Teaching children to play the game

[berko]

I got an 8 yr old boy who likes to sit and play video games.

I have been trying to get him to play pool with me, but he hasn't really seemed interested.

So, being the excellent parent I am, I told him last week that if he wants to keep playing his video games he has to learn how to play pool.

Ive been trying to keep it fun and easy so I've got him hitting a straight in shot with tne cb near one side pocket and the ob near the other and having him practice his stroke by hitting into the rail and trying to get the cb back to the cue tip.

So far he seems into it, which has me excited.


Anybody got any advice, drills, experience for fostering a kid's love and appreciation for the game?

 

[De$action]

Childrens

Make sure he does well in school I can't stress this enough!!! Pool has a tendency to take a lot of time and almost become obsessive when it really catches interest. A good drill that my father used to setup when I was younger is let him shoot some balls straight into the pocket with no cue ball, it will help him visualize making the balls. Once again school before pool, for most of us there is no future in pool, that's why school is so important. I've seen too many guys quit school and give pool there all and it has been heartbreaking to see the way it turns out for some of them.

 

[Mark Griffin]

Teaching kids to play pool

Berko,

That is great the your son as the opportunity to learn the game!

CSI will be rolling out something soon (September) - that you and all others kids and parents should love.

And it is all about the kids.

Mark Griffin

 

[Island Drive]

I got an 8 yr old boy who likes to sit and play video games.

I have been trying to get him to play pool with me, but he hasn't really seemed interested.

So, being the excellent parent I am, I told him last week that if he wants to keep playing his video games he has to learn how to play pool.

Ive been trying to keep it fun and easy so I've got him hitting a straight in shot with tne cb near one side pocket and the ob near the other and having him practice his stroke by hitting into the rail and trying to get the cb back to the cue tip.

So far he seems into it, which has me excited.



Anybody got any advice, drills, experience for fostering a kid's love and appreciation for the game?

Let him invite some friends over.

 

[Bishop]

I gave my son a pattern. Six balls numbered from 1-6 all dead center in each pocket. He goes in numerical order. 1 in the corner, 2 in the side, 3 in the corner, then the other side, 4 in the corner, 5 in the side and 6 in the corner.

There's probably a better way but most kids like counting things and he'll look to see how many he can get in a row. Not a hard drill and to a certain extent it teaches them to leave shape for the next shot.

We turned it into a contest. Not all kids are competitive but we've had mine in sports since he was 4 so he responds nicely to any challenge. He got a nice reward for getting though all six without missing. Then promptly challenged all his friends and cousins to duplicate. Worked out well. Other than we no longer have a table.

Once he got good at that, I moved two of the balls to the first diamond. So had to run the rail on two of them. That's where we left off.

 

[Cuebuddy]

I got an 8 yr old boy who likes to sit and play video games.

I have been trying to get him to play pool with me, but he hasn't really seemed interested.

So, being the excellent parent I am, I told him last week that if he wants to keep playing his video games he has to learn how to play pool.

Ive been trying to keep it fun and easy so I've got him hitting a straight in shot with tne cb near one side pocket and the ob near the other and having him practice his stroke by hitting into the rail and trying to get the cb back to the cue tip.

So far he seems into it, which has me excited.


Anybody got any advice, drills, experience for fostering a kid's love and appreciation for the game?

Berko that's a tough one. Pitting the ancient game of pool against the modern video games is not fair....I know having raised two boys that are now in college.
There has been good suggestions already on this thread. Having friends over can really work well down the road apiece. My two boys had jobs and played all the sports not to mention were at the top of their class but still had time for some video games and pool. I did the same as you are thinking, they had to play both or nothing.

One of the things that helped keep their interest high was to have them watch matches with the top pros so they got to recognize the players and get to know them a little. Then when its time for the Mosconi cup we would watch it together.

We also do a fair bit of traveling and I would make it a point to take them to the more famous pool halls in the areas we were in.

Buying them their own equipment at Christmas was something they liked and it helped get them on the table more to try it out.

Now they both have tables at their Frat houses and are getting to the campus pool room on their own.

This pick is several years ago. The pic after is of their campus pool room.

 

[Tramp Steamer]

Good God, man, do you want him to turn out like us? Camped in front of a computer screen trying to think of witty things to say like I'm doing now.
And unsuccessfully, I might add.

Keep up the good work. Trust me. The family that plays together, stays together. :smile:

 

[berko]

Congrats, you've made pool a chore, virtually guaranteeing that he will hate the game.

dld

I'd rather he hate the game than be a jaded player who never has anything good to say about anything.


Oh, and did you read the part where I said so far he is into it?