learning position play
- Thread starter semoquer
- Start date
Hmm, My question is - What is the position play?
Start here...http://billiarduniversity.org/exams.html . Some excellent drills to really force you to control the CB with precision.
Best thing for playing position is to make sure you keep an angle towards the next ball as often as possible.
A couple big keys for me are to favor the center of the table when you're not sure what to do, also a good rule in general btw. Your cueball will be going towards the end rail more often and this is HUGE for keeping your shots easier as you rarely even have to consider scratching in the side pocket and rarely have backwards cuts.
Also GO TO THE RAIL and come off, never go slowly towards a rail that is a big no no. If you do go slowly towards a rail you'll wind up close to or on it more often than not.
Yes this sounds very basic but excellent players make most of their positional errors due to ignoring the basics.
A couple big keys for me are to favor the center of the table when you're not sure what to do, also a good rule in general btw. Your cueball will be going towards the end rail more often and this is HUGE for keeping your shots easier as you rarely even have to consider scratching in the side pocket and rarely have backwards cuts.
Also GO TO THE RAIL and come off, never go slowly towards a rail that is a big no no. If you do go slowly towards a rail you'll wind up close to or on it more often than not.
Yes this sounds very basic but excellent players make most of their positional errors due to ignoring the basics.
Straight Pool IMO
http://www.billiardgods.com/products/binfo.htm
the cue table cheat sheet book has layouts and shows you what english you need and the paths to get shape
the test book has layouts to test yourself to see if you can execute
all his books have been help ful to me
My suggestion would be to start watching a lot of pro pool and take it to the table. I can remember when I would rewind a VHS tape over and over and practice their run outs . Set the balls up as close as you can to their layout and try to duplicate it. With rotation pool start with 3 balls until your seeing the pattern then adds a ball
Great tips. There are more similar simple and useful concepts? Thanks.
Last edited:
Watch the approach (line) of the CB going into the "landing zone". Lay your cue down the middle of the landing zone and visualize the CB path into it...does it come into the zone lengthwise or does it cross into it from the side? An angle that has the CB path run lengthwise into the zone is usually preferable, as you've got a bigger margin of error for speed.
Don't go two rails to get leave when one will do. That's a sure way to come up short.
Going into a rail and back out is a nice rule of thumb, otherwise you'll tend to slow roll balls more than you'd want to...and it's easier to keep a consistent stroke speed if you give your CB a little more room to roll.
Don't neglect the option of rolling forward and back out for leave; a lot of players tend to hammer a ball with draw and miss, when a nice smooth follow two rails out of the corner is much more consistent...Efren loves to do this and it really is easier than trying to punch the ball backwards off the rail with spin.
Less is almost always more. Sometimes you gotta hammer the shot to get where you need to, but more often than not, pocket speed is more than enough to get there.
Learn kill shots. They require a lot of touch, but man will they save your bacon. I usually see a shot every rack where a kill shot really makes the runout easy.
Don't go two rails to get leave when one will do. That's a sure way to come up short.
Going into a rail and back out is a nice rule of thumb, otherwise you'll tend to slow roll balls more than you'd want to...and it's easier to keep a consistent stroke speed if you give your CB a little more room to roll.
Don't neglect the option of rolling forward and back out for leave; a lot of players tend to hammer a ball with draw and miss, when a nice smooth follow two rails out of the corner is much more consistent...Efren loves to do this and it really is easier than trying to punch the ball backwards off the rail with spin.
Less is almost always more. Sometimes you gotta hammer the shot to get where you need to, but more often than not, pocket speed is more than enough to get there.
Learn kill shots. They require a lot of touch, but man will they save your bacon. I usually see a shot every rack where a kill shot really makes the runout easy.
Last edited:
Do stroke drills. Without an accurate, repeatable stroke, no amount of knowledge can make you move the cueball precisely.
Master the stop shot. Sounds simple, but making the cueball follow the tangent line is a vital first step toward controlling the cueball's direction on cut shots.
Learn a couple of good kicking/banking systems. These easily translate to position play - a two rail kicking system is great for playing 2-3 rail position, for example.
Aim small. Even a novice should be picking relatively small targets for position - I'd recommend a basketball-sized circle for starters. In the end, great position play is all about speed control. There are no systems for this, but aiming small will help you identify inaccuracies and make adjustments.
Plan at least 2 shots ahead. Without a plan, you won't even know what good position is - do you need to be straight in, or do you need a certain angle.
Keep it simple when possible. No need to do something hard if simple position will still provide a high % shot.
Play games that challenge you. If you are competitive with the 9-ball ghost, you should be using a more difficult game (rotation, 14.1) for practice.
Edit: Oh, and see my sig line.
