question for you straight pool maniacs

[vapoolplayer]

just a quick question.......when practicing straight pool by yourself what do you guys do?

do you start out with the full rack and break safe, and continue shooting either safe or until you make a mistake and leave a shot, then start running, or playing safe from there? (basically just playing yourself)

or

do you rack 14 balls and place the cue and break ball in a common break position, shoot the break shot and continue from there till you make a mistake?

or is there some other method of practicing straight pool that you guys use or recommend?


people don't play alot of 14:1 around here, so i'm going to need help from on here.

thanks

 

[sjm]

just a quick question.......when practicing straight pool by yourself what do you guys do?

I rack 14 balls and place the cue and break ball in a common break position, shoot the break shot and continue from there. When I miss, I continue from the position I leave.

 

[vapoolplayer]

I rack 14 balls and place the cue and break ball in a common break position, shoot the break shot and continue from there. When I miss, I continue from the position I leave.

thanks sjm, is there anything else you would recomend to someone wanting to get better at straight pool specifically?

thanks again

 

[mjantti]

thanks sjm, is there anything else you would recomend to someone wanting to get better at straight pool specifically?

thanks again

If you can get your hands on some high runs from top straight players such as Mizerak, Sigel, Varner etc. I'd suggest you watch them with thought and try to realize why they chose particular patterns. A good and very informative commentary from Grady or DiLiberto also helps a lot.

One advice on getting better at straight pool: practise, practise and practise !!! You need to work more with your brain in straight pool than in 9-ball for instance...

 

[Wally in Cincy]

is there anything else you would recomend to someone wanting to get better at straight pool specifically?

Books:

Play Your Best Straight Pool by Phil Cappelle

The Straight Pool Bible by Arthur Cranfield

Advanced Pool by George Fels

Videos:

"How to run a rack of straight pool" by Jim Rempe

"How to run a hundred balls" by Jim Rempe

and learn how to concentrate on making balls for extended periods of time.

 

[dmgwalsh]

All very good advice from some straight pool fanatics.

Sigel also has some videos, perfect pool and how to run a rack, that have sections on straight.

Allegedly, Dallas West used to practice by throwing out 3 balls randomly and trying to get a break shot. I like to throw 5 or 6 out near the rack and try to plan and get a break shot. When I first started that, I'd set up an easy break shot near the side of the rack, and an easy key ball near the side pocket, and throw three or four more balls out and try to run them to get the break shot. Now, I just throw some out.

You can also practice certain other key balls to get on the side of the rack break shot. key balls on the bottom rail, side rail, etc. If you watch some videos as Mjjanti suggests, you'll see some sequences used by the masters that you could try to duplicate.

You can set up different break shots and learn to execute them so that the cue ball gets free and you have a shot.

Rempe says throw out all 15 balls, no clusters and none too close to the rail and run out without touching the rail. Good practice for cue control.

I've been practicing lately cuts down the rail from behind the rack. Sometimes that's what you are left with when someone plays safe. If you are confident with that shot, you can steal a lot of racks.

Let us know how things go.

Dennis

 

[Zagiflyer]

How I practice

I like to rack the 14 balls, set up a break shot, shoot until I miss then start over. It's fun in that you can keep track of your runs each day and have something to shoot for. I'm not very good (high run of 27) but I have fun and it's a great feeling when you get into that next rack. Try different break shots and work on really thinking about the rack once the balls are open. Most of the time there will be clusters of balls and "problem balls" that you need to deal with using the balls that are "free" to get you where you need to go. I like to view each rack as a puzzle and look for shots that will unlock the puzzle to allow a run to continue. Unlike 9-ball where the balls have to be shot in rotation, 14.1 gives you choices and the shot selections you make have major consequences later in the rack, it's a great game. Don't get discouraged, unless you are a really good player (and they even run into this) you will have plenty of racks where you get into a position where you have no shot. When this happens shoot a safety and see how it turns out. Acuu-stats videos and books help as well but your best bet is to play other people, preferably people who are better than you are. I find that it's a very "tense" game when you are playing others because even at my level where the runs are small you really pay for your mistakes. It's a bad feeling to miss an easy shot and see your oponent take off and run. If you miss an easy one where there are open shots and you could have run some balls and your opponent gets them instead it really hurts your score. It tends to make you concentrate more and play cautiously.

