The secret to being great at pool

poolplayer2093 said:
i thought that was goig to be a video of you playing. post up some 14.1 videos and i'll tell you what you're doing wrong/wright. i play great from behind this keyboard
Click to expand...

Heh heh.....Sorry, I won't post video. :thud:

I used to post video for analysis and help on a ski website, and most of what I got was information over my head or too advanced for my skill level, people who want to argue over technical points with each other, or some jackass who just cuts you up for spite because he/she thinks you should be better than what you are or you should just quit skiing altogether if you aren't in the trees in powder so deep you need a snorkel.

:banghead:

Not much of it was very helpful and I don't do that anymore.

But I read what you write. I watch better shooters.....pro and local......and I practice, practice, practice with shooters better than me. I have an extreme passion for this game. I may not have the innate talent that people like Efren and Jasmin have, but that doesn't mean I can't keep improving or love pool any less than they do.:D
 
Last edited:
skiergirl55 said:
Heh heh.....Sorry, I won't post video. :thud:

I used to post video for analysis and help on a ski website, and most of what I got was information over my head or too advanced for my skill level, people who want to argue over technical points with each other, or some jackass who just cuts you up for spite because he/she thinks you should be better than what you are or you should just quit skiing altogether if you aren't in the trees in powder so deep you need a snorkel.

:banghead:

Not much of it was very helpful and I don't do that anymore.

But I read what you write. I watch better shooters.....pro and local......and I practice, practice, practice with shooters better than me. I have an extreme passion for this game. I may not have the innate talent that people like Efren and Jasmin have, but that doesn't mean I can't keep improving or love pool any less than they do.:D
Click to expand...

(Sorry for the momentary hijack)

I know it's been said in other threads before, but I gotta say I love that cat in your avatar. If that's a legit picture, that is one bad-ass cat. Certainly not one I'd wanna tangle with... :yes:

(You may now return to your regularly scheduled programming.)
 
The first thing I tell people that come to me for lessons is:

I can't make you a world champion, That can only be done by you.

The next thing i tell them is the best way to improve your game is to improve your fundamentals. I concentrate on pocketing balls at this point. I explain the importance of making shots. I tell them: "If you miss a shot your next position is sitting in your chair."

Players under-estimate the importance of staying at the table. They blow shots trying to get position. If the position isn't there you need to either make the shot and play safe of play safe at this point. Sometimes common sense can raise your game a level.

Then I tell them the easiest way to know your getting better. Pick a player that's a little better than you and make it your goal to beat them until they quit playing you. Then move on to another player, just a little bit better, and repeat the process.

Just a few things that, I think, can improve your game.

__________________________________________

http://tommcgonaglerightoncue.com

2010 BCAPL Eight-ball Senior Champion
 
skiergirl55 said:
But I read what you write. I watch better shooters.....pro and local......and I practice, practice, practice with shooters better than me. I have an extreme passion for this game. I may not have the innate talent that people like Efren and Jasmin have, but that doesn't mean I can't keep improving or love pool any less than they do.:D
Click to expand...


Skier, please don't use the term 'innate talent'. It smacks of genetic pre-dispositioning which could start another forum war lasting hundreds of years and costing millions of lives. Keep practicing, keep playing, and keep going to tournaments. That's the best recipe for getting as good as you can be.
Hey, I got a brochure awhile back from the Sonny Bono School of Ski Instruction. Are they any good? :)
 
tom mcgonagle said:
Then I tell them the easiest way to know your getting better. Pick a player that's a little better than you and make it your goal to beat them until they quit playing you. Then move on to another player, just a little bit better, and repeat the process.
Click to expand...

This is starting to happen to me! I'm playing the same people each week and where I used to lose every game, now I'm winning more than half of them. I consider that success.

Tramp, duly noted. I shall not err again.

