azbicyclis85376
Banned
Anyone care to suggest what they feel is the BEST POOL SELF HELP BOOK, with Great Diagrams, and instruction for Game Improvement...
Pool Self-Help Books, Suggestion Needed....
- Thread starter azbicyclis85376
- Start date
azbicyclis85376 said:
anything specific you want to improve? there are so many books that deal with so many things. are you looking to improve a fresh from start beginner, a novice, or an intermediate/advanced player? as it seems that some books explain the game for a beginner and then dibble dabble in some advanced techniques, as where others would be for a more advanced player and blow a begginer away. even with that info, it would be hard for me anyway, to even pick one as i've picked up different things from different books that helped my game greatly. i'd be interested to see what books people throw out here as the "best".
play your best pool by phil capelle in my opinion is one of the best i have read.it covers a little of everything from beginner to advanced
poolguy123
Registered
"Play Your Best Nine Ball" is also excellent. And plan on buying 2 or 3 or 5 pool books because they all have useful tidbits of info in them.
azbicyclis85376 said:
azbicyclis85376 said:
I've got the following books, all which I think have excellent info in them:
99 Critical Shots in Pool, by Ray Martin
Standard Book of Pool and Billiards, by Robert Byrne
Advanced Technique in Pool and Billiards, by Robert Byrne
Play your best Nine Ball, by Phil Capelle
The Science of Pocket Billiards, by Jack Koehler
The Pro Book, by Bob Henning
For the mental game I also have:
Pleasures of Small Motions, by Bob Fancher
The Inner Game of Tennis, by Timothy Gallway
All of the above books are excellent, RJ
azbicyclis85376 said:
If I had to choose a single book to recommend to somebody without knowledge of their level of play or interest it would be Capelle's "Play Your Best Pool", but an extraordinarily close second would be Byrne's Vol 1.
Three excellent books, and why.
1. The BCA rule book: This is the "Hoyle" of billiard games. It's difficult to play any game if you don't know the rules!
2. Byrne's standard book of pool and billiards: This is a great, overall book that will explain (in laymans terms), why billiard balls do what they do and how you can make them do that.
3. The Straight Pool Bible: This book is speaks for itself. Straight pool is the easiest game for a beginner to play, simply because you can pocket any ball to score. Yet it is the most difficult to master. Learning to play straight pool well will help you improve any other pocket billiard game such as 9-ball, 8-ball, one-pocket, etc. It is co-authored by one of the masters of straight pool, Babe Cranfield (1997 BCA Hall of Fame).
1. The BCA rule book: This is the "Hoyle" of billiard games. It's difficult to play any game if you don't know the rules!
2. Byrne's standard book of pool and billiards: This is a great, overall book that will explain (in laymans terms), why billiard balls do what they do and how you can make them do that.
3. The Straight Pool Bible: This book is speaks for itself. Straight pool is the easiest game for a beginner to play, simply because you can pocket any ball to score. Yet it is the most difficult to master. Learning to play straight pool well will help you improve any other pocket billiard game such as 9-ball, 8-ball, one-pocket, etc. It is co-authored by one of the masters of straight pool, Babe Cranfield (1997 BCA Hall of Fame).
Bucko said:
"The Pro Book" by Bob Henning is a book for the intermediate to advanced pool player.If you are not hitting the cueball reasonably close to where you want to hit it, you'll struggle with the posistion shots required in this book.
The book contains (pool table) diagrams of 16 reference posistion shots with 2 boundary shots (simuliar type shots) that go with the 16 basic shots.That's 48 posistion shots in total. You must stop the cue ball in two designated area's, one short and one long. The closest target is a 5" circle. The stop target down the table is a more generous 10" stopping area. You shoot those 48 shots both lto the left and then the right so that's 96 shots on posistion alone.The idea is to memorize these shots because almost all posistion shots in pool are simuliar to these reference shots. Bert Kinister's 60 minute workout is simuliar to this, because Bert uses reference shots in that video as well.
In addition to the 16 basic posistion shots and their related boundary shots, the pro book also has 16 reference shots for safties, 12 reference shots for kicks, 8 reference shots for kick safties,8 reference bank shots and 4 really good drills illustrated. It gets you working on all faucets of shots in the game.
The theory is, is you memorize all these shots, you will find that all shots (or a lot anyways) are somewhat related to the reference shot variation. Apparently by learning these varations, you will cut your learning curve a way down and learn things so much quicker.It comes with score sheets (that you can photocopy) to chart your progress.This book is for the serious dedicated pool player,who is commited to memorizing the basic shots of this book.If you don't have time on your hands to practice and aren't serious about your game, get something else.
In addition to the suggested reference shots, there is writing with good suggestions in the following catergorys: Fundamentals,equipment,exercise,relaxation techniques,diet,mental training,concentration,gamestyles,match dynamics,momentum,motivation,goals,performance,left/right brain,training,match planning etc etc.
This book is for someone who wants to improve all the way up to the pro level, henceforth, that is why I guess he called it "The Pro Book."
I've got the four videos that go with the book and will some day get back to learning all the shots in it.I've got enough videos books and instructional practice to keep me going for a lifetime. I find if you commit to what these guys are teaching, you will improve. RJ
Bucko said:
If you're not patient and disciplined forget about it, otherwise I think it can improve your game. I wasn't patient and disciplined.
azbicyclis85376 said:
You've received some great book recommendations, and all of them are valuable. One thing to remember...the best books and/or videos do not replace the one-to-one interaction of a good qualified instructor...particularly with videotaping your lesson. If your stroke is not predictable and consistent, you'll struggle with small improvements, the better you play! This is true whether you've played for 50 days or 50 years!
Scott Lee
Scott Lee said:
tap tap tap
better than any tape or book you'll ever buy.
catscradle said:
Note that 'it' above refers to Hennings THE PRO BOOK.
When I first got the book it really helped me. The reason is that I was stroking the cue OK and had some success playing 8 Ball, but was just starting to play competitive 9 Ball. I was not used to moving the cue ball so much, and did not have a large repetoire of shots to use, nor could I kick very well. The Pro Book taught me quite a few shots that more experienced 9 Ball players would consider standard.
On the down side, it sets a performance standard for pro speed players, and that dose of reality I could have done without
Dave
