Playing safe - how important?

Learning to play safe and when to shoot is absolutely necessary if you want to compete with A level players. At that level, players will still sometimes go for tough or crazy shots but will try to build a safety component into the shot so that if they miss their opponent won't have an easy shot (2-way shots).
 
your style of play can remain offensive but if u ever want to move up the food chain then u must learn to play safeties but also how to "flip the game" by turning a safety played against u into a mistake by your opponent. I would view that type of safety play as being offensive. a good way to learn the mental aspects of safety play is by watching 2 very good players utilize all aspects of the game. by the way, the quickest way to get beat is letting your opponent know that u don't play safeties. good luck
 
Reason 4) is the only one that makes sense (and it makes an enormous amount of sense!).

The guys I play with are the same way; they always want to try to pocket the ball, even when they have no chance of success and an easy safety is available. They just don't even think of it...even though I do it to them all the time and walk away with BIH. I guess it's a cultural/personality thing :D

IMHO playing safeties is actually more difficult than pocketing a ball. When pocketing a ball you only care about CB speed since the OB is going in the pocket. But when shooting a safety you have to think about the distance traveled by both the CB and the OB. It's a fun challenge.
 
Safety is a nice word. Years ago dirty pool was was the one of the better words used. Before you get down on your shot figure out where the cue ball and object ball will end up if you miss. As was mentioned ball in hand is worth having.
 
If you are going to play in tournaments you will need to play safe and get used to being played safe. Don't be frustrated by the players that all they do is play safe, they can't shoot. In some cases they just like to play that way to get under your skin. Don't let them, it's just their lack of skill and class. It's pretty simple, take the good shots and safety the bad. If a safety will win a game, it is a tournament.
 
Players who don't understand the concept of applied strategies and tactics are helping themselves lose.

Consider this - every time some silly fantasy shot is attempted, more than half the time the billiard gods will help your opponent win.

There are a lot of lazy players out there who win many games, not by table runouts, but by helping their opponent lose with effective safeties.
 
Some players think safety play is unsporting or unskilful or cowardly.

There is a game played with 22 ball on a great big table.
Many Americans say it is a game of potting balls.
But the name of the game is Snooker. :D

Under the professional rules of play, if you miss a ball,your opponent has the options:
To have all the balls replaced as they were and you try again
To have you shoot from where the cue ball comes to rest
Take the shot himself from where the cue ball comes to rest
and the real goody
If he cannot hit the ball he should be shooting on both sides, he can have a "free ball' and can shoot any other ball on the table as a proxy for the one he cannot hit.

Since it is a points based game, if you don't know how to put your opponent into a snooker, or how to escape from one, you will be cannon fodder for a better player.

For example
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rkb9Rp9T3Fg

or this one, starting about half way through to the end Masters Final - final frame
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iV0H8a4fV4U
 
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If you're able to get your hands on videos of world class players in action, you'll see that safeties often determine who mins the matches at really high levels of the game. At higher levels, run out skills are there with everybody, but the way safeties are played, and how they are kicked out of, often end up being the deciding factor in the outcome of high level pool.

You wrote something to the effect that you take difficult shots because you like the challenge, and that you get a rush from winning.......don't take this as a condescending statement...............but pool at higher levels is not about being challenged as much as it is about making the game as easy to play as possible. If you attempt a challenging shot VS an easy safe, you run a higher risk of missing the shot and losing right? No rush in that. Play a good safe (takes lots of skill by the way), get ball in hand and win......there's your rush. Thin an impossible ball and go four rails and park your CB on a dime right behind a blocking ball and watch the life drain from your opponents face as he realizes he's finished............there's your rush.

Dave
 
xplor said:
Safety is a nice word. Years ago dirty pool was was the one of the better words used. Before you get down on your shot figure out where the cue ball and object ball will end up if you miss. As was mentioned ball in hand is worth having.
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Safeties are still considered dirty pool in some bar leagues. If you play a safe you need to make it look as though you tried to make the shot.
The problem in part is TV. Very seldom do they televise safety play. The matches seem to be all offensive because they leave out safeties.

A 2 player game for safety practice.. http://sites.google.com/site/poolandbilliard/Home/hooked
 
Ralph Kramden said:
Safeties are still considered dirty pool in some bar leagues. If you play a safe you need to make it look as though you tried to make the shot.
The problem in part is TV. Very seldom do they televise safety play. The matches seem to be all offensive because they leave out safeties.

A 2 player game for safety practice.. http://sites.google.com/site/poolandbilliard/Home/hooked
Click to expand...

^^^^^This. I hate watching matches on TV that skip over all the "good" stuff.
 