I've tried to get others interested in the game. It's interesting when people start playing the game, especially 9-ball players, how difficult they find it. It looks easy because there are balls spread out all over and you can shoot at anything but without a plan (and in my case even with a plan a lot of the time) you can get into trouble really fast. The position required in 14.1 is very precise for many shots and you have confined areas to work in while moving round the pack. Unlike 9-ball you have a lot of shots where very small, precise cue-ball movements are required. For the average player a run of even ten balls (especially from a break shot) is actually quite hard. Have fun, I wish 14.1 was still the game everyone played because it's a lot more interesting than 9-ball.

 

[Bob Jewett]

I like to rack the 14 balls, set up a break shot, shoot until I miss then start over. It's fun in that you can keep track of your runs each day and have something to shoot for. ...

That's what I do. Play 10 sets per practice session, and keep track of your 10 scores in a log book. Just add up your total to find your average (after moving the decimal point). Note your high runs. I also kept track of the percentage of the time that I got into the second rack (at least 16 balls).

You can extend this kind of practice by noting the shots you miss. Sometimes it's not so easy to figure out which shot you missed. If you miss running the 89-degree cut shot the length of the table., it's the position you missed and not the shot. Anyway, figure out a way to practice that kind of shot -- developing a progressive practice for it, for example.

 

[vapoolplayer]

quote: I've tried to get others interested in the game. It's interesting when people start playing the game, especially 9-ball players, how difficult they find it.


i've tried to get people around here to play.......seems like no one wants to spend any time playing, they all want a quick game. don't get me wrong, i love 9 ball, but to me its basically pool for dummies........lol, the table tells you which ball to shoot, and if its done right it basically tells you where you need to put the cue ball for the next shot. where in 14:1 you really have to think about the entire rack, or you're gonna be sitting around for a while. its games like this and 1 pocket (even though i'm not very good at it yet) that i love because of the thought required. again i love 9 ball, but the thinking is at a minimal in that game.


thanks to everyone for their replies

 

[sjm]

quote: I've tried to get others interested in the game. It's interesting when people start playing the game, especially 9-ball players, how difficult they find it...in 14:1 you really have to think about the entire rack, or you're gonna be sitting around for a while.

Great post on the fascinations of straight pool. It's the continual problem solving that makes the game so very challenging. Every racks a puzzle, and it is really sastisfying when you solve it.

 

[Zagiflyer]

quote: I've tried to get others interested in the game. It's interesting when people start playing the game, especially 9-ball players, how difficult they find it.


i've tried to get people around here to play.......seems like no one wants to spend any time playing, they all want a quick game. don't get me wrong, i love 9 ball, but to me its basically pool for dummies........lol, the table tells you which ball to shoot, and if its done right it basically tells you where you need to put the cue ball for the next shot. where in 14:1 you really have to think about the entire rack, or you're gonna be sitting around for a while. its games like this and 1 pocket (even though i'm not very good at it yet) that i love because of the thought required. again i love 9 ball, but the thinking is at a minimal in that game.


thanks to everyone for their replies

The problem with getting people interested in 14.1 is that, for the most part, the game is too difficult and it requires a lot of patience. Don't get me wrong, 9-ball is a very tough game to play well but it doesn't last long and average players like the perceived "luck" element to the game as well as the fact that it's a good gambling game. 14.1 is difficult and requires concentration, additionally, there is very little luck involved in the game because everything must be called and there is no open breakshot. As I pointed out earlier, even a 10 ball run off a breakshot requires some degree of skill.

