What Got You To The Next Level?

[DrCue'sProtege]

ok, just curious, you posters out there that are better players, the players that can run racks of 9-Ball, and have played in some bigger tournaments.

what got you to that Next Level? you werent born that way, so what was it that you did that pretty much made you an excellent player?

was it?
1) practice, practice, practice
2) lessons
3) watching and learning from others, being a student of the game
4) drive/desire/ambition
5) mental toughness/competition

or was it something else you did that got you where you are today?

anxious to see comments on this. personally, i am not at that Next Level yet, but hope to one day arrive at that plateau.
DCP

 

[spartan]

i am by no means a great player. but lessons did improve me game and it did get better after taking them.

 

[chefjeff]

what got you to that Next Level?
DCP

Vision. Holding the vision of the next level in my mind. Not worrying about HOW to get there, but merely holding the vision.

With the vision precisely planted in my mind, suddenly the world started offering the HOW. Actually the HOW was always there, I just wasn't ready for it.

Hold the vision and THEN wait for the universe to deliver the HOW to you.

Jeff Livingston

 

[OldHasBeen]

It's Simple!

ok, just curious, you posters out there that are better players, the players that can run racks of 9-Ball, and have played in some bigger tournaments.

what got you to that Next Level? you werent born that way, so what was it that you did that pretty much made you an excellent player?

was it?
1) practice, practice, practice
2) lessons
3) watching and learning from others, being a student of the game
4) drive/desire/ambition
5) mental toughness/competition

or was it something else you did that got you where you are today?
anxious to see comments on this. personally, i am not at that Next Level yet, but hope to one day arrive at that plateau.
DCP

HUNGER!

TY & GL

 

[catscradle]

HUNGER!

TY & GL

Interesting response. Do you mean literally wondering where your next ham & cheese sandwich was coming from, or merely a competitive "hunger" to win?

 

[vapoolplayer]

Interesting response. Do you mean literally wondering where your next ham & cheese sandwich was coming from, or merely a competitive "hunger" to win?

i think he's talking about the "if you don't win, you don't eat" method of getting better.......

VAP

 

[Egg McDogit]

1) practice, practice, practice
2) lessons
3) watching and learning from others, being a student of the game
4) drive/desire/ambition
5) mental toughness/competition

I'm not a very good player (I *might* try you with the 7 and the breaks), but I think gambling and tournament play are important. Playing with something on the line tends to make you remember your mistakes and learn real quick - plus you gotta be able to hold it down under the pressure.

peace
-egg

 

[Bruce S. de Lis]

ok, just curious, you posters out there that are better players, the players that can run racks of 9-Ball, and have played in some bigger tournaments.

what got you to that Next Level? you werent born that way, so what was it that you did that pretty much made you an excellent player?

was it?
1) practice, practice, practice
2) lessons
3) watching and learning from others, being a student of the game
4) drive/desire/ambition
5) mental toughness/competition

or was it something else you did that got you where you are today?

anxious to see comments on this. personally, i am not at that Next Level yet, but hope to one day arrive at that plateau.
DCP

All of the above, Plus Viewing Many Instructional Video's from our Community Libruary, Robert Byrne’s Volume 1 and 2 get my vote for being the BEST TAPES. I purchased 1 & 2 by Byrne.

Plus TRUE DESIRE....

 

[CaptainJR]

Lessons, regular lessons. One per week, every week for the last eleven months. The question was, What got you to the next level. This got me two levels. I know it was this because I don't get to practice much.

 

[catscradle]

Lessons, regular lessons. One per week, every week for the last eleven months. The question was, What got you to the next level. This got me two levels. I know it was this because I don't get to practice much.

I agree, but the problem is finding the right instructor without driving half way across the country.