I just don't quite understand the aversion to safety play by some. What teams usually win at basketball and football (or most any other sport for that matter)? Those who play great defense. The object of the game isn't to see who makes the best shots. It is who pockets the money ball. The challenge isn't to see if you can pocket difficult to very difficult shots. It is to knock in the money ball. Great safety play not only often results in giving you ball in hand, in some cases, it will totally demoralize the other player. I personally getting a bigger kick out of hitting a great safety and locking up the opponent than I do hitting a great shot.
 
Diamond69 said:
Yes, you will find it critical as you go up in competition. If all you want to do is win, it will help in that aspect.

I grew up playing a lot of all offense ring games, which is great for working on those challenging shots, kicking game, etc.

Look at it this way. A safety also takes skill. It's just not an offensive shot.
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I spent almost an entire year focused on safety play and my game went up considerably in the win/loss column. The other night I entered a ring game of 9 ball for 5-10 dollars and hadn't played that format in years. Without my safety play I was about the same player of old. The guys I was playing with are not my equal in races on any day. Not a single one of them will play me any more head to head, yet in this game I ended up $20 behind after 4 hours. Safety play is that big of a deal. Once you embrace it, you will feel lost without it.

JC
 
we started our 8 ball cities last night. I am a 5 and played a 6 who I have faced a few times and won every match. I did not win last night, he played 27 safes on me....27:eek:

the match went 2 1/2 hours. I played 10 safes. I think it was the toughest match I ever played.
 
I want to thank you all for the great replies, just what I was looking for!

Some of the comments about my intentions are a bit off. It can be difficult to articulate your thoughts and goals in 2 short paragraphs, or more in my case :) and I think many of you made assumptions that are inaccurate. A few of the comments hit what I think was the issue with my brain, like this one "Safeties are still considered dirty pool". It's the way I grew up playing *shrug*

As stated, I have rarely been in a position where safe play was part of the game. I am about to put myself in a position where safeties are commonly used. I know that because I pay attention to what's going on around me. Base on your comments, safe play is an integral component of the game, and winning. Which is what I love to do.

I currently play position, and pocketing balls. My wife would NOT play if I played safe, and the late afternoon, after playing pool sex, would disappear quickly. When we started playing I had to bank ever ball, she is now at the point where I only have to bank the 8.

My banks, kicks and position play have improved a lot but I am getting a bit bored and would like to join a league... expand my horizons, etc. I am not fighting the idea of safeties, am embracing it.

Thank you again for all of your comments!
 
YOLO said:
I want to thank you all for the great replies, just what I was looking for!

Some of the comments about my intentions are a bit off. It can be difficult to articulate your thoughts and goals in 2 short paragraphs, or more in my case :) and I think many of you made assumptions that are inaccurate. A few of the comments hit what I think was the issue with my brain, like this one "Safeties are still considered dirty pool". It's the way I grew up playing *shrug*

As stated, I have rarely been in a position where safe play was part of the game. I am about to put myself in a position where safeties are commonly used. I know that because I pay attention to what's going on around me. Base on your comments, safe play is an integral component of the game, and winning. Which is what I love to do.

I currently play position, and pocketing balls. My wife would NOT play if I played safe, and the late afternoon, after playing pool sex, would disappear quickly. When we started playing I had to bank ever ball, she is now at the point where I only have to bank the 8.

My banks, kicks and position play have improved a lot but I am getting a bit bored and would like to join a league... expand my horizons, etc. I am not fighting the idea of safeties, am embracing it.

Thank you again for all of your comments!
Click to expand...

Since you have a table at home I would urge you to give Dr. Dave's Billiard University drills a going over. This exam will help you understand which skills you need to work on to improve your safety play and overall play. Sometimes if we get a direction/goal in mind our solo practice sessions can take on new life and enjoyment.

Plus you can see how you stack up in the bigger picture. Good Luck! Here is the thread on the BU here on AZ in case you missed it.

http://forums.azbilliards.com/showthread.php?t=321301

JC
 
I can't tell you how important it is to play safe. Each year thousands of unwanted pregnancies occur in the United States, from unprotected sex, when the simple use of a con...what? He was talking about safety play in pool?
My bad. Carry on. :smile:
 
A buddy went to my home town for a 8 ball tournament. He was playing later in the day against a local guy who was a fair shot maker. My friend checked the rack before breaking and someone commented "He must have seen that on ESPN". There were a few laughs. Later in the game, Troy plays a great shot, kissing off of the last ball, going two or three rails and hiding the cue ball behind a cluster. He walks up to me and whispers "I saw that on ESPN too"
 
Grady Matthews once suggested that defense and kicking make up 35% of the winning equation for rotational pool.

Needless to say, he was not referring to TAR 35!
 
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