Anyone who says that pool players don’t have to be in good physical condition hasn’t really played much pool. If you know a scofflaw, challenge that person to 100 shots, within one hour. If they’re not in good physical condition, they’ll be huffing, puffing and dripping sweat. The Green Game is a lot more physically demanding that it appears. Continue reading
Unless you have our own home table, finding a table for pool practicing is one of the problems you face in your goal of becoming a better pool player. It often takes more time to get your stuff together and drive back and forth to your local playing environment (pool hall, senior center, lodge) than actually spend time with practicing pool shots and setups. A dedicated practice trip will take 20-30 minutes to get there for a practice time of a half hour, and then the trip back. BTW, playing with friends is NOT practicing, so get that idea out of your head. Practice is practice. Use your playing friends to demonstrate your new skills. Continue reading
Every time you hit an object ball with a cue ball, there is a minor wonder of physics that affects the cue ball, known as the tangent line. What is amazing about this little bit of table billiards activity is that you can use it to predict cue ball behavior. Continue reading
An advanced 10 Ball player will find this information to be moderately helpful. If you are an intermediate player, this advice will improve your win-loss record by about 10% to 20%. Continue reading
Almost all players have difficulty being consistent with banking. Most people (rightly so) consider banks to be low percentage. When you make an attempt, you can protect yourself by playing it as a two-way shot. If you make it, you are on the next ball. If missed, it doesn’t hurt you. Continue reading
There are times when you get yourself in a playing situation where you will be playing for hours and hours. Tournaments are a good example. Few of these are finishing in a couple hours. Unless you get knocked out early, you are going to be there for a long time, some of the time playing, some of the time waiting. Continue reading
In every stroke, your stick forearm comes forward to make the cue tip contact the cue ball. The quality of a player is determined by the precision on where the cue ball is contacted by the tip and the precision of the stick speed. Continue reading
Gambling money on your table skills can sometimes be an opportunity to learn how you play under pressure, or simply be a way to pass some time for pocket change.
Your reaction to risking the available cash in your possession depends on your experiences and the amounts being risked. Here are a few suggestions and recommendations. Continue reading
The term “bad shooting habits” takes in a lot of territory. It could fall into one of the body, i.e., feet position, butt (yours) position, head position, arm & elbow, etc. It could be due to your cue handling, i.e., bridge hand position/length, butt (cue) grip, etc. It could be a shortcoming in your stroke, such as jerky movement, follow-through failure, speed control, or unintended cue ball spin. Or, it might be a problem based on your mental abilities, such as layout analysis, shot selection, unwanted consequences, etc. Continue reading
This is today’s set of Cue Ball Cheats. These practice setups (and others in the book and blog) help you learn HOW to apply an exact speed and spin. That precision is how to get perfect shape on the second ball – and how to string a run together. For these layouts here are the Cheats for this post:
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