Good luck,
Aaron
Master the stop shot. Sounds simple, but making the cueball follow the tangent line is a vital first step toward controlling the cueball's direction on cut shots.
Learn a couple of good kicking/banking systems. These easily translate to position play - a two rail kicking system is great for playing 2-3 rail position, for example.
Aim small. Even a novice should be picking relatively small targets for position - I'd recommend a basketball-sized circle for starters. In the end, great position play is all about speed control. There are no systems for this, but aiming small will help you identify inaccuracies and make adjustments.
Plan at least 2 shots ahead. Without a plan, you won't even know what good position is - do you need to be straight in, or do you need a certain angle.
Keep it simple when possible. No need to do something hard if simple position will still provide a high % shot.
Play games that challenge you. If you are competitive with the 9-ball ghost, you should be using a more difficult game (rotation, 14.1) for practice.
Edit: Oh, and see my sig line.
Good luck,
Aaron
Last edited:
Learn and practice all of the concepts and principles on the position play resource page.
Practice all of the drills demonstrated on the drills for practicing cue ball control and position play resource page.
Use the Billiard University (BU) playing-ability exams as a regular pool "workout" to identify your strengths and weaknesses and to monitor your improvement over time.
After you try the BU exams, please consider posting your score/rating on the AZB BU thread.
Good luck,
Dave
Mastering the stop shot from different distances and different speeds is key. Stop shots on an angle equals mastering following the tangent line.
This was great advise. Once you have that down, you can work with sidespin and rails.
Play with 2 object balls on the table. Try to pocket one and have the cue ball hit the other one. Spot the one you pocket, leave the other one alone, and try again by pocketing either one and hitting the remaining one.
Find an old/used copy of Kim Davenport's Target Pool (I wish they still printed it).
Bob Jewett outlined a way to play Target Pool with a deck of playing cards: http://www.sfbilliards.com/articles/2005-07.pdf
Bob Jewett outlined a way to play Target Pool with a deck of playing cards: http://www.sfbilliards.com/articles/2005-07.pdf
That is great advice. FYI, drills F2 and F5 in BU Exam I provide good practice with these skills.
Target practice drills are also useful and fun (and not quite as difficult as targeting a single ball, which can be tough ... unless you have lots of three-cushion-billiards experience).
Regards,
Dave
FYI, here's a video demonstration of Bob's "card trick:" NV C.6 - Target practice for position control, from VEPP II. More info (including detailed instructions) can be found in the following article: "VEPP - Part IV: Target Practice Card Trick," (BD, July, 2012).
Enjoy,
Dave
Before shooting - Analyze
Most of the time, there will be areas on the table you absolutely do not want the cue ball to be after you make the shot.
How many times have you seen players end up in one of those areas when there are much larger alternatives available to continue play rather easily?
Be the predator, not the pigeon.
Most of the time, there will be areas on the table you absolutely do not want the cue ball to be after you make the shot.
How many times have you seen players end up in one of those areas when there are much larger alternatives available to continue play rather easily?
Be the predator, not the pigeon.
This is easily the best post in this thread...especially the first paragraph. I disagree that there are no 'systems' to learn the "feel" of speed control though. We teach the best one, imo...but it does require an accurate and repeatable pendulum stroke.
Scott Lee
http://poolknowledge.com
Scott Lee
http://poolknowledge.com
Do stroke drills. Without an accurate, repeatable stroke, no amount of knowledge can make you move the cueball precisely.
Master the stop shot. Sounds simple, but making the cueball follow the tangent line is a vital first step toward controlling the cueball's direction on cut shots.
Learn a couple of good kicking/banking systems. These easily translate to position play - a two rail kicking system is great for playing 2-3 rail position, for example.
Aim small. Even a novice should be picking relatively small targets for position - I'd recommend a basketball-sized circle for starters. In the end, great position play is all about speed control. There are no systems for this, but aiming small will help you identify inaccuracies and make adjustments.
Plan at least 2 shots ahead. Without a plan, you won't even know what good position is - do you need to be straight in, or do you need a certain angle.
Keep it simple when possible. No need to do something hard if simple position will still provide a high % shot.
Play games that challenge you. If you are competitive with the 9-ball ghost, you should be using a more difficult game (rotation, 14.1) for practice.
Edit: Oh, and see my sig line.
Good luck,
Aaron
Thanks, Scott!
I will have to look into speed systems - wasn't aware any existed. Let me know if you have any plans of coming to MO. I'd love to get a lesson or two.
Aaron
Loose money to better players and pay attention when they are at the table. When the two of you get to know each other and after his turn is over ask him how he got on so and so ball. If he won't help find someone else to give your money to.