Learning Curve

bznsharkie

bznsharkie

Dont F*ck with the Jesus
I have not been playing pool for long, but I am really into it and play for at least and hour and a half, six nights a week. Now I have improved, but I am still playing just a step above the "every once in a while" players.

Now I was wondering how long it took you guys before you felt confident as a pool player, and how often did you practice?
 
bznsharkie said:
I have not been playing pool for long, but I am really into it and play for at least and hour and a half, six nights a week. Now I have improved, but I am still playing just a step above the "every once in a while" players.

Now I was wondering how long it took you guys before you felt confident as a pool player, and how often did you practice?
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Everyone learns at their own rate, comparing yourself to others in this manner can potentially serve to discourage you.

In regards to your question, I was winning consistently against the recreational players a year after picking up a cue, however only 3 months of that was serious practice, which i didn't do much of.

As far as being confident, that's a tricky question. On the one hand Im never sure which of my games will show up. So in that respect I am still struggling with confidence in regards to my consistency. However despite the fact I may not always be confident in my game, I am sure that I will win. I generally go into a match expecting to pull out a victory one way or another. I guess that is just a facet of my personality.
 
It depends on the situation. If it is casual I feel confident. If league or a tounament I never feel confident. I know that there is always something that I need to get better at.
 
bznsharkie said:
I have not been playing pool for long, but I am really into it and play for at least and hour and a half, six nights a week. Now I have improved, but I am still playing just a step above the "every once in a while" players.

Now I was wondering how long it took you guys before you felt confident as a pool player, and how often did you practice?
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Cameron is right. How long it takes is different for every individual. For me, and this is also individual, the key is practice time. There are particular drills I do EVERY DAY. I keep a notebook in my cue case and make notes about problems I run into and work on those when I need to. My practice sessions aren't very long. They're short and very targetting to specific skills or issues. I'd say that I practice about 1 hour for every 6 or 7 hours that I play competitively.

Later,
Bob
 
I am not saying Im a confident player by any means, I feel confident with my game, but some may take my confidence and throw it right out the window and stomp me in a game.

However along the lines of practice, one thing that happened to me as I was getting better is that I hit a plateau where it became hard to learn more stuff. As a person progress from a beginner, there is a ton of stuff to learn and they pick it up rather quick, but once all the main shots and english is learned, it is hard to pick up the other stuff and you have to have a good memory and pay close attention to every match you play and where your hiccups are.

After you learn to play well, you must learn to play better then that.
 
bznsharkie said:
play for at least and hour and a half, six nights a week.
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Play or practice. If practice, what do you practice. These questions will greatly determine how quickly your game comes along. If all you ever do is play, you can get there but that is the longest road. On the other hand, spending that first 15 minutes shooting medium length straight in shots where nothing but back of the pocket, dead center is good enough. Then going to a couple of good exercises. That can bring you a long way in a fairly short period of time.
 
In my opinion the more different games you play the quicker you learn. Don't get stuck in the 8-Ball 9-Ball rut. Growing up I played most every day with my cousins and we played golf, cut throat, snooker, bottle pool, 14/1, you name it we played it and we played on a 9' snooker table. Each game requires different skills in order to be good at it. After not playing for 20 years my game had not diminished much and it only took a few months to get back to where it was then.
 
If you practice very frequently, and it certainly sounds like you do, and you're dissatisfied with your improvement, take a look at HOW you practice. It's been said countless times: PRACTICE does not make perfect. PERFECT PRACTICE makes perfect.

I'd recommend, if you have the means, get a single two-hour lesson from a certified instructor. Make sure he understands that you don't want a lesson in pool PLAYING, you want a lesson in pool fundamentals. You need to make sure you have sound fundamentals as a first step, otherwise you're just practicing your bad habits, and ingraining them more thoroughly. Most of us don't have the talent or the time to overcome very many fundamentals problems, so it's important to start without any strikes against you. He'll also be able to give you drills designed to hone specific pool skills, and work on your specific weak points.

Then keep practicing, but while you're practicing, use the drills the instructor recommends (and when you get tired of those there are thousands of others that aren't too tough to find), and pay meticulous attention to your fundamentals, and keep your concentration. Careless practice will make you stagnate. Thoughtful, concentrated, focused practice will get you where you want to go.

