What massively improved your game?

Once I understood I had a bad habit of spinning in every ball with outside, I realized it was holding my game back. So I decided to fix it. But it's not like I spent two weeks on it, and then my game went up a ball. It's been an ongoing process for over ten years and I STILL fight the habit.

So, committing myself to playing 'by the book' without twisting or steering or spinning in balls. That was my biggest improvement. The pause taught by some instructors (at the end of my backswing) was a HUGE help in doing this. It forced me to understand what my stroke arm was doing and I recognized my tendency to steer the shot midstroke.

Again, this took a long time, you don't want to start looking for magic bullets. If you're lucky you can find something that improves your game 1%, over a few weeks of practicing it religiously.
 
I don't care how you stroke it to get there, but if you can't control the CB and think at least three balls ahead you won't get too far playing pool. Johnnyt
 
If anyone has any specific questions about the TOI I'm free to answer here or e mail

Poolsmith said:
I know there are alot of postings on this subject, but after recently reading C.J. Wiley's TOI bit a few weeks ago I thought I would give it a full 3 hour practice session like he suggested. My results have been amazing. I previously used outside on almost every cut shot unless I needed inside for position. I now use the technique religiously. I still use outside from time to time, but get down on every shot with TOI first in mind. I have the DVD on order, and hope to get even more out of it, but I have picked up so much just from C.J.'s explanation on how it works. I was very skeptical at first, but like many who has given it a chance I have found a new higher level in play. For me it not only helps pocketing balls easier, it also makes playing position on most shots easier as well. It does require an understanding of how deflection on the cue ball works when cueing off center, which most people on this forum grasp.
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Yes, when I came back from not playing/competing for 8 years, the first Pro Tournament I played in was the US OPEN. I played pretty well and even had an 11/3 victory over Earl Stickland, something wasn't right, I didn't have the confidence I once had. I finished 9th that week, however, I knew if I was ever to play my best there was a commitment of work to do in my future.

I learned a LOT about the techniqual part of pool in the next few months, picking the minds and comparing notes with some of the most knowledgeable professional players available, including Johnny Archer, Earl Strickland, Hunter Lombardo, Max Eberle, Strong Arm John, Bobby D., Billy I., Scott Frost, Roger Griffis, Buddy Hall, Corey Deuel and several others. I'm glad this process took place because it made my fundamentals more solid than every before.

However, something was still missing, and that's when I figured out I was using the "Touch" of Inside on my shots......just not ALL of my shots.

The Key to playing pool to me personally is using the TOI on every shot possible. This sounds so simple, yet, for me it's profound. It's a great feeling to share this technique and hear all the success stories coming in like yours, POOLSMITH....and the best thing of all is it gets better and better the more you play and master the TOI Shot. 'The Game is the Teacher' www.cjwiley.com

If anyone has any specific questions about the TOI I'm free to answer publicly or privately at thegameistheteacher@gmail.com ....Aloha, and Play Well. CJ Wiley
 
Learning that you cannot steer the ball, it will not happen! You have to shoot the cueball. Everything that happens, happens because of the way you hit the cueball, it is the only thing you have control over, everything else that happens is a result of your stroke and tip placement.
 
I don't think you'd find much of anything in Peter's for $30....

TCo said:
Dang it, I lied in my last post.

What really improved my game the most is going to the Mpls boat show on a Friday.

All of the lines to get on the boats were shorter than on a weekend. No waiting around, didn't need to waste $30 the frying pan or the sham-wow due to bordom.

The beer lines were shorter too - had plenty of the show and the beer, stopped by Peter's Billiards in Mpls and with the $30 I didn't spend at the boat show, bought a table - $30 didn't quite cover it but you get the idea.
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I started playing when I was 13. I was using draw with side spin in a week. I progressed rather quickly & about a year later my Uncle came into town from where he lives. My Dad sort of wanted to show me off so he asked my Uncle, who was a very good player, to play me a few games. When we were finished my Dad asked my Uncle what he thought. My Uncle answered, 'He plays real good, but he uses low too much.'

That was food to my eager ears. I started using high with side spin that same day & found new & easier ways to get position. That really changed my game for the better. The next biggest change came more than 40 years latter when CJ Wiley introduced the 'Touch of Inside' deflection technique.
 
CJ Wiley said:
Yes, when I came back from not playing/competing for 8 years, the first Pro Tournament I played in was the US OPEN. I played pretty well and even had an 11/3 victory over Earl Stickland, something wasn't right, I didn't have the confidence I once had. I finished 9th that week, however, I knew if I was ever to play my best there was a commitment of work to do in my future.

