Just asking for a little direction

MikeyLittle

MikeyLittle

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
https://www.facebook.com/1105678632788356/videos/1147358118620407/

Video of one of my league matches, I'm the one in the red hat. Just figured if you guys had time to watch and maybe give me some helpful tips on some things that can help me better my game. It was a 7-6 race that went hill-hill. My shot making was pretty good but my defense and kicking was horrible this night. Thanks in advance!


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I'm not going to give any technical advice as not my strong suit.

Still watching and working so missed some stuff, but what I've noted so far is shot selection on a few...

Rack 2: Started of a little lazy with the 1ball and then had super tough pot/position to the 2ball. I think you play safe of the 2 there. I don't remember exactly where everything was laying but seemed like 3 or 4 balls up there to get safe. You were likely to scratch or get hooked from the 3, seemed like not much good could come from shooting at the 2.

Rack 3: Hard to tell the angle but the carom 3 of the 2 looked like a bad angle to shoot the shot. It was a game winner if it goes but could have/should have costed you the game when you missed.

Just my opinion and good for you putting this out there. You should get some quality feedback.
 
I like a good discussion and some advice a lot of the instructors will not like :)

Very good speed and position control! You don't bang the balls.
Don't think you shoot to fast, you are very efficient and that's a great asset. Maybe take one more breath and ~1-3 seconds more, also after hitting the CB.
Also pocketing is very good, with a few exeptions, where you seem to lose your concentration for just a moment.

Is it a 9ft or a 8ft table?

Some things to try:
I think your bridge is too long. Try going closer to the CB whenever possible.
Also try going closer to the CB when you do prestroking and aiming.

Then, the tip shall touch the CB somewhere when your arm is a 90 degrees and at ~50% of it's movement so you have plenty of follow through and the tip hits exactly where you think you'll hit.
You hit at maybe 40%.

I think you also could level you cue more to 90 degrees against the table, to increase accuracy and lessen deflection and other side effects.

Cheers,
M


PS: That music truly is horrifying!
 
Yes the music is bad I should of warned about the music. It's a 7ft. table. Ty for the input so far. I'll try moving closer to the cue ball or at least have someone look to see where I can get to that 50% your talking about. I do have to take a few more moments before shooting, sometimes I catch myself running around the table and miss an easy shot or position.


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Double the Distance

MikeyLittle,
For kicking on Dvd 2 of Jimmy Reids....almost all I know there is some real good material on Double the Distance Kicks and on a 2 rail ....side rail to side rail kicking system. Its hard to follow him but it can be done by watching it over and over and what he does successfully with Double the Distance he redoes using similar methods in the 2 rail kick System.

I am always surprised when I see a really good player playing and misses a kick shot by a mile. Imagine what it could be like were he to be able get safe just 50% of the time. It can be a game changer. That's my advice.

You can probably find one in the For Sale Section.

MikeyLittle said:
https://www.facebook.com/1105678632788356/videos/1147358118620407/

Video of one of my league matches, I'm the one in the red hat. Just figured if you guys had time to watch and maybe give me some helpful tips on some things that can help me better my game. It was a 7-6 race that went hill-hill. My shot making was pretty good but my defense and kicking was horrible this night. Thanks in advance!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
 
M.G....How much is "plenty of followthrough"? What makes you think more is better? His bridge might be too long for you, but everyone has their own personal bridge length, that they play with for most shots. It varies greatly from player to player.

Scott Lee
http://poolknowledge.com

M.G. said:
I like a good discussion and some advice a lot of the instructors will not like :)

Some things to try:
I think your bridge is too long. Try going closer to the CB whenever possible.
Also try going closer to the CB when you do prestroking and aiming.

Then, the tip shall touch the CB somewhere when your arm is a 90 degrees and at ~50% of it's movement so you have plenty of follow through and the tip hits exactly where you think you'll hit.
You hit at maybe 40%.

I think you also could level you cue more to 90 degrees against the table, to increase accuracy and lessen deflection and other side effects.

Cheers,
M


PS: That music truly is horrifying!
Click to expand...
 
I'm sticking with my original assessment. He's shooting quite quickly. There were quite a few shots in the match where he just got up and shot, and ended up bridging over another ball. If he had just taken a couple more seconds, and looked at the next ball from where he'd be shooting the next shot, he'd have either played short, or rolled past the ball he had to bridge over. I also think his quick pace is letting him down on certain position assessments. There were a few shots in the match where he crosses the line of the shot, instead of coming into it.

He played a good match. The long bridge doesn't bother me. Some players are short and compact, some aren't. I just think he'd benefit from walking around the table a little more, and looking at his next shot, and playing a tighter 3 ball pattern.
 
MikeyLittle said:
https://www.facebook.com/1105678632788356/videos/1147358118620407/

Video of one of my league matches, I'm the one in the red hat. Just figured if you guys had time to watch and maybe give me some helpful tips on some things that can help me better my game. It was a 7-6 race that went hill-hill. My shot making was pretty good but my defense and kicking was horrible this night. Thanks in advance!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

One quick thought. Take the time to play the BEST patterns possible.

