New guy intro and question about good book possibly.

slide13

slide13

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Hello, I've been browsing around for a while now waiting for my membership to get activated and I'm quite excited to be able to post and contribute now. I've learned a lot already.

I used to play somewhat regularly years ago and then took a few years off and am just starting to get back into it. Back when I was playing regularly I picked up a base model Viking and have played with that ever since. I've decided to get a new cue and turn the Viking into my break cue (thinking I'll get a break only shaft made for it...I live right outside Madison, WI so Viking is very conveniently located for me). In my search to find a new cue I originally thought something like Meucci or other brand name cue. Then I started learning a little about all the custom makers out there. Turns out my dad works with Pat Diveney and I guess he's a pretty good cuemaker from what I've read. Also I heard about Jeff Olney who lives very close to Ames, IA where I went to school. I emailed him and it turned out he had a couple Plain Jane cues he was just finishing up. I put my name on one and it should be here tomorrow I think. (I'll put some pictures and thoughts in the cue review forum when it arrives). I was very excited to learn I could get a nice plain cue from someone like Jeff rather then a more mass produced name brand cue for the same price.

So, rambling aside, I was wondering if anyone has a suggestion for a good book. I need to polish up my skills and would love a good basic book that covers everything from stance and stroke to specific drills and tips on improving your game. The small amount skill I once had is now long gone and I know it's going to take a lot of work to get it back again. Thankfully that type of work is fun :)
 
anything by Byrne

slide13 said:
Hello, I've been browsing around for a while now waiting for my membership to get activated and I'm quite excited to be able to post and contribute now. I've learned a lot already.

I used to play somewhat regularly years ago and then took a few years off and am just starting to get back into it. Back when I was playing regularly I picked up a base model Viking and have played with that ever since. I've decided to get a new cue and turn the Viking into my break cue (thinking I'll get a break only shaft made for it...I live right outside Madison, WI so Viking is very conveniently located for me). In my search to find a new cue I originally thought something like Meucci or other brand name cue. Then I started learning a little about all the custom makers out there. Turns out my dad works with Pat Diveney and I guess he's a pretty good cuemaker from what I've read. Also I heard about Jeff Olney who lives very close to Ames, IA where I went to school. I emailed him and it turned out he had a couple Plain Jane cues he was just finishing up. I put my name on one and it should be here tomorrow I think. (I'll put some pictures and thoughts in the cue review forum when it arrives). I was very excited to learn I could get a nice plain cue from someone like Jeff rather then a more mass produced name brand cue for the same price.

So, rambling aside, I was wondering if anyone has a suggestion for a good book. I need to polish up my skills and would love a good basic book that covers everything from stance and stroke to specific drills and tips on improving your game. The small amount skill I once had is now long gone and I know it's going to take a lot of work to get it back again. Thankfully that type of work is fun :)
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Anything by Byrne. Just do a search for "Byrne's billiards" on google. Byrne's books are pretty good.

Jaden
 
Excellent, thank you. Looks like Amazon has "Byrne's New Standard Book of Pool and Billiards". I will probably pick that up and check it out, for $15 I figure I can't go wrong.
 
Jaden said:
Anything by Byrne. Just do a search for "Byrne's billiards" on google. Byrne's books are pretty good.

Jaden
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I agree and would like to add that his DVDs are also very informative and well presented. Both Volume One and Two I highly recommend.

Also, visit Accu-stats.com and pick up some match DVDs. The commentary, as much as the play itself are both excellent tools for learning.
 
slide13 said:
Hello, I've been browsing around for a while now waiting for my membership to get activated and I'm quite excited to be able to post and contribute now. I've learned a lot already.

