Sparkle84,
Which shot(s) were you talking about? Which shot would you have selected instead and why?
Thanks,
Andy
Shot selection is dictated by goals. Goals are dictated by problems. Solving problems early and efficiently will lead to good shot selection. Other than not missing it's the most important thing in this game.
Let's skip the first 2 racks because they were extremely easy and most good players could get through them in spite of poor shot selection. The 3rd rack was also fairly easy (very few problems), yet you had trouble with it.
If you evaluate that rack immediately after the break it's obvious the only small problem was the cluster in the rack area. In some racks the 15 could be a problem but not here because of the position of the 12. The evaluation should also note that the 10 is an excellent break shot and the 2 is a great key ball. The 2 should not be removed unless absolutely necessary. The 5 is an excellent ball to break the small cluster, mainly because you'd be breaking the balls away from your breakshot. But what's required to do that? You'd want to remove the 9 because it appears to block the 5 (or is tight going by) and then have to shoot 2 or 3 more balls to get over on the other side and break with the 5.
Nothing wrong with that and I suspect a lot of good players might do just that. I might have done that but probably wouldn't. I'm looking for the quickest, easiest way to separate those balls. In that case the 1 becomes the obvious choice. Getting the CB 8-10" above the 9 on the first shot would be my goal. Via either the combination you shot or the 3 and going 2 rails around the 9. Easy to execute almost every time but let's say I got a little bit of a bad angle on the 1. I now have the 9,12,15 or a couple of those to get back where I'd like to be.
Now I can shoot the 1 and go up into the 6 gently and spread those balls out a little bit. Again, very easy to execute and all kinds of insurance. Two things to note here. I could mishit the shot badly and move the 10 or have a couple balls tied up with each other. I'm not really too concerned about that. I'd still have 12 balls to work with, 6 of which are in close proximity to each other and are around the rack area. One of which could serve as a good break ball or be moved into position very easily.
Some people would contend that shooting a few balls in and getting on the 5 is the best choice and I won't disagree, it's a very good choice. I just like to go the quickest route possible without creating more problems than existed beforehand. I like breaking with the 1 with this particular situation. A bigger cluster or slightly different lay of balls and the 5 would have been my preference. Of course there's other ways of going about it but IMO none of them would afford the same degree of efficiency and control as those 2 choices.
This was rather long and drawn out but I'm trying to illustrate that evaluating the problems and searching out a quick easy way to deal with them will often lead to more correct shot and position selection. Emphasis on quick because many racks have multiple difficult problems and without efficient solutions you'll quickly find yourself backed into a corner from which there's no escape.
The 4th and 5th racks are also good examples of where better shot selection would have paid big dividends. A couple minutes examining problems and setting goals to deal with them probably would have led you to a different choice of shots +/or position.
There's a lot of talk on here about clearing pockets, taking balls off rails, getting balls uptable, etc.. All good advice in general but if doing those things is not solving problems as you go then it becomes bad advice. Doing those things is usually helping to solve problems, but not always. If you start with the problems and the solutions to them then most likely those above mentioned rules of thumb will be an integral part of the process automatically. Accomplishing multiple objectives with one shot is another key to good straight pool.
There's also a lot of emphasis on end patterns. Books and videos, etc.. Again good advice and very important. But maybe not the most important thing. Decisions in early and mid rack will lead to good, easy foolproof end patterns. Bad decisions won't. The balls comprising that easy end pattern will no longer be on the table or will be in different positions.
Not trying to be critical here, as I said you've got the tools, no question about that. Just need to change your thought process some and maintain finer position and better angles and you should be running a lot of balls.
