Late Rack Issues

RunEmOut08

RunEmOut08

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Ok guys just looking for some insight from people. I am a 7 in 9ball and most of the time I think i play pretty well. The past few weeks ive been consistently running into the same issue. When i get to the table I will run 4-6 balls and get to the 7, 8, or 9 with decent shape and fairly easy position to get to the next shot and I dog the ball that i feel like i should make 85-95% of the time. I feel like im still focused but maybe its something else. I know this is a fairly common issue in pool so Im hoping that somebody will share some knowledge that may help me finish more racks. Thanks
 
You may be allowing yourself to think about the run-out, and not about the shot in front of you. Does something change in your mental thought process, or in your routine when you get down to the last three?

Steve
 
Are you also trying for pinpoint-perfect position after these last shots? I find that sometimes if I'm doing this, especially if just general shape will work fine, that I end up missing easy shots.

Usually on the last couple balls, I'll try and just play general shape because there will not be any clusters and I know I'll have a couple different cue ball paths available to get out.
 
pooltchr said:
You may be allowing yourself to think about the run-out, and not about the shot in front of you. Does something change in your mental thought process, or in your routine when you get down to the last three?

Steve
Click to expand...


Yup, what he said. I've vastly improved in that area lately. I was allowing just a moment of thought with those last few balls where I'd say "oh man, it's easy now!". That crappy thought process somehow stole something from my routine and sabotaged me.
 
It definitely sounds like a mental issue with those last balls. For 9-ball, I would get used to shooting the last balls mentally. To do this, look at the ball you commonly miss in an out. Throw out just that ball and higher (ex. if it's the 8, just throw out the 8 and the 9). Run those balls from multiple places on the table for 10-20 minutes. As you get used to shooting those, start adding in one additional ball each practice session as you get more confident. As you learn to run a rack in reverse, this will help your brain recognize that these balls are just like any other shot.

Also, as a side note, if you gamble, try to rarely take ball weight. If you tend to play regular sets with people and get the 7-out, this trains your brain to run only to the 7 in other situations too.
 
Also if you speed up your tempo as your moving through the rack, You will be prone to errors towards the last few balls. The way i fixed this for myself, I recorded myself playing. I found how many practice strokes I do on majority of the shots. Once I found out what was "natural" to me I remembered how many strokes that was and make sure I do that many on every shot. This keeps me from rushing the shot and or forgetting steps in my aiming and stroking process. You will be amazed at how consistent you become when you find what is natural for you and make sure you do it every time.
 
RunEmOut08 said:
Ok guys just looking for some insight from people. I am a 7 in 9ball and most of the time I think i play pretty well. The past few weeks ive been consistently running into the same issue. When i get to the table I will run 4-6 balls and get to the 7, 8, or 9 with decent shape and fairly easy position to get to the next shot and I dog the ball that i feel like i should make 85-95% of the time. I feel like im still focused but maybe its something else. I know this is a fairly common issue in pool so Im hoping that somebody will share some knowledge that may help me finish more racks. Thanks
Click to expand...

Ride the 9!!!!!!!!!!!
 
You've received excellent feedback so you can work on your problem, but I would like to state the obvious:

Change your name to RunEmOut09 so you can think of running all 9 balls instead of just 8! LOL :grin:

Dave
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top