Teaching a child to play

metallicane

metallicane

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
My 5 year old son has picked up my jump cue and is using it like a regular cue. He is making balls like its fun. Long shots, short shots, rail shots etc..., but they are all straight shots. He always picks up the cue ball and moves it. My question is do I stop him from doing that now and teach him the rules or just let him have fun and let him learn the rules eventually? When do you try to teach versus let him have fun?
 
I'd say let the kid have fun with it. I tried the rules approach with my oldest son a few years ago... didn't go so well.

Now we just have fun with it. Much better results.
 
For the time being just let him have fun. And, since kids are such great mimikers let him watch when you play. As for some type of formal instruction I'd say just wait and see how this deal plays out.
I know I spent quite a bit of money trying to teach my second wife how to cook, clean, and stay home in the evenings. Never did work. :smile:
 
It's ALL about fun!!!!! Why even consider making it about anything other than fun???? I don't understand. IMO YOU really need to look inside yourself and see why this question would even come up (esp. @ this age). I don't mean to sound harsh in any way, but every once in a while we ALL come up against issues that make us rethink how and why we think the way we do.

FWIW, my daughter sees me play (practice) by myself all the time, and the expectations I have from myself. They learn from watching as much or more than what you teach them purposefully IMO. My daughter already knows the love/hate that pool can be just from observing. When I play with her.... she gets ball in hand on every shot... that's my handicap.

Again.... it's ALL about fun! There's many years ahead for the rules, the anguish (if they stick with the game), and competition. Hope I'm being helpful here and not provocative.

td
 
Definitely let the boy have fun right now. His interest will grow and so will the desire to improve. Someday he will ask you how to do this or that...then teach him. I believe 5 is too soon to try to talk rules with him. It's not too early for him to play but you need to keep it fun. Don't get too technical yet...it will bore him and frustrate him, then he'll find something else to do, like video games :frown:. Keep him on the green :grin:. When he gets a little older, teach him some basic games like 8-ball, but don't throw the rules (like hitting a rail after hitting his object ball) at him until he has a good working knowledge of the game.

I taught my boys to play Last Ball (I think I invented that game for them)...whoever makes the last ball wins. It gave me a little practice shooting while at the same time it taught them the discipline to wait for their turn...and of course they won a few games too.

Anyway, that's my opinion, it's the way I taught my sons and they didn't turn out too bad.

Have fun with your boy.

L8R...Ken
 
I'd get a real stick for him, although at 5, even a kid size stick may be too big. If your jump stick has a non-leather tip that is. Or convert a jump stick to a leather tip. My 5 yr old girl has been going up to my son's league with us and is having a blast, she shoots with just a shaft from an old Action kid stick my son used. She has a tough time holding the stick to shoot due to the weight of the butt end, even though the shaft is a bit too small and light also.

You may want to explain some rules to him, but don't try to actually stop him from playing around his way. The reason you want to go over the rules now, if he plays for a while as is, and then you or someone else tries to teach him a different thing (like, you can't move the ball, or you need to hit this ball first), he'll be liable to get stubborn, angry, etc...

If he at least knows that there are "real" rules when he starts, it will be easier to transition into playing the right way.
 
metallicane said:
My 5 year old son has picked up my jump cue and is using it like a regular cue. He is making balls like its fun. Long shots, short shots, rail shots etc..., but they are all straight shots. He always picks up the cue ball and moves it. My question is do I stop him from doing that now and teach him the rules or just let him have fun and let him learn the rules eventually? When do you try to teach versus let him have fun?
Click to expand...

I'd say let him shoot around then ask him if he can make this shot and set up some angle shot. If he misses ask if he wants to try again, if not then don't force it just say "ok, how about this one?" and set up another straight in shot.

At this point you would want to keep him interested in the game. It also depends on the child whether or not you want to go into the rules. I remember when I was 4 I started playing "go fish" with my grandma and at age 7 I was playing rummy with my uncles. So a few years can mean a world of difference around that age.

Whatever you decide to do be happy that he is using a cue, my cousin who was around 5 when he wanted to play got frustrated he couldn't use the short cue and started rolling the ball with his hand lol
 
I agree with the others to table the rules for now. Just making balls at age 5 is quite good. My 5 yr old daughter just tries to shoot the balls straight into the pockets without the cue ball. She's too big to sit on the table any more, but too short to stand on the floor and reach the table, so I'll have to make her some sort of stool. It's said that Keith McCreedy got his side-arm stroke from learning pool when he was too short to extend his forearm down to the floor, and he just kept that stroke into adulthood.

I also wanted to mention that Alen Hopkins wife Dawn, wrote a small book that they sell, on teaching children the game of pool. I haven't read it, but it sounds interesting. Here is a link.
 
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my 6 year old is starting to play now to. We got him a mini one piece cue he loves to carry around. the only thing i work with on him is a good bridge and making sure he takes his slow, straight practice strokes.

after that, i pretty much let him do whatever he wants, move the ball, shoot over and over...whatever. i don't correct him on aim or anything like that for now. just let him have fun
 
Take the child to a pool hall and see how it goes, sometimes its the real thing, sometimes its something else.
 
Thanks for the insights. He does have a leather tip on the shaft. He is having fun and I am amazed at how good his bridge is and that he can make long straight shots. I will just keep it going and every now and then throw in a different shot and ask is he can make it. It is great that he even wants to hang with his old man.
 
I agree with the previous posts of just let him have fun. It's what I'm working on with my daughter.
 
You could always set up a 2 ball easy out and "challenge" him in a fun way to see if he can make them both without moving the cue ball.

If he enjoys that, he will eventually be ready for the next challenge, like a 3 ball out.
 
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