My two year old wants to play pool!

Gregg

Gregg

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
My son turns two in a month, and he wants to learn to play. I have an end table from Ikea he can stand on, and can move balls around with the cue. He can't really poke at them, and only knows the word "ball", but he likes to roll them around, and drop the balls into the pockets.

One thing he can do is chalk like a pro, and I never even taught him! He grabs the cube, correctly, and starts wiping the tip, just like his Dad! I'm so proud of my little guy!
 
mszelis said:
You gotta start 'em out early
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But not too early. The owner of Jason's Billiards in Denver lets her six month-old granddaughter crawl around batting balls on the money table. Ever try to get baby puke out of Simonis? :rolleyes:
 
Gregg, that is so cool! When we got our table in, we invited our kids over for a party. My 9 year old grandson is now hooked on pool. He stands on a footstool whenever the cue ball is not near the rail. Now, everytime I see him, he challenges me to a game. I wish he had room in his house for a table, I'd get him a small, inexpensive one for Christmas.

Maniac
 
Gregg said:
My son turns two in a month, and he wants to learn to play. I have an end table from Ikea he can stand on, and can move balls around with the cue. He can't really poke at them, and only knows the word "ball", but he likes to roll them around, and drop the balls into the pockets.

One thing he can do is chalk like a pro, and I never even taught him! He grabs the cube, correctly, and starts wiping the tip, just like his Dad! I'm so proud of my little guy!
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thats awesome! that little guy to the left of the screen is my two year old, aiden, well he turns two tommorrow, 9/14.

whenever we go to his grandpas house he LOVES the pool table, he will spend hours bouncing the balls off the rails and smile everytime he makes one in the hole. i have tried to teach him to chalk a cue but he chalks his finger instead, oh well. either way he loves the game, i will sit him on the table and shoot balls right next to him and he can watch me for a good 15 min, not bad for a kid.
 
When my son was 1, I actually taught him how to make a closed bridge. We have video of him perfectly mimicing the players on my Accu Stats videos while hitting a golf ball with one of my shafts.. It was so funny to see him get down low over the ball at 1 year old and stroke that golf ball! I mean, he got LOW on the ball!

Unfortunately, it was back in 99, and I don't think my camcorder was digital, so I can't put the video on youtube..

Russ
 
Greg ...

I think that maybe Tiger could only put the ball on the tee to begin with ... lol
 
This is OK as long as it doesn't interfere with his studies. Come to think of it, what do two year olds study?
 
Snapshot9 said:
I think that maybe Tiger could only put the ball on the tee to begin with ... lol
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Nope... To hear his Dad tell it, he did pretty much what my son did.

Tiger's Dad says he used to practice drives with a net, and Tiger was in his high chair, watching. When his Dad got him a short club, Tiger immediately picked it up and swung it, perfectly imitating his Dad's swing.

Some children with really good hand eye coordination can do this.

Russ
 
I have my 4yr old and 7yr old making balls.

The 7yr gets to shot any ball at any pocket (no cueball). He is the very studious type and follows direction well, so I try to remind to do 3 things. 1. slow practice strokes. 2 put his bridge hand close to the ball he is shooting and 3. keep his chin over the cue.

He does pretty good. Can make 4-5 balls in row if he doesnt shoot hard.

the 4yr can only shoot from the rail. When its his turn I set up the shot straight into a pocket. He tries hard to make a bridge, but his hand is to small. I just make sure he dont rip the cloth.
 
I started my son off at 1.5 years just sitting him on the table rolling balls around. then rolling them into pockets.

About 2 years ago, I let him help me stroke the cue. I would be lined up and he would grab onto the cue and stroke it forward on the count of three.

Around a year ago, I let him shoot on his own. I started him off by placing six balls right in front of the pockets and letting him use those ducks as confidence builders. We worked on hitting the CB in the center, making a steady open bridge hand, and lining up the middle of both balls to aim.

Around 6 months ago we started working on aiming. Not real aiming just how to aim to one side to make the ball go to the other. We also practiced moving his body to line up shots.

He now has pretty good hand eye coordination and can actually make a couple balls in a rack of 9 ball when we play. I let him take ball in hand on every shot and he is pretty good about lining up a straight in shot. he makse a couple every game if I give him enough chances. Around 10 chances per game. he makes about 20% of his shots which is pretty good for a 5 year old.

He has ran the 7, 8, and 9 on me once. hard long 7 followed by two decent shots to win. Without ball in hand too :) he was so excited.

He is now almost 6 years old and is well on his way. he practices by himself for fun. I planted the seed and it looks like it is working. When he gets a little older, a little taller, more patient, and better motor functions, I expect him to play a pretty decent game. I am hoping he has a respectable game by age 9. After that, we prepare for junior tournaments.


have fun with your 2 year old! kids are great :)
 
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I have a 3 year old and a five year old who both will grow up around a pool mad father. The question I struggle with is how much will I try to channel my boys into pool. I know I will be there to guide them should they go, but it worries me nonetheless because I have seen first hand how pool can turn people into hardened grifters.

I dont know, Im not so sure I want to encourage it. Since I have a table at my house, play weekly and I watch accustats all the time, it doesnt look like I am going to be able to avoid it though.
 
uwate said:
I have a 3 year old and a five year old who both will grow up around a pool mad father. The question I struggle with is how much will I try to channel my boys into pool. I know I will be there to guide them should they go, but it worries me nonetheless because I have seen first hand how pool can turn people into hardened grifters.
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Exactly what percentage of the pool players you've known were "hardened grifters?" Don't worry about it.

Here's a warning from a father who's played Scotch doubles for money with his son as team mate, since the boy was seven:

Enjoy the pre-puberty years to the max. When they hit middle school, kids don't want a damned thing to do with their parents. I hustled alone for four long, lonely years.

Good news: around age 15, they start to remember that Dad wasn't always such an embarassment. :rolleyes: Then they come around whining, "Will you take me to the pool hall?"

Actually, it was my son's pot bust that brought us back together at the table again. The probation office where he drops his urine 1-2 times a week is just a half-mile from the Tarantula Billiard Cafe'. I told him that since I had drive his criminal ass downtown anyway, we damned well were going to shoot pool for several hours after he rendered unto Caesar. He enjoyed it so much that we now go downtown five days a week, even when he doesn't have pee for The Man.
 
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Lol

Not to sound bad, but every two year old wants to play pool!!! I haven't seen one that doesn't want to play with the balls.

Again that wasn't meant to sound bad. I know that when I have kids that one thing will become of it. They will either absolutely love pool, or they are going to hate it. That is because I play so much, and I don't see me ever letting up either.

I am glad you want your child to take an interest in pool, but let us know when they are about 9-13 whether or not they like it.
 
These are great stories. They remind me of a great poem:

They ---- you up, your mum and dad.
They may not mean to, but they do.
They fill you with the faults they had
And add some extra, just for you.:D

Well, not really. My twins are about to turn 3 and have been fooling around on my table since last fall. They stand on cinderblocks and when not firing the balls everywhere, they'll use my jump cue to hit some. They're even showing signs of picking up a proper rail bridge!

My son can do it for an hour or more, but my daughter's limit has dropped to about 15 mins. But I wonder, now that it's clear he's becoming hooked ... will it hurt him in preschool if he can only count to 9?
 
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