Whenever you play competitive pool matches, you will once in a while find yourself on the losing side. When that happens, there are reactions. For some reason (certainly no fault of your own), you experienced this setback. Continue reading
The warm up process is designed to take you from an off-the-street condition to your ready-to-play condition. The process is a series of shots used to help find your groove, center, platform, etc. These shots dial in your feet positioning, weight distribution, arm/hand positions, bridge hand, head position; everything you need to set up for a shot. Continue reading
Over the long life of a pool table, there will be times when liquids get spilled on table beds due to carelessness. The liquids may be soda pop, coffee, tea, water, beer, or even (in rare circumstances) cat or dog elimination. Continue reading
It is important to be able to have an exact center line stroke and hit on the cue ball. If any fundamental is off, you can be hitting the cue ball to the side as much as 3/4 of a cue tip off the center line. That is almost guaranteed to miss all but the simplest of shots. Continue reading
When you come into a pool room you’ve never been in, you need a way to quickly figure out how the table rolls and whether the rails are in decent shape. You also need to know any roll offs and the slowest speed that will overcome the problem. Continue reading
When you first put a new tip on your cue, there is a certain amount of “breaking in” that occurs, even with the harder tips. When hitting the cue ball at top speeds, a lot of pressure is focused in the tip material. This compresses the tip material and flattens the curve of the tip. Instead of a nickel shape, it looks like a silver dollar shape – flat and barely curved. This, of course, does not help you when applying spin to the cue ball. The flatter curve tends to make it quite easy to miscue. Continue reading
Some individuals are introduced to the Green Game when very young, either by receiving a toy table or somehow gaining access to someone’s home table via the family or a neighborhood buddy. Others start as teenagers, banging balls around with friends, usually as a casual pastime. Continue reading
Just like baseball players fall into slumps, you will have similar experiences in pool. Your game disintegrates and you make playing decisions that would be embarrassing for a beginner. These times can be depressing, leading to thoughts of giving up the game – a true tragedy. Continue reading
There are two circumstances when your game-playing skills seem to abandon you. One occurs on starting the match. You start slow and your opponent gets an early lead. The other occurs when you start well, then someplace in the middle of the match, your game goes downhill. Continue reading
Nervousness is a mental condition. It is most intense when fear is greatest. Generally, the fear is based on worries of survival – actual or imaginary. In the world of pool playing, nervousness occurs when you are doing something new. It could be entering an unknown pool hall, playing an unknown opponent; or entering a tournament for the first time. Continue reading
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