Teach a boy to shoot pool

9BallPaul

9BallPaul

Banned
My 8-year-old nephew Tony got pretty excited when he saw my new table today.

He claimed to have played before, but showed little evidence of it. Though he's right handed, he prefers to shoot lefty. I saw no reason to argue with him over this. Seems to me whatever feels comfortable is the way to go.

He's 4 feet tall. My cues are three, four and five feet long. He wanted to play with the 3-footer, and I didn't argue there either.

He miscues as often is he makes a clean hit, but he showed some signs of competence and a lot of interest. Says he wants to come back. So, before that happens, I need some guidance here.

Anyone on the board who can help out here? I've taught lots of kids to ski, but pool is of course a very different sport. My other nephews range in age from five to 12. They'll be playing at my place too, because we host a lot of family functions.

Thanks in advance for your suggestions. Suggested reading material also appreciated.
 
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If you want to teach him stuff, you don't want to rush. So you need to take some time, a lot of time. Don't tell him everything. Start with the basics and teach him not more than 2-3 basics stuff every time you see him. For example, teach him to chalk his cue everytime he shot a ball. The next time you see him, you teach him to stay down after everytime he shoot. Just some little easy stuff he can learn. If he is really getting progress and likes the game. Than you can teach him a little higher level basics, like the stance, grip, follow, draw, etc.
 
I would limit the amount of time actually teaching to 10-15 minutes, the attention span is very short and a boy that age just wants to have fun.

I would finish each session with a few minutes of instruction, something to take with him and think about until next time.

Steve
 
I would add that have a few sessions where he does not pocket any object balls.

Tell him the goal is to stroke the cb in the hole...just like putting a golf ball.

You need to get him to focus on stance, bridge and stroke first and there is no point in adding the distraction of attempting to pocket an ob.

Soon, you can start putting hangers in the jaws.

But if he doesn't have his stance, bridge and stroke mechanics down fairly well, then the whole ob aiming process is going to be totally screwed up...so best to just remove that element until he is ready.

Regards,
Jim
 
All of the above are accurate. My son started hitting balls in around 7 years old. At that point I brought a pallet home from work that was the right height so he could develop the proper stance, and not become a "side winder." For 1.5 years he was only allowed to pocket balls directly into the pockets, without a cue ball. I would instruct him for 10 minutes at a time, and then let him pound away.

He is 10 years old now, and his form is perfect. He practices with drills and he also competes in tournaments. He has a high run of 21 balls, NO break shot..............just scattering them around the table.

He plays very well, and controls the cue ball well. Once he started pocketing balls using the cue ball, his first drill was a stop shot drill. This has helped his position play, just learning and looking for the angles.

Keep it slow and keep building up his confidence!!

Good luck!

Mike
 
9BallPaul said:
My 8-year-old nephew got pretty excited when he saw my new table today.

He claimed to have played before, but showed little evidence of it. Though he's right handed, he prefers to shoot lefty. I saw no reason to argue with him over this. Seems to me whatever feels comfortable is the way to go.

He's 4 feet tall. My cues are three, four and five feet long. He wanted to play with the 3-footer, and I didn't argue there either.

He miscues as often is he makes a clean hit, but he showed some signs of competence and a lot of interest. Says he wants to come back. So, before that happens, I need some guidance here.

Anyone on the board who can help out here? I've taught lots of kids to ski, but pool is of course a very different sport. My other nephews range in age from five to 12. They'll be playing at my place too, because we host a lot of family functions.

Thanks in advance for your suggestions. Suggested reading material also appreciated.
Click to expand...

Sounds like your doing pretty good already. Usually the stroke comes on its own accord with repetition. Teaching the proper bridge is a must. Combining these two will result in the miscues becoming less frequent.

The real problem is his height. He is going to have to adapt a Willie Hoppe side arm delivery just to make balls.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?d...=12&start=0&num=10&so=0&type=search&plindex=0

As he gets older he will most likely adapt a more conventional stance. But don't be thrown off if his stance looks like Willie's. Let it be, unless you want to build a shooter deck for him.

A good one to try with short attention spans is this:

One rack of balls you repeatedly spot the object ball fairly close to the corner pocket. He shoots. You give him the cue ball back to respot in roughly the same spot. After the rack is gone leave him to have fun if his attention wavers.

What you are doing is each spot you judge the distance from the object ball to the pocket to make it a better than 50-50 proposition he makes each shot. High percentages of made balls equals accomplishment. Keep it positive.

Keep in mind when you spot balls you can do it in two different fashions. You can slightly change the angles or put it down in the same exact spot. When he has trouble making a ball the spot must be exact. Change it up a little for a challenge later.

