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Play to win - Psychology
Once you have the basics of the game down, winning a game of pool is at least 90% in your mind and the attitude you bring to the game.
- Monk Program
See the "Our Cues" page for two free offers. I would recommend buying "The Lesson" and "I Came to Win" by The Monk. I struggled for three or four years wondering why I beat the top players in the early rounds of a tournament only to consistently lose the game before the final to a weaker opponent. After reading the above books and implementing the ideas, I won touraments often and even up to 10 weeks in a row. It basically comes down to the following concepts:
- Motivation
Pool is a great game. The ultimate game of keeping your cool under pressure. One pool player can recognise another regardless of skill or time spent at the table, it is our love of the game that we share in common. At some stage you need to ask yourself what your motivation is in playing the game of pool. Are you playing the game purely for social interaction and fun? Do you play to improve your skills? Do you play to win no matter what? Money is the motivation for some and a lot of hustlers can only perform when there is money on the game. Your underlying motivation will reflect your results in competition. At the end of the day, no matter what your motivation is you need to enjoy the game (and the social interaction of competitive play) or you are missing the point. Win or lose you need to conduct yourself in a proper manner - this is what makes a true winner. There is something to be said about Karma - what goes around comes around, so be gracious in your wins and loses. I believe you need to have a balanced view with a self-belief that you can win and put the hours and years into perfecting your game. You need to pay your dues i.e lose in every possible way and learn from each mistake in order to get better. Every player can improve and learn from each other so the player who already "knows it all" is going to limit how far he/she can get in the game.
- The following are examples of thoughts that are destructive and counteractive to winning
- Table - The table is not rolling true, the cushions are too dead, the lighting is wrong. (everyone is playing on the same table - learn to adapt, not make excuses)
- Cue - If only I had my own cue I would not have miscued that shot. (maybe true but don't put too much spin if the cue can't hold the chalk)
- Reminder - reminds you you only have one more shot to win the game (just play it like any other shot)
- Competition - Tells you who you are playing next (Don't worry about your oponent, let them worry about you!)
- Ear - Listening to voices around the pool hall saying he will miss (concentrate on the shot. You shouldn't hear or see anything else in that moment)
- Warning - Tells you not to choke "you missed this last time" (if you are worried about choking or missing you will)
- Self - Not having the self belief you can win (if you don't think you can you won't)
- The 3 Cs are skills that are the basis of any champion
- Concentration - The ability to give full concentration on every shot including simple shots for full duration of a tournament
- Composure - Have you noticed how you play well after a few drinks before it goes downhill? Composure is the ability to stay calm under pressure
- Courage - you have no fear about the possible outcomes of a shot and are free to shoot it to the best of your ability
- One shot at a time.
It all comes down to one shot at a time. If you can shoot a ball one at a time while putting the white where you want, then you just need to repeat this process until you have won the game.
- Playing the player
Playing a player who thinks that you are better than him and often says "oh no I have to play you" has pretty much forfeited the game before it has started. You will note that this player will play well under his skill level and will choke on key shots because he is intimidated and does not expect to win - don't become this player. Make sure you put yourself in the game no matter what the reputation of your opponent.
Pub pool
First thing to do is hit a few balls around to check out how a table plays. Too many players don't take the time to do this and think there is little difference from table to table.
- Cloth Most pub tables, which get a lot of play, use the slower, thicker blended cloth because it can better withstand heavy usage. This type of cloth is called woolen cloth. By contrast, high quality pool cloth is usually made of a napless weave such as worsted wool which gives a much faster roll to the balls. This "speed" of the cloth affects the amount of swerve and deflection of the balls, how they play off the cush and how easy it is to backspin or draw the white ball. Snooker cloth has a directional nap upon which the balls behave differently when rolling against vs toward the direction of the nap.
- Size of white ball on coin operated tables. (The following only applies to tables where the white ball is a different size to the other balls).
On coin operated tables the white ball is either smaller or larger than the other balls. This greatly affects the way the balls spin, come off the cush, and go into the pockets. It is difficult to draw/backspin a larger white ball but is possible if the cloth allows and you have good tecnique. It is very easy to draw on tables where the white ball is smaller. I believe that mostly follow-through shots should be played on tables where the white ball is bigger as it is easy to get good position this way. Also, follow-through imparts backspin on the object ball and makes it go into the pockets easier and not forced or bounce out. Throw is increased with a bigger white ball and decreased with a smaller white ball (see advanced). Draw should be used mostly with a smaller white ball as this imparts topspin on the object ball and compensates for the difference in mass between the balls making the pockets take the balls better.
