ran my first 9 ball rack today,(with no cheating)

[jay helfert]

been practicing and playing for 8 months, mostly alone. watching videos, reading books, doing drill after drill. going thru times when I just sucked big time. weathered the storm, and just kept practicing and shooting. bought a new cue, with a narrower taper, seemed to help. but then one night I said screw this, lets slow down and think about each shot, and then think about the next shot, ect.

that seemed to do the trick. I started playing better. still have lots of things to work on, but tonight I racked a 9 ball rack, and broke, made two balls. had no shot on the one, so took ball in hand and ran the rest of the balls.

first time ever with out cheating. I could not believe it. made one crazy shot, and the rest I set each shot up and they fell.

no more letting the cue ball flail around the table. whitey goes where I tell it to now.

I LOVE THIS GAME OF POOL. GOTTA GO AND HAVE A DRINK TO CELEBRATE.

That's a good feeling. Congrats! Just remember this. In 9-Ball you need to play three balls ahead, that's all. The ball you're shooting at and the next two balls. Play the game like that and you'll be fine for the time being. :thumbup:

P.S. You're already a little ahead of the curve. Typically the first year is all about learning to make balls. The second year is learning to control the cue ball, and the third year is refining both of the above. If you work hard and put in the necessary table time you should be a decent shortstop after three years. Then you can take on the world!

P.P.S. Try to practice with players slightly better than you, but not so much better that you won't get to shoot. A really long competitive session (eight hours plus) one time a week will do wonders for your game! When you're tired your body will find ways to make it easier for you to shoot balls. Don't ask me how that works, but it does.

 

[JoeyInCali]

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[Get_A_Grip]

P.P.S. Try to practice with players slightly better than you, but not so much better that you won't get to shoot. A really long competitive session (eight hours plus) one time a week will do wonders for your game! When you're tired your body will find ways to make it easier for you to shoot balls. Don't ask me how that works, but it does.

This is true. But it's caused me to change my grip and stroke during play. Then, I ended up changing it again later at home.

My advise is to never change anything based on bar table play alone. I've changed grip and stroke that worked fine to make every ball and achieve every leave on a bar table, but then later on my tight 9 foot table, the grip and stroke just wasn't accurate enough to make every type of shot.


_______

 

[ChrisinNC]

That's a good feeling. Congrats! Just remember this. In 9-Ball you need to play three balls ahead, that's all. The ball you're shooting at and the next two balls. Play the game like that and you'll be fine for the time being. :thumbup:

P.S. You're already a little ahead of the curve. Typically the first year is all about learning to make balls. The second year is learning to control the cue ball, and the third year is refining both of the above. If you work hard and put in the necessary table time you should be a decent shortstop after three years. Then you can take on the world!

P.P.S. Try to practice with players slightly better than you, but not so much better that you won't get to shoot. A really long competitive session (eight hours plus) one time a week will do wonders for your game! When you're tired your body will find ways to make it easier for you to shoot balls. Don't ask me how that works, but it does.

Jay, excellent post, particularly regarding expectations and what newer players should realistically be focusing on for the first 2-3 years. I would add that thinking 3 balls ahead (the one you are shooting at plus the next two) for the most part is as far ahead as even higher skill level players need to plan to play rotation games well, except of course in the case of tied up balls.

For players in the first few years of serious play/practice, unless exceptionally naturally gifted, one ball ahead of the ball you are shooting at is generally as far as they can realistically grasp in terms of their positioning planning and skills. It's only when they get a little more table time under their belt that they can start to think and plan for what angle they need to try to leave the cue ball at for the 2nd ball, to be able to make positioning easier to get good shape on the 3rd ball. I've seen many players that have played pool for 10+ years that are never able to get their cue ball control skills refined enough to be able to think more than one ball ahead of the ball they are shooting at, without those thoughts causing them to miss the shot on that first ball.