PoolSynergy is a blog carnival where several pool bloggers collaborate each month to write about a common topic.
This month I'm your humble host, and I asked fellow contributors to discuss their thoughts, experiences, and/or advice on what is known in the world of billiards as 'sharking'.
Sharking, in a nutshell, covers a wide range of antics that may be employed to distract an opponent while they're shooting. Sometimes it's visual, such as motion in the line of sight or at the edge of the shooter's peripheral vision... sometimes it's audible, such as a well-timed comment or other sound such as a cough... and sometimes it's mental, such as a comment that's intended to provoke thought well after it's originally made (presumably while shooting).
Of course not every comment, cough, or movement is or should be considered to be sharking. This is an important point, and please take it on board. I've seen more than one person get so hung up on this kind of thing that they drive themselves batty just thinking they're being intentionally sharked when they're not. Pool halls and bars tend to be crowded, noisy, distracting places and you need to be able to cope with that or you'll find yourself limited as to how far you can progress in the sport.
The best pool players have honed their concentration skills to the point that they can tune just about anything out. Take, for example, this video of Efren playing in a noisy, crowded bar:
Or how about this one where Earl runs out while there's still commotion going on after a large bucket full of water fell from the ceiling into the stands:
I guess my overall initial point is that "stuff happens" and the better you can tune it out, the better off you'll be whether the stuff happening is being done to intentionally distract you or not.
On the other hand, I'm convinced that there are players out there with serious ethical and sportsmanship issues who feel somewhere deep inside that they can't beat you without resorting to sharking in some form or another. These are the folks that you need to arm yourself against... while still being mindful that the actions may indeed be innocent.
So what to do? It's a good question, and in my opinion there's no single 'right' answer that covers every situation.
One of the more common distractions I've seen is idle chatting, and more importantly trying to engage you in conversation while you're at the table. Seems innocent enough - after all, pool is often considered a social sport as it's usually done in a (supposedly) social setting such as a bar or pool hall. Intentional or not? It's tough to tell, and I'd tend to say it's usually unintentional... but I know that's not always the case. The best way to deal with this is to simply tune them out if you can. Simply do not allow them to engage you in conversation! Do not talk back to them! Ignore them and concentrate on your shooting.
Another distraction I've seen is the 'table hugger'... the guy who's up at the table chalking his cue or whatever while you're trying to shoot. Again, sometimes this is simply someone with a nervous habit or otherwise clueless about what he's doing. If he's truly clueless, asking him politely to step away from the table or out of your line of sight should do the trick.
Unfortunately, sometimes it takes a little more persuasion to deal with the situation. You might have to be a little firmer with your requests in order to get through. Do your best to keep your cool though! If you let it get to you, chances are it's having an increasing effect on your concentration (and game).
Another option that I've tried with known repeat offenders is to simply mirror them. Whatever they do at the table when you're shooting, do it right back when they're shooting. Don't exaggerate or "one up" them... just match them as closely as you possibly can - and do it in a casual manner too, rather that making a weird "see, I can do this too" expression on your face or something. I've found that one of two things will happen when you do this: (1) they'll say something to you about you doing it, which of course opens up a dialog in which you can politely request that they in turn refrain from doing the same thing... or (2) their sharky actions while you're at the table will magically 'disappear' without comment (and, of course, you should then do the same).
PoolSynergy is a blog carnival where several pool bloggers collaborate each month to write about a common topic.
This month's topic, brought to you by the father of PoolSynergy John Biddle, is Practice: What Works For You.
This topic made me reflect on a few things: (a) do I practice? (b) does anything actually work for me? (c) is it worth writing about? I got a hat trick of yes's with the answers, but realized that my practice varies so much that I'd be better off writing about the underlying principles guiding my practice sessions rather than going in depth about any specific drills I do. Up until this point I haven't had a written list of these principles, but it didn't take long to pound out a quick dozen of them.
Schedule Your Practice
Regular practice is a great habit to be in, and the best way to develop and stick to this habit is to have set days and times during the week set aside for practice. Life happens, of course, and you have to be flexible... but don't flex too much! You'll likely find that you can keep on your schedule if it's realistic in the first place and you make it a priority in your life. It doesn't have to be the top priority (and probably shouldn't be), but it needs to be a genuine priority. Assuming you want to improve, that is. If you're satisfied with the level of suckage in your game, that's perfectly alright with me.
