Not sure, I'll get with Mr. Wilson and see if there is anything on here that we can use.
Mark Wilson's New Book
- Thread starter Mike the Beginner
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Not sure, I'll get with Mr. Wilson and see if there is anything on here that we can use.
I managed to practice a little tonight (first in the kitchen that has square tiles). When I was trying the stance the first time, I was concerned about not putting my right foot on the shot line and overcompensated pulling it too far the other way. I was basically too far away from the cue!
Using a line on the floor (the tiles in my kitchen or a rubber mat in the basement) was a great way to double-check where everything should be and feel the right way to do it.
I pasted tapes on my.floor to practice the foot placement.
Mark did not.mention anything about elbow height in.his book. Anybody has any idea? Is the ideal height being the cue levelled?
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Mark did not.mention anything about elbow height in.his book. Anybody has any idea? Is the ideal height being the cue levelled?
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STYK,
Very glad you received the book finally. Good luck!
Mark does cover elbow height. The cue should be as level as possible (ride as close to the rail as you can....old school players like Grady Mathews and Danny Diliberto will actually scrape the rail with their cue throughout the stroke...many modern players have more than desirable elevation, causing more squirt with unintentional off-vertical axis hits...but they are so accurate that they are rarely punished).
The elbow "height" you are referring to should not be adjusted by varying the cue height above the rail; it depends on your height, your forearm length, and the height of your chin above the cue at address.
If your chin is positioned many inches above the cue, then your upper arm (depending on your height) will be closer to parallel to the floor - giving the appearance of a lower elbow (like George Breedlove). If your chin is right down on the cue, then depending on your height the elbow will appear "higher" with the upper arm angling downward from the elbow (like Ewa Laurance). In both cases the elbow will be the same distance from your cue (it is attached to your hand:smile:...it is the head and chest position that determine the appearance of the elbow that I think you are referring to).
Straight pool players of the old school favored a higher chin position to better see the entire table. Nine ball players tend to favor a lower chin position to better see the shot line. Mark considers both acceptable - its a personal choice; and you can even use BOTH if you want depending on the type of shot you are facing.
The main point is that your elbow is attached to your hand which is on the cue - so there is no "adjusting your elbow" in Mark's system - its just a choice of how much cue elevation, and how low you choose to place your chin. Avoid unnecessary elevation like the plague - unless you are as skilled as Earl Strickland (who plays GREAT despite more elevation than almost any modern player....he has overcome that handicap with PRACTICE...he is a beast:smile
Re-reading Chapters 3 through 6 will provide more in-depth discussion of this area. Hope this helps.
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Picked up the book yesterday.
Have got about a day and a half reading through it. The one thing that keeps going through my mind is "how much money it would have cost me to get these lessons from Mark in person"
The $70 this book sells for is waaaay below the cost of private lessons. Very happy with the purchase. And yes, I would buy the book again.
The font is so small I have to take frequent breaks to rest my eyes.
If you live in the St. Louis area and interested in purchasing this training manual Cue & Cushion still has 2 left.
Thanks Mark
John
Have got about a day and a half reading through it. The one thing that keeps going through my mind is "how much money it would have cost me to get these lessons from Mark in person"
The $70 this book sells for is waaaay below the cost of private lessons. Very happy with the purchase. And yes, I would buy the book again.
The font is so small I have to take frequent breaks to rest my eyes.
If you live in the St. Louis area and interested in purchasing this training manual Cue & Cushion still has 2 left.
Thanks Mark
John
Have put in approx. 30 hrs of stance and grip practice so far. Tape on the floor was a pain getting straight with the corner pocket. I shoot 40 to 80 shots a day.
With the grip being 100% passive that indicates to me that the stroke comes from the lower bicep muscle.
I have always used my middle finger and ring finger to propel the cue forward in conjunction with the lower bicep muscle. So, this new grip has been a challenge. I like it though, no tension at all.
Your thoughts?
I wish we did have a private group for discussion.
Back to the training manual.
Have fun :smile:
John
With the grip being 100% passive that indicates to me that the stroke comes from the lower bicep muscle.