I think it's unfortunate in a way when I see new players trying to learn the game playing 9-ball because that's what everyone else plays and that's what the pros play on TV. It's hard to develop really accurate position play and good low-speed cue-ball control playing only 9-ball. Also, I think you need to learn with a game where you need to make choices. I try to steer beginners towards 8-ball because it uses many of the same skills as 14.1 but the game is shorter.

I also wish that the pros still played 14.1. I understand why 9-ball is king given it's high "action" level and quick conclusion coupled with it's ease of televising (I think 8-ball would be better actually) but I would love to see the top players square it off in 14.1. It would be neat if there was a parallell 14.1 series for the real pool junkies. Do like in the old days and have a big 14.1 tournament each year to designate a champion then allow "challenges" from the other tournament participants throughout the year. Have a 3 or 4 day challenge with 2 games to 150 per day. They used to this years ago and play like 2000 points of 14.1 in 150 point increments for challenges. It would be great and it would re-invigorate 14.1 but, sadly, there probably isn't enough interest to get the money to make it worthwhile for the pros. Unfortunately, we live in a society where everything has to be "extreme" and 14.1 isn't enough of an "extreme sport" to be interesting to most people anymore.

 

[Rod]

When I played a lot of 14-1, I'd just set up a break ball and run at least 50 within three tries. That was my warm up. I failed to do that once, it took 4 tries. That time I turned in the balls and went home.

If I practice now it's the same with some changes. I don't run 50 near as easy. LOL I set up different break shots instead of the standard break. I may play the standard break (for example) as a side pocket break and use that break as much as possible during a run. I think it's good to use different breaks as a standard break during practice. You'll have a much better idea of speed, english and where you want to hit the rack. When one comes up in a real game situation it becomes routine.

Rod

 

[vapoolplayer]

someone mentioned earlier that its sad to see new players start off with 9 ball. i'm pretty new to the game, its a shame that when i'm practicing 14:1 people around my age (i'm fairly young lol) some of them with alot more time playing than I will come over and ask me what game i'm playing, i explain the game and they just look dumbfounded.... or they will come over and say something like "you're playing an old man's game". just the other day i finally persuaded someone to play a game to 150, after about 25 min he started complaining about how long it was going to take. i'm the type that i would love to play alot more than 150. a friend of mine looked at me like i was crazy when i asked if he wanted to play a game to 500 one day. it just frustrates me when i see this.......anyway, enough ranting, thanks everyone for the replies.

thanks

 

[dmgwalsh]

just the other day i finally persuaded someone to play a game to 150, after about 25 min he started complaining about how long it was going to take. i'm the type that i would love to play alot more than 150. a friend of mine looked at me like i was crazy when i asked if he wanted to play a game to 500 one day.

thanks

Yeah, me and a buddy had been playing four or five matches to 50, every sunday. We just recently switched to two matches to 100. Maybe we'll go to 125. I had noticed that in the two leagues I'm in, one I'm going to 110 (with others going anywhere from 55-180) and the other I'm going to 70 (others going from 45-165) that the longer games were better. If you got down a couple racks, it's no big deal to come back and you play a little more relaxed.

On a side note, it's probably good to practice safes too. I read one in a book and then tried it in league without having practiced it. Opened the balls too much and my opponent took them all.

Good Luck.
Dennis

 

[mikepage]

I do a modification of Jerry Brieseth's Equal Offense game. For those of you who don't know, EO is practice game that consists of 10 innings each of which has a maximum score of 20. So the maximum game score is 200. Each inning starts with cueball in kitchen following an open break of all 15 balls. You then run balls as in 14.1 stopping when you miss or get to 20.

My modification is to begin with a 6-ball rack and play to 25 each inning. So the maximum game score is 250. Rack the 6 balls quickly in a triangle (with your hands is fine. Break softly so that one or two balls comes back to the center of the table. Start with bih in kitchen and try to run 25 as in 14.1. To do it you have to open up two racks.

mike page
fargo

 

[Wally in Cincy]

...On a side note, it's probably good to practice safes too. I read one in a book and then tried it in league without having practiced it. Opened the balls too much and my opponent took them all.

