Pool Training/Training Material what have you invested in

CocoboloCowboy

CocoboloCowboy

Cowboys are my hero's
Silver Member
I read many post about wonderful/beautiful Cues, and Cases,but see few comments about peoples collection of training materials.

So I thought I would pose the question what VHS?s, DVD?s, Books, Lessons, Work Shops have you attended have you personally acquired, and, or took to increase your game?

I personally have never had the opportunity to take say a Monk, or Scott Lee Clinic/Group lesson.

But do have a wonderful library of instructional books, and DVD, and VHS?s That I will add to in the near future.

Next acquisition for me is Freddy the Beard?s (2) set DVD?s.

I try daily to watch one DVD, or VHS to refresh some of the ideas that is teaches.
 
i have too many books to count em off right now in my head.....id say i have every major instructional book thats come out in the last 10 years and b4, except for stuff like "one pocket strategies" and some of the other collector books. Bought several of the monk tapes (going to sell them). Have some kinister. I downloaded quite a few off of dc++ like they oyster and jimmy reid. Been to randyg's advanced and expert 3 day schools. Some lessons with a couple local semi-pros (like bj ussery). Really im at the point where my fundamentals are solid and im more looking to learn tips and tricks, mostly from pros. Im hopefully going to be spending some time with wade crane this summer.
 
Books, Videos

I have invested in a fairly large library of books and video's.
If you keep your eyes and mind open there is not likely a single book that I did not get at least one thought that was beneficial. Some materials however contain a lot of golden nuggets.

Fortunately there is a lot of good stuff that has been published since I started playing again in 1990. The knowledge transfer available through books, video's and personal instruction is readily available now.

"The teacher will open the door - but you must enter by yourself"

My first book was George Fels mastering pool (purchased 1979) which is still read from time to time since it is very straight pool oriented.

Fels, Capelle, Byrne,Mizerak will generally be very worthwhile and again books by others will also generally lead to some thought. Precision Pool and Max Eberlee's book are good as well.

Mental Toughness Training for Sports, ZEN Golf, Zen in the Art of Archery, Golf in the Kingdom and the Inner Game of Tennis are also good books for the mental side of the game.

The best knowledge transfer and practice videos in my humble opinion are those by Kinister however you need a very open mind, the production quality on some is poor and I would say 1/2 are very very helpful and the other 1/2 are of more limited value.

If you want to learn the game and strategy itself I do not think there is any substitute for Accu-Stats tournament matches with commentary.

Good luck.
 
Jimmy Reid - Almost All I Know DVDs
Joe Villalpando - Pool IQ DVDs
Third Eye Stroke Trainer
Jim Rempe Training Ball
Pleasures of Small Motions
The Inner Game of Tennis
Play Your Best Pool
99 Critical Shots in Pool
2 hour lesson with Ray Martin
And..
Hole punch reinforcers
 
Guaranteed Improvement - Joe Tucker
Racking Secrets - Joe Tucker
Banking With The Beard - Freddy Bentivegna
The Gospool - Freddy Bentivegna
Bank Shot's that dont Go, but Do Vol. I & II - Freddy Bentivegna
The 99 Critical Shots - Ray Martin
Black Belt Billiards - Steve Campana
Overcoming Contenderosis - Ryan Elliott (available from Bebo Publishing)
Killer One Pocket - Grady Mathews
Only Kicks - Grady Mathews
Finishing Touch - Grady Mathews
16 Steps - Grady Mathews
Almost All I Know - Jimmy Reid
The Pro Book - Bob Henning
The Advanced Pro Book - Bob Henning
The Pleasure of Small Motions - Bob Fancher

Consider all of the above highly recommended 5 star choices.
 