I used to play somewhat regularly years ago and then took a few years off and am just starting to get back into it. Back when I was playing regularly I picked up a base model Viking and have played with that ever since. I've decided to get a new cue and turn the Viking into my break cue (thinking I'll get a break only shaft made for it...I live right outside Madison, WI so Viking is very conveniently located for me). In my search to find a new cue I originally thought something like Meucci or other brand name cue. Then I started learning a little about all the custom makers out there. Turns out my dad works with Pat Diveney and I guess he's a pretty good cuemaker from what I've read. Also I heard about Jeff Olney who lives very close to Ames, IA where I went to school. I emailed him and it turned out he had a couple Plain Jane cues he was just finishing up. I put my name on one and it should be here tomorrow I think. (I'll put some pictures and thoughts in the cue review forum when it arrives). I was very excited to learn I could get a nice plain cue from someone like Jeff rather then a more mass produced name brand cue for the same price.

So, rambling aside, I was wondering if anyone has a suggestion for a good book. I need to polish up my skills and would love a good basic book that covers everything from stance and stroke to specific drills and tips on improving your game. The small amount skill I once had is now long gone and I know it's going to take a lot of work to get it back again. Thankfully that type of work is fun :)
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wait a minute. you used to play pool and never realized your dad worked with a cue maker?

i thought Jeff only did custom orders.

anyway anything Phil Capel does is pretty good
 
poolplayer2093 said:
anyway anything Phil Capel does is pretty good
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Yeah, I found his books, Play Your Best Pool, and How to Master the Mental Game, to be quite helpful. I'm not a correct-someone's-spelling kind of person, but I feel the need to note that the man's name is Phil Capelle. Proper spelling will be of benefit for anyone who searches the web for his books.
 
Well, he told me about this guy Pat who made cues a back then. At the time I tried to look up info on him online and didn't find much and sort of forgot about it. Then I saw the name Diveney and it seemed familiar. Asked my dad and sure enough, that is him. He takes cues into work and shows them to my dad sometimes. Pretty impressive stuff from what I hear.

As for Jeff, I believe that is mostly true that he only does custom orders. I think he occasionally does some simple ones though that haven't been ordered. I just felt really lucky to have caught him at the right time. I contacted him less then two weeks ago and the cue should be here tomorrow. I even had input on the tip, shaft diameter, weight, wrap, etc. Of course, I don't know much so I mostly went with his recomendations.

Thanks for the other suggestions, I'll definitely check them out too. Now time to go play some pool.
 
slide13 said:
Well, he told me about this guy Pat who made cues a back then. At the time I tried to look up info on him online and didn't find much and sort of forgot about it. Then I saw the name Diveney and it seemed familiar. Asked my dad and sure enough, that is him. He takes cues into work and shows them to my dad sometimes. Pretty impressive stuff from what I hear.

As for Jeff, I believe that is mostly true that he only does custom orders. I think he occasionally does some simple ones though that haven't been ordered. I just felt really lucky to have caught him at the right time. I contacted him less then two weeks ago and the cue should be here tomorrow. I even had input on the tip, shaft diameter, weight, wrap, etc. Of course, I don't know much so I mostly went with his recomendations.

Thanks for the other suggestions, I'll definitely check them out too. Now time to go play some pool.
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That's the right attitude. i'm on here so much i forgot how to play.
 
I started back 10 years ago after laying off pool for about 40 years.

I studied Byrne's books and got a lot out of them and his videos but I really liked Jack Koehler's The Science of Pocket Billiards.

Pat Diveney makes outstanding cues and I hear that Jeff Olney does as well.

Welcome back to the game and welcome to az. Good people here.
 
JimS said:
I started back 10 years ago after laying off pool for about 40 years.

I studied Byrne's books and got a lot out of them and his videos but I really liked Jack Koehler's The Science of Pocket Billiards.

Pat Diveney makes outstanding cues and I hear that Jeff Olney does as well.

Welcome back to the game and welcome to az. Good people here.
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I second the recommendation for anything Jack Koehler or Robert Byrne has released.

