Your Ah-Ha moment in pool that took your game to the next level?
- Thread starter northdakotafats
- Start date
still waiting for it.
You and all the top players are still waiting,thats something that will never come,because nobody will ever be as good as they want to be,everybody wants to be better even the top players!
After hours upon hours upon hours of practice and I mean a lot of hours at the table, it dawned on me that I no longer needed to think about how to do a shot, just what I wanted to do with the shot. Just let "it" do the how.
There is a point where playing will become second nature, just like walking. You don't knowing think how to place your feet when walking,just to step here or don't step here.
This idea really came bout after a few motorcycle accidents and had to relearn my stroke, stance, grip, and bridge at different times.
I no longer shoot pool, "it does."
There is a point where playing will become second nature, just like walking. You don't knowing think how to place your feet when walking,just to step here or don't step here.
This idea really came bout after a few motorcycle accidents and had to relearn my stroke, stance, grip, and bridge at different times.
I no longer shoot pool, "it does."
The 90 degree rule definitely helped me understand cue ball control and of course someone showed me the basic tendencies for cue ball path for 2-3 cushions which helped a lot too. Before that I was always trying to put some crazy spin on the ball and go for one cushion :lmao::lmao:
My first ah hah moment happened when I played pool against someone after being out of the game for years. I couldn't believe how bad I played. It motivated me to get back into the game.
My second one was watching good players play and learning by watching them. I racked a lot!!
One of the more important ah hah moments was learning that I needed to restrict making changes to my game to just one change every 3 weeks. Trying to make multiple changes just made me more confused.
Last but not least, I learned to relax my shooting arm. I found that when I played competitively my shooting arm would tense up and I didn't realize it right away. Makes a big difference.
My second one was watching good players play and learning by watching them. I racked a lot!!
One of the more important ah hah moments was learning that I needed to restrict making changes to my game to just one change every 3 weeks. Trying to make multiple changes just made me more confused.
Last but not least, I learned to relax my shooting arm. I found that when I played competitively my shooting arm would tense up and I didn't realize it right away. Makes a big difference.
I play better because of a series of moments induced by the much hated APA. Several of these "moments" were direct contributors to my winning local tournaments and advancing in skill levels.
Really, the initial "Aha!" moment came after shooting with my dad in bars during summer lunches working with him... about age 11-12. Within a week, I went from poking the cue ball aimlessly towards the pack to knowing how to make balls... after hitting enough wrong, the right way emerged. Ego-driven rednecks in East Texas were never safe from my $5 game from then on!
Really, the initial "Aha!" moment came after shooting with my dad in bars during summer lunches working with him... about age 11-12. Within a week, I went from poking the cue ball aimlessly towards the pack to knowing how to make balls... after hitting enough wrong, the right way emerged. Ego-driven rednecks in East Texas were never safe from my $5 game from then on!
The 90 degree rule/Tangent line stuff got me hooked on pool.
I was playing a tourny and was one round out of the money on the one loss side. I got matched up with a very strong player that played in the US Open. I was taking my time and attempting to concentrate the best I could. I would get up off the shot and reset completely if anything wasn't right. After the match was over (I lost) and I thanked him for being a good sport he made a comment that really helped my game. He said that he really liked the focus that I put into every shot. Then he said, "That foreign feeling you are getting when you slow down and take your time will go away if you practice the same way on every shot". Practice how you play. I don't know how he knew that this was what I was doing in practice, but he was right.
That is my best "light bulb" moment to date.
I was playing a tourny and was one round out of the money on the one loss side. I got matched up with a very strong player that played in the US Open. I was taking my time and attempting to concentrate the best I could. I would get up off the shot and reset completely if anything wasn't right. After the match was over (I lost) and I thanked him for being a good sport he made a comment that really helped my game. He said that he really liked the focus that I put into every shot. Then he said, "That foreign feeling you are getting when you slow down and take your time will go away if you practice the same way on every shot". Practice how you play. I don't know how he knew that this was what I was doing in practice, but he was right.
That is my best "light bulb" moment to date.
I had two...the first was about 20 years ago I was playing a road player some 8 Ball...I was at that stage where I used draw like a crutch to control my cue ball, and tended to bang them in a little firmer than needed. I was amazed watching him run racks hitting the shots with center ball and sometimes a little follow, hitting the balls JUST hard enough to get the object ball to dribble over the lip of the pocket. Ran three racks and hit a rail MAYBE four times, had excellent position every time. Just moving my game in his direction a little bit added four balls instantly.
The second one was after a layoff of several years. I couldn't seem to run a rack to save my life, was missing shots by a mile. I somehow realized my stance was all over the place and jacking up my stroke. Once I started lining up the shot with my cue locked into my hip and then stepping into the stance, it all got better. Sometimes it's amazing how far your game will deteriorate before you figure out what's wrong!
The second one was after a layoff of several years. I couldn't seem to run a rack to save my life, was missing shots by a mile. I somehow realized my stance was all over the place and jacking up my stroke. Once I started lining up the shot with my cue locked into my hip and then stepping into the stance, it all got better. Sometimes it's amazing how far your game will deteriorate before you figure out what's wrong!
Yes, if you hit a pure stop (stun) shot, the cue ball will deflect from the object ball at 90 degrees, regardless of the cut angle.
Softshot's link illustrates pretty much everything there is to know about rolling cue balls, and you should check out Dr. Dave's 90 degree rule video as well.
Here's a rolling cue ball system that a friend showed to me, which is great for safties, caroms and ball in hand situations:
You draw a straight imaginary line from the center of the object ball to the center of the desired cue ball position (The yellow line). This point on the far side of the object ball is your aim point. You shoot center cue ball to this point (The black line). The red line represents the actual path of the cue ball.
It was in 1966, when I learned that "defense" was not "dirty pool". Others were when I learned NOT to use english on every shot, and that the only way to learn accurate positionng was to go for accurate positioning!
My aha moment was advice..
I was learning all my english still and I was playing on a local pool league and no matter how good I was compared to the guy I was playing I would find a way to lose. A local pool legend told me " If you're scared to lose you will never set yourself up for victory."
I realized it was all a huge head game and then got into the whole aspect of the head game. The next year I finished top ten in the league compared to the last 1/4 of the field.
Swing rhythm............