Never played - where to start?

W

WillyCornbread

Break and One
Silver Member
HI all - I've never played a game of straight pool in my life, I'm a c/c+ player right now in 8/9/10ball.

I'd really like to give it a go, but I just don't know where to start and I have no one that can show me the ropes so to speak.

I have a 7ft diamond table at home with pro cut pockets - I realize my table will be crowded, but is this a reason to not play at home?

If you had one youtube video, book, Azb thread or other to get you going - what would it be?

Thanks,

b
 
WillyCornbread said:
HI all - I've never played a game of straight pool in my life, I'm a c/c+ player right now in 8/9/10ball.

I'd really like to give it a go, but I just don't know where to start and I have no one that can show me the ropes so to speak.

I have a 7ft diamond table at home with pro cut pockets - I realize my table will be crowded, but is this a reason to not play at home?

If you had one youtube video, book, Azb thread or other to get you going - what would it be?

Thanks,

b
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Do you know the rules of the game? If you do, there are plenty of tips to be had from watching youtube videos. Danny Diliberto have several lessons with students uploaded. He gives many of the inside tricks on the opening shot, patterns etc: This is the true gold, if you allready know the basics of the game.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JTkHVnwT9Uw

Here is a run by Niels Feijen commentated by Azbs own David Sapolis (good to watch for pattern play and for Blackjacks excellent insights).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZYaex9CDaU

Dallas West runs a 100 commentating on what he does. Not my personal favorite video, but I wanted to add as many different players and styles as possible. This video is not the best quality for sound etc, but a lot can be learned nevertheless.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zNaPXkRGN8

Crane vs Balsis (with some info on the rules and how the game is played, during the match) An oldie, but a goodie! Maybe start here if you don't know anything about the game, since most aspects of the game are explained. Crane and Balsis are two of the old time masters of the game, who knew all the tricks, and played the game properly. You will learn a lot more from watching them than a modern shotmaking robot, without pattern knowledge (IMHO of course). I will explain what I mean by that. Watching John Schmidt banging in 90 degree cuts from a tablelength away, or manufacturing breakballs from near impossible angles will do you NO GOOD as a C player. He has pattern knowledge but often does not play the easy way. He plays patterns suited to his exeptional potting abilities, that are not suitable for lesser players. It's entertaining and impressive, but if you want to learn how to play within you abilities, watching the common sense pattern players is the way to go. Niels Feijen, Mike Sigel, Iriving Crane...watch those guys to learn.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nWLQWYnhHKY&list=PLUVuQSQKvhQGDOgAQHARuw6gPJgmB0YKw
 
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WillyCornbread said:
HI all - I've never played a game of straight pool in my life, I'm a c/c+ player right now in 8/9/10ball.

I'd really like to give it a go, but I just don't know where to start and I have no one that can show me the ropes so to speak.

I have a 7ft diamond table at home with pro cut pockets - I realize my table will be crowded, but is this a reason to not play at home?

If you had one youtube video, book, Azb thread or other to get you going - what would it be?

Thanks,

b
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Seeing you got some excellent advice already, I'd just like to mention a couple of my favorite books (George Fels "Mastering Pool" is a classic, and Phil Capelle's "Break Shot Patterns" includes a DVD and diagrams that will help you what to look for to get from one rack to the next) and videos (the two Jim Rempe instructional DVDs and his Player Review match against George "Ginky" Sansouci contain a wealth of insight into any part of the game) on Straight Pool, as well as add my opinion on the 7-foot table: you got it exactly right, due to the fact that there's less playing surface, especially the area behind the rack (and the foot rail), there's going to be more congestion, which effectively makes the game tougher - so much tougher in my opinion that those aspects that make playing on the smaller table easier, such as shooting balls up-table, or getting out of line or too far away on break shots, don't quite make up for it. More pinpoint position play is required, at least on average, a plus in my book. Nothing wrong with practicing on a smaller table, as long as one doesn't get frustrated with clusters. I grew up in an area where we played mostly 8-Ball on 7-foot, 8-foot and 8-Pro (8-and-1/3-foot) tables, and to this day I believe it makes one's 8-Ball position play particularly strong to learn how to manoeuvre the cue ball, open up clusters and bump object balls with control. Having said all this, there could be no reason not to play Straight Pool no matter the conditions, simply because it's the most beautiful and instructive game of all - have fun! :thumbup:

Greetings from Switzerland, David.
_________________

„J'ai gâché vingt ans de mes plus belles années au billard. Si c'était à refaire, je recommencerais.“ – Roger Conti
 
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Thanks

Thanks guys, I'll take a look at the vids and links - I'm intrigued by the game. I play league 8-ball on 7 footers and like the challenge of the congestion to kind of make up for the lack of long shots.