During all this you are probably going to be covering something else such as his bridge. That is the main focus of the drill for him. But unknown to him you can gage his accuracy at the same time. When this simple drill is going on his focus should be on one item at a time till it starts looking like he is getting the hang of it. Making a ball is always the rewarding end result he is looking for after the stroke. Just make sure he understands its the byproduct.

The next time he shoots a rack of balls increase the distance from the object ball to the pocket increasing the difficulty factor. Some kids are consumed and will not let you stop. You might be tempted to give boatloads of information but keep it simple so you know he comes away with something.

Progressive shot making works and they don't even have to be aware they are doing it.

My $.02...;)
 

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Get him pool shoes! What never heard of them? Plastic toy buckets about 12x6x6 and get a pair of sandles that fit his feet (cheap ones) cuz now you're going to tape them to the outside of the bottom of the buckets. Instant growth and now you may be able to work on how to hold the stick and stance, impossible to do all this unless he can reach the table.
I did this for my son who just turned 9 cuz I was afraid of raisiing a liitle Keith. This morning he made these 60 shots in 35 minutes.
http://CueTable.com/P/?@1AWHR4PLfk3...each_position_and_both_side_of_the_table.&ZZ@

9ft table 4.5' pockets me spotting the ob and one more thing I forgot to mention, he was using this thing I invented
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJ3gzUggEDM
 
9BallPaul said:
My 8-year-old nephew got pretty excited when he saw my new table today.

He claimed to have played before, but showed little evidence of it. Though he's right handed, he prefers to shoot lefty. I saw no reason to argue with him over this. Seems to me whatever feels comfortable is the way to go.

He's 4 feet tall. My cues are three, four and five feet long. He wanted to play with the 3-footer, and I didn't argue there either.

He miscues as often is he makes a clean hit, but he showed some signs of competence and a lot of interest. Says he wants to come back. So, before that happens, I need some guidance here.

Anyone on the board who can help out here? I've taught lots of kids to ski, but pool is of course a very different sport. My other nephews range in age from five to 12. They'll be playing at my place too, because we host a lot of family functions.

Thanks in advance for your suggestions. Suggested reading material also appreciated.
Click to expand...
I have to agree with Renard,my grandson who just turned 8 shoots with a sidearm stroke due to his short stature,he started at 5 and has steadily improved,i only tell him a little at a time,no drills,i play on master teams,he loves to challenge my teammates,in feb he ran 6 and out in 8 ball after Matt missed the 8 on a runout,he picks up pointers fr them .He loses intrest real fast sometimes,other times he can play for a long time,he will join a kids league this year
 
Interesting stuff, my 9-year old has just started taking an interest, he actually asked me to show him how to play. He can just about make a pendulum stroke but keeps (literally!) flipping back to a side-arm.

One thing I found that got his interest straight away was to setup some frozen dead combos. That way he could hit them almost anywhere at any speed and still make the ball. It also seemed to be a good way to start teaching basic aiming concepts using the ghost-ball concept.

Of course the big problem with Pool and kids is that nothing blows up or gets transformed into a giant killer robot. I think what we need is some Mattel marketing genius to work over the game for the youth market. (Not!)
 
Thanks

All responses much appreciated. Still wondering about cue length, about left-vs.-right issues, and about how hard to push him.

Again, thanks all.
 
9BallPaul said:
All responses much appreciated. Still wondering about cue length, about left-vs.-right issues, and about how hard to push him.

Again, thanks all.
Click to expand...


I would let him do whatever feels natural as far as the lefty righty thing. I'm left-handed and I play pool left handed, golf right handed, throw a baseball left handed, a frisbee right handed, bowl left handed, and wipe my butt right handed. Sounds pretty messed up but I'm probably the most coordinated person I know...
 
av84fun said:
I would add that have a few sessions where he does not pocket any object balls.

Tell him the goal is to stroke the cb in the hole...just like putting a golf ball.

You need to get him to focus on stance, bridge and stroke first and there is no point in adding the distraction of attempting to pocket an ob.

Soon, you can start putting hangers in the jaws.

But if he doesn't have his stance, bridge and stroke mechanics down fairly well, then the whole ob aiming process is going to be totally screwed up...so best to just remove that element until he is ready.

Regards,
Jim
Click to expand...

I dissagree.. given the stature of young children... a workable stance isn't even possible until well into their teens.

I play with my 5 year old son ....once a week we smack some balls around in a quiet environment.... at this point its all about taking turns.. my shot is my turn his shot is his turn....

I have an old fiberglass walmart cue and I let him shoot with just the shaft.. he calls it his cue and I guess it is.....he does chalk before every shot... this is the time to teach that habit LOL


but at this point its all about the motion... watching the balls move..enjoying the sounds.. the click of the balls...


once he is older I plan to teach him the reality of pool... but for now I will teach the love of the game... the sounds and smell of a day out with dad....

if I can get him to love the game now... the rest will come...
 