If you go to 19:04 in the video you have ball in hand with 5 balls on the table. You are obviously a good player and playing patterns….. but I think you could take the time to play the best/easiest patterns. Over a course of time this will really make a difference in your game.

You choose to shoot at the 4 ball from the right side of the table and play the 5 up in the bottom right corner (of the screen). This puts the 6 in play slightly and makes position on the 6 much more difficult.

Instead, what if you had shot at the 4 from the left side of the table where you had a natural path to follow up 2 rails and shoot the 5 in the left side (cue ball up close to the 8) or maybe even the corner (bottom left) if it goes.

At 23:50 you have a shot into the side with what looks like a routine shot on the next ball in the bottom right corner. You pocket the 5, but I'm guessing that you didn't take much time thinking about what angle you were going to have on the next ball (because it was close to the pocket and easy to make from basically anywhere). You end up almost straight in, follow around, hit the next ball and have a shot….. if you had that straight in shot 10 times you probably would have gotten bad on the next ball somewhere between 1 and 3 times. If you intentionally create a better angle on the ball you get out probably 10/10 times. If you watch someone like Justin Bergman or Niels Feijen, they go and take a look at those types of shots and really take the time to get the perfect angle to make things easier, not just good enough.

There is a big difference in "good enough" and the easiest/most consistent way possible.

Hope that helps!
 
It's your mental game that needs the most work. There is a level of intensity and focus missing from your game. You were too casual in your approach on some of the easy shots you missed and you completely overlooked an obvious foul committed by your opponent that would have given you ball-in-hand. Your head is not in the right place to achieve a higher level of performance and observation.

I could tell your opponent felt bad about not telling you because two shots later he scratched on a shot that an APA 3 would have recognized. I suspect the failure to disclose the deed was stuck in his mind and impacted his level of focus. I have a feeling that subconsciously, he was trying to level the playing field for his indiscretion...... Probably a good guy but his head was in the wrong place too.

Your level of commitment and focus is your biggest obstacle.
 
Last edited:
rrick33 said:
It's your mental game that needs the most work. There is a level of intensity and focus missing from your game. You were too casual in your approach on some of the easy shots you missed and you completely overlooked an obvious foul committed by your opponent that would have given you ball-in-hand. Your head is not in the right place to achieve a higher level of performance and observation.

I could tell your opponent felt bad about not telling you because two shots later he scratched on a shot that an APA 3 would have recognized. I suspect the failure to disclose the deed was stuck in his mind and impacted his level of focus. I have a feeling that subconsciously, he was trying to level the playing field for his indiscretion...... Probably a good guy but his head was in the wrong place too.

Your level of commitment and focus is your biggest obstacle.
Click to expand...

I know the 'foul' you are talking about, because I thought I saw it, too. On closer review, the opponent clearly hits the 2 soft and then the rail and kicks back behind the 2. Looked like a foul on first glance, but it wasn't.
 
For your skill level you shoot pretty straight. There are tons of areas you could improve on such as kicking, strategy, patterns, shots choices etc. I will ignore most of that and focus only on what I think can make both the biggest and quickest difference in your game though. Those are your position play, safety play, and your speed/focus.

On your position play the good news is that most of it does not seem to be due to lack of knowledge, although some is. Mostly it is just laziness for lack of a better word. Laziness both in planning, and in execution. That is good news because unlike the knowledge portion those can be almost instantly corrected.

You very often don't take the time to determine exactly where the cue ball should ideally end up. You only look at it long enough to determine that "if I end up somewhere over here or somewhere in this area I will have a decent shot". But by doing this you often miss that if you end up exactly here, or even over here instead, it leads to a much easier shape on the next ball without making the current shot any harder and in some cases even makes the current shot easier too.

You need to take the time to determine exactly where you would like the cue ball to end up that is the perfect compromise between not making pocketing the current shot more difficult than it needs but that gives you ideal position on the next ball. And ideal not just to be able to pocket the next ball, but to easily be able to play shape off it if to be the best place for the ball after that (commonly referred to as thinking three balls ahead). This will often require that you walk around the table and look at your current shot from another angle or to look what your next shot will look like if you land the cue ball where you have in mind and I am not sure I ever saw you walk around to look at a shot from another angle or to look at what the next shot would look like and certainly not enough if you did.

Once you pick an initial spot you think you should play for, start asking yourself what if the cue ball ended up one ball width this direction or or one ball width that direction? What would the advantages or disadvantages be? Would it be better if I had slightly more or less angle on the next shot than the spot I initially picked? What are the advantages and disadvantages of being closer or further from the object ball on the next shot? What are my risks of getting hooked? What are the risks of bumping into a ball/s where I could either get hooked as a result or bump those balls into a new position that would be a problem for me? Is there another route I can take that will have the cue ball coming into the new shot line of the next shot instead of crossing it but that doesn't make my current shot any harder?

