Is 9-ball ruining my 8-ball game?

CaptainJR

CaptainJR

Shiver me timbers.
Silver Member
Maybe it is just a phase I'm going through. I changed to playing mostly 9 ball. It was a gradual thing but for the last 5 or 6 months it has been 9 ball. In the last few weeks I've had several occasions to play 8 ball. On one of those occasions I played well enough to win and another well enough not to be to disappointed with how I played. But I don't seem to be getting the run outs that I use to. I really use to dig them out and turn a seemingly un-run able table into a run. And did it regularly. Lately I seem to have to resort to playing a safer game. Maybe 9 ball just put me in that mindset?
 
CaptainJR said:
Maybe it is just a phase I'm going through. I changed to playing mostly 9 ball. It was a gradual thing but for the last 5 or 6 months it has been 9 ball. In the last few weeks I've had several occasions to play 8 ball. On one of those occasions I played well enough to win and another well enough not to be to disappointed with how I played. But I don't seem to be getting the run outs that I use to. I really use to dig them out and turn a seemingly un-run able table into a run. And did it regularly. Lately I seem to have to resort to playing a safer game. Maybe 9 ball just put me in that mindset?
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9 Ball can definetly keep you in that "Play the percentages" state of mind.
In your 8 Ball game, did you used to play "Risky" shots when you got out of line? I have been playing allot of 8 Ball again recently and if the 8 is tied up or froze to another ball, i tend to shoot more "Risky" shots, cause i know the other shooter can't run out if i miss unless he "Breaks" the 8 out to develop a shot. :)
 
CaptainJR said:
Lately I seem to have to resort to playing a safer game. Maybe 9 ball just put me in that mindset?
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Yes, I think it can put you in that mindset. But, by what I'm reading, I think if you continue to play more 9-ball, your shotmaking will improve, and that can only help your 8-ball game.

Transitioning from one game to another is one of the delicious challenges to this sport.

Fred
 
CaptainHook said:
9 Ball can definetly keep you in that "Play the percentages" state of mind.
In your 8 Ball game, did you used to play "Risky" shots when you got out of line? I have been playing allot of 8 Ball again recently and if the 8 is tied up or froze to another ball, i tend to shoot more "Risky" shots, cause i know the other shooter can't run out if i miss unless he "Breaks" the 8 out to develop a shot. :)
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I don't think I'm talking about 'risky', more about precision. Guess I should have mentioned I'm talking about bar box 8-ball. Close quarters there. The precision to put myself in the exact spot I need to turn a tough table into a run. You have to do this early and now when I'm getting the second or third ball I'm saying to myself, 'OK, this isn't happening so what do I do now'.
 
CaptainJR said:
I don't think I'm talking about 'risky', more about precision. Guess I should have mentioned I'm talking about bar box 8-ball. Close quarters there. The precision to put myself in the exact spot I need to turn a tough table into a run. You have to do this early and now when I'm getting the second or third ball I'm saying to myself, 'OK, this isn't happening so what do I do now'.
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Patience may have something to do with it. It seems to me like a lot of 9-ball players are used to reading 9-ball racks where things are a lot more obvious than 8-ball racks. The result is not thinking it through as thoroughly, and I think great 8-ball runs usually come from great planning. You may need to get your mind re-accustomed to patiently thinking through a rack from an 8-ball point of view. Your position and shot-making should only improve the more 9-ball you play, so it seems it has to be mental.

-Andrew
 
no no no... 9ball makes you better, if you make a small mistake it can ruin the whole table. In 8ball if you make a mistake you have more options. Don't forget that in 8ball you CAN play safeties! I've noticed that many players seem to forget about that.
 
I'm a nineballer at heart but am forced to play 8ball often. Personally I enjoy the freedom of letting out the stroke that 9ball demands. It's kind of like fast dancing. 8ball is like slow dancing. Both have a beat but the rythm has changed. Now if that makes sense to you your as nuts as I am...LOL
 
I think so, just from personal experience. I just recently shot in an 8 ball tourney. Before that I havnt shot 8 ball in about 2 years as I just did not like the game. In this tounrey I broke and ran in the finals for the win. 2 years ago I could not run a rack of 8 ball. No I can do it often as I started playing it again.

9 ball helps you spot patterns IMO. After you break in 8 ball, if all the balls are open, plot your course and play them that way, almost as if you were shooting them rotation, you shouldnt have to deviate from your course, but in 8 ball, if you do deviate you still have more options then you would in 9 ball.