Keep a Record
The amount of detail will vary from person to person, but it's generally a good idea to keep track of what you're doing during your practice sessions. I know some people who like to record things in excruciating detail, and I know people who don't record anything at all. Since this post is about what works for me, I'll say that I fall somewhere near the middle of the two extremes. I keep general notes of what I'm practicing and what I want to practice in the near future. I track some types of drills in more detail so I can get an idea of progress I'm making, but I intentionally avoid overdoing it. My personal feeling is that I'm there to practice, not administrate. The paperwork shouldn't be so onerous that it's a distraction.
Mix it Up
Variety is the spice of life. Yes, you're going to be concentrating on certain things from time to time, and that's fine... but I always prefer to mix it up a bit to keep it interesting and also to exercise different parts of your game in a balanced manner.
Look Ahead in Your Calendar
When planning out my practice sessions, I generally look two or three months ahead on the calendar to help decide what I should be working on. If I know there's a 10-ball tournament coming up in a couple of months I'll make a point of spending some time on 10-ball breaks since that's not something I do on a regular basis, for example.
Work On Your Weaknesses
We all have them, some worse than others. And I've found that sometimes weaknesses come, go, and come back again! Shooting a ball down the rail is a common weakness for many newer players, for example. Or long straight in shots. Or draw. Be honest with yourself on these - identify and eliminate them! From time to time, ask others what they perceive your weaknesses to be, and listen with an open mind. Their answers might uncover something you haven't even considered!
Work On Things You Don't Like
Don't like shooting a cue ball that's close or frozen to the rail? Practice it! Don't like bridging over other balls? Practice it! Don't like using the mechanical bridge? Practice it! These are all common weaknesses in the average player's game that tend to be game changers - one way or the other. Avoiding these things in practice simply because you don't like doing them is a common (and deadly) mistake.
Work On Important Aspects of the Game
Most people practice shot making... and that's important of course, but beyond that there are some extremely important aspects of the game that often do not get the attention they deserve. Break shots, for example are huge and yet rarely get the attention they deserve (amongst amateurs, at least). I remember watching Shane Van Boening work his way through four or five straight racks in a local 9-ball tournament when a fellow railbird remarked "hell, he's getting really easy table layouts... even I could run the table with layouts like that" and yeah, that's exactly the point. He was getting good layouts because he's invested hundreds or thousands of hours on his break. A good break can keep you at the table more often than not... it can occasionally win the game outright for you... and it makes subsequent run outs much easier as well. Safeties are another aspect of the game that usually don't get the attention they deserve.
Use Proven Practice Methods and Drills
No need to reinvent the wheel - look to others for practice methods that might fill your needs. There are some incredibly effective drills floating around out there in books, videos, and other sources - take advantage of them! Many pool books have chapters or sections dedicated to practice drills. At least one book is completely dedicated to practice: Phil Cappelle's Practicing Pool. You'll find that some of the 'tried and true' practice drills are incredibly effective at working on common weaknesses... probably more so than the majority of things you'd come up with on your own.
Repetition, Repetition, Repetition
Build that muscle memory! Studies have shown that practicing the same thing over and over again prompts biological changes that actually improve the body's ability to perform that action. It's more than just a matter of "the more you practice, the better you get"... you're actually programming your body to get better at the task. Therefore, it makes sense to dedicate at least a portion of your practice to highly repetitive tasks such as shooting the same exact shot over and over again. Mark the initial locations of the cue ball and object ball(s) so you can quickly set them up again and shoot 25 of them. Or 50. Or even 100.
Practice Under Realistic Game Conditions
Do you have some sort of fancy collared shirt from a sponsor that you only wear in tournaments? Wear it during practice at least a few times to make sure you're used to it and it doesn't cause any unforeseen problems. Sometimes the oddest things can cause a distraction, such as the way a shirt sleeve catches your elbow mid-stroke. Wear the shoes you normally compete in. Use the equipment you normally use (including chalk holders, etc).
