Safety Play

Cdryden

Cdryden

Pool Addict
Silver Member
I have come to a point in my game were it has become vitial that I improve on my safety play. I have reached a level were the guys I'm playing are all good shots and the ones that are beating me consitantly are not really better offensively, they just have a better defensive game than I do. My defense is not really awful but I am having a hard time picking out the correct defensive shot and more importantly knowing when to switch from making a ball to playing a safe.

So my question is what games and drills can I do to improve my situation. I would love to play one pocket more but I don't have anyone around that I can play daily. Most of my practice is at home by myself. I typically practice 2-3 hours every day and become very serious about improving my game.

Thank you for your time,
C
 
Same boat!

I have trouble with safety play too. For me there seems to be 3 key issues with safety play: seeing the opportunity for a safety, executing the safety EFFECTIVELY and having the confidence to try the safety. I'm starting to see the safeties more now, however I really suck at them so I tend to shy away from them during times when it counts. If I'm just messing around or playing with my usually opponents for fun, I'll go ahead and give it a try, but during tournaments and such I'm afraid of not executing them properly and either fouling or leaving my opponent a good shot.

I've heard of playing 9-ball/rotation where you have to play a safety on every shot.... but I don't know the rest of the rules? Is it: you can only pocket a ball if given ball in hand? Or: even after pocketing a ball you have to leave your opponenent stuck?

I also watched a video on safety play, but sorry, I don't remember who it was (Beard?? Does that sound right?). But it was interesting and informative and more importantly it pumped me up to ATTEMPT more safeties.

And thanks for the advice Neil.
 
Thanks Neil and thank you speakers, now I don't feel like the only one thats safety play retarded! I'm sure there is others out there that feel the same way but they don't want to admit that part of thier game is weak.

As far as the 9 Ball/rotation game is concerned I don't but I would like to learn more about it.

C
 
safety

think about it,
if your at the table and need to play a safety,
look at the table and imagine yourself in your opponents place,
where on the table is the worst place for him to shoot from put be cue ball there.

some of those places are on rails, next to balls and awkward angles.

is there some easy way to hit your ball and let it roll to that place?
shoot the safe that is easiest to accomplish not necessarly the best safety.

also, you must be willing to hit the ball 'easy' not hard, a rolling cue ball can be a mistake.
learn to hit the ball soft, so soft that if you make a mistake its because you hit the ball too soft, not too hard.
needing to understand the soft shot.

seeing carom angles off balls so you can accurately come off a ball and put the cue ball in a different loaction.

all this being said, play one pocket alot!!!


dennis
 
Cdryden said:
I have come to a point in my game were it has become vitial that I improve on my safety play. I have reached a level were the guys I'm playing are all good shots and the ones that are beating me consitantly are not really better offensively, they just have a better defensive game than I do. My defense is not really awful but I am having a hard time picking out the correct defensive shot and more importantly knowing when to switch from making a ball to playing a safe.

C
Click to expand...

When I first started playing, I would win about 50% of my league matches. After I started working on my defensive game, that percentage jumped to about 80%. It was ESPECIALY effective when playing someone else who was weak at saftey play. In fact, shooting a good saftey is more rewarding to me than sinking the 9.
 
vicdotcom said:
... In fact, shooting a good saftey is more rewarding to me than sinking the 9.
Click to expand...
I agree. WHen you play a good safety, it will often break the spirit of an opponent. Not so much in the upper class of players, but for us humans, yes.
 
Cdryden said:
My defense is not really awful but I am having a hard time picking out the correct defensive shot and more importantly knowing when to switch from making a ball to playing a safe.
Click to expand...

In addition to practice and some of the drills mentioned I'd offer this:

To aid in picking out the correct shot I suggest really thinking the shot through to the final position of the balls. How many times have you thought to yourself something like "I'll send the object ball down there and leave the cue ball behind these balls" - and you accomplish the task satisfactorily but the result isn't good. That's when you mumble to yourself "I did what I wanted to do, why didn't I foresee that's what would happen?" Visualize the resulting position to determine if it's a good play.