Good Luck.
Dennis

I practice safes sometimes when I am playing by myself. Sometimes I'll shoot 10 or more in a row. I see it as a challenge to see how many I can do without leaving myself a shot.

 

[Williebetmore]

VAP,
I am certainly no world-beater, but a world class straight pool lover. I tried to learn the game on my own for 30 years, never succeeded in attaining even minimal proficiency. With some expert help over the past 2 years I am certainly improving, and I can relay what I've been told are the keys to learning this fascinating game.

#1 Become a student of the game. The video's and books mentioned by Wally are a great start. Read them, memorize them, master them. They are not sufficient to become a "player," but definitely necessary.

#2 Play with better players. Take every opportunity to involve/trap the better players into a game; travel if you have to. Playing straight pool by yourself is just practice. The game itself is very different; you must also learn to bring your best stroke, first shot, every time, even after sitting for a while.

#3 Play with worse players. I have many beginners playing straight pool now; it is EASY to handicap (Frank Glenn system), and makes for great games. Just play to 50 if your opponents are not as enthusiastic as you. Spot them enough balls to MAKE SURE they win the first time, and play for very small stakes - they will love trouncing you (subtract 5 balls from their handicap if they beat you, add 5 balls to their handicap if you win). The poorer players will love the opportunity to shoot at everything, and you will have the opportunity to shoot flyers and low probability caroms/kisses/combo's that you would never try against better players.

#4 Start a league if you can - handicapping is essential. Advertise as a league for "real pool players", challenge their manhood.

#5 Practice shots specific to straight pool:

Spot shots with ball in hand; shoot the ball on the spot and get position on the common side-of-the-rack break balls. Its amazing how often this comes up in competition.

Practice pocketing side of the rack break balls (you don't have to have a rack in place, just practice pocketing the balls) from 3 cue ball positions (closer to the side rail than the object ball, even with the object ball, and further from the side rail than the object ball) - use follow for the first and third position, a touch of draw for the second position. Include break balls on both sides of the rack. Also include below the rack and side pocket break balls. I have shot about 45 of these shots a day for a year and am starting to get the hang of it - but still miss in competition sometimes.

Practice shooting "escape the bottom rail" shots. Line up 13 balls along the foot string. Take ball in hand, use a rail bridge allowing a comfortable bridge (ie. cue ball a few inches off the rail), and shoot all 13 into the corner pockets 9 feet away. Willie Mosconi could do this in less than 2 minutes, only touching the cue ball for his initial shot, and getting perfect position for the subsequent shot. You are allowed ball in hand for each shot. I cut 13 to my left, then 13 to my right, then 13 to the left with the cueball almost frozen to the rail, then 13 to the right with the cue ball almost frozen to the rail. I never practice them with the cue ball frozen, because I'm never going to shoot that in a game. These shots are essential if you are to win those "below-the-rack" safety battles.

Practice short-side cuts. Place the object ball just off the short rail, 3 diamonds from a corner pocket. Now practice radical thin cuts into the corner pocket (3 diamonds away) until you can make them in your sleep. Then learn to make them with hard inside and outside English.

Practice safeties. They say that Irving Crane (my initial straight pool idol) would practice playing himself safe for 30 minutes a day. Wally does 10 minutes. I can do about 3 minutes before lapsing into a stuporous coma (its deadly dull). I find my safety play and touch improves significantly the more competitive straight pool I play (when you are punished for your deficiencies it makes you try harder and concentrate better).

Place an object ball just one diamond above the foot string (between side pocket and foot string) near the rail. Shoot it with an angle along the rail into the far corner pocket (bridge hand on the playing surface). Shoot 5 with center ball, 5 with inside (heavy or light), and 5 with outside. Now change to the other side of the table and shoot 15 more. Take note of where the cueball ends up. The idea is to learn to play position from this shot. With a small to moderate angle you should be able to make the object ball every time, and position the cue ball ANYWHERE on the table.