I learned a LOT about the techniqual part of pool in the next few months, picking the minds and comparing notes with some of the most knowledgeable professional players available, including Johnny Archer, Earl Strickland, Hunter Lombardo, Max Eberle, Strong Arm John, Bobby D., Billy I., Scott Frost, Roger Griffis, Buddy Hall, Corey Deuel and several others. I'm glad this process took place because it made my fundamentals more solid than every before.

However, something was still missing, and that's when I figured out I was using the "Touch" of Inside on my shots......just not ALL of my shots.

The Key to playing pool to me personally is using the TOI on every shot possible. This sounds so simple, yet, for me it's profound. It's a great feeling to share this technique and hear all the success stories coming in like yours, POOLSMITH....and the best thing of all is it gets better and better the more you play and master the TOI Shot. 'The Game is the Teacher' www.cjwiley.com

If anyone has any specific questions about the TOI I'm free to answer publicly or privately at thegameistheteacher@gmail.com ....Aloha, and Play Well. CJ Wiley
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CJ, I watched the Pay_for_View TOI on your website, ordered your CDs, and practiced for 4 hours drooling all over the pool table after trying your TOI. I was so thrilled the only thing that stopped me from shooting more was old age.

The light bulb must have turned on for me, as it must have for Fred above. I finally realized what the cueball was doing (squirting) coming off a shot when english was being applied. Heck, I took TOI one step further and developed my own TOO (Touch of Outside). It works exactly the same (actually opposite) as TOI except you get unwanted spin which CJ doesn't like. But at least I finally figured out after all these years why my outside english shots down the rail slammed into the rail time after time. What an idiot I have been.

Once I get the CD, I will study TOI again and try to integrate this into my everyday play.

To me playing pool now is like navigating through time and warped space (the cueball deflecting and swerving). I don't need a Guild Navigator (Dune) to fold space for me, nor the spice. Just TOI :grin-square: And what's funny about this whole TOI thing is that PJ is still stuck in a black hole/singularity hahaha. He will never get it. Dr. Dave is still trying to get his 2 dimensional equations to work this out, but we all know he will never come up with a scientific solution (it's all feel and only the human brain can understand this). He is now most likely trying out a rubber protractor to make its way around the mobius strip. All the aiming people don't understand feel. I love it. Someone give them some spice and maybe they will get it.

WW
 
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Sales tax for non-Texas shipments of TOI dvd?

Off Topic CJ, but I still see mention of sales tax connected to ordering the TOI dvd. I thought that was being ironed out (legally eliminated) for orders shipped to non-Texas addresses?

Arnaldo
 
:clapping:


What improved my game the most in 1984 was...buying and using a Meucci Pool Cue. The pool cue is everything!

:yes:
 
We're almost at the end of two pages...and no one's mentioned Kamui chalk.

At $30 for a cube of chalk, I expect massive improvements, if not miracles.
 
1. Lessons from Scott Lee.

2. Daily practice, drills oriented.

3. Having my own table.

I'm really excited by early results of using CTE Pro One from Stan Shuffett. I believe in a month or two, that will make my list.
 
Learning, errr re-learning, the tangent line. Before I used way too much english to move the cue ball around. Come to think of it I probably can still tone it down a bit. That and years of practice :).
 
Improvements made to my break have helped me out massively. I stand by that its the most important shot in 9 ball, and the practice you devote to it should reflect its importance. If done well it can completely erase your opponent from the equation.
 
I've only had one phase of rapid improvement, when I was learning the game in the mid 80's. I read "the 99 critical shots" and the "standard book" and practiced the shots. That foundation of knowledge was huge. I see league players all the time that simply don't know the basics, that have been clearly documented for 35 years. They practice making balls, but if I tell them they need to use, say, lower left on a shot, they say "huh, why?"



- Jeff in Frisco
 
bulldogpool said:
Was there one factor that really improved your skill level? It can be anything, lessons, a given exercise, a cue, etc. Please be specific. :)
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I hope it doesn't have to be just one thing. Here are some of the best for me:

1) practicing with Pocket reducers
2) break rak
3) Drill where all the balls are scattered on the table and you have to run out without touching a rail or another ball
4) Drill where you put 12 balls on the rail on diamonds...1 on either side of each corner (8) 1 diamond away, and 1 on each side of the side pocket 1 diamond away (4). Frozen. Run out.
5) Getting my Andy Gilbert cue. won the local tourney 2 weeks in a row, got raised to the max, won again. Never missed for like a month.
6) Turning in some strong performances in APA Masters in Vegas, beating some top notch guys. Made me realize I belonged there.

I would say 1,3, and 6 were the biggest deals for me.

Hope it helps,

KMRUNOUT
 
I have played pretty good since I was 16 or so.
In the 80's I played a ton of pool with a world class player named Neptune Joe Frady in NJ and I watched him closely and asked questions and it moved my game up at least two levels to pretty good short stop speed.
I don't play that good these days due to age and I don't play everyday.
 
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