Blackjack said:
Guaranteed Improvement - Joe Tucker
Racking Secrets - Joe Tucker
Banking With The Beard - Freddy Bentivegna
The Gospool - Freddy Bentivegna
Bank Shot's that dont Go, but Do Vol. I & II - Freddy Bentivegna
The 99 Critical Shots - Ray Martin
Black Belt Billiards - Steve Campana
Overcoming Contenderosis - Ryan Elliott (available from Bebo Publishing)
Killer One Pocket - Grady Mathews
Only Kicks - Grady Mathews
Finishing Touch - Grady Mathews
16 Steps - Grady Mathews
Almost All I Know - Jimmy Reid
The Pro Book - Bob Henning
The Advanced Pro Book - Bob Henning
The Pleasure of Small Motions - Bob Fancher

Consider all of the above highly recommended 5 star choices.
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Wow...I have some reading to do...I have all of 1 of the above mentioned books...99 Critical Shots...

I see 15 books on that list that I want to read...:)
 
I have quite a few myself
The 99 Critical Shots - Ray Martin
The Pro Book - Bob Henning
The Advanced Pro Book - Bob Henning

The ones that have helped me the most are Mike Sigel's Perfect 8 ball & 9 ball, the Banking & kicking system by Dr Cue. the Racking Secrets by Joe Tucker and of course my Stroketrainer.

The best book i ever read is the inner game of tennis
 
Blackjack said:
Guaranteed Improvement - Joe Tucker
Racking Secrets - Joe Tucker
Banking With The Beard - Freddy Bentivegna
The Gospool - Freddy Bentivegna
Bank Shot's that dont Go, but Do Vol. I & II - Freddy Bentivegna
The 99 Critical Shots - Ray Martin
Black Belt Billiards - Steve Campana
Overcoming Contenderosis - Ryan Elliott (available from Bebo Publishing)
Killer One Pocket - Grady Mathews
Only Kicks - Grady Mathews
Finishing Touch - Grady Mathews
16 Steps - Grady Mathews
Almost All I Know - Jimmy Reid
The Pro Book - Bob Henning
The Advanced Pro Book - Bob Henning
The Pleasure of Small Motions - Bob Fancher

Consider all of the above highly recommended 5 star choices.
Click to expand...
.

... what he said. Tucker, Martin, Mathews, Henning, and Bentivegna.
 
Best thing I've done so far for my mental game is shown in my avatar :)
 
CocoboloCowboy said:
... So I thought I would pose the question what VHS?s, DVD?s, Books, Lessons, Work Shops have you attended have you personally acquired, and, or took to increase your game? ...
Click to expand...
As for books, I have quite a few. My duplicates are listed at

http://www.sfbilliards.com/books_to_trade.htm

Since I try to get "one of each" I end up seeing a great deal of crap. Although it may be true that each book has at least one useful bit of knowledge in it, there are lots of books that simply don't have enough info in them to justify either the time wasted trying to read them or the money and time wasted buying them. My own test for pool book reading ability is to ask the reader what mistakes they found in the book. If they didn't catch the mistakes, they didn't really understand the book. There are very few pool books without significant mistakes.

I have quite a few videos, partly acquired with book collections. Byrne's videos are good. I think that Capelle's combo book/video on nine ball (analysis of shots from a match) is a very good way to do it.

For lessons, I've gotten lots of informal lessons hanging around at tournaments swapping shots and ideas with people. This last DCC, Willie Jopling spent a fair amount of time in the 14.1/1P challenge room. The first organized clinic I attended was by Tom Kollins on 14.1 in about 1978. He came out to California and showed us the game for about five days. Since then, I've had instructor training from Jerry Briesath, and lessons from Jimmy Caras, Hans de Jager (the former European artistic champion), and Arnim Kahofer (the former European balkline champion).

For some other ideas on lessons from both sides of the lectern, see http://www.sfbilliards.com/articles/2005-09.pdf (I've got to send them a replacement for my high school picture).
 