Practice Alone
I've noticed many people get together with others and make it a bit of a social event to 'practice' and sure, there's something to be said for that... but I don't personally think that's the best way to practice. It generally turns into a string of casual games mixed in with a lot of chatting and drinking, etc. It's all good, of course, and probably helpful to some extent... but keep in mind it's not optimal practice. In my opinion, you really need to be alone in order to tune in and get the most out of your practice sessions. If you've got a friend or partner who really wants to be involved, put them to work setting up repetitious shots or something so they enhance your practice experience rather than distract from it. If your partner is also a pool player, rotate back and forth with them between shooting and setting.
Something is Better than Nothing
Yeah, I get it... most people lead busy lives and maybe they don't have a solid two hours to practice at a given time on a given day. Fine, at least try to squeeze in 10-15 minutes on your favorite drill or simply run a couple of racks or something. I often run a rack while commercials are on TV or I'm waiting for a delicious gourmet meal to finish in the microwave. Don't have a pool table at home? Fine. Practice your stroke and bridges on the kitchen table. It's not perfect, but at least it's something.
Happy practicing!
Be sure to check out all of the other great PoolSynergy articles posted here.
PoolSynergy is a blog carnival where several pool bloggers collaborate each month to write about a common topic.
This month's topic, brought to you by Samm Vidal Claramunt (aka Samm Diep), is 10 Things. Umm, ten of what things you ask? Well, ten of anything pool related said Samm - so I chose to write about 10 Ways to Quiet the Mind... something I've personally been focusing on lately.
If you're not familiar with the term, perhaps you've heard similar terms such as "Zen State" or "Inner Peace" as described in this short clip from Kung Fu Panda 2:
In the movie, Master Shifu goes on to demonstrate what can be done when a state of Inner Peace has been achieved: he delicately catches a falling drop of water... but instead of it splashing on him, he's able to magically keep it intact as it rolls over his hand and arms until he deposits it on a flower while Po watches in amazement. Later in the movie, Po discovers inner peace... duplicating the exercise with a raindrop. Toward the end of the movie, Po harnesses this new-found mastery of Inner Peace to defeat the evil Lord Shen.
That was a fictional (and animated) dramatization, of course, but it's not all fiction. Top performing athletes and artists have discovered that they have to 'let go' of conscious thought controlling their actions in order to achieve their full potential. Consider a lead guitarist performing an intricate solo, for example:
Watch the quickness and accuracy of his fingering as he literally shreds through dozens if not hundreds of perfectly timed hammer-ons and pull-offs in rapid succession. Not a single "buzz" of a miss-fretted string, not a single missed note.
Would this be remotely possible if he was consciously thinking of each individual action he had to do? Of course not. He's on autopilot. He's disengaged his conscious thought from his actions, letting his subconscious mind and body perform.
Watch the expression on his face around the 1:33 mark in the video clip. That, my friends, is Inner Peace.
The same principles apply to many different sports, especially sports that require split-second reactions such as table tennis (aka ping pong):
OK, I slipped some more fiction in here from the movie Forrest Gump, but 'real' table tennis is similar - the mind has to react quickly to recognize the speed and direction of the opponent's volley, anticipate effects of spin on both the path of the ball in air and bounce on the table... then coordinate with the body to properly position the paddle to return the shot - taking into account all the factors such as speed, spin, angle of paddle and so on to get the ball back to the opponent's side of the table.
Again, this is not something that can be achieved with step-by-step instructions from the conscious brain.
Consider another high-speed sport such as tennis:
Here, Federer returns a 140 mph serve from Roddick with precision for an easy win. Those of you who have not played tennis may not fully appreciate what he accomplished. A tennis court is 78 feet long. A tennis ball going 140 mph covers that distance in slightly more than one-third of one second. That means Federer had that much time to recognize the shot, calculate its trajectory, where it would bounce, where it would be when it got to him, position his racket (and body) for a return... and not just any return, but one perfectly aimed at Roddick's feet for a win.
"Immortal" the announcer said... but no, it was very mortal... just Federer harnessing the power of the subconscious mind by quieting his conscious mind. Inner Peace. Zen State.