I heard that a letter was sent to the local papers after Sonny Bono and Michael Kennedy died from their ski accidents. It went something like this:

"sToP lOgGiNg NoW oR wE wIlL kIlL oNe Of YoU eAcH wEeK."
sIgNeD, tHe TrEeS
 
semi-masse

336Robin said:
Shooting Arts,
You have really shown some depth with your last post. I am not sure just where to start as I have to remember all of your words to reply but essentially you touched on a lot of areas and youre exactly right.

On low deflection shafts I have some questions in my mind because of something a really good player told me re: His own experiences and that was where he used a lot of semi masse in his game on safeties and such he said he had problems with that because their was less deflection and the shaft imparted what he called "less effect" for those shots.

As a result of his comments I have remained a traditionalist and aim fine with that but when I get a long shot and I know I have to key up some serious outside English I occasionally wish my allowance was a tad smaller and that is no lie.

I have found a reduction of that is possible with a good stroke and less speed and with a tinier shaft a little less yet.

Possibly a smaller ferrule would help as well but Im a 13mm guy because the shaft suits my hand better. So I guess I just need to live with it.

Great Post Man--depth--gotta love it.

336robin:thumbup:
Click to expand...

The player is absolutely right. However the thing about semi-masse is that if you need more and you can't go further out on the cue ball you can actually hit closer to center on the cue ball so you don't miscue and raise the butt a few inches higher. No fix for full masse shots but it's just an adjustment for semi-masse or that is what I have found and I use it a good bit myself. The key is the line of force through the cue ball and where it is in relation to the contact patch on the table.

Hu
 
that's quite a slap

MN Kid said:
Agreed but he's got twice those values mentioned as the one in yours. :rotflmao1: :rotflmao1:

Respectfully,
RG
Click to expand...


RG,

I have to say that is quite a slap to add "respectfully" on the end of it. Very obvious for a handful of reasons that you don't know me. One reason is that is the picture of me from my pari-mutuel horse owner's license in my avatar.

Hu
 
I can not begin to estimate how many balls I have hit in the last 20 yrs,owning a table for 15 of those years.I have bought countless dvd and vhs tapes.I have been to more pro events than I can count and competed in quite a few.And I can tell you that I am not pro.With a special gift from God this process may get you there.I have worked hard at my game for years on end and thats still not good enough to be titled a professional.I have just in the last 6 months got my game to start moving up the ladder again.I have done everything good for a long time(jump,kick,break and so on)but have been stalled for a while,still winning and being a threat to beat anyone in a set,but still more than not, getting out of line and missing balls.So for me I have been that route and am up for something different Good Luck to ALL Peteypooldude
 
Last edited:
Tramp Steamer said:
Do they monogramme the underwear to? I know mine are all marked. :wink:
Click to expand...

I don't know about that, but if I had to guess, APA could save money on the monogramming by eliminating the "P" and let the player's own... umm... "rear end attribute" provide it:

( A p A )

What say ye? :p
-Sean
 
sfleinen said:
I don't know about that, but if I had to guess, APA could save money on the monogramming by eliminating the "P" and let the player's own... umm... "rear end attribute" provide it:

( A p A )

What say ye? :p
-Sean
Click to expand...


I've been quietly sitting here for thirty-five minutes, trying to come up with something, but I've drawn a blank. Oh my God, the Tramster can't think of anything to say. Hold the phone, stop the presses. Somebody write down the day and the time. This has never happened before. I think I'm gonna be s...
 
This is the best tip ever!!!!

