|
|
Now's your chance to ask a professional instructor questions about how
to enhance your game. Billiard Congress of America instructors are
ready for your questions, no matter how easy or difficult. You'll also
get to see the answers to other pool players questions.
For information about becoming a Recognized BCA Instructor, please e-mail Fran Crimi, BCA Instructor Program administrator, at bcainstructors@aol.com.
Items 1-5 of 16 displayed.
- What is the best way for one to improve in pool, how many points are there on the cue ball and what are their respective effect on the cue and the object ball in question? I ask this because am a learner and I watch 9 ball and snooker games on TV and the commenter’s usually tell you how the cue ball will move and position after the shot has been made. Thank you in advance and I live in Zambia
- Mulenga Bangili, Kitwe
- Mulenga,
As I understand it, you would like to know two things:
1) What to do that will improve your game
2) What is the result of hitting the cue ball at different points…
For your first question: To improve a pool game, anyone’s pool game, make sure you know your personal stroke mechanics and that you can repeat that stroke precisely over and over again. Without someone there to watch and help (an instructor), there are a few things I can recommend. Please keep your grip hand fairly relaxed, with just enough pressure to cradle the cue. Pretend that the grip hand is holding an egg: hold it firm enough to keep it in your hand, but light enough that the ‘egg’ won’t crack! It is important that your grip remains at basically the same level of relaxation at all times during and after the stroke… If you change your grip during the stroke, you will change how the cue tip hits the cue ball. Another thing you can do is develop a ‘pendulum stroke’. It is not a true pendulum, but it will look like one if you can keep the elbow from moving as you stroke the cue using the arm below the elbow (forearm and grip hand). The reason for this is that if the elbow moves before the cue tip strikes the cue ball, it is extremely difficult to ensure you will hit the cue ball where you intended. To practice both the grip and the stroke with the elbow ‘pinned’ in place, a variation of a time-honored drill is to take a striped ball for your cue ball, place it on the footspot, with topspin on the cueball (a cue tip position that hits the cue ball above its center of mass) and a level cue, shoot the cue ball straight into the side rail so that it bounces and rolls straight back into your cue tip. When you can do that ten times in a row, start shooting the cue ball to the far end rail and back. Other things you can do will involve the answer to your next question, on how and where to hit the cue ball.
For your second question: This will also include things to do that will improve your game. You asked about the number points that can be hit on the cue ball. The complete answer is “infinite” – an unlimited number of points! However, this doesn’t help us play pool does it? NO!!!!! What then? Sometimes you may hear a TV commentator refer to ‘left’, ‘right’, ’top’, ’bottom’, ’follow’, ’draw’, ‘English’, ‘sidespin’, or any number of other terms. From the point of view of the cue tip going into the cue ball, I will start with the center of the cue ball as the reference for tip positions. I am referring to the true center of the ball, and not something on the surface of the cue ball. As you sight your cue stick into the cue ball, you can generally hit the cue ball anywhere you see as long as the outer edge of your cue stick remains pointed just inside the outer edge of the cue ball. Example: If you lay the cue completely flat on the table and pointed at the very bottom of the cue ball, raise the tip end of the cue off of the table at least one millimeter to find the hittable area of the cue ball. Depending on how wide and steeply curved your cue tip is, the tip may not miscue if you left it flat on the table or it might need to be lifted several millimeters.
So now that we have found center ball and the edge of the hittable area, let’s answer your question more directly. When you hit the cue ball, the spin you put on the ball will determine what it will do after it hits something (another ball or a cushion). If you shoot straight into another object ball and the cue ball is rolling forward (that is ‘follow’ or ‘topspin’), the cue ball will roll forward after hitting the object ball. If the cue ball is sliding with no topspin or backspin when it hits the object ball it will stop in place (as long as you were shooting the cue ball directly into the object ball). If the cue ball is spinning backward when it hits the object ball, it will back up towards you (the shooter). The trick is to practice the straight in shots with different up and down tip positions and different speeds. Take an object ball and place it in front of the side pocket, and put the cue ball in the very center of the table, then shoot the cue ball straight into the object ball ensuring your cue tip hit the cue ball somewhere below center. If you hit the cue ball low enough and with enough speed to keep it spinning backwards all the way until it hits the object ball, it will back up towards you after striking the object ball. Once your stroke is smooth and your speed is fast enough to back the cue ball up, just work on learning what your personal tip positions are. “One tip up” is one tip position above center, YOUR one tip NOT my ‘one tip’. It is how you see the tip setting up to the cue ball, and as long as you can refine your tip positions for hitting the cue ball and repeat them ON COMMAND, accurately, reliably, and dependably with good stroke mechanics then you will start producing more predictable results and you will be playing better and better! When people talk about tip positions in the U.S., it is usually in terms of a 12-hour clock face (a clock with wand arms to tell time) with 12-o’clock being the top of the cue ball, 3-o’clock being pure right sidespin (right English), 6-o’clock being pure bottom spin, and 9-o’clock being pure left sidespin (left English). All other tip positions are referenced to this basic structure: up, down, left, right, or the clock position. You should learn to have at least three as you move from center, so that if you were moving your cue tip from left to right there would be at least seven repeatable tip positions (3-2-1 left, center, and 1-2-3 right). For example: “Two tips up at 1:30” is the same as having you move your cue tip two of whatever your tip positions are up and to the right of center in equal amounts (basically 1.4 tips up and 1.4 tips right of center). Sidespin should be used very little because there are some problems being accurate when cueing to the sides of the cue ball. There are many high level players that might be better served using a little less sidespin. Sidespin is good for managing the cue ball after it hits the object ball and then hits a cushion, but if you don’t first pocket the object ball that won’t matter. Most of the time, no sidespin is needed to do everything right and get another shot. You can get better faster by taking a little time each week with shooting the same shot over and over, but with different speeds and different tip positions so that you learn what speed and spin will do. Please only change one thing and only one thing at a time (angle, speed, or spin) and you will be much happier with your results.