- Pockets
There are two style of pockets: English and American, both of which are found roughly equally in different pubs. English pockets are the same as snooker pockets that is rounded and require more precision to sink the ball. American style pockets are straight and hitting the edge of the pocket will usually also sink the ball. Any table with American pockets under 9 foot are also known as a "super pool table" with big pockets and balls - it is not uncommon to sink every ball at one turn at the table. This has purpose to its design as coin operated tables will generate more money with this kind of easy table.
- Playing to different rules
International pool (9 foot American 8 ball) has a set of rules that are designed to make the game fair and free from foul play and flukes. The main rules of this game are different to most pub rules and are as follows:
- On the break if you sink one ball or both strips and solids it is still your turn and you are not on anything until you nominate and intentionally sink a ball.
- If you sink the black on the break it is respotted and you continue
- You must nominate the ball and pocket for every non obvious shot if a ball goes in the wrong pocket it is your oponents turn not a foul
- You foul if you hit opponents ball first or if a ball does not go in a pocket any ball must hit a cush after the white ball has hit your ball (this prevents tap snookers in the middle of the table). If the white ball goes in a pocket this is also a foul. If you miss the black ball while you are on it this is also a foul.
- If you foul your opponent gets the ball and can put it anywhere on the table except after a break the white ball must go behind the line and played forward
- You loose if you sink the black and white in the same shot.
- If you sink your ball and your opponents ball this is not a foul and you continue
- You can call a "saftey" shot
Pub pool rules vary greatly from area to area and even pub to pub within areas. Some pubs play that if you sink the black off the break you win, some venues you loose, some there is a restart and others a respot and opponent continues. Parts of Australia have a two shot rule for any foul other parts have no penalty for a foul. In parts of Australia you don't loose or foul on the black if you miss as long as your opponent has coloured balls on the table. In New Zealand if you snooker yourself on the black and can't hit it you loose. In this case I would not go for my run out until I could finnish the table usually letting a weaker opponent sink most of there balls first to get them out of the way and avoid snookering myself. Most people think you are winning if you have less balls on the table - I think the opposite is true that if you have more balls on the table it is to your advantage as you have more balls to block your opponet. Noone is "ahead" in pool until the black ball goes down. The point I am making here is you need to adjust your game plan and style of play to the rules.
Basics
- The stance
A correct stance is the foundation upon which you built your game. There are many examples on you tube showing how to form a correct stance. Make sure you have this mastered before building on your game. If you have been playing for years don't be afraid to correct problems in your stance as this will improve your game in the long run.
- The Break
There are many opinions on how to get a good break. I have an attacking style of play so prefer to have the table as open as possible. To get a good break you need to make sure the balls are racked tightly. I place the white ball on the spot use a foloow stroke aiming as if the white ball was ten inches infront of where it is.
I often sink balls this way (up to five balls on a super pool table) and if not the open table suits my style of play.
- Chalk
Make sure you chalk your cue often, it is not a bad habit to chalk you cue after every shot. Don't cake the chalk on as this will have an adverse effect, rather lightly stoke chalk across tip in one direction. Red, blue, green, everyone swears by different types of chalk, any chalk is better than no chalk. Don't scrape your tip against rough concrete to make it hold chalk better on really smooth hard tip cues, there are proper instruments for this that won't dammage your tip.
- Four strokes of pool
Punch Stroke - This is center ball hit on the white ball. Basically if you hit a ball straight on it would be a stop shot (without playing low on the white ball). Why this is important is the angle of ball into a cush will equall the angle out as there is no spin on the ball so it makes it easy to play good position. Also there is no deflection or throw with this shot (see advanced below).
Follow through - This is an important shot to know how to do and use effectively. I know of players who only use this shot and do very well. Again there is no deflection or throw and you can run the white ball forward after you hit a ball as far as you want to get good position. (On a table where the white ball is bigger this is the shot that I use the most). Just aim one tip above center and play through the ball.
Spin stroke - Also called english this is an advanced stroke because of the deflection and throw and beginners should not use this stroke if they want to sink more balls. Spin is used to get precise position of the white ball when you need to change the natural line the white ball will take.
Draw stroke - Played the same as the follow but one tip below center. On a table with good cloth you should be able to draw a ball the length of the table. Not some tables that are too smooth or worn won't allow for good draw stroke.