Three Stars
Three day clinic with Randy G

Two Stars
Play Your Best Pool - Capelle
Play Your Best Eight Ball - Capelle
Play Your Best Staight Pool - Capelle
The 99 Critical Shots In Pool - Martin
Banking With The Beard
Stroketrainer - helps when the gremlins get to my stroke
Little Joe's DVDS

One Star
Daly's Billiard Book - Maurice Daly - don't recall where I scrounged this from
54 Pro Skill Drills
Willie Mosconi on Pocket Billiards
Byrne's New Standard Book of Pool and Billiards
Frank Callan's Snooker Clinic - too elementary - youtube videos better

Youtube Instruction - In Declining Order Of Merit
Instruction - Understanding Modern Snooker - Jack Karnehm
http://forums.azbilliards.com/showthread.php?t=80206&highlight=Instruction
Snooker - Champions Way With Steve Davis
http://forums.azbilliards.com/showthread.php?t=78648&highlight=Instruction
Snooker Master Class
http://forums.azbilliards.com/showthread.php?t=83819&highlight=Instruction
Ray Reardon Coaching Master Series
http://forums.azbilliards.com/showthread.php?t=80209&highlight=Instruction

On-line Sources
http://forums.azbilliards.com/showthread.php?t=50308&highlight=Instruction
 
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Im to lazy to list all the books and dvds. but by far the thing that paid of the most the fastest was plain old practice. Shouldve gotten the table sooner.
 
I have entirely way too much stuff...books and dvd's. I teach under Tim "The Monk" Miller, so I have attended, and helped teach, some of his workshops. My stroke is a product of Hillbilly's...he took me in and treated me like a little brother when we first met. I tell ya, not to take away from my business, but if you ever get a lesson from Charlie...it'd be worth it. He's an outstanding teacher.
 
Steve C said:
My first book was George Fels mastering pool (purchased 1979) which is still read from time to time since it is very straight pool oriented.
Click to expand...

This may have been the first book that I didn't get from the public library. I read an excerpt from it in The National Billiard News and wrote to George care of TNBN asking about it. George wrote me a nice letter back saying that the book wasn't ready for publication at that time, but when it was he would send me a copy, gratis, due to my interest. Came in the mail a couple of weeks later. It's now well read!! Guys who had been playing years longer than me learned stuff out of that book that they had never known. Probably the one of the most important books in my collection and I have Tucker, Byrne, Martin, Mosconi, Fancher, etc.
 
Ghostball Aim Trainer...pretty simple device...helps a lot to go back to the basics.




cuesight199113846974wy2.jpg
 
Jack Karnehm, yes, Very Good!

As I am I quess A Pool Player/snooker Hybrid This guy can help.. If I were going to have a private lesson, it would be in his arena... He knows alot about the game, the stuff on you tube is a very small sample...


While I agree, There are alot of books as well as DVD's available, of all kinds.. each can add something to your game, but for pocketing and mechanics, Jack is hard to beat.


SPINDOKTOR
 
bert kinister video's(most iof them give or take a few)
phil capelle - play your best pool and play your best nine ball
jack koehler - the science of pocket billiards
freddy Bentivegna - banking with the beard
little joe's pool iq dvds
 
Neil said:
There's so many out there now, It's almost impossible to keep up with them all. The ones that have meant the most to me.....
George Fels-Mastering pool
Ray Martin-99 Critical shots in Pool
Phil Capelle-Play your Best Straightpool
Bert Kinnester videos
Blackjack-mental aspect
Joe W.- mental aspect
AZB Forums-occasional nuggets
Robert Byrnes-Advanced Techniques in Pool and Billiards
Jimmy Reid-His tapes and website
Click to expand...

