Keeping A Shot Log/Book

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DrCue'sProtege

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Okay, my cat was behind my TV the other night, knocking some old VHS tapes around and i had to get back in there and even plug the TV back in. as i picked up the tapes i realized "Boy, i sure have alot of tapes/dvds of pool" and i havent watched them for awhile.

So......i think i am going to get me a binder and keep a log of shots that i see when i watch these tapes/dvds. these videos are primarily of the best men players out there. from the U.S. Open to Reno to the Vegas BCA to the World Championships. Then, after logging some shots that i think i might need to work on i am going to make them part of my practice routine.

And, no, in case anyone is wondering, this will not constitute the bulk of my practice routine. I still work on speed shots, routine shots, Mother Drills, the Stroke Groover, mechanics, etc, etc.

Mike
 
While that is a good idea, it seems to be a lot of work. If you are going to be that dedicated, to watch all those tapes, and log shots you want to work on, I have another suggestion.

Keep a log of all the mistakes you make in your real games for one week. A mistake would either be missed position, missed shot, or poor pattern, or anything else you think. You'll have a huge list, and you can work on those shots. You KNOW those shots are your personal weakness, as opposed to shots you'll see after watching 20 pro dvd's.
 
iusedtoberich said:
While that is a good idea, it seems to be a lot of work. If you are going to be that dedicated, to watch all those tapes, and log shots you want to work on, I have another suggestion.

Keep a log of all the mistakes you make in your real games for one week. A mistake would either be missed position, missed shot, or poor pattern, or anything else you think. You'll have a huge list, and you can work on those shots. You KNOW those shots are your personal weakness, as opposed to shots you'll see after watching 20 pro dvd's.
Click to expand...

I agrre with this. I always took note of shots that I missed in a game and practiced them the next day until I just about couldn't miss them. I find this better than any ball pocketing drill. Why work on shots you already know? All that does is waste time and energy and if you practice them different than you are now shooting and making them it can screw with your mucele memory. Well it works for me anyhow.:wink: Johnnyt
 
iusedtoberich said:
While that is a good idea, it seems to be a lot of work. If you are going to be that dedicated, to watch all those tapes, and log shots you want to work on, I have another suggestion.

Keep a log of all the mistakes you make in your real games for one week. A mistake would either be missed position, missed shot, or poor pattern, or anything else you think. You'll have a huge list, and you can work on those shots. You KNOW those shots are your personal weakness, as opposed to shots you'll see after watching 20 pro dvd's.
Click to expand...

iusedtoberich,

thanks for the suggestion! but, been there, done that, still doing it. if i play some racks of 9-ball and i miss a shot or position, i'll etch that into my memory and diagram it at the office the next day so i wont forget it. then i'll practice it the next night.

sort of looking forward to doing this. i think i'll start with the vhs tapes i have of the 2002 World Championships.

Mike
 
DrCue'sProtege said:
iusedtoberich,

thanks for the suggestion! but, been there, done that, still doing it. if i play some racks of 9-ball and i miss a shot or position, i'll etch that into my memory and diagram it at the office the next day so i wont forget it. then i'll practice it the next night.

sort of looking forward to doing this. i think i'll start with the vhs tapes i have of the 2002 World Championships.

Mike
Click to expand...

iusedtoberich already suggested what I was going to say... but since you're already doing that... that's great! i will try and remember certain shots from matches i watch, but it can be hard to remember them all; so a logbook is a great idea.

my only question would be, what sort of shots are you looking for? 90% of the shots you're going to see are shots that you probably already know... those other 10% are likely so situational you might not ever need them. still, would be good to know as a reference for similar situations, but don't waste time working one a 1-shot deal. like Corey's super draw; amazing shot, but will probably never need it again.
 
I think it would be good to take a screenshot of the break, and how the pro in question got out (his pattern). Then you try to get out the same way he did.
 
For the longest time I practiced with Joe Tucker's Guaranteed Improvements drill book. I stopped updating after hitting a wall in my progress.

This seems promising.
http://shotpad.com
 
Diagram Book

DrCue'sProtege said:
Okay, my cat was behind my TV the other night, knocking some old VHS tapes around and i had to get back in there and even plug the TV back in. as i picked up the tapes i realized "Boy, i sure have alot of tapes/dvds of pool" and i havent watched them for awhile.

So......i think i am going to get me a binder and keep a log of shots that i see when i watch these tapes/dvds. these videos are primarily of the best men players out there. from the U.S. Open to Reno to the Vegas BCA to the World Championships. Then, after logging some shots that i think i might need to work on i am going to make them part of my practice routine.

And, no, in case anyone is wondering, this will not constitute the bulk of my practice routine. I still work on speed shots, routine shots, Mother Drills, the Stroke Groover, mechanics, etc, etc.

Mike
Click to expand...

Mike

I have a book that already has table diagrams, along with space to take notes. It is spiral bound - lots of room to make diagrams - you can preview the entire book at the link below. It's currently available at 30% off from now until January 10 - regular price is $18, but now it is $12.60 - at that price, I am only making 98 cents a book - so I won't get rich off of this - lol

Here is the link -

Player's Shot Journal

Take care! and best of luck!