The bottom line is you want to pick the exact best spot you want the cue ball to ideally end up on, and preferably one that allows for good margin for error also when possible since we aren't perfect. Never settle for the thought process of "somewhere over here" or "somewhere in this area". There is ALWAYS an ideal exact best spot all things considered and this is the EXACT the spot you should be trying to land on with the cue ball when you execute.

On executing the shot you seem to similarly be a little "lazy" about how much emphasis you are putting on trying to get the cue ball to the area you had in mind. Basically it is if you only pick a general area you would like the cue ball to end up at the begin with, and then are only putting the effort or focus in your execution to try to get close to that area. What it should be is pick the exact spot (often a quarter or even dime sized spot) you want to land on, and then try to end up exactly on that spot with your execution. Obviously you don't want to sacrifice shot accuracy in the process when that is really needed so you have to weigh the risks of how hard pocketing the ball is verses how hard the shape so you don't put too much focus on the wrong one but certainly for any object ball that is easy or even medium difficulty to pocket you can be focused on trying to get the cue ball to land on an exact quarter or dime sized spot, and obviously you have to have picked a spot that exact before you can try to land on it.

If you ever practice alone I would cut out a round circle of paper about the size of a cue ball and before every shot place that exactly where you want the cue ball to end up. This will force you to start thinking about all the things I mentioned earlier, down to if one ball width over this way or that way would be better, and it will also force you to focus on actually trying to land on that exact spot when you shoot too. You might even want to force yourself to walk all the way around the table before each shot for a little while as I think you will be surprised what revelations will sometimes occur to you as you see your current and next anticipated shots from different angles.

It kind of goes along with the above but you shoot slightly too quick as well. Not bad, just a little. Take just a little more time to figure out exactly what you should do/exactly where the cue ball should end up, and also take just a little more time to focus on executing the shot exactly as you intended. This may only require a few more seconds of thought before most shots, and another one or two more practice strokes on most shots.

As for safeties, that seemed to be more lack of knowledge than failed execution in my opinion. Yes the execution wasn't great either but you weren't making the right choices to begin with. I would suggest actually reviewing the video and watching your opponent's safeties. For your relative skill levels I thought he tended to play pretty good safeties (you have to take into consideration both how easy the safeties would be to accomplish verses how difficult they would be for your opponent to get out of and there has to be a good compromise between the two). There was also a guide to safeties that someone posted not too long ago that was ok. Maybe someone else can link to it or I will edit this post with the link if I have time to find it later.

For kicking you can also find some excellent instruction on Dr. Dave's site. Will also link to that later if I get a chance.
 
MikeyLittle said:
https://www.facebook.com/1105678632788356/videos/1147358118620407/

Video of one of my league matches, I'm the one in the red hat. Just figured if you guys had time to watch and maybe give me some helpful tips on some things that can help me better my game. It was a 7-6 race that went hill-hill. My shot making was pretty good but my defense and kicking was horrible this night. Thanks in advance!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

Nice job on matching the hat with the glove! Best part of the video I thought.


I kid of course LOL. You have a pretty steady stance and bridge, both of you guys are actually pretty good for a 7 footer bar league thing. Keep in your stance a bit better and focus on straight follow though. There was a cut shot at -37 or so where it looked like you just missed by hitting the point, did not look like you were fully in your stance and looks like the arm went a bit towards the side to steer the shot. That happens a lot for many players on cut shots.
 
Grab a bar cue off the wall and ram it through the jukebox till it quits making noise.

It looks to me like you started getting frustrated and started shooting harder at some shots than you needed to. I like shooting softer, letting the cue and the spin when needed move the ball around rather than hitting harder than needed. It helps my accuracy. You surprised me with some of the routes you took to get position. The only one I can point out easy is you had a stop shot on the 8 that was in front of side pocket and 9 was on the spot. You drew to opposite side of table instead of just playing a stop shot, I thought that was a little unneeded risk.
 
Hey guys, Sorry I haven't replied quickly I was away for my Apa LTC's in AC. So didn't have much time to comment. Ty everyone for the input. I'm going to work in some of the things that you've mentioned. I messed around with some 9ball racks over the weekend and def. noticed that I do go for a general area to put the ball instead of exact spot. I caught myself saying "anywhere in here will be fine." So I'm going to cut out the piece of paper and work on trying to get the exact spot.


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Celophanewrap said:
... and get rid of the hand panty
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I can't use powder, I hate seeing it on the tables or anywhere else near where I'm playing. No idea why I hate it but I can't use it, and I sweat. Not dripping but enough that the shaft can get sticky. I like a consistent feel when I'm playing.
 
Celophanewrap said:
... and get rid of the hand panty
Click to expand...

:rotflmao1::rotflmao1::rotflmao1::rotflmao1::rotflmao1::rotflmao1::rotflmao1::rotflmao1::rotflmao1:

I have never heard that one before but I will be sure to use it. Usually I just ask someone if they are cold, they reply "no, why" I remind them they are wearing a glove.
 
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