Don't grip as 40 years ago little knowledge was shared.:mad:
 
Here's what I have:

Books:

Play Your Best Pool - (Phil Cappelle)
Play Your Best Straight Pool - (Phil Cappelle)
Play Your Best 9 Ball ? (Phil Cappelle)
A Mind for Pool - (Phil Cappelle)
Play Your Best 8 Ball ? (Phil Cappelle)
Byrne?s New Standard Book of Pool and Billiards - (Robert Byrne)
Byrne?s Advanced Technique in Pool and Billiards - (Robert Byrne)
Byrne?s Treasury of Trick Shots ? (Robert Byrne)
Byrne?s Wonderful World of Pool and Billiards - (Robert Byrne)
Byrne?s Book of Great Pool Stories ? (Robert Byrne)
Byrne?s Complete Book of Pool Shoots ? (Robert Byrne)
McGoorty, A Pool Room Hustler- (Robert Byrne)
The 99 Critical Shots in Pool - (Ray Martin)
Precision Pool - (Kanov/Stauch)
Pool Player?s Edge ? (Kanov/Stauch)
Mastering Pool - (George Fels)
How Would You Play This? - (George Fels)
Pool Simplified- Somewhat- (George Fels)
The Pro Book - (Bob Henning)
Black Belt Billiards- (Steven W. Campana)
101 Big Pool Shots - (Gerry Watson)
Win At Pocket Billiards - (Desmond Allen, PhD) (Originally published as ?1,2,3 Rails and More?.)
The Straight Pool Bible- (Babe Cranfield)
Essential Pool ? (Babe Cranfield)
Willie Mosconi on Pocket Billiards - (Willie Mosconi)
Willie Mosconi?s Winning Pocket Billiards- (Willie Mosconi)
Steve Mizerak?s Play Better Pool - (Steve Mizerak)
Upscale 9 Ball - (Jack Koehler)
The Science of Pocket Billiards - (Jack Koehler)
The Hustler?s Handbook- (Steve Allen)
The Lesson - (The Monk)
The 8 Ball Book - (The Monk)
Point the Way - (The Monk)
Courage, Composure and Concentration- (The Monk)
I Came To Win- (The Monk)
Tricks and Games on the Pool Table- (F. Hermann)
Answers to a Pool Player?s Prayers - (Richard Kranicki)
Billiard Atlas on Systems and Techniques- Vol I ? (Walt Harris)
Billiard Atlas on Systems and Techniques Vol II ? (Walt Harris)
Billiard Atlas on Systems and Techniques Vol III- (Walt Harris)
Billiard Atlas on Systems and Techniques Vol IV- (Walt Harris)
The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Billiards - (Mike Shamos)
Shooting Pool ? (Mike Shamos)
The Complete Idiot?s Guide to Pool and Billiards ? (Ewa Mataya Laurance)
The Game of Billiards ? (Clive Cottingham Jr.)
The Official BCA Rules and Record Book - (Billiard Congress of America)
The Pleasures of Small Motions ? (Bob Fancher PhD)
Playing Off the Rail ? (David McCumber)
The 8 Ball Bible : A Guide To Bar Table Play ? (R. Givens)
Aiming On the Cutting Edge ? (Todd ?The Impaler? Leveck)
?The Best Damn Pool Instruction Book, Period? ? (Ron Schneider)
?Banking with The Beard? ? (Freddie Ventivegna)
?Mike Massey?s World of Trick Shots? ? (Mike Massey)
?Blue Book of Pool Cues 3rd Edition? ? (Brad Simpson)
?Joe Tucker?s Aiming System? (Companion workbook to DVD) ? (Joe Tucker)
?Pro Skills Drills? (Companion workbook to DVD) ? (Dominic Esposito)
?Hustler Days?- (R. A. Dyer)
?Rack Up A Victory? ? (Tom Rossman)
?APA Official Team Manual?- (APA)
?Do It For The Game? ? (Bob Campbell)
?Cornbread Red ? Pool?s Greatest Money Player? - (Bob Henning)

Videos: (VHS)

