.
fast larry said: