Straight Pool strategy for a beginner

thought process

I find myself really having to think much more about taking open balls down first, then playing a nice safe based on available clusters. I have found from experience that shooting the obvious break balls if I don't think I have a good chance to get to them helps a lot, since my opponant will have a lot more trouble linking the next rack together if I do missdicapped league where against an excellent player, I might have to get only 5 balls/rack. My best games, and the ones in which I end up winning take a LONG time! In these games I rarely set up and play for a break ball, rather I like to set up for a last ball that allows me to get position for an excellent safety on the rack.

Its just too often that I either miss position on my break ball, or just plain miss the breakball shot and sell out. The way I play, my oponent never gets anywhere near their high runs and the game is always close. I bet people hate playing me, but I want to win, so this is what I do.

Are you in effect "sandbagging"?:D
 
For a true beginner my best advice would be to pocket balls, watch and learn from your mentor/opponent, then apply what you have learned to your best ability ...

Oh, and I forgot to mention ....... Practice !!!
 
Running balls or playing safety. I'm not sure why, but this seems like a good time to tell the story I heard of a young Mike Sigel asking the legend Irving Crane to play him some straight pool. Mike broke and the Deacon proceeded to run 200 balls and then played a safety. I think there's a moral to the story in there somewhere. ;)
 
My advice to any beginner is to:

1) Master the art of the stop shot.

Minimizing cue ball movement is essential for playing good 14.1.

When I was learning how to play this game, I was only allowed to pocket balls in the two side pockets, and the two corner pockets behind the head spot. My cue ball was not allowed to go past the side pockets.

I was also not allowed to use more than 2 rails to get position on any shot. If i went more than 2 rails - or if my cue ball ended up in the wrong neighborhood, it was the end result of a tactical error I had made along the way. Tactical errors are either due to carelessness, improper planning, or piss poor execution. My penalty was loss of turn.

I was forced to learn, look for, and utilize "connect the dot" patterns. The minimized cue ball movement rewarded me with high percentage shots, and high percentage positioning of the cue ball.

That keeps everything simple, concise, and manageable.

This will reward you with higher runs.

2) Learn to recognize which balls serve a purpose and which balls do not serve a purpose.

Many beginners make the error of just shooting whatever ball looks easiest to knock into the hole. In 14.1, some balls are key balls or set up balls to a particular pattern, or series of patterns. If you carelessly eliminate key balls from those patterns, you will find it very difficult to get from rack to rack.

Just getting out there and knocking balls into the holes won't get you very far. 14.1 is a game that can also be called "Divide and Conquer". Every ball that you shoot will connect you to the next shot. Every successful shot creates an opportunity to take another shot. This means that every ball serves a purpose. Some balls will serve a dual purpose. Watch some tapes of the great players and see how they divide and conquer. Watch how each shot sets them up to clear out other balls, and ultimately set them up on the next break ball.

I hope this info helps you out.
 
Creedo-
Thanks for those great safety examples. Its two years later from the original post in the this thread, and I've sure learned a lot about ball pocketing, pattern play, and safeties. I'm still not a big ball runner, but I have had very good success winning games when I can stay focused. I won my straight pool league two seasons in a row, but then again I was getting better faster than my handicap could go up...

Nice to see you here Eddie - I have devoured your one-pocket books, and put a few of those things to work in straight pool too. You probably don't remember, but you were kind enough to spend some time on the phone with me a few years back, and really helped shaped my straight pool practice strategy. I hope you're posting some of this valuable information up here from time to time.

I won't edit my original post, but I'm definately laughing at some of the ideas I had a few years ago. I rarely shoot down break balls to spite my opponent, and can usually put down more than 5 balls on an open table now. But, I would like to add, that a really well developed safety game goes a long way. And on off nights, I can see safeties that are very tolerant of an erratic stroke. Its often been enough to put my opponent off, or get back to the table with a nice open pattern and get my stroke back together.

So, this thread has morphed towards a discussion of safety play, and that is great because that was the original intent even though the thread title is misleading. Thanks for all your contributions, and keep them coming if you want.

Jon
 
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