How to Play Pool Right - (Jerry Briesath/BCA)
Robert Byrne?s Standard Video of Pool and Billiards Vol. I
Robert Byrne?s Standard Video of Pool and Billiards Vol. II
Robert Byrne?s Standard Video of Pool and Billiards Vol. V
The Monk 101 Vol. I
The Monk 101 Vol. II
The Monk 101 Vol. III
Dr Cue?s Foundation for Banking and Kicking Vol. I
Dr Cue?s Foundation for Banking and Kicking Vol. II
Dr Cue?s Foundation for Banking and Kicking Vol. III
Private Lessons with the Preacher (Don ?Preacher? Feeney) Vol. I
Private Lessons with the Preacher (Don ?Preacher? Feeney) Vol. II
Private Lessons with the Preacher (Don ?Preacher? Feeney) Vol. III
Private Lessons with the Preacher (Don ?Preacher? Feeney) Vol. IV
Private Lessons with the Preacher (Don ?Preacher? Feeney) Vol. V
Private Lessons with the Preacher (Don ?Preacher? Feeney) Vol. VI
Private Lessons with the Preacher (Don ?Preacher? Feeney) Vol. VII
Private Lessons with the Preacher (Don ?Preacher? Feeney) Vol. VIII
Grady Mathews- ?The Finer Points of Pool?
Grady Mathews- ?The Finer Points of Banking and Safety Play?
Grady Mathews- ?The Finer Points of One Pocket?
Grady Mathews- ?The Finer Points of Straight Pool?
Grady Mathews- ?Only Kicks?
Grady Mathews- ?Advanced Principles of Pool and Billiards?
Jimmy Reid - ?No Time for Negative? Vol. I
Jimmy Reid - ?No Time for Negative? Vol. II
Jimmy Reid - ?No Time for Negative? Vol. III
Jimmy Reid - ?The Art of 8 Ball?
Eddie ?Fast Eddie? Parker - ?How to Master Pocket Billiards?
Bert Kinister - ?The 60 Minute Workout for 8 Ball and 9 Ball?
Bert Kinister - ?Advanced Fundamentals?
Bert Kinister- ?Using the 6 Pointed Star?
Bert Kinister - ?Step 1 ? The Short Game?
Bert Kinister - ?Step 2- The Middle Game?
Bert Kinister - ?Step 3- The Long Game?
Bert Kinister- ?The Mighty X?
Bert Kinister- ?Building the Interior of the Star?
Bert Kinister- ?Building the Six-Pointed Star?
Jim Rempe- ?How to Run a Rack in Straight Pool?
?Clash Of The Titans?: 1966 BCA Straight Pool Championship, (Crane vs. Balsis)

Videos (DVD):

?Capelle on 9-Ball: Archer vs. Reyes? w/ companion book
?Gamebreakers? ? Robert Byrne
?The Pro Book? 4 Volume DVD- Bob Henning
?The Hustler??Paul Newman, Jackie Gleason, George C. Scott, Piper Laurie
?The Color of Money??Paul Newman, Tom Cruise, Mary Elizabeth Mastroantonio
?Pool Hall Junkies? ? Chaz Palmentieri, Christopher Walken, Rod Steiger, Mars Callahan, Ricky Schroeder, Alison Eastwood
?Racking Secrets? 2 DVD set ? Joe Tucker
?Aiming Workout? DVD (companion to book) ? Joe Tucker
?Pro Skills? DVD (Companion to workbook)- Dominic Esposito

CD ROM

?The Best Damn Pool Instruction Book, Period? Companion CD ROM to book**

Motivational Audio Tapes:

?Focus on Winning? - The Monk- (4 audiotapes)
?Overcoming Contenderosis? ? Ryan Elliot (Hypnosis) (12 cassettes)
?The Dead Stroke Tapes?- Ryan Elliot ( Hypnosis) (12 cassettes)

Practice Aids:

Elephant Practice Balls and Training Manual
Jim Rempe Training Cueball and Manual
Ghostball Aim Trainer and Manual
Buddy Hall Stroke Trainer
Spot Shots Markers
Target Pool
AccueShot Trainer

Antique or Out of Print Books:

?Advanced Snooker? ? (Joe Davis, 1954)
?The Billiard Encyclopedia?- (V. Stein / P. Rubino)

Magazines:

Pool and Billiards ? from Jan 1999 to December 2006
Billiards Digest ? from Jan 1999 to Present
Inside Pool ? from April ?03 to April ?05

Fats
 
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