I bet you tell that to all the gals Lou.
Is it time to play one pocket??
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Seriously tho, I'll take you up on that. Thank you very much Lou. I'm thinking 12-6 or if you feel frisky, maybe 12-5??I bet you tell that to all the gals Lou.
I don't mind paying for info, but I'm going to have questions.
Lots of questions.
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There are safety shots and there are safety shots. Some are a one shot move when nothing else is available then there are others that truly advance your position. Get on youtube and look up Gabe Owens playing the wedge game. I don't remember if the other player was Nick Varner or Neal somebody or maybe both names are wrong. There is about a fifteen minute stretch where no ball is made but every shot advances the game.
When you have to play a safety it is easy to think of the safety and the other person not having a good move without thinking past that. Your shot, pocketing a ball or a safety, always needs a plan from there. Try to leave your opponent with one move or very few.
Something I rarely see mentioned is leading or following. Do you find yourself controlling the actions and reactions on the table or are you reacting to the other player's actions much of the time?
I used to play games within the game to keep entertained when I was just playing close to home. Once I decided I would control every shot on the table for six months. It wasn't enough to control every shot I made, I wanted to control every shot the other player made even if that was a three or four ball run. Sounds impossible but it helped that I knew most of the people I played. Maybe not their name but their game.
This brought a focus to the game I rarely used playing the local gamblers. It had a side effect, the winning percentages for my opponents went way down. I had to give up that particular game within a game, got to where nobody would play me after only about two months. I was calling every shot about half the time. The hardest shots to call were those where there was two viable shots so I had to nudge them into taking one or the other. It was a bad night if I didn't call two shots, really bad if a player broke into a run of three or more shots I didn't plan.
Most plan the next shots after making a ball. Trickier to plan the course of the rack when you let the other player to the table.
Early eighties cloth was a little deeper than today's and balls would settle into it a little bit. You could rock a ball barely out of a depression and it would settle back into it. This led to another game within the game I played, traps. Traps often involved timed shots, something I never got really good at but I would get the other player into a position where it was impossible to shoot without fouling a few times a session. Three ball and bigger safeties weren't too hard, two ball safeties still weren't too hard. Then I saw Corey Deuel lock up Efren Reyes with a one ball safety in I think the semi-finals of the one pocket at the Derby in about 2006, give or take a year! I had the DVD so could watch it over and over.
New game to play with myself, lock up one ball safeties. Usually involved freezing the cue ball to another ball or another ball and the rail.
Hu
I consider CB control a higher skill than pocketing balls - get more satisfaction from a lockup safe than a made shot - both is even better.
pj
chgo
Seriously tho, I'll take you up on that. Thank you very much Lou. I'm thinking 12-6 or if you feel frisky, maybe 12-5??
I don't mind paying for info, but I'm going to have questions.
Lots of questions.
12-6/12-5, never seen you play...
I don't think so. That's the kind of weight perhaps a pro gives to someone who is completely, totally, and unforgivably helpless. I am not a pro and by your own account you are far from helpless. So all I can conclude is that you aren't really serious.
Lou Figueroa
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Playing even for 10 or 20 seems much more reasonable to start.
For your first one pocket lesson, and this is just my opinion, based on my experience, with all due respect.Seriously tho, I'll take you up on that. Thank you very much Lou. I'm thinking 12-6 or if you feel frisky, maybe 12-5??
I don't mind paying for info, but I'm going to have questions.
Lots of questions.
You don't get weight for cheap one pocket where you are essentially paying for lessons. If you can get a good player to teach you for $10 a game - and you can ask questions - then you're essentially paying for lessons. If a good player is going to give you weight like you are mentioning, it's no longer an "ask questions" match. It is a serious match, and the value of the match will reflect accordingly.
One of the hardest things a 9 Ball player has to learn about One Pocket: forget about making every shot. Getting a ball close to your pocket and leaving your opponent safe is a skill.
in one pocket the cue ball is truly everything. Becoming even an adequate one pocket player will greatly improve your kicking, banking, and overall cue ball knowledge/pool IQ. Your other games will improve immensely!
I saw Tom Wirth put the entire rack in front of his opponents corner and turn it around. He won.Seriously tho, I'll take you up on that. Thank you very much Lou. I'm thinking 12-6 or if you feel frisky, maybe 12-5??
I don't mind paying for info, but I'm going to have questions.
Lots of questions.
You and I think so much alike on far too many things Hu. We've joked about this in the past, but it's always nice to see a like mindset put it in writing!!
I find it hard to explain my philosophy without giving away too much.
I've always been a shotmaker.
That's my philosophy. Put the ball in the hole. Nothing makes me feel better than rolling over a safety guru.
I literally try to destroy them. I'll do all in my power to rattle their game. Get in that head.
That being said, will I ever be able to enjoy playing a game whose sole premise is safety play?? I've asked myself this numerous times and didn't find the answer.
So I decided I would start playing one hole and see. B4 making a decision that may deprive me of learning how to play a very difficult game and from what I've seen, most popular now.
I wont shy away from the work. Once I'm in, I'm all in.
I need to get rid of all my old preconceptions on one pocket, all the negatives I once had and concentrate on becoming a one pocket player. Clear the board.
It's kinda scary starting from scratch all over again.
Having to rein in until I learn more about this complex monster.
I have all of you to thank, of course and I hope this journey be a pleasant one. We shall see.
I like that. Thanks PJ.
It was in jest, yes. You'll find I like to enjoy myself on table. Laugh, have fun. That being said, I know when to focus and dial it down. I hope I haven't offended you Lou.
I certainly look forward to playing with any player of your caliber. Not many are so fortunate.
Cautious. Right out of the box. Smart man. I admire that about you Lou.
Thanks Joe. It's that damn stubborn streak....
True 'Dat.
That's the one I'm having trouble wrapping my head around Matt.
I absolutely must get rid of my preconceived notions on one pocket if I'm ever going to play the game well.
We all know Lou is perfectly capable of the same thing. He'd roll over me at 12-6.
I'm used to throwing numbers out there. Old habits.
Don't throw the baby , me, out w the bathwater.
!
Maybe think about it this way. You will get frustrated losing to players who don’t shoot as well as you. If you move as well as they do, your shooting will prevail. But only if you give it a chance. Part of that is just defense so they don’t get easy chances. Part is earning the good shooting opportunity. And it will be easier for you to learn defense than it will be for them to become a shotmaker.
The sole premise is not safety play. You have to get 8 balls to win- you don’t get a ball for every 5 safes or whatever. At some point you have to make balls and the best one pocket players are aggressive. BUT… you have to give your shotmaking a chance to succeed by playing good enough strategy and defense to win.
Maybe think about it this way. You will get frustrated losing to players who don’t shoot as well as you. If you move as well as they do, your shooting will prevail. But only if you give it a chance. Part of that is just defense so they don’t get easy chances. Part is earning the good shooting opportunity. And it will be easier for you to learn defense than it will be for them to become a shotmaker.