This Finally Dawned On Me

D

DrCue'sProtege

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
it finally dawned on me the other night that 9-Ball is a very difficult game. as are all pocket billiard games. perhaps i should take that into consideration when i go through one of my frustrating evenings. possibly i am expecting too much, i dunno. when i see Earl, Allison, Karen, Efren, etc, on TV perhaps i should realize these folks are the best players on the planet, and its taken them years and years and years to hone their skills to that level.

its just a tough game.
to place that cue ball right where you want it a great deal of the time is just very, very tough. perhaps thats why they are professionals, and i throw balls. maybe i should realize that 3-4 years ago i rarely ran out a rack of
9-Ball and nowadays it doesnt surprise me when i do. i just wish i could do it more often, and more consistently. but that is just tough to do.

just a thought.
DCP
 
DrCue'sProtege said:
when i see Earl, Allison, Karen, Efren, etc, on TV perhaps i should realize these folks are the best players on the planet, and its taken them years and years and years to hone their skills to that level.
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1. don't use that as an excuse. (not saying you are)

2. monkey see monkey do. practice the way they practiced, put the time in that they put in.

DrCue'sProtege said:
perhaps thats why they are professionals, and i throw balls.

DCP
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there's a thought :cool:
 
9-ball is NOT a difficult game. Once you relize AND believe that you will shoot ALOT better. It took watching a 15 year old kid running 6 racks in a row like a pro for me to relize how difficult I made the game in my head compared to how easy it really is if you go out there and shoot with the positive mindset that there is very little in 9-ball that is actually difficult and it is very easy to run racks. Pro's KNOW how easy the game is, and they shoot as such and that is WHY they make the game look easy and amature players are always struggleing and making the game tough for themselves with crappy shots and a lack of thought as to where they REALLY need to be on the next shot rather then straight in and long. Most crappy players dont think ahead and they are their own worst enemy on the table with their clueless shape play. You should never have to make more then 1 tough shot in a runout and that shot should be leftby your opponent, not you.
 
DrCue'sProtege said:
9-Ball is NOT a difficult game?????

did i read that correctly?
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out of all the commonly played games (9 ball, 8 ball, 10 ball, 1 hole, straight pool, banks) 9 ball is the one with the least difficulty.

its pool for dummies.....LOL

the table tells you exactly what you have to do. which ball to shoot, and where you need to be on your next shot is basically there. except in a safety battle, you don't use your brain that much.

not saying its not fun, i love it......i love all the games.

thanks
 
DrCue'sProtege said:
9-Ball is NOT a difficult game?????

did i read that correctly?
Click to expand...


Other than 7-ball, which after a break sometimes turns into 4-ball or 3-ball, what game do you think is EASIER than 9-ball?
 
DrCue'sProtege said:
9-Ball is NOT a difficult game?????

did i read that correctly?
Click to expand...

I would agree, it is easier than any other game I have played. A lot of beginners think 8-Ball is easier because they have choices, it lulls them into thinking patterns are played by chance rather than by design. Get an Accustats video of 8-Ball (Efrin would be a good choice) to see how hard it is, played at top level.

Tracy
 
Nine ball isn't so hard. Hard part is getting those voices out of your head that make you second guess how your going to play the shot. At least its that way for me, if I go with my gut I play well. If I start second guessing myself then its all down hill. Only real hard part is looking at the table, deciding if your going to run out, or what ball your going to play safe with at the start of the rack.

Heck I'm just a c level player, but don't think its all that hard of a game. Now golf, theres a hard game. *lol*

Practice makes perfect. Last night for instance I realized I need to practice those little mid rail cut shots into the corner. Missed three in three hours of play which just isn't going to work.

8 ball to me can be harder, because you really do have to decide early if your running out or not. Make 5 balls out of 7 and odds are you just lost when the guy your playing runs out the nice wide open table. And while you can change the pattern mid run, if you miss your break out at the wrong time you can be screwed.
 
Celtic said:
9-ball is NOT a difficult game. Once you relize AND believe that you will shoot ALOT better. It took watching a 15 year old kid running 6 racks in a row like a pro...
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Hey, it's kids like that that make nine ball such a tough game.
 
If you really think about it... All you ever have to do in pool is shoot the cueball straight at the right speed... If you could do that confidently everytime you'd be amazed :O.
 
I would not say that nine ball is easy. The game commits it's own challenges, just like One pocket or Eight ball. There are two ways to look at it. So many people play nine ball because it is easy, or so many people play nine ball because it is challenging.
 
What you don't see on TV is all of the many grueling hours of practicing the fundamentals that these top pros have put in. They make it look easy because they have worked hard at putting their fundamentals in tip top shape.

kdd9

(P. S. That's not to say that I disagree with the suggestion that many folks do tend to make the game harder than it needs to be.)
 
i can NOT believe my eyes when i saw that almost everyone here wrote that nine ball was an easy game. i dont think you guys completely understand the complexity of this game. now i am not sayn that the other games r a piece of cake, as they 2 require much talent, skill and dedication. if u guys think that nineball is such an easy game then u guys must be the greatest players in the world. now im not trying to offend no1 but if u guys think the their is no complexity here you r so wrong. in a match set up between johnny archer and fransico(sp) bustamante race to 12 for i believe 50,000 johnny broke and ran 12 straight racks. now if u think that was easy and didnt require any type of skill, or talent ur dead wrong. the guys on tv may be able to break and run racks but it took them hours, days, and neverending devotion to the game. i will agree with the fact that people make this game harder than it has to be up. but to those who think this game is easy, u just dont get it.. i have put in a quote from a well respected az forum writer Blackjack, who's advice is more valuable than most peoples cues. i quote is a bit long so i just took a small piece of it....