- Playing the white ball off a cush
Most players hold the back of the cue too high when playing this shot, there is no need for this as it is easy to make the white not run true. Just lower the back of your cue to a normal level and it will be much easier to get the shot. (no you can't move the white ball one cue width out from the cush, that is mini-golf not pool)
- Posistion of the white ball
Too many players are only playing the shot without putting any though into white position. If you play like this you may do well for a while but effectivley you are putting good position down to luck. With practise you should be able to think at least three or four shots ahead in planning your run out. Instinct is when a player knows where the white is going to go without over thinking the shot he is still thinking ahead 3 or 4 shots but plays one shot at a time with thought only on sinking the onject ball and where the white is going to end up. Good instict is something that does come with practise but some players naturally have ot others don't.
- Land of the dead shot
This is the ultimate experince while playing pool. This is when you just can't miss a shot you face on the table no matter the difficulty and you feel no pressure and are completely free to shoot each shot one at a time with the white ball setting up you next easy shot etc all the way to the black. You are relaxed confident and can use all the four stroke effectivley. This happens more and more the more you play the game and is what makes it addictive. Advanced
- Deflection and Throw
Deflection is where you put spin on the white ball it travels slightly in the oposite direction to the side where you hit it. The longer the shot the greater the deflection this means you have to account for this angle in your aim.
Throw means that when the white ball is spinning it will impart spin on the object ball in the opposite direction the white ball is spinning. This throws the object ball off its natural line. (actually in the oposite direction to the white ball deflection so the compensate for each other to some degree). Professionals and advanced players use this to throw balls into the pockets and to make an object ball hug the rail on the way to the pocket. If an object ball is on a rail play spin on the opositie side of your white ball (away from the cush) this will impart opposite spin on the object ball and make it hug the cush all the way to the pocket.
- Two types of draw (backspin) strokes (there are auctually four but the main two are listed here).
The follow through draw and the flick back draw. The first is played the same as a follow through shot but low on the white. The second is played by flicking the cue back after you have white the white ball low. The second shot has a straighter path back where the first is a wider more curved path back. This gives you more options when trying to gain good position from a draw stroke.
- Effect of draw and follow through on bank shots (or double)
Bank shots are low percentage shots and should be used only if nessecary to gain good position or there is no other shot on. If you need to tighten the angle of a bank shot (while aiming at the same place on the object ball) play low on the cue ball. To widen the angle play high on the cue ball.
- Bank shots (doubles) using Ghost tables
If you can't see where to hit a cush to get a bank shot (especially a long bank to a courner pocket) visualise a ghost table the same size as your table touching or table at the cush. Simply aim at an invisible pocket opposite the pocket you want it to go in. With practise this can be usefull if you a doubting your angles.
- How to hit a ball when snookered
If you need to play your white ball off a cush before you hit an object ball and can't see the angle try the following method. Measure from the edge of the ball you want to hit to the cush you are going to hit perpendicular to the cush (use your cue as a ruler and place your finger as a marker) . Come out the same distance again from the cush and from this point in the air aim back at your cue ball. Where this line crosses the cush is where you have to aim to hit the ball you want (provided you hit center ball on the white ball).
- Mase' or swerve shot
A swerve shot is the intentional spin put on the white ball to make it curve around a ball. A mase' is a more drastic swerve. The swerve is played with the back of the cue high in the air to the oposite side of the white you want it to go (creating intentional defection) it should spin back to hit the ball you want. Accuracy only comes with practise and varys greatly depending on the cloth on the table. A mase is played to the side and nearly on top of the ball and sharply and shortly played though the ball without hitting the cloth.
- Using pocket to run the rail at 90 degrees to the cue ball.
More of a trick shot but can be used on english style pockets to hit a ball if snookered or even sink it if it is over the pocket. You have to experiment with draw or follow depending on the size of the white compared to the pockets. Aim at the middle of the curve on the pocket and the white will hit the opposite curve on the pocket and hug the cush at 90 degrees to the shot. This only works if you ware on the same half of the table as the pocket you are aiming at (i.e the angle into the pocket needs to be nearly 90 degrees to the shot).
- Jump shot
A legal jump shot in international pool rules is played on top of the ball, not under the ball as this is a foul. A specially made short cue is used for the job with a dart like action to make jump shots. In pub pool if the rules allow you can shoot under the ball which is the easiest way to accuratley make a jump shot to sink you ball (be carefull for the cloth).
- Using jigger
I have put this under advanced even though it is used often in the game of pool not many people can use it effectivley. This is an advanced shot as the diffence to you bridge hand and room for error is great. Do not play for position with the jigger do not play any spin or draw play a center ball hit or follow simply to make the shot. Your right hand should be close to your chin with you elbow pointing directly right. Play smoothly and softly through this shot.
I don't claim to be an expert on the subject of pool as I still have plenty of room for improvement in my own game. The above tips are simply things I have learnt through reading, other players, and time spent at the table that I wish to pass on.
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