Any serious pool players out there?

[slick willy 17]

I've only recently began to play pool again. I figure with all the gamblers on here, there must be some pool players. I play league with a former national champion, so I'm picking up a lot of things fairly quickly. Any tips, videos, ideas, or anything that might accelerate my learnign curve. Any help would be greatly appreciated.



Thanks,



Willy

 

[DOGS THAT BARK]

Used to play a LOT till I took up golf and quit completely after that.
MUCH safer environment.
The best advice I could give is while draw english looks very pretty--follow english is MUCH more predictible--master it 1st and use the draw only when necessary--especially if you play bar tables with weighted cue ball for ball return purposes.

 

[lowell]

one pocket is a great game to play for money. here in nc a new game called 3 ball has taken off. players break and need a 5 or better to qualify or game rolls over. the break is crucial. i usually break them and leave cue in the middle. a steady four will win you money but making 3's will win you more. if 5 players are playing for 5 or 10 dollars per game and it rolls over 3 times you keep putting up again and you can win some good money. because of the simplicity of the game less talented players will often beat better players which gives no reason for a spot.

 

[dawgball]

lowell--we used to play three ball all the time as teenagers. Another rule that you can add is that scratching automatically ends your turn.

But we certainly weren't playing for $5/$10 per game back then!

 

[Bif "The Hat"]

I use to play a lot, until I noticed girls. LOL

 

[lowell]

lowell--we used to play three ball all the time as teenagers. Another rule that you can add is that scratching automatically ends your turn.

But we certainly weren't playing for $5/$10 per game back then!

we play that a scratch counts as a 1 shot penalty. most days there are several people playing for a dollar. i really enjoy 9 ball the best but play little pool now. one of my friends here at the local pool room is the epitomy of a pool hustler. i have seen him put the cue on one rail in the middle against the felt and 9 ball on opposite rail flush with felt. he gets 25 shots to cut the ball in the corner pocket. he won 1400 hundred the other night on the bet and made it the first try. i am pretty good-rated a 5 i guess but he can give me the 6,7 and 8 ball and kill me in 9 ball.

 

[yyz]

Watch the Lezbos play on ESPN2.......they know their shit!

That one with the big cans who looks like Harry Potter.......she can stroke it! (Her girlfriend looks like Raggedy Andy, and is a good shot, too!)

 

[Penguinfan]

Here is everything you need to know about pocketing shots, and there will be people who say it's not possible, but the following is fact:

Every makable shot that is not straight in will fall under the category or 15, 30, 45, or 60 degrees. Based on the size of the table and the size of the pockets a ball hit with no english whatsoever will pocket a ball with one of the above degrees.
You can pocket each of the above by AIMING the following way, again I say AIMING, not actually contacting the ball at these points, but rather AIMING at them

Straight in simply aim at the point on the cloth where the bottom of the object ball touches it, much easier to look at that point than the center of an object that is a solid color.

15 degrees, aim the center of the cue ball at a spot that is 25% away from the edge farthest the pocket, simply put draw an imaginary line down the center of the ball, then down the center of the half you are aiming at.

30 degrees, aim the center of the cueball at the edge of the object ball farthest from the pocket

45 degrees, aim the 25% point on the cueball (find it the same way as above) at the edge of the object ball farthest from the pocket.

60 degrees, aim the edge of the cueball at the edge of the object ball farthest from the pocket.

You can find exactly what angle you are looking for by using the diamond on the table and a bit of guesswork. There isn't a chance I could explain it without you looking at the graphs I have, suffice to say you if you look at the shot and 45 is too much and 15 doesn't look like enough then it's probably 30, you will get good at reading the angle after just a few hours.

Practice this until you can pocket balls at ease and then move on to position play, which for that I recommend getting hold of a game Kim Davenport (I think) created called target pool. It covers almost every shot you will encounter and give you a way to track your progress, but most importantly it really focuses on speed of shots.

Good Luck

PS, I am not interested in arguing the angles involved and won't, I know this is fact. Please don't come in here and say "well what if it's just a bit less than 45, wouldn't it be 40 degrees", the answer is no, buy a protractor and figure it out for yourself.

Get my e-mail from Jack if you want to talk more about this or there is something you don't understand.

 

[IntenseOperator]

I knew a guy that was pretty good.

He used to play on the large table (billiards???) with the smaller balls and real tight pockets to improve his pool game on regular tables.

 

[Penguinfan]

That would be Snooker, a billiards table has no pockets at all.

 

[Hamster]

Use a cue stick that is well balanced and feels good to you. A Predator 314 shaft will increase your accuracy by limiting the amount of deflection. Also, use a firmer tip, like a LePro.

Observe the pros on their positioning lines and try to give yourself an angle on most shots to facilitate positioning onto the next ball.

A slow backswing and even a slight pause before following thru on your stroke. Stay down on the shot and enjoy the game.