#6 Practice your ball pocketing - develop a perfect stroke. All of the knowledge and practice in the world is worth CRAP if you can't pocket the balls. A noted instructor told me that in straight pool, the guy that pockets the most balls wins; and the corollary is that if your ball pocketing percentage is higher than his you SHOULD win (at very high levels this may not be as true). Develop a stroke that is perfectly repeatable, tension- and pressure-resistant, and STRAIGHT. Learn to use it in competition. Once you are down over the ball, ready to deliver your best and most perfect stroke, make sure you POCKET THE BALL. Don't rush and don't take any shots for granted; there is no more grievous error in straight pool than to miss a ball, and leave an open table for your opponent. If you don't get perfect position you can always play safe - if you miss, you are usually screwed.

P.S. - Post too long, I'll bet you are sorry you asked.
P.P.S. - A professional opponent of mine loves straight pool, likes to play to a thousand. You would fit right in around here.
P.P.P.S. - If you are ever in Indy, you can always find a 6 hour straight pool game in my basement - best room in town.

 

[dmgwalsh]

VAP,
I am certainly no world-beater, but a world class straight pool lover. I tried to learn the game on my own for 30 years, never succeeded in attaining even minimal proficiency. With some expert help over the past 2 years I am certainly improving, and I can relay what I've been told are the keys to learning this fascinating game.

#1 Become a student of the game. The video's and books mentioned by Wally are a great start. Read them, memorize them, master them. They are not sufficient to become a "player," but definitely necessary.

#2 Play with better players. Take every opportunity to involve/trap the better players into a game; travel if you have to. Playing straight pool by yourself is just practice. The game itself is very different; you must also learn to bring your best stroke, first shot, every time, even after sitting for a while.

#3 Play with worse players. I have many beginners playing straight pool now; it is EASY to handicap (Frank Glenn system), and makes for great games. Just play to 50 if your opponents are not as enthusiastic as you. Spot them enough balls to MAKE SURE they win the first time, and play for very small stakes - they will love trouncing you (subtract 5 balls from their handicap if they beat you, add 5 balls to their handicap if you win). The poorer players will love the opportunity to shoot at everything, and you will have the opportunity to shoot flyers and low probability caroms/kisses/combo's that you would never try against better players.

#4 Start a league if you can - handicapping is essential. Advertise as a league for "real pool players", challenge their manhood.

#5 Practice shots specific to straight pool:

Spot shots with ball in hand; shoot the ball on the spot and get position on the common side-of-the-rack break balls. Its amazing how often this comes up in competition.

Practice pocketing side of the rack break balls (you don't have to have a rack in place, just practice pocketing the balls) from 3 cue ball positions (closer to the side rail than the object ball, even with the object ball, and further from the side rail than the object ball) - use follow for the first and third position, a touch of draw for the second position. Include break balls on both sides of the rack. Also include below the rack and side pocket break balls. I have shot about 45 of these shots a day for a year and am starting to get the hang of it - but still miss in competition sometimes.

Practice shooting "escape the bottom rail" shots. Line up 13 balls along the foot string. Take ball in hand, use a rail bridge allowing a comfortable bridge (ie. cue ball a few inches off the rail), and shoot all 13 into the corner pockets 9 feet away. Willie Mosconi could do this in less than 2 minutes, only touching the cue ball for his initial shot, and getting perfect position for the subsequent shot. You are allowed ball in hand for each shot. I cut 13 to my left, then 13 to my right, then 13 to the left with the cueball almost frozen to the rail, then 13 to the right with the cue ball almost frozen to the rail. I never practice them with the cue ball frozen, because I'm never going to shoot that in a game. These shots are essential if you are to win those "below-the-rack" safety battles.

Practice short-side cuts. Place the object ball just off the short rail, 3 diamonds from a corner pocket. Now practice radical thin cuts into the corner pocket (3 diamonds away) until you can make them in your sleep. Then learn to make them with hard inside and outside English.

