What has improved your game most in the past year?

Bob Callahan

Bob Callahan

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
As this year draws to a close, it's good to reflect on what has passed to help plan for the year to come.

What has improved your game most this year?

The easy answer, of course, is "practice"--but, beyond that, what else?

  • A home table?
  • Instruction from a pro?
  • New stick?
  • LD shaft?
  • Tournament play?
  • Gambling?
  • Books?
  • Instructional DVDs?
  • Streaming videos?
  • A good practice partner?
Please share with the rest of us poor fools who are so addicted....
 
I think I'm past the point where one thing can help me immensely, mostly its just a lot of little things over time that add up to improvement in general.
 
Got a new home table three months ago with tight pockets -- 4.5 inches. Shooting at a visibly smaller target has already strengthened my game. I'm excited about my progress.

Also, playing on Simonis 860 with Artemis cushions is about as fast as playing on ice. Works wonders on your speed control. Good luck.
 
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A few things have helped. I got a weekend of instruction from a professional instructor (Steve Jennings) and I work on his material on a regular basis again I will recommend him to anyone. Also standing behind the shot lining it up and then getting down on the shot. I use to try to adjust while I was down on the shot. The last is gambling a little bit (no more that $20 a set) and that has greatly improved my confidence and nobody can shoot to the best of there ability without being confident they can execute.
 
Age and physical restrictions have slowed down my improvement tremendously. I will say that CJ Wiley's DVD put me onto a couple of new things that has helped some.

Maniac
 
Certainly having a table at home now has increased the amount of stick time I get. Beyond that, more focus has improved my game. Specifically making sure to stare hard and focus on the specific contact point of the OB. I've had a tendency to get lazy with this and sometimes shoot a shot with a more blurry "general" look at the OB rather than being very specific with my target. As they say in riding motorcycles, "you will go where you are looking".
 
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Bob Callahan said:
As this year draws to a close, it's good to reflect on what has passed to help plan for the year to come.

What has improved your game most this year?
Click to expand...

Obsessively shooting stop and draw shots the length of the table for an hour or 2 at a time. I've convinced myself that if I can develop a perfectly straight stroke, then everything else about my game will naturally fall into place.

Also jumping straight away into BCA League play with less than 6 months experience at handling a cue. I get my ass handed to me just about every week, but I lose at the tables with as much grace as I when I win, and I keep showing up to take my lumps. Some of the very good players that I meet in league assure me that I will probably get beaten down again and again for the first 4 years, and then I'll start giving as good as I get.... I'm totally determined to cut that 4 year prediction in half to 2 years or less.

I've looked to guidance throughout the year wherever I find it... books by Jeanette Lee and Ewa Lawrence, online resources like AZB, watching recorded WPBA matches on Youtube, asking questions and advice from players that I meet in league that I look up to, and eagerly listening with an open mind to anyone who offers unsolicited suggestions... I don't take offense when someone offers suggestions based on what they see me doing in play... I just listen with complete interest, thank them for their guidance, and then decide for myself whether I've received good advice or not. Above all other things, I keep an open mind about my evolving game, and I'm not afraid to try new things.

And I keep telling myself and anyone who will listen, "Someday I'm going to be a GREAT pool player!" And I totally believe it.
 
I love to blame Dave Grau! Used to play way too fast. Watching and playing against him made me slow down dramatically. His style of play, some say too delibrate, gives me a chance to think between shots rather than firing away. If you're reading this, thanks Dave!

Lyn
 
hm, what improved my game...

The love to my new custom made cue, a coach that taught me a few magic formulas for diamond systems, playing small tournaments regulary, a training partner, that is a bit above my level and keeps gambling for Menues from the Golden "M"...

hm did I mention my beloved cuestick?
 
Bob Callahan said:
As this year draws to a close, it's good to reflect on what has passed to help plan for the year to come.

What has improved your game most this year?

The easy answer, of course, is "practice"--but, beyond that, what else?

  • A home table?
  • Instruction from a pro?
  • New stick?
  • LD shaft?
  • Tournament play?
  • Gambling?
  • Books?
  • Instructional DVDs?
  • Streaming videos?
  • A good practice partner?
Please share with the rest of us poor fools who are so addicted....
Click to expand...


Video.

My wife gave me this very cool Flip video camera for my birthday -- it's amazing: HD in a cigarette-pack sized box. I've used it a few times to video myself (and shoot a wedding for a friend). and here's the thing: it is critical to see yourself when you are playing well AND to see yourself when you are not.

The other day I was practicing and playing really well. A match came in and the longer we played, the poorer I shot. It really bugged me, to the point that I woke up in the middle of the night thinking about it. I tip-toed out of bed and fired up the computer.

I have a total of four videos of myself that I've kept and I started watching and it was amazing. In the first one I looked great. The set up, the warm up strokes, the stroke itself, and how the cue ball reacted -- really, if I do say so myself: pro level. But then I watched the others. Right off I could tell they didn't look right. Even if I was running a lot of balls, it looked like I wasn't set up right, I was out of line all the time, and clearly suffering. I've spent the last few days identifying what was off and I'm very optimistic that I have unlocked a new level of play for myself.

So like I said: video.

Lou Figueroa
 
Taking care of Dad while Mom had and operation. No, really; it gave me at least 3 hours a day of stick time.
 
I would say having access to a pool table 24/7 while at school and having really legit players to practice and compete against.

I've also amp'd up the amount of pool games I watch.
 
- Getting started, with help from my good friend (and great shooter) George

- Playing League with George

- Playing on my own team without George (my mental game improved greatly, without my friend and mentor right there for every shot, playing on my own)

- Still shooting with George on a regular basis. Just last week he spotted a bad habit that I had gotten into, and correcting it has paid immediate dividends.


Also, the time spent here on AZB has helped me immensely. Learning things, motivation, shared experiences, it's been great.
 
recently my game has improved almost
to where it was a couple of years ago. I attribute this to a better frame of mind (got a good paying job) my game isn't exactly there yet but I only play one night a week, with zero practice (not by choice) because work is taking up all my time.
 
ive been working hard of my fundamental stroke and it has helped enormously

I dont feel like i'm gonna miss any open pot
 
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