BCA INSTRUCTOR, MONK MASTER INSTRUCTOR, & BCAPL CERTIFIED NATIONAL REFEREE AT YOUR SERVICE IN MN/WI AREA

Would you like to improve your game and bring your elusive "potential game abilities" along with you to your next weekly league, match, or tournament play ?!  Would you like to be the proud new owner of a brand new championship level stroke and game winning confidence for 2009 ?!

Do you feel so close to achieving that next level of your game that you can almost taste it, but some how seem to stay on that some level plateau of ability and results season after season? 

Maybe it is even more dramatic (read traumatic) than that...such as being stuck in a seemingly never ending rut, or agonizingly slow downward spiral ?!

Perhaps you are returning from a break from the game, but just cannot find your way back to the old championship skills? 

If this describes you or some one you know then listen to the following message! 

ATTENTION PLAYERS:

Knowledge is Power

Ok, so I am a beginner (in my eyes) but everyone seems to say I have some sort of "great eye" whatever. I am a 3 in APA nine ball, and just was raised to a 4 in APA 8ball. 

So, while I am not claiming to be a great shot, I have this tip to those 7's and 6's etc that coach the lower handicap players.  DONT assume that just because You can see where to hit the ball perfectly... doesnt mean that we can. See, no one taught me a stroke. I make due. I can see lines on the tables and am deadly with banks,and long cuts, etc, but when I am lining up, I actually have to hit more english just because when I actually make contact, I know that I end up hitting more inside, when I use out side english.  I know that is bad, but how do you fix something that I've been doing for 4 years? (I only started playing pool in 2004, and I have already been to 2 National events, where my team made it to the Semi finals each time)

How do I change my stroke? Will this mess my whole game up?

Content

me llamo giancarlo, tengo 20 a_os

I've just started playing again after 15 years, and this new place I'm going to doesn't use powder.  Since it was my first visit there, they pulled some out for me, but it started me thinking.  I realized that I never see professionals wearing gloves or using powder...

I don't understand how you get a smooth glide on bare skin.  My hands aren't sweaty... I guess they're too soft.  Am I missing something?  Do you eventually develop smooth spots on your fingers?

I've ordered a skin-tone glove of spandex/nylon.  My husband hopes it doesn't provoke anyone :)

It's been awhile since I shot a game of pool, but I just resently started playing again.My games coming back slowly. I can't seem to shake off the confudince bug.My main probalem is my bank shots seem to come and go. If u hav a helpful hint throw it my way. By th way I just placed 2nd in a tourn. 2 days ago.Thanks

             Mike

Hello Billiards Enthusiasts!

I came across this website that has a lot of cool billiard info.  Information including an interactive "Cue Anatomy" section, How to care for your pool cue, the history of billiards, and how to improve your game.  They had a lot of awesome ideas.  And better yet, they have a huge warehouse of billiard equipment.  Check them out here:  http://www.ballbreakersllc.com.   You can find all the information above on their website here:  http://www.ballbreakersllc.com/infocenter/infocenter.asp.  

I signed up for an account the other day and ordered a mcdermott cue.  They had awesome customer service!

Every once in a while, a student of mine will miss a shot, the execution of which resembles a person being hit with a cattle prod in their lower back. They begin to jump up before, during and after the stroke. They swoop their stick in a great arc, sometimes even hitting the lights with it in their massively well-meaning, if misguided, execution of follow-through. And they all look up earnestly at their teacher after just such a shot, and they ask, "Guillotine," (that's me) "What did I do wrong?"

("Gesundheit," is traditionally what I'd like to say.)

I usually just smile and begin by assuring them, "OK, I can help you with this..." and try to help them isolate which stillness violation they are currently committing that evening.

A shocking amount of the time, a student's game improves noticeably if they can simply master this one thing. It's similar to golf in that coaches always seem to be repeating the phrase, "Keep your head still!"

If you ever want to see the best, touring example I've seen of minimizing the number of moving parts in one's stroke, take a look at Allison FIsher. Billiards Digest did a long-exposure shot of her form from the side, and literally the only things that blurred were her forearm and cue. Even 99% of her hair was crisply rendered in the photo, indicating that it remained perfectly still for that critical moment in every shot's life, the moment of execution.

Might be something to that whole "staying still" thing. (Are you listening, Luc Salvas?)

I'd highly recommend that any serious students of the game make certain now that they don't need any help with their fundamentals. Find a reputable teacher in your area and take some lessons. The time that this may help you save in your pursuit of pool excellence could well be measured in decades, because unlearning bad habits is much harder than simply learning them correctly in the first place.

Because if you can't keep your head down long enough to pocket a ball, how am I going to teach you force-follow and the power-draw?

Guillotine

THE POINT OF NO RETURN

Strategy is the name of the game in 8-ball.  Perhaps no game offers more options on every shot than 8-ball.  Players who rely only on skill in this game are destined for only disappointment.

An important key is knowing when to go for the out and when to play safe.  When a table is fairly "runnable" - there is perhaps only one difficult shot to execute - the shooter must make the decision when to swing or when to duck.  This decision is best made by the second or third shot in the potential run, - waiting too long to play a safety shot is the fool's path.  The "point of no return" is the last point where you still have the option to prevent a run-out by your opponent should you miss.  Ideally, your options should always include the opportunity to make your opponents next shot as difficult as reasonably possible.