Practice safeties. They say that Irving Crane (my initial straight pool idol) would practice playing himself safe for 30 minutes a day. Wally does 10 minutes. I can do about 3 minutes before lapsing into a stuporous coma (its deadly dull). I find my safety play and touch improves significantly the more competitive straight pool I play (when you are punished for your deficiencies it makes you try harder and concentrate better).

#6 Practice your ball pocketing - develop a perfect stroke. All of the knowledge and practice in the world is worth CRAP if you can't pocket the balls. A noted instructor told me that in straight pool, the guy that pockets the most balls wins; and the corollary is that if your ball pocketing percentage is higher than his you SHOULD win (at very high levels this may not be as true). Develop a stroke that is perfectly repeatable, tension- and pressure-resistant, and STRAIGHT. Learn to use it in competition. Once you are down over the ball, ready to deliver your best and most perfect stroke, make sure you POCKET THE BALL. Don't rush and don't take any shots for granted; there is no more grievous error in straight pool than to miss a ball, and leave an open table for your opponent. If you don't get perfect position you can always play safe - if you miss, you are usually screwed.

P.S. - Post too long, I'll bet you are sorry you asked.
P.P.S. - A professional opponent of mine loves straight pool, likes to play to a thousand. You would fit right in around here.
P.P.P.S. - If you are ever in Indy, you can always find a 6 hour straight pool game in my basement - best room in town.

Wonderful post. I'm gonna print it and use it and make copies and leave them at my two 14.1 leagues. Those Mosconi cuts I have been practicing a lot lately and they sure have helped me when left safe down behind the rack.
Keep the info coming . Dennis

 

[Williebetmore]

Those Mosconi cuts I have been practicing a lot lately and they sure have helped me when left safe down behind the rack.
. Dennis

DMG,
The full story as told by the degenerate pool gamblers who hung out with Mosconi at Allen's (??name) in KC is even better. Mosconi described this drill in one of his books, and always promoted it as good for 14.1 (though he says to try it without taking ball in hand for each shot). One day a smartassed guy was in the hall when the subject of the drill came up - and claimed no one could actually do it. Willie gets wind of it, comes out from the back room, and says something to the effect, "Not only is it possible, but I can make all 15 balls off the foot string in less than 2 minutes without missing." Money was posted, and Willie shot them all in, no misses, elapsed time somewhere between 30 and 45 seconds, perfect position after every shot. The guys said Willie did not miss much in his prime.

He played very close position and was very unhappy if he was more than 8 inches away from his next object ball. I've noticed that the better players I compete with definitely play for position closer to the next object ball than I do (I'm keeping my day job).

 

[Williebetmore]

DMG,
And another thing. I added a shot to section #5 above (the very last paragraph in section #5); I almost forgot it (I've only shot 30 a day for 2 years, my memory is failing). It is vitally important to be able to play position from these balls if you are lucky enough to be able to bridge on the playing surface and have a decent angle (I've even seen Jimmy Rempe break the pack on one of those shots).

Case in point:
Last night I was playing a STRONG 9-ball player (easily gives me the 8) a game of 14.1 to 100 (even, small stakes). Three times he was faced with that shot, and failed to obtain good position on a potential cluster breaking object ball all 3 times - ending his inning each time. I had 3 of those shots during the game; and using high inside twice, and low outside once; got PERFECT position on my next ball (cluster breakers each time); ended up running about 20 after each of those shots (while listening to my opponent mutter about how lucky I was to get just right to break what remained of the pack). I didn't mention that I've shot about 10,000 of those shots over the past 2 years; just said, "Yeah, I was lucky." They seemed easy to me, I won 100 - 65.

This, incidentally, is the prime enjoyment I get from studying the game, and from trapping better 9-ball players into a game of straight pool. By studying the finer points, and practicing shots specific to the game, you can DEFINITELY beat players who are better than you (at least at shotmaking). Of course you have to listen to them whine about how they are playing way below their usual speed - but that's most of the enjoyment for me. In my 14.1 league, I feel that there are 5 players who pocket balls better than me, but I am consistently in 1st or 2nd place in the standings. Study hard, enjoy the results.