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I don't know if this is good or bad. My son is 7 and wants to play each time I practice. He holds the cue with both hands on the end, rests the shaft on the table and sights and shoots. I give him ball in hand on every shot, playing 8ball or 9ball, I play banks only. He can run 4 to 5 balls almost every time.
Am I setting up bad habits, he wants to play 3 or 4 games a day, well at least when I am at home. Didn't think I should show him drills yet, or try to change the way he shoots. Thanks.
 
I'm no expert at instruction of kids, but I have many nephews & nieces and friend's kids that like to play when they visit. Because they have trouble bridging, I introduce them to the bridge and line them up for each shot showing them to stroke straight throught the ball and not to hold the cue too tightly. Most want to play a game so I play them 8-ball.

Here are the rules: I play normal 8-ball and when I get to the 8 they select the pocket for me - and I bark at em jokingly while running balls ; ). Of course I help them choose the most difficult pocket to make the 8 so they always get to the table. Next, they do not use the cue ball, they only have to make the ball they choose directly in the pocket and once they select a ball I help them decide the easies pocket and why, and I help them stroke the ball holding the cue with them. When they win (which is often) their faces light up and I make a big deal about it - it's very fun for them and me. Once they get proficient at running the table (including the 8-ball) w/o using the cue ball and without me holding the cue with them, I have them use the cue ball to make the 8 only too make it more challenging. Each day I spend a few minutes showing them the bridge and proper way to hold the cue. So eventually I have them use the bridge less but still no cue ball and I let them make their own selection of shots with a little guidence from me.

As far as length of cue, they have to be able to hold it naturaly without the tip of the cue move upwards. Most that have cues too long have to bridge w/a "V" above the shaft to keep it from floating up to strike the ball. I discourage that right away and explain they need to be able to hold the cue far enough back that the tip wants to lay on the table.

Hope some of this is helpful for you. Also once they can stroke the cue ball fairly straight I set up some very basic trick shots tha can't miss if they hit the 1st ball and they love that as well, especially when they can show their parents/friends.

Dave
 
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If possible show him stuff that will lead to immediate and easily seen improvement... like chalking after every shot or a firm bridge so he doesn't miscue and he will hit the object ball every time. That's success! ... and much more fun. My grandsons don't like too much teaching. They want to play. But I show them something every time we get together.
 
I am right handed and do everything right handed except shoot pool. I dont know why I started shooting left handed when I was younger but I did, Mike Sigel is a very good example of another right hander that shoots left handed.
 
9BallPaul said:
All responses much appreciated. Still wondering about cue length, about left-vs.-right issues, and about how hard to push him.

Again, thanks all.
Click to expand...

Read 12squareds post. Finding a scaled down version cue is possible and might be the only thing I would probably change. The rising tip through the stroke is the sign to look for.

As far as what handed he is don't worry. My Dad was upset when in shooting guns, pool and handwriting I chose lefty. (Everything else righty!) My Grandpa was a lefty so my Dad didn't argue or change that fact. You have to understand the dominant eye is probably playing a little role in a chosen comfort here without their knowledge.
 
I have worked with many children, age 6-12, all over the country. For the younger kids (under 10), I always start out having them just hit balls in the hole, with no CB. They can learn to use a 'fist' bridge very easily. Young kids can easily identify with a "happy face" concept. Teach them to hit the happy face in the nose (centerball) on every shot. Attention span is a huge issue with younger kids. Teach only for a few minutes, and let them spend the rest of the time knocking balls around. A half hour is a long time for a young kid to do any activity (other than video games...LOL). Most important...keep it FUN for them. For kids 10-13, you can start teaching some good quality fundamentals, and shot selection processes. Of course there are exceptions, like Landon Shuffett and Austin Murphy...but most younger kids will not be serious enough to want to learn much. I started my own son out, at about 8; taught him some basics, and taught him a couple of easy trick shots. That was enough to keep him happy and interested, until he became a teenager, and wanted to learn more. There is a great book on teaching kids to play pool, called "Rack'em Daddy". It is out of print, but can be found on Amazon.com and eBay.

Scott Lee
www.poolknowledge.com
 
My son is 14 and still has no interest in playing pool:(

When his friends come over...They all go nuts when they find out there is a pool room in the back of the house.....But he always talks them into doing something else.

My 8 year old daughter on the other hand....as soon as she hears the click of the balls she is back there with cue in hand wanting to play against me......Go figure.

I started both of them out the same way...I set up wired 2 ball combos around the table and let them shoot so they could get the excitment from pocketing a ball...

After they got farily consistent hitting making contact and pocketing the wired combos...I started setting up fewer and fewer...until they just started pocketing balls on thier own..
 
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