Good luck and good shooting!
- Carl Oswald
- I've been looking for some instruction on how to become a better player. When I see the rates, they're somewhat costly to be trained for one to three days. Is this enough time to make an extremely good player or how does this work. I would love to pay for an instructor but, I would like someone to work with me for a much longer period of time so I can develop into a better player.
- Donte , Indianapolis
- Hi Donte. Yours is a question I here quite often. Rates for instruction can vary greatly, as can the quality of instruction offered. Some very expensive instruction may offer less of what you need than some that may be several hundred dollars less. I would suggest shopping around. Talk with different instructors. Ask for references. Find out what they are offering. You can spend a few hundred to several thousand dollars for lessons. And what you pay does not necessarily mean you are getting better instruction, even if the instructor is a well know player.
Find an instructor who will work with you to help you meet YOUR goals.
Nobody can teach you to play pool in two or three days. When I offer those classes, I make it clear that I will be teaching the ideas and concepts that are necessary for a student to improve. The real learning takes place after you leave the class and work on developing the skills you learn in the class. If you are willing to learn, the right instructor can make sure you are doing the right things the right way.
Only you can determine what lessons are worth to you. But consider that many instructors, including myself, offer some pretty good classes for less than the cost of a medium price range pool cue.
When you find the right instructor, you will know it. At that point, I think you will find the investment will be well worth it.
- Steve Jennings
- What can I do to improve my mental game?
- Asher Le, Jacksonville
- Great question. Knowing when you need to focus, and how to control your focus is the top priority to work on. Your brain can remain very focused only for a short period of time. We teach our students how to use routines with little triggers that tell you it's time to get focused. Learning how to bring all of your attention to the one shot that is in front of you for the 10 to 12 seconds it takes to actually complete the shot is what you want to work on. Separate the thinking part from the actual shooting. As I tell my students, "Think before shooting, then shoot without thinking."
- Steve Jennings
- WHEN I PRACTICE AT HOME, I AM RELAXED AND I SHOOT WELL. IN TOURNAMENTS, IM A NERVOUS WRECK. HOW DO I STAY RELAXED?
- KEN PLACHECKI, SAUK RAPIDS,MN.
- Hi Ken,
Try to figure out what it is that is making you nervous. Is it the fact that people are watching? Is there someone you are trying to impress? Or are you putting pressure on yourself by thinking you are in a "must win" situation? What are your expectations when you are in competition? If it's all about winning, you are creating a pretty tough goal. When I first started playing in tournaments, I had the same problem. What helped me was changing my attitude going in to the tournament. Now, when I play in a tournament, my expectations are to have a good time, spend time with some friends, and shoot some pool. In other words, I play in tournaments to HAVE FUN. And with that attitude, not only do I enjoy it more, I play better, and when it's over, I have met my personal goals. And that is a good feeling.
- Steve Jennings
- How do you make the ball to jump and how do you shoot a stronger breaks shot?
- Pedro Soto, Los Angeles
- Jumping the cue ball is not too difficult if you understand what is happening. You are virtually shooting the cue ball down into the table. Since it can't go through the slate, the only reaction it can have is to go up. The best thing is to find someone who can jump a ball, and have them show you. Start easy, try to jump the ball over a cue stick laying across the table. Height and distance will come once you get the feel for the stroke.
A stronger break shot isn't anywhere nearly as helpful to your game as an accurate break shot. Hitting the point ball in the rack squarely will generate more energy transfer into the rack and spread the balls better. Losing control of the cue ball is the worst thing you can do. Find your maximum break speed, and then back off by about 15 or 20 percent, and you will have better control, and an overall better break.
- Steve Jennings
Result pages: [1] [2] [3] [4] next »
|