In the movie Top Gun, one of the many lines that made an impression on me occurred during a classroom review of the pilots' performance earlier in the day. Viper, the Zen-master of the Top Gun school was critical of Maverick's (Tom Cruise) choices during a dogfight. He turned the review over to Charlie (Kelly McGinnis), who continued to question his actions:
"Aircraft one performs a split S? That's the last thing you should do. The MiG has you in his gun sight, what were you thinking?"
Maverick replies "You don't have time to think up there. If you think, you're dead."
And he's right, of course. I can't say so from personal experience (unless you count computer simulators), but I can certainly appreciate the split-second reactions that would have to be made during a dogfight in which two or more jet fighters are performing intricate maneuvers at hundreds of miles per hour.
I can't relate to rolling raindrops down my arm or returning cannon balls like Po did in Kung Fu Panda either, but, being a musician and athlete, I can relate to some of the other examples given above. I lettered on the tennis team in high school, and engaged in rapid-fire net volley sessions on several occasions.
I've also played quite a bit of table-tennis, and even had the pleasure (if you can call it that) of playing against a nationally-ranked player on a fairly regular basis. He worked for me as a software engineer when I lived in Colorado Springs, and regularly hung out with some of the athletes a few blocks away at the U.S. Olympic Training Center during his free time. He kicked my butt 99.5% of the time, but I steadily improved and got to the point where I could return some of his hardest shots by pure reaction... again, by "letting go" and quieting my conscious mind.
Please understand I'm not relating these experiences to say "look at me"... but rather in an effort to endorse books and other materials that discuss this subject. I'm trying to say "I get it," "I've experienced it" and "there's really something to this."
One of my favorite books on the subject is The Inner Game of Tennis. In this book, the author talks about Self 1 and Self 2, with Self 2 being the subconscious part of the mind responsible for peak athletic performance. It's the brash, egotistical Self 1 that needs to be "quieted" in order to let Self 2 perform.
So what does all of this have to do with billiards, anyway? Pool is certainly not a game of quick reactions like most of my examples so far... but it turns out that the part of the brain responsible for peak high-speed athletic performance (Self 2) is the very same part of the brain that's ideally suited to handle the identification and calculation of the myriad of factors involved in shooting pool.
Applying the principles of "Quieting the Mind" will enable a pool player to achieve much higher levels of performance. Is it a magic bullet? No, not really... as with other sports the mechanics, knowledge, and strategy need to be sound - and the muscle memory needs to be put in place through hours and hours of practice... but once you have a handle on those things, successfully quieting the mind will raise your game to a whole new level.
Please understand that I'm not saying that only advanced players should work on this. It absolutely makes sense for beginners and/or intermediate players to be working on it as well. For one thing, it's not as easy as it sounds to master. It takes practice. If you begin working on it now, you'll have a better handle on it when your muscle memory catches up. Also, several of the tips result in an increased awareness... which in turn gives Self 2 more "inputs" related to each shot as your internal catalog and muscle memory is being built.
So... ten tips for quieting the mind...
1. Make final decisions on all aspects of the shot before getting down into your final shooting stance. You'll run across this nugget of advice often and for good reason. Once you're down in your shooting stance, you ideally need to completely surrender the completion of your shot to Self 2, the subconscious mind. Things that you consciously thought about before the shot: where you want the object ball to go, where you want the cue ball to end up, what path the cue ball needs to take, and so on, need to be settled.
2. Focus intently on the object ball as you make your final stroke. Most people go through some eye patterns during the practice strokes... shifting the eyes between the cue ball and the object ball. That's perfectly normal. When it's time to make the final stroke, however, you should be focused intently on the object ball. Exactly where on the object ball might vary a bit from person to person depending on how they aim and so on, but for purposes of quieting the mind, the key is to be focusing intently on the ball. Why? Frankly, part of the reason is it gives Self 1 something to do that's not destructive. It's like redirecting a child to another acceptable activity rather than simply telling them not to do something that's not acceptable.
3. If distracted while in your shooting stance, get back up and regroup. Do not continue with the shot. Get up, deal with the distraction, then go back through your pre-shot routine before getting back into your shooting stance. Perhaps stating the obvious, but it's a good idea to eliminate as many potential distractions as possible before even starting the match. Make sure you're not hungry, thirsty, or need to go to the bathroom. Wrap up text conversations, turn off your phone if possible and so on.