I'm sure I'll be back with some questions once I get through this stuff - thank you again, much appreciated!

b
 
When playing with buddies throw in 2-3 rounds of 14.1 here and there. We start with 8, go to 14.1 and land on 9 usually which makes it more fun.
Not sure about them small tables, though - never played on <9 ft really.

Try to slow roll most balls and usually be conservative with spin. Try to move the CB around as little possible and play to 2, max 3 pockets mostly, like Snooker players do down where the reds and black is.

Relax and allow yourself to fail a couple of times until you get the feeling.
Cheers!
 
I'm not much of a straight pool player, but the few times I tried it on a bar table, I found it got much too crowded to play proper straight pool patterns and breakouts, and had more success with trying to spread the balls around and using the whole table a lot more than I would on a 9 footer.

Also if you're just starting out, you might want to try 9.1 (same as 14.1 but with 10 balls instead of 15) and move up whenever you feel ready.
 
victorl said:
I'm not much of a straight pool player, but the few times I tried it on a bar table, I found it got much too crowded to play proper straight pool patterns and breakouts, and had more success with trying to spread the balls around and using the whole table a lot more than I would on a 9 footer.
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I remember now that I used to try and get on behind/bottom of the rack break shots as often as possible on the smaller tables, as this would drive more balls up-table (into the open space, so to speak) and leave much less congestion between rack area and foot rail.

Greetings from Switzerland, David.
_________________

„J'ai gâché vingt ans de mes plus belles années au billard. Si c'était à refaire, je recommencerais.“ – Roger Conti
 
Start at a pool table racking the balls and breaking them open. Videos, books etc will make more sense after you have spent significant time at the table.
 
Bad idea to practice 14.1 on a tavern table, breaking out a cluster only to have more congestion is counter productive - even if you enjoy that aspect of the game. For many years the game was played on ten ft. tables, 9 ft is actually the wrong size table but the bar box ruins the game for any chance of real productive practice.
 
Danny Harriman said:
For many years the game was played on ten ft. tables, 9 ft is actually the wrong size table but the bar box ruins the game for any chance of real productive practice.
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Likely so, but does point to the suggestion above - 9.1 as a reasonable substitution.
 
rikdee said:
Likely so, but does point to the suggestion above - 9.1 as a reasonable substitution.
Click to expand...

9.1 may be a bad idea for 2 reasons.

with 9 balls the rack may open up alot more than a 14 ball rack would, leaving less break balls 2 continue into the next rack.

plus if there are trouble spots on the table you will have less balls on the table to help solve the issue.

-Steve
 
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stevekur1 said:
9.1 may ba a bad idea for 2 reasons.

with 9 balls the rack may open up alot more than a 14 ball rack would, leaving less break balls 2 continue into the next rack.

plus if there are trouble spots on the table you will have less balls on the table to help solve the issue.

-Steve
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Agree wholeheartedly! Most importantly, the learning effect regarding how the stack (or rather the 14 balls it consists of) behaves would be much reduced going to e.g. a tourney where the real game is being played - I mean, isn't it what took us Straight Pool veterans years to grasp in all its gory details? ;)

Not saying 9.1 might not serve as a practice game for an absolute beginner, or even an experienced player for a change - but it's my understanding the OP isn't, merely being new to the game of Straight Pool?

Greetings from Switzerland, David.
_________________

„J'ai gâché vingt ans de mes plus belles années au billard. Si c'était à refaire, je recommencerais.“ – Roger Conti
 
Straightpool_99 said:
Danny Diliberto have several lessons with students uploaded. He gives many of the inside tricks on the opening shot, patterns etc: This is the true gold, if you allready know the basics of the game.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JTkHVnwT9Uw
Click to expand...

This is awesome, thanks for the link! I to am trying to learn straight pool and this video s great! I've been looking for something that walks you through different racks just like this.
 
stevekur1 said:
9.1 may ba a bad idea for 2 reasons.

with 9 balls the rack may open up alot more than a 14 ball rack would, leaving less break balls 2 continue into the next rack.

plus if there are trouble spots on the table you will have less balls on the table to help solve the issue.

-Steve
Click to expand...

I think 9.1 was suggested as relief from congestion, hypothetical tactics notwithstanding.
 
Awesme, thanks! These are great, will definitely help as I endeavor to learn this game.
 
Interesting comment about 14.1 on a bar table. I just started practicing it on 7 footers (no 9 footers where I live0. Anyways my team mate on league is a fellow in his 60's who has always been top player in my town for years and when I asked him about 14.1 he said he ran 86 on a bar box. He is an honest fellow so I believe him. I think that's pretty strong and he didnt seem to think it was a big deal
 
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