One tip I might offer in helping to know when to play safe or go for the shot is to be very, very honest with yourself about your ability to make the shot in front of you. This can be tough. Too often we take the shot because it is one we should or can make, not because it is a shot we will make. Look how the pros play, they are always weighing the percentages. Say they face a shot that they figure they will make 70% of the time. If they also figure that their opponent will run out 90% of the time if they miss the shot - and there is an effective safety available - they will very often play the safety.

One last thought - practice playing the 9-ball ghost and incorporate safety play into the game against "Casper". There are several ways to do this and it will definitely help because it will tend to get you thinking more about the safety option on every shot. When you know you lose the game if you miss and a successful safety will keep you alive in the game, you will more often choose the safety. Maybe not all the time but you will be incorporating the thought into the process.

Hope this helps.
 
Safety play can be very demoralizing to your oppenent. Since my shotmaking ablity has gone up, I was going away from defense and going for run outs. There's quite a few good players around here and I figured I could play runout pool with them. But if I didn't get out and was playing against a good player, I'd lose. Just in the last week or so I've went back to defense and use the offense as I see it.
Last week in league play, I proceeded to win all my games and pissed one guy off terribly. Friday went to a tournament (8 ball), played against a guy who's been playing a long time, played defense ( even when I had open shots, but clusters other places) until it was time to run out and did. The next rack broke and ran out. He was pissed saying things like when I was running out, that I thought you were going to play safe then to.
A good safety is the nuts.
 
When I play my dad, I use safety play a lot. He gets so pissed and says that it's chicken shit pool. I tell him, "Do what you have to. To win."


Safety shots are all about knowing how to carom the ball and speed. Test the table out by lagging multiple times in a row until you can get the ball to stop consistently in spots that you pick out. This is what gets me prepared for a good match.

I already know i'm a decent shooter. But the table will beat you every time if you aren't properly acquainted with it.

If you want to get really good at pool, try to play carom pool. This will develop your safety skills quickly and effectively. You know where you want the cue ball to go, now it's your job to get it there.
 
the only advice I have is more for two players, but if you are very disciplined, you can try it alone. You play 9 ball, but the only way you can win a game is to 3 foul your opponent (or yourself and an imaginary opponent). If the 9 ball ball drops you just rack and continue, like I said you can't win unless you 3 foul. You can also play a quicker version with a 2 foul loss. It also helps you remind your opponents when they are on 2 fouls, which I see sooooo many people forget all the time.
 
When you have decided to play a Safety, here is an excerpt from my book "Safety Toolbox" on determining when to play a Safety or Offensive shot.


Shot percentages
A shot percentage is the number of times in which you can make a shot in ten tries. A 50% shot means you can make it five times out of ten. It is a useful way to determine whether the shot is being made within your Comfort Zone (80%+) or creeping into your Chaos Zone (less than 70%).

Factors that affect your assignment of a percentage are:

  • Game circumstances - a casual game offers a different percentage value than money or tournament situations.
  • Emotional state - a positive attitude does better.
  • Physical condition - the percentages are better when you are in good shape, and less so when tired.
  • Game flow - the minor tides of multiple ball runs versus bad rolls.

For example, on a practice table, a shot can be a 60% (6 out of 10) shot. In a tournament under pressure, it might well be a 30% shot. And, during the end game, a miss means a loss of the game.

When presented with a shot that, on a good day is a 50% shot, try to play it as a Two way shot. If you make it, continue with your pattern. If missed, you don't leave much.

Percentages also apply to multiple ball run situations. A two or three ball run out to a win has a higher percentage of success than a five or six ball spread, no matter how simple the layout. When determining your chances, don't forget to include your Balls Per Inning average.

How do you assign a truthful percentage to a shot? When you start using the assignment process to evaluate your chances, you have only your past experience to work with. Stop and look at the layout and think - "If I were to set this up on my practice table and shoot it 20 times, how often would I actually and really be able to make it?"

When you first begin with this technique, be more pessimistic in your estimation.
 
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