"9 ball is not an easy game. 9 Ball is a very complex game that gets very little respect, mostly by the people that play it. I wish I had a dime for every time I have seen a guy playing for too much money against the wrong guy on the wrong terms under the wrong conditions. Some guys I have seen have absolutely no business playing 9 ball for any amount money. These are the guys you see banging away, trying desperately to cheese in the 9 ball. These are the guys that believe that this game is easy, and that anybody can win money at it if they are lucky enough."

if u would like to read more his website is www.geocities.com/blckjackds12
 
pooljunkie0082 said:
in a match set up between johnny archer and fransico(sp) bustamante race to 12 for i believe 50,000 johnny broke and ran 12 straight racks.
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its funny how stories change as they are passed on......LOL. if thats the famous 13 racks that johnny ran.....that was for around 2 thousand. you can read about it on his website. 50,000............LOLOLOL. he ran out the set to 11, then ran 2 more in the next set.

and i don't think you're reading what people are posting. no one said it is and easy game as no game on a pool table is easy. they are saying that COMPARED to the rest of pocket billiard games 9 ball is the easiest.

thanks
 
for example:

have you ever seen someone that played any other game but 9 ball well that couldn't play 9 ball pretty well? i haven't.

(the exception to this would be 8 ball, because most people don't play 8 ball right. they just shoot the easiest shot or the wrong shot. which makes them seem better at 8 ball than 9 ball because they are making more shots)

now, have you ever seen someone that played 9 ball very well but couldn't play 14:1, 1 pocket, etc. for shit? i see it all the time. i was that way (still am pretty much) but i'm getting out of that rut.

thanks
 
vapoolplayer said:
for example:

have you ever seen someone that played any other game but 9 ball well that couldn't play 9 ball pretty well? i haven't.

(the exception to this would be 8 ball, because most people don't play 8 ball right. they just shoot the easiest shot or the wrong shot. which makes them seem better at 8 ball than 9 ball because they are making more shots)

now, have you ever seen someone that played 9 ball very well but couldn't play 14:1, 1 pocket, etc. for shit? i see it all the time. i was that way (still am pretty much) but i'm getting out of that rut.

thanks
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Nice post, and accurately thought out. Those that play either 14.1 or one pocket well already have the discipline, finesse, creativity, and speed control that will ensaure that they succeed at nine ball. Nine ball doesn't develop the mind or the playing instincts in the way that the thinking man's games do, so the transition from nine ball to the other games is a little tougher.
 
well i do apologize for getting the story about john and fransico wrong, u r right on that it was a story that i heard about. i will definately check it out.
 
pooljunkie0082 said:
well i do apologize for getting the story about john and fransico wrong, u r right on that it was a story that i heard about. i will definately check it out.
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no biggie, i was just pointing out how stories change so much over time. its manifested from a couple grand when it happened to 50,000 when you heard about it. LOLOLOL
 
9-ball is definitely tougher than 8-ball. I've seen the pros play 8-ball, and pretty much the breaker wins if he makes a ball, and loses if he doesn't. On a 5x9 8-ball is not challenging at all.

I agree that 14.1 is harder mentally, but I still think 9-ball routinely tests your physical ability more than any other game. In a given run-out you would use a range of strokes to get shape, while 14.1 played correctly is a series of short shots with the occasional behind-the-rack break shot that might require you to send the CB 3 rails to the middle.

9-ball requires almost no thinking, that much is certainly true. But I have seen plenty of good straight-pool players get scared of pretty routine 9-ball shots. They're not used to seeing that much green, and also have problems letting their strokes out.

jmo,
Roger
 
buddha162 said:
9-ball is definitely tougher than 8-ball. I've seen the pros play 8-ball, and pretty much the breaker wins if he makes a ball, and loses if he doesn't. On a 5x9 8-ball is not challenging at all.

I agree that 14.1 is harder mentally, but I still think 9-ball routinely tests your physical ability more than any other game. In a given run-out you would use a range of strokes to get shape, while 14.1 played correctly is a series of short shots with the occasional behind-the-rack break shot that might require you to send the CB 3 rails to the middle.

9-ball requires almost no thinking, that much is certainly true. But I have seen plenty of good straight-pool players get scared of pretty routine 9-ball shots. They're not used to seeing that much green, and also have problems letting their strokes out.

jmo,
Roger
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lol......that makes me ass backwards then. i get out more in 9 ball than 8 ball. but then to, i don't play 8 that much and my 8 ball break sucks. if i practiced the break, i'd probably get out alot more.
 
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