Spimp13 said:
Want to be great at pool? Don't get married or have a life outside of pool. The end.
Click to expand...
pool was my first love..i got really good at 18 when i started playing in the
bars for money..of course i was also married and had a kid on the way
the same year..then when the kid came and the job got all the attention with
all the overtime i could get to buy my familiy what it needed..there went my
game...playing on sat and sundays just wasnt getting it..started to play the
pool halls for action..man that was tough..first ass kicking was by Howard
Vickery..dropped about 150 bucks to him..i didn't know about deflection and
all that shit..on the 9 foot tables i was getting my ass kicked..then Kenny
McCoy kicked my ass..finally after about 2 months of play and several hundred dollars later..with the lack of time to play..and lower level of players
who gambled just wasn't there..i quit the halls and went back to playing the
bars on fri and saturday nights..if i could have played all day like those guys
i too could have been great..it boils down to time passion and knowledge..
this was 1970 and by 1977 i had 2 more kids..my dream of being great was
gone..started back playing about 1982..now there was no bar action anywhere i went..no one would even play for a beer!!!...played about a year..
this was after a divorce which now i got my kids on weekends..so kinda
screwed again with any week end action at the bars..so i quit again..now i
am 57 years old and my game is returning..now retired so i can play 20-30
hours a week..getting ready for my first money game with a local..also got
nice equipment now with LD shafts..it boils down to practice with some knowledge of the game and a great desire to be great..but man you hit it
right on the head why most don't become great at this great game...
 
mullyman said:
Ok, I'm going to let the secret out. If you want to be a great player this is what you'll need.

1) Hand/eye coordination
2) Determination to improve
3) Lots and lots of practice

Forget all these cockamamey systems, low deflection shafts, shorter ferrules, layered tips, etc... etc... If you want to play better you have to work at it. The truly great players have something that we don't, and it sure as he'll isn't some secret system.
MULLY
Wish I had it
Click to expand...

Well, I certainly agree that no one will ever become a great player without these things.

However, I think you have to keep these things and equipment separate. Equipment can and does improve the level of play. If you think that it doesn't, just try playing without chalk for a while!

Granted, just buying an LD shaft won't typically provide an immediate substantial improvement to your game, but technology does improve play by making difficult things easier to achieve by greater masses of people.


Soonerfan
 
While I agree with the OP I think that he missed one here. Seems to me (that means I am not going to go and get the proof for my next statement) that nearly all of the great artists such as Michelangelo and others of his stature continued to research and study their chosen professions throughout their lives. The truly great in any creative way of expressing one’s self stay on top of their field and are continually looking for ways to improve. Whether its Efren watching the amateurs or Earl with elbow weights, the truly great never stop looking for a better way.
 
For sure !!!!

Tramp Steamer said:
There is a littany of items one needs to reach the top in the cue sports.
1. An aiming system (preferably CTE).
2. A self-hypnosis cd.
3. A Kamui soft tip.
4. The correct DNA.
5. A low deflection shaft.
6. On a $1000 butt.
7. Ball cleaner.
These items should get a dedicated player headed in the right direction. :)
Click to expand...

Absolutely, 100% correct...(except for item's 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, and 7)
 
SJDinPHX said:
Absolutely, 100% correct...(except for item's 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, and 7)
Click to expand...

So great players are born to play, it is all DNA???? Others need not apply or even get started. I disagree, many a great player was beaten on repeatadly coming up and were not great at the time, did they have a DNA change. Or did they hit some balls (like a million plus), pay tons of attention to everything they did, analyze make changes, WORK repeat until they could beat all of those that got in there way.

Another thing I have seen when players are coming up and become great many of them run with other great players learn from them, are coached by them are psychologically enhanced by them etc. These older player pass on the knowledge and also they tell the upcoming player that they see greatness in them. Frequently great players come up around other great players.

When a great player is in the box they draw from lots of experience. All of the balls they have hit, the matches won, bigs runs from the past, shots they have seen, packages and comebacks etc. They know the work they have put in to their game. They also can draw off the mental skills they have built, what they know about flow of the match, conserving energy, staying calm, dealing with being in a tough situation and coming with the right shot, staying centered and one shot at a time. They do not miss shots and rarely miss position, I know everyone misses but great players when they have it going on, can go for long periods of time without missing. They control the game leaving an inning on their terms not due to a mistake.

Another thing great players do is they play within themselves and they have their own game no matter who they are playing. Many B and some A players do not bring their game when they get in the deep water playing a big name player (in their mind) but they play great alone or with weaker players.

Or if I am wrong it is all DNA.
 
Last edited:
after you know most of the shots and moves then the real secret that nobody really wants to admit is that you have to focus so much that it isn't even close to being fun anymore
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top