-Andrew
 
Let's see.....

I practiced 12-15 hrs a day six days a week for about six months before...well not before I felt confident I always felt confident even when I was a banger, but before I was actually a good player.

Then I had a psycho girlfriend screw with my head and my head game went to $4it. Then I had some people give me pointers that completely screwed up my game for several years, but ended up helping me in the long run I guess..... but now twelve years later and interim practicing has made me an A+ player so I guess it was worth it...

Oh,, I ended up doing the 12-15 hr a day thing for two years before the psycho screwed with my head..it was just six months of doing that before I was a good player.
 
Jaden said:
I practiced 12-15 hrs a day six days a week for about six months before...well not before I felt confident I always felt confident even when I was a banger, but before I was actually a good player.

Then I had a psycho girlfriend screw with my head and my head game went to $4it. Then I had some people give me pointers that completely screwed up my game for several years, but ended up helping me in the long run I guess..... but now twelve years later and interim practicing has made me an A+ player so I guess it was worth it...

Oh,, I ended up doing the 12-15 hr a day thing for two years before the psycho screwed with my head..it was just six months of doing that before I was a good player.
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How do you manage to keep a g/f if you're at the pool hall every waking hour? :P

Back on subject... one thing you (the original poster) might try and do is find *other people* - better than you - to play. That's one way I got quite a bit better over the past three years; playing superior players. Watching better players helps too, but getting *beat* by them drives the lessons home more - you're right there at the table, and it's happening to *you*.

Also, the coaching thing is a great option. I went to this one guy here in Denver, twice for about 1 or 2 hrs each time - he pointed out several things I was doing badly. In the weeks that followed those lessons, working on these different issues, my game jumped up a notch. Having someone on the outside, watching what you're doing, can be invaluable.
 
bznsharkie said:
I have not been playing pool for long, but I am really into it and play for at least and hour and a half, six nights a week. Now I have improved, but I am still playing just a step above the "every once in a while" players.

Now I was wondering how long it took you guys before you felt confident as a pool player, and how often did you practice?
Click to expand...


Playing with your Buddies is not PRACTICE.

Practice, and only Practice is Practicing.

Practice things you want to get better at, as Practicing those tasks/skills will build your proficiency in those tasks.

HINT HINT HINT. Purchase Robert Brynes “New Standard Book of Pool & Billiards. No money for me in this recomendation..;) He Tapes # 1 & 2 also help understand the book better IMO

Learn to do everything in that the abover book teaches, and you will pay better than 85% of players.

Try and find a Player to Play with that is Far Better than you, and as you are BEAT learn from what SKILL they have, and you do not. Than the day will come when you beat them...................................................................................................................................OCCASIONALLY... :D :D :D :D :D :D



Pool is exact Sicence, not like Medicine;

Where in Medicine the First Time you watch

the Second time in Medicine you DO

and the Third time in Medicine you Teach and are called Prof.

Pool is an Exact Science, and a “GAME of Opposites” <<<<-------words of wisdom from a Very Great Player, remember em...
 
ScottW said:
How do you manage to keep a g/f if you're at the pool hall every waking hour? :P

Back on subject... one thing you (the original poster) might try and do is find *other people* - better than you - to play. That's one way I got quite a bit better over the past three years; playing superior players. Watching better players helps too, but getting *beat* by them drives the lessons home more - you're right there at the table, and it's happening to *you*.

Also, the coaching thing is a great option. I went to this one guy here in Denver, twice for about 1 or 2 hrs each time - he pointed out several things I was doing badly. In the weeks that followed those lessons, working on these different issues, my game jumped up a notch. Having someone on the outside, watching what you're doing, can be invaluable.
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Forget keeping a girlfriend, what did you do for money? Playing 12-15 hours 6 days a week completely rules out having any kind of employment. Did you live on pool winnings? How did you do that if you were by your own description just a banger when you started?

-Andrew
 
please elaborate

PoolSleuth Said:
Pool is an Exact Science, and a “GAME of Opposites” <<<<-------words of wisdom from a Very Great Player, remember em...
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Can you elaborate on this some? Specifically, how is pool a game of opposites?
 