Phil Cappelle's first book was so riddled with typograghical errors (in fact errors of all sorts, referencing balls that weren't drawn on the table, etc.) that if I was a beginner, I would have been lost.

Take care,
Yukon Ed
 
Welcome to the group Slide13...

AZ members told me about the book, The 99 most critical shots in pool by Ray Martin. Since I,ve picked the book up from Ebay for like $13 bucks over a year ago, I have gone thru the entire book three times at the poolhall (except the 14:1 section) This is one of the greatest books for getting back to the fundamentals of billiards,plus things I didn't know like throwing frozen and single balls.Try it, you won't be disapointed...Ron

bk990x0-15131.jpg
 
Thank you all so much for the recommendations. I will be looking into them all.

I would love to get a Diveney eventually, but it will be a while before I outgrow my Olney I think. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the mail person brings it tomorrow. I frankly don't even deserve my Viking cue, but I enjoy the game and if I'm going to spend a lot of time playing it I might as well have a nice cue, regardless of if I have the skills to back it up. (though I hope to gain those skills eventually).

Thanks again for all the input and advice.
 
99 critical shots in pool....Ray Martin


other than professional instruction.....

that book is the best way to learn pool..

once you think you understand it all...

get a professional lesson

then go through the book again...

don't read it once then put it away...

reread it .. over and over....

and bring it out at the table.. RECREATE those shots... don't just read DO!!!

if you really want to be great at pool more than half of what you need is in that book alone...
 
sk8ordie said:
AZ members told me about the book, The 99 most critical shots in pool by Ray Martin. Since I,ve picked the book up from Ebay for like $13 bucks over a year ago, I have gone thru the entire book three times at the poolhall (except the 14:1 section) This is one of the greatest books for getting back to the fundamentals of billiards,plus things I didn't know like throwing frozen and single balls.Try it, you won't be disapointed...Ron

bk990x0-15131.jpg
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Need to three-peat the suggestion for Mr. Martin's book! Can't believe I forgot it since it sits open right next to my pool table... at all times. I like it so much that I searched and found a first edition hard cover and sent it to Ray to be autographed. Great pool book from a truly great player.
 
sk8ordie said:
AZ members told me about the book, The 99 most critical shots in pool by Ray Martin. [...] This is one of the greatest books for getting back to the fundamentals of billiards,[...]
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softshot said:
99 critical shots in pool ....Ray Martin
[...]
other than professional instruction

that book is the best way to learn pool
Click to expand...
JimS said:
Need to three-peat the suggestion for Mr. Martin's book!
Click to expand...

There's a lot of good stuff in that book to be sure...

But...

this guy wants to get the fundamentals right first.

So, imo, first study some of the other stuff mentioned long enough that you won't be thrown off by,

-- the picture showing as "wrong" a player getting low on the cue as virtually every player right now at the DCC does

--the picture showing lots of elbow drop in the follow through

--the suggestions that sidespin makes a ball curve

--the direction to hit a ball and rail at the same time to run a ball down the rail

--the claim that with an elevated cue and right sidespin, the ball first swerves left and then swerves right

Those are just a few off the top of my head
 
slide13 said:
... I was wondering if anyone has a suggestion for a good book. I need to polish up my skills and would love a good basic book that covers everything from stance and stroke to specific drills and tips on improving your game...
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FYI, there is a good list here:


I think the books on the list are "must haves" for anybody serious about pool. I also shamelessly like that my book is on the list. :eek: ;)

Regards,
Dave
 
Cue

I think you made a good choice for an Olney cue. Even a plain Jane with beautiful wood and nice rings is like a solitary diamond on a beautiful woman, which has a simple beauty to it.

BTW, welcome to the forum. Glad to have you as an active member.
 
Thanks again everyone, lots of good info here for the new guy.

As for the cue...thanks, I'm really excited for it. I'm sitting around waiting for the mail person right now, afraid to even go take a shower for fear I'll miss it :) My luck it probably won't show up until Monday though.
 
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