I have always used my middle finger and ring finger to propel the cue forward in conjunction with the lower bicep muscle. So, this new grip has been a challenge. I like it though, no tension at all.
Your thoughts?
I wish we did have a private group for discussion.
Back to the training manual.
Have fun :smile:
John
If you have a plumb bob, the tape is not hard to get in the right place. Just lay your cue on the table with just enough still on the table that it won't fall off and then drop a line down to the floor from your cue.
I also changed my grip, much easier now to stay in a straight line. At first, it kind of felt like I didn't have as much "feel" of the stroke, but that soon went away when I realized that I was staying on line, and the cb was going where I wanted it to.
I applaud anyone who can do the stance exercises. In an effort to balance improvement and enjoyment, I just can't setup 40 times without shooting the ball. I do practice the stance, just not to the extent he suggests.
I have been working on snugging up my closed bridge and letting the cue ride against my hand a little more. The cue is much more stable than it has been.
I don't just do the stance by its self. I get into the stance and then shoot the ball.
The stance was different for me because for over 5 decades and a bunch of VHS tapes and DVD had always stated that the cue should line up across some part of your rear foot. So, changing my stance to match the training manual has been a challenge. But, I have that worked out now.
I use an open bridge except for some draw shots. I like to see an uninterrupted view of the cue shaft in my peripheral vision.
Thanks for the comments.
John
Well, for one, it helps a lot if you have your own table. Then time isn't such a problem. What I did, not to make it enjoyable, but effective, is to first look at just what I was trying to accomplish. That was to ingrain a little different way of doing things so it was automatic. For me, and probably most, that takes repetition.
During that repetition, it's easy to fall into the trap of just going through the motions. That gets real old real fast. Instead, on each approach, I would check several things and make sure that I did it exactly the same way each time. Any variance would mean that it wasn't ingrained properly yet. Basically, becoming intimate with each movement so that I knew exactly what I was doing, and why, and could tell easily if anything changed. Really paying attention to those little details now, so that later I don't have to consciously think about them.
Having a goal of getting this slightly new stance automatic will make it easier to go through the motions. You can't get to the goal without doing the work. So, keeping ones eyes on the goal makes the work very palatable. Without the goal, it's just another chore.
I spoke to Don Wardell about starting a closed group on Facebook. one but I really did not have the time to administer something like that myself. I would like to have a group that is actually working on the book and developing skills to converse with so that would be positive.
So that being said I just created a group on Facebook. Play Great Pool You can ask to join the group on Facebook, you will have to be OK'd by an admin to be in the group.
I will try to ensure the group is used for working on the game and not for advertising so anyone joining the group you will be removed if advertising is dumped on the group;
I am more concerned with keeping the haters out than I am with sharing information in the book. I think the book will sell no problem to people who want to work on their game and put in some time. The people who do not want to buy it will never buy it and I do not think Mark will lose any sells.
So please look up the group Play Great Pool on Facebook. Let the work begin.
Thanks, I'm on my way to FB.
John
John
well, certainly didn't plan on spending $70 on a book today, but all this high praise convinced me pretty quick that it will be money well spent. I've never been a good player and am just getting back into playing after taking a few years off...I really want to start on a good footing and definitely need some help with my stance so it sounds like this will get me off to a good start. Hopefully it'll get here before the weekend so I can get to work studying!
Just curious...how long is this book, couldn't find a page count anywhere.
Just curious...how long is this book, couldn't find a page count anywhere.
On FB search for "play great pool"
I do not see any requests right now Krupa.
I added Joey A manually.
I will have another friend of mine try to join and see how it goes
I might have to tweak the permissions but I will report back here later but for now the group definitely exists on FB as a closed group membership has to be OK'd by an admin
This will be a place to talk about actual pool and pool development, I look forward to it
I do not see any requests right now Krupa.
I added Joey A manually.
I will have another friend of mine try to join and see how it goes
I might have to tweak the permissions but I will report back here later but for now the group definitely exists on FB as a closed group membership has to be OK'd by an admin
This will be a place to talk about actual pool and pool development, I look forward to it
I just clicked join. Good idea btw.
About 240 pages. The text is all double-columned so there's a lot to read. I was originally gunshy at the price but I don't regret it.