 

[Tokyo-dave]

In responding to this thread, it's as if I'm announcing that "I am a great player." Which I'm not. But I can share two things that have helped me with my game considerably.
First of all, relying on (and trusting) my pocketing ability has helped me in great ways. When you first start out learning how to move the cue ball around the table, you tend to be extremely dedicated to getting perfect position on any next shot, and one of the misconceptions of 'perfect position' that beginning players tend to have is that it means getting as close to your object ball with an easy as possible shot. As my pocketing ability improved, so did my confidence, so I don't feel the need to move the cue ball around as much as I used to. This isn't to be mistaken for my lack of ability to move the cue ball around. It simply means that in some cases, the more you ask of the cue ball, the greater the chance of trouble. Another thing that I swear by is to protect (or keep) your angles at all times, even if it means a longer and possibly more difficult shot. For example, instead of taking a long shot that happens to be 'in angle', some inexperienced players will elect to draw the cue ball closer to their next shot, even if it means getting on the 'wrong' side of the shot.
Finally, as another post mentioned, image is very important. Image trainning is a has been proven to help in all sports. A basketball player generates an image of the free thow hitting nothing but net before he takes the shot. In the same way, before you attempt the shot, generate and concentrate on the image of the object ball going into the pocket, as well as seeing in your mind the exact path of the cue ball before you attempt the shot.
These are the two things that I have found to be very helpfull with my game.
dave

 

[mjantti]

Vision. Holding the vision of the next level in my mind. Not worrying about HOW to get there, but merely holding the vision.

With the vision precisely planted in my mind, suddenly the world started offering the HOW. Actually the HOW was always there, I just wasn't ready for it.

Hold the vision and THEN wait for the universe to deliver the HOW to you.

Jeff Livingston

I think Jeff's list isn't bad at all. I got to the next level by reducing table time and watching a lot of top player's matches and trying to vision myself there on the table. It might be called practising with mental images. Not only I imaged myself at the situation, I actually imaged myself shooting, imaged my mechanics and how the certain shot would feel like. Then, I'd take the best images and combine them in my head with those images when I was personally shooting well and treasure this result in my head when I went to practise. Like Jeff said, the HOW is already there (after over 10 years of playing), but getting it out when it matters is a totally different thing.

Also, observing that many top players are very loose at the table, I realized that by relaxating as many muscles as possible, I loosened up and played much better and consistent. With relaxed muscles, I also was able to consistently come to the table after a week off and play top notch pool right away. I have always noticed, that the more I practise, the stiffer I get. Also, I was handling pressure much better with a relaxed and loose body. I was playing even better in tournaments than in practice. I even managed to run 5 consecutive whole racks of 9-ball in tournament, which I have never done in practice. (ran out the set from 2-1 to 7-1 and started the next game with a run-out). After a whole season of "new me", my relaxed stroke payed off, I didn't have any horrible matches, my worst defeat of the season was 7-5 in 9-ball.

Well, these things worked for me, don't know if they work for any of you.

 

[ScottR]

Back when I HAD a level, it was achieved by playing every chance I got; practicing drills until I was ready to puke, playing any game (even something as silly as 3-ball or as hard as 1p or 3 cushion) against anyone willing to play me (especially if they were better and drilled my ass into the floor).

I never really had a formal lesson on mechanics from a teacher, but did get some "lessons" on patterns, etc. Most of which has been lost in the cobwebs of my head or I don't practice enough to execute consistently anymore.
Scott

 

[Jude Rosenstock]

ok, just curious, you posters out there that are better players, the players that can run racks of 9-Ball, and have played in some bigger tournaments.

what got you to that Next Level? you werent born that way, so what was it that you did that pretty much made you an excellent player?

was it?
1) practice, practice, practice
2) lessons
3) watching and learning from others, being a student of the game
4) drive/desire/ambition
5) mental toughness/competition

or was it something else you did that got you where you are today?

anxious to see comments on this. personally, i am not at that Next Level yet, but hope to one day arrive at that plateau.
DCP

DCP, no matter what ANYBODY tells you, the key to improving your pool game rests in your pocketing. Being able to strike the cue-ball accurately no matter what spin employed is the essential piece. Only then can you begin to approach the game from the "shoulds" and "shouldn'ts" instead of the "cans" and "can'ts".