David
 
Blackjack said:
Mike

I have a book that already has table diagrams, along with space to take notes. It is spiral bound - lots of room to make diagrams - you can preview the entire book at the link below. It's currently available at 30% off from now until January 10 - regular price is $18, but now it is $12.60 - at that price, I am only making 98 cents a book - so I won't get rich off of this - lol

Here is the link -

Player's Shot Journal

Take care! and best of luck!

David
Click to expand...

Yo Dave,
thanks for the link, i might be interested in this. could ya show me what the inside pages look like? i'd like to see what they are like before i take the plunge. and how would you like payment? send you a check?

Mike
 
DrCue'sProtege said:
Yo Dave,
thanks for the link, i might be interested in this. could ya show me what the inside pages look like? i'd like to see what they are like before i take the plunge. and how would you like payment? send you a check?

Mike
Click to expand...

Mike
At that link, there is a full preview of the complete book. The books are sold through that website, not by me.
 
If you click the "Preview" button under the book cover graphic you can flip through the first 50 pages of the book.

If I'm not mistaken, usually Lulu books are sold directly from Lulu, so you'd purchase from them and it'd be shipped to you. Lulu would handle getting the funds to Dave.

*edited* err - what he said.
 
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Blackjack, what are the dimensions of the book? (Will it fit in a pool case, or is it 8.5x11 or some other size)

Thanks.
 
iusedtoberich said:
Blackjack, what are the dimensions of the book? (Will it fit in a pool case, or is it 8.5x11 or some other size)

Thanks.
Click to expand...

It is 8.5 X 11.

I tried to do a pocket version, but it only was able to provide 1 painfully small diagram per page, and I wanted to have the multi-diagram pages in the book - it fits more diagrams, and is a better buy (IMO) for the customer.
 
DrCue'sProtege said:
Okay, my cat was behind my TV the other night, knocking some old VHS tapes around and i had to get back in there and even plug the TV back in. as i picked up the tapes i realized "Boy, i sure have alot of tapes/dvds of pool" and i havent watched them for awhile.

So......i think i am going to get me a binder and keep a log of shots that i see when i watch these tapes/dvds. these videos are primarily of the best men players out there. from the U.S. Open to Reno to the Vegas BCA to the World Championships. Then, after logging some shots that i think i might need to work on i am going to make them part of my practice routine.

And, no, in case anyone is wondering, this will not constitute the bulk of my practice routine. I still work on speed shots, routine shots, Mother Drills, the Stroke Groover, mechanics, etc, etc.

Mike
Click to expand...


i like this idea and have done it myself, not the whole way like you describe. What I have done is seen a shot that isnt in my bag of tricks(mind) and made a note of it and wrote it down and taken that note to the box and worked on it until I had it in my mind. Just taking a shot that I'm mising and working on that is ok, but its not bringing anything NEW into my game. At this point in my game there are very few shots in rotation games I see come up that I dont know, I can watch Sands 9-Ball tournments until my eyes bleed and not see anything I dont know 99% of the time, once in a blue moon I'll see a top player play a different patern than I would-which is better. However with 1P I could wear out a pen in a hour writing down shots to learn. So yeah I like the idea.
 
You can save a lot of time by getting Bert Kinister's "60 Minute Workout". He claims that he chose those shots by watching matches and keeping track of them. He then chose the shots that always come up and made the tape.
 
TheBook said:
You can save a lot of time by getting Bert Kinister's "60 Minute Workout". He claims that he chose those shots by watching matches and keeping track of them. He then chose the shots that always come up and made the tape.
Click to expand...

got it already. and i agree.

Mike
 
Started on this last night. the first match i am going to dissect is the Strickland-Reyes match from a 2001 tournament in Chesapeake. its not the US Open, cant recall off the top of my head what the name of this one is.

Got about halfway through it last night. Earl is up 6-4 in the race to 11.

Mike
 
I've watched all the way through the Efren/Earl Masters 2001 match, the Earl/Johnny Reno match, and am now about halfway through the Earl/Efren Reno match. i've got several shots diagrammed that i think might be of help to me.

And here are a couple of shots that i noticed that might help some of the predicaments i find myself in from time to time. the first one is a long down the rail shot where Efren went rail first to get back up the table. the 2nd one is a cross-side bank shot when you get straight in and need to also get back down the table.


CueTable Help




CueTable Help



CueTable Help

 
DrCue'sProtege said:
Okay, my cat was behind my TV the other night, knocking some old VHS tapes around and i had to get back in there and even plug the TV back in. as i picked up the tapes i realized "Boy, i sure have alot of tapes/dvds of pool" and i havent watched them for awhile.

So......i think i am going to get me a binder and keep a log of shots that i see when i watch these tapes/dvds. these videos are primarily of the best men players out there. from the U.S. Open to Reno to the Vegas BCA to the World Championships. Then, after logging some shots that i think i might need to work on i am going to make them part of my practice routine.

And, no, in case anyone is wondering, this will not constitute the bulk of my practice routine. I still work on speed shots, routine shots, Mother Drills, the Stroke Groover, mechanics, etc, etc.

Mike
Click to expand...


It's a good idea. I try and do something similar whenever I watch a new DVD match and see something unfamiliar (I just don't write them down, I just remember the two or three shots I want to work on). I've learned a lot of 1pocket shots this way, particularly some end game situations with just a few balls left. You get to see how the shots should be player and if you dig a little deeper and study them for a moment you can learn why they are the right shots to play in that situation.

Lou Figueroa
 
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