The single thing that would most improve your pool game

Playing the amount I used to when I wasn't married and was 24-25 years old. Now I see less then 2 hours a week.
 
BillPorter said:
A couple of years ago I asked AZBers to single out the ONE IDEA that would most improve your pool game and they came up with a couple of dozen candidates. I narrowed those suggestions down to the eight you see below.

1. BE STILL over the shot, with as little movement of the head and body as possible.
2. STAY DOWN on the shot ? Jimmy Reid once said he could tell who the good players were in a pool hall within a few minutes of entering the room. He said all he had to do was watch to see which players stayed down on their shots. Watching the cue ball contact the object ball is a good way to work on staying down on the shot as you stay down to watch the cue ball on its path to the object ball. This one is similar to #1, but deserves its own slot.
3. Treat EVERY SHOT with the same respect. "I quit missing those shots when I came to the realization that there is no such thing as an easy shot." (Luther "Wimpy" Lassiter)
4. Have a PRE-SHOT ROUTINE and follow it!
5. While standing up, decide on the shot (offense/defense, speed, English), then make a COMMITMENT to shoot the shot as you have decided to shoot it. Most shots are missed because of indecision. Another way to say this is to have a plan before every shot.
6. Do the highest percentage thing that YOU KNOW HOW to do (not what Efren would do).
7. Don?t let DISTRACTIONS cause you to lose focus on the shot. If something distracts you, stand up and go through your pre-shot routine from the beginning.
8. HAVE FUN! ? Your game may improve dramatically after reminding yourself that you are playing pool primarily to have fun.

Here?s a suggestion for you. Take a small card, like a business card or an index card, and write a short version of the above suggestions on the card. Maybe the short versions would read something like this.

1) Be still
2) Stay down
3) Respect every shot
4) Follow the pre-shot routine
5) Commit to the shot
6) Play within your abilities
7) Defeat distractions, reset if necessary
8) Have fun!

Of course you may want to OMIT any of the 8 that really don?t relate to your game. And you may want to ADD a few that are especially important for your game. Maybe you would add reminders to grip the cue lightly, pause at the end of your last back stroke, check your stance alignment, snug up your bridge, or whatever you have learned is useful for your game. If you carry that little card around with you, it will be handy to read over when you?re shooting poorly or in a slump.

I know this was all posted a couple of years back, but I thought it deserved a "reactivation.":smile:
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Excellent post Bill.
I think all players, beginners and pro's can benefit from your wise observations. We've all been guilty of straying from those basics at one time or another. Stay focused and heed Bill's advice....it's pure gold.

Dick
 
SJDinPHX said:
Excellent post Bill.
I think all players, beginners and pro's can benefit from your wise observations. We've all been guilty of straying from those basics at one time or another. Stay focused and heed Bill's advice....it's pure gold.

Dick
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Thanks for the kind words, Dick. I can't take credit for the ideas in the post as they are all from other people. And even the idea of carrying around a little card or piece of paper with a short version of these ideas isn't mine either, it came from a guy you may remember - Tommy Lambert. Tommy was a Cotton Palace regular and spent some time as a road player before becoming a minister in Fort Worth, TX. I recall Tommy playing badly in a session, maybe with Charlie Hooker, and he walked away from the table and pulled a piece of paper out of his back pocket. He studied the paper for a while and then returned to the table. Later I asked him what was on the paper and he told me that it was just a list of pool basics and when he got to playing bad, he knew he wasn't doing all of the basics correctly.
 
Bill...Nice post! Even after we know what we don't know...we can't remember them all...unless we have a way to REVIEW.:thumbup: Humans, by nature, have a short attention span, and need various ways to remember things!

Scott Lee
www.poolknowledge.com

BillPorter said:
I asked him what was on the paper and he told me that it was just a list of pool basics and when he got to playing bad, he knew he wasn't doing all of the basics correctly.
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