With that said, my most recent jump was due to a long session by myself, working on my pocketing. Now, I practice a lot in general but the fundamental difference here is that I rarely asked key questions:

1. Where am I missing most often?
2. Why would I miss that way?
3. How do I correct this?

These are all tough questions that required a lot of work and in the end, I learned a lot about how I calculate angles. I've been incorporating my new-found knowledge ever since.

I really do believe that the majority of the journey of learning is a lonely one. You have to learn about how YOU preceive the game moreso than how others teach it. Remember, all instructors have systemized their approach to learning. Your subconscious brain however doesn't necessarily work within that structure. It's far more complex and capable of making calculations faster than any modern computer. A lot of my jump had to do with learning when and how to allow my subconscious to play pool. As a matter of fact, I feel I'm still jumping right now and really won't have an idea as to how significant this will be for at least a few more months.

 

[duke@neo.rr.com]

answer

Back when I HAD a level, it was achieved by playing every chance I got; practicing drills until I was ready to puke, playing any game (even something as silly as 3-ball or as hard as 1p or 3 cushion) against anyone willing to play me (especially if they were better and drilled my ass into the floor).

respect! the better you play....the more people will respect you in the pool hall. I know more people seem to be my friends now than when I was just learning. anyone who plays well knows just what I'm saying. more people want to play on your team, they look at you and talk to you a little better, you get responses to playing like never before. people talk better ABOUT you to others also.

 

[poolbiz420]

I also am not a champion, but my game is improving. The things that have helped me are working at the pool room Saturdays and Sundays during the afternoon when it's not busy i can run through drill after drill. Playing on the Midwest Fury Tour, with better players makes me concentrate more and play my hardest. The next step i'm going to take is going to one of Tom Simpsons intensive pool clinics for a weekend. I think the most though is pure desire, heart and love of the game.

 

[Billy_Bob]

Well I'm certainly not there yet, but beyond practice, drills, instruction, etc., there is one thing which has REALLY helped my game to improve by leaps and bounds...

And that is playing the best players.

I think if I could only play the best players and play them several hours daily, I would quickly rise to their level.

Unfortunately, the best players want to play other best players (for fun) and not a lesser skilled player like myself. I did manage to get an hour of play in with one of these guys the other night.

In the future I plan to seek out and play (as much as possible) in tournaments where these players play.

And of course doing this will mean losing, losing, losing, and maybe winning one every now and then. I watch them and learn what they do to win - I'm learning a lot.

 

[Snapshot9]

next level ....

some of my reasons:

1) My inner drive to be the best at whatever I do, especially sports and
business.
2) When a problem bothers me, my brain won't leave it alone until
I figure it out.
3) Knowledge is power.
4) Getting beat by someone that doesn't have half the brain power I do.

 

[pete lafond]

I think improving the mental aspects, unless you are confidently there. I know for myself if I am completely there mentally, I shoot at a higher level. All the other things in this forum are excellent though I find that the mental part of my game gauges my play. The more I practice on mental, the more often I play that way. How many times have you played a significantly better game? Once, twice,, more. If you were able to do it even a few times doesn't that mean you already posses some greater capability in your game? What's the stop? Many times it's just the mental part.

I am not taking away, practice,lessons, ... just answering your question about what took me to the next level.

 

[ceebee]

I would have to say that all of the above did make contributions to my game. However, learning from a library of 50 books & 100 videos gave me a tremendous amount of knowledge to add to the above list of contributions. Snooker, Golf on a Snooker Table, One-Pocket, 8-Ball, 9-Ball & Ring Games all require the player to do different things with the object ball and/or the cue ball. Playing these different games gave a me a broad base of knowledge to meet different circumstances.

When I added a high level knowledge of the Diamond System, Carom Pool & the Break Shot to my game, that information & skill seemed to be a catalyst for the parts to become one entity.