Heath<<<< Just found a recent love for 8 ball thanks to the IPT and winning a local 8 ball tourney.
 
cheesemouse said:
I'm a nineballer at heart but am forced to play 8ball often. Personally I enjoy the freedom of letting out the stroke that 9ball demands. It's kind of like fast dancing. 8ball is like slow dancing. Both have a beat but the rythm has changed. Now if that makes sense to you your as nuts as I am...LOL
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It might make a little sence to me:eek:
 

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Cornerman said:
Yes, I think it can put you in that mindset. But, by what I'm reading, I think if you continue to play more 9-ball, your shotmaking will improve, and that can only help your 8-ball game.

Transitioning from one game to another is one of the delicious challenges to this sport.

Fred
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Well said Fred (sorry for the rhyme)-
Making the transition can more often than not, lead to a bit of a decline in your 8 ball game and, in my opinion, thats natural. 8 ball presents more options for the shooter because is not played in rotation. If you get out of line for one ball, you can shoot another. With 9 ball, you try to develop precision because you don't have this luxury. Once you're out of line, you better find away to work around it! So you try to be precise every time out of the gate because you want every shot to be as easy as possible.

Now, when you make the switch back to 8 ball, you may find that you are still playing for that precision on a table that is (almost) twice as crowded. (15 balls rather than 9) Thus, you may find yourself hooked more often than you want.
Keep up with the 9 ball though and I'm sure you'll see over time that 8 ball will become easier than ever for you.
 
CaptainJR said:
GEE, Tough audience. Put up a old picture like that and don't even get one LOL. LMAO
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LOl. :D

You look good, in the picture, Captain. I'll be looking for you on Dancing with the Stars. :cool:
 
Rich R. said:
LOl. :D

You look good, in the picture, Captain. I'll be looking for you on Dancing with the Stars. :cool:
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<Don't forget that in 8ball you CAN play safeties! I've noticed that many players seem to forget about that.>
This isnt always true. House bar rules down here are much different than stanard 8ball. There is no penalty for cueball/table fouls.(hitting wring ball,no rail etc) The only time the cueball is moved is if it leaves the table surface. So there is really no good reward for playing a good safe except you really piss off the other player. The incoming player can just tap the cueball and lose his/her shot, leaving you hooked as well sometimes. By not allowing safeties, you have to be a great shotmaker(its call shot i.e. not just ball and pocket) and boy have I seen some good ones.

I run a small quick 8ball tournament using these rules. Its a whole lotta fun especially for weaker players that dont have a defensive game because the better players are always shooting for the out. Sometime they get it, sometimes they dont.

BTW format is race to 1 dbl elim, $6 to get in, $50 added, $1 to a break pot the rest is paid out. Its on sat afternoons. I got 4 bar boxes we play on and get 32 people thru in a little over 2 hrs.
 
I seems to me that players who play and practice 9-ball all the time, then play in 8-ball tournaments have trouble sometimes.

With myself, if I play 9-ball all the time, then I get good at that and not so good at 8-ball. And if I play 8-ball all the time, I will not do so good at 9-ball.

It is sort of like my mind has an "8-ball mode of thinking" or a "9-ball mode of thinking", but not both at the same time???
 
After years of constant devotion to 9ball, suddenly our town has two 8ball tourneys a week. I was horrified to discover that I now suck sideways with braces on at 8ball.

The choices confuse me. I get out of line a little, and now I have to make a whole new pattern in my head. Walking up to the table, I can stand there thinking through plan A, and then comparing it to plan B, and halfway through plan C I get irritated and whack away at A/B. I have even chosen solids so that I can just quit thinking and run the balls consecutively (this has worked).

As far as safeties go, on my first 8ball night, I slid my last ball against the rail and tucked the cue tight under the nine. And then realized that my opponent had stripes and now had lots of choices to go for. He sure couldn't hit my solid if he prayed, though... 8ball safeties still torment me.

I can't believe I now hate the game that first brought me into poolrooms so long ago.
 
I am of the opinion that if you truly want to become good at pool you should practice all of the games involved. Every game has its own merit to it, something you can learn from it, they can work as drills in themselves. A practice session for me involves snooker, straight pool, 9 ball, 1 pocket, 8 ball and sometimes bank pool. As a result, whatever I am called on to play I am confident in doing so. Snooker I feel is probably the most important of these games to practice, simply because of the shot making involved in it. Pool Tables often feel small to me, not easy, just small.

regards
 
Three friends of mine have suggested that playing nine ball alone does cause certain parts of your pool game to slip. These friends are Tony Robles, Mika Immonen and Jeanette Lee, all of whom play a whole lot of straight pool.
 
sjm said:
Three friends of mine have suggested that playing nine ball alone does cause certain parts of your pool game to slip. These friends are Tony Robles, Mika Immonen and Jeanette Lee, all of whom play a whole lot of straight pool.
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I am envious, Mika is my favorite player of all time. Whenever one of his matches is on tv I have to call in dead to work.

regards
 
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