Straight-pool is so much more fun to practice than 9-ball.

[ukpooladdict]

14.1 is good for practise if you play by yourself i have only just starting playing 14.1 i personally think playing all games improves my game...my practise routine starts by doing line up's and drills for about half hour to an hour, then play staright pool starting with a break ball play to 150 if i miss i carry on(my high run 59), then play some 9-ball ghost race to 5 best of 5 sets(the hard ghost one point for running the rack half a point if i have to take BIH after the break), then i play 10 racks of 10-ball adding up how many balls i have made then 10-ball ghost...thats takes me up to about 4/5 hours...

 

[suckershot]

Welcome to the club. I suck at it, but agree that it is much more fun.

I second that. I'm no good at it, but I like playing it nonetheless. I swapped out APA 9-ball night for a low-level straight pool league, and although it can be frustrating when you get your butt kicked, overall I think it is better.

14.1 is also what I practice when I'm not playing anyone. I think the overall value of practicing 14.1 is greater than the value of practicing any other game by yourself. Don't get me wrong, I like all the games, but if I'm practicing alone, I enjoy the challenge of 14.1 better.

 

[suckershot]

I love 14.1, but it's hard to find people who want to play it. It's great as an 8 ball exercise, breakouts, pattern challenges, small and precise cue ball movements, gentle touch shots, etc....

I don't find that it does much for my 9 ball game though. If I'm shooting 14.1 well, I usually don't have to shot nearly as many long shots, thin cuts, or position shots that require 2 or more rails for my next position and if I'm shooting 14.1 poorly, I probably wouldn't do all that well on those kinds of shots anyway.

I agree on both counts. I think it's excellent for 8-ball. I really believe it's made my 8-ball game much better. Obviously, I don't have any real tangible evidence to back that up, but I know I feel light years more confident playing 8-ball than before I played 14.1.

It might not do much for your 9-ball game overall, I agree. There tends to be much more cue ball movement in 9-ball than 14.1 (at least if you're playing 14.1 correctly). But I think there is great value to your overall game if you really try to play 14.1 and get something out of it.

 

[mantis99]

14.1 is a great game, but I simply love 9 ball. I practiced 14.1 for a little while, but when I went back to 9 ball, I found that my longer shots suffered some. I took much shorter shots in 14.1, and became somewhat out of practice for the longer shots. I did not like that!

 

[LoReNz]

it really is fun to practice straight pool... but i think rotation is more fun.. it gets frustrating though!!!lol. practicing along with 15 balls on the table gives u more ideas....