Thank you guys very much for the advice, and about lessons, I cant afford them right now, but I am doing the next best thing, POOL CLASS, I even get credit with my college for taking it. I go to class twice a week in the morning for an hour, and then I go in the evening to practice. When I practice usually I play a bit of nine ball alone, then usually I play with someone better then me, there are a couple guys I have gotten to know at the pool hall that are a lot better then me and playing them helps me learn.
 
I have been shooting for about three years, and went from a weak skill level two to a skill level five in APA. I practice about an hour or so a day. I think that at least some would agree that a SL5 APA is just above a ball banger, but I am able to beat just about anybody off the street who does not play the game, so to speak.

I agree that it's very frustrating in the begining when you shoot and shoot and shoot some more, just to walk into a local bar and have some guy off the street be able to beat up on you still!

Well, keep the balls rolling, and you will improve. I am not where I want be, but that's why I am here, to learn!
 
bznsharkie said:
Thank you guys very much for the advice, and about lessons, I cant afford them right now, but I am doing the next best thing, POOL CLASS, I even get credit with my college for taking it. I go to class twice a week in the morning for an hour, and then I go in the evening to practice. When I practice usually I play a bit of nine ball alone, then usually I play with someone better then me, there are a couple guys I have gotten to know at the pool hall that are a lot better then me and playing them helps me learn.
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Practice 14.1. Straight pool gives you confidence from running balls, even if you are only consitently running 4 or 5. You need to be making shots again and again until they are burned into your memory and thats what 14.1 i good for.

Certainly get your 9 ball practice in, but you don't get much out making a ball, miss, miss, miss, miss, make a ball, miss, miss, miss etc.
 
Chris said:
Can you elaborate on this some? Specifically, how is pool a game of opposites?
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Chris the APPLICATION of English, seeing what Happen with Stuck Balls(Frozen Ball) that are Thrown, and also The GEAR Principle when (3) Balls are in a Line and you wish to sink one arre GREAT EXAMPLES of:

“how is pool a game of opposites?”:o
 
basics - improve quickly over first months
--------------
- get some basic stroke foundation
- learn how to use english
- have rudimentary understanding of how to get around table/pattern play using the streetplayer game

streetplayer - gain 2 balls very quickly
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- have an ok stroke. usually people at this point don't have a dependeble stroke
- comfortable with english. usually use too much
- caveman speed control
- have decent understanding of pattern play - a lot of times getting on the "right side of the ball" is asking too much

intermediate - gain another 2 balls very quickly
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- stroke starting to groove in but still inconsistent on long distance shots and challenging cuts
- still use too much english
- can execute position well enough to get on right side of the ball sometimes/usually
- speed control is much better, but still comparatively terrible

Usually, around this intermediate range, I think there is a sharp dropoff on improvement for most people. I attribute it to a couple of things:

- you have to wait for your stroke to get more consistent - not only in terms of shotmaking, but also so you can learn your stroke i.e. understanding how the cueball reacts to 1/2 tip this or full tip that. a lot of people become obsessed with improving their stroke at this point in time.

- speed control - your speed control is good enough to execute most of what you need to...should be good enough to stay on the right side of the ball if you take a good line - but it's still not even close. it just takes time.

- you have to unlearn a lot of things you learned when you played with other streetplayers. you're getting on the right side of the ball, but you start noticing you're close to the rail all the time etc. you can afford to execute better lines now. mostly brain improvement

- takes time to learning nuances from better players. Why do better players jack up slightly on that shot? lot of little things out there...they take time to pick up on and learn

If you are still improving quickly at this point, then you can probably be a pretty decent player. Most people hit a wall for a couple months or even year+ at this point - because their stroke hasn't caught up to the rest of their progress or because they don't learn the game knowledge-wise as quickly. Some people stay at this level for a LONG time...even forever.

that should get you started

bznsharkie said:
I have not been playing pool for long, but I am really into it and play for at least and hour and a half, six nights a week. Now I have improved, but I am still playing just a step above the "every once in a while" players.

Now I was wondering how long it took you guys before you felt confident as a pool player, and how often did you practice?
Click to expand...
 
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