4. Let go of the ego. Remove all judgement from your shooting. All of it. Ego and judgement come from Self 1. If you make a bad shot, there's no need for Self 1 to reinforce that it was a bad shot by scolding yourself or trying to consciously analyze what you did wrong. There's equally no purpose in telling your opponent, your friends, or other rail birds what you did wrong. Self 2 already knows it was a bad shot and just as likely knows what you did wrong - probably better than you do. Perhaps surprisingly, the same advice applies to good shots. How many times have you seen someone fluff a simple shot right after dropping a really tough shot? It's a good bet Self 1 was still in the game doing high 5's, fist pumps, and chest bumps. Note that there's a fine line between judgement and simple acknowledgement. Acknowledgement is OK.
5. Increase awareness of your stroke. Heighten your senses of all aspects of your stroke in a non-judgmental way. This may at first seem counter-intuitive, but it can be done. Again, like #2 above, you're trying to engage Self 1 in helpful activities. Gathering more information for Self 2 is helpful. Trying to judge and/or consciously correct what's going on during the stroke is not helpful. Increase the awareness of your grip and how the butt of the cue stick pivots on your fingers with each practice stroke. Feel the shaft of your cue slide through your bridge. With most bridges, even a closed bridge, a V is formed. Focus on the weight of the shaft in that V... does the weight equally balance between each side of the V and stay balanced throughout your stroke? Yes, it sounds like I'm asking for a judgement here, but that's not the intent. I asked the question to indicate the level of awareness you should be trying to achieve. With the right amount of awareness, you should be able to answer that question, but don't do so in a judgmental way (again, simple acknowledgement is OK). Trust Self 2 to make the necessary course corrections. Similarly, you should be acutely aware of as many other aspects of your stroke as possible including what it felt like when the tip hit the cue ball all the way through your follow through.
6. Increase awareness of your stance. Repeat the previous exercise, only focusing on your stance. Feel the weight on your feet. Is your weight equally distributed between your feet? Your awareness should be such that you can answer that question. Is your stance relaxed and balanced? Is your whole body relaxed? While writing this step, I realized this is an area where conscious adjustment sometimes takes place when first getting into the shooting stance - you're down... you realize your aim is slightly off, so you shift a little bit... which in turn causes an imbalance on your feet. Go ahead and move your feet to correct this! I consider this adjustment to still be "getting into the shooting stance"... and therefore appropriate and necessary. Once you've made any such adjustments, lock them in, fade Self 1 out and let Self 2 take over.
7. Observe your stroke on a regular basis. This departs from some of the other steps in that it's not something you generally do while you're shooting. With some sports it may be possible to watch aspects of your motions in a mirror or something, but I've found that to be difficult to do with pool. The best thing to do is record yourself with a video camera. The most convenient time to do this, of course, is during practice sessions, but make an effort to record yourself during competition as well because you may find you do things differently! Again, the goal here is to observe in a non-judgmental way. Don't rip yourself up with negative declarations like "I've got horrible practice strokes." Observe, acknowledge, correct.
8. Trust Self 2. Once you're down in your stance and turned things over to Self 2, you absolutely must trust that Self 2 is going to come through for you and do the right thing. Any second-guessing or last minute corrections by Self 1 will likely screw things up. If you feel yourself doing this, stand back up and start over.
9. Let the shot happen. Don't make it happen, let it happen. Trying to make it happen is something Self 1 would do. You shouldn't be in conscious control at this point. Self 1 is the control freak. If it seems like Self 1 is still fighting for control (and it will, trust me) beat it back with a stick by keeping it busy doing other things like focusing even more intently on the object ball as previously mentioned. Be like Forrest Gump - "never, ever, take your eye off the ball."
10. Observe the results. Simple acknowledgments, non-judgmental. Did the object ball go where it was supposed to go? Did the cue ball go where it was supposed to go? This is an essential part of the process of feeding Self 2's data banks for future use. Self 2 took in all of the inputs you gave through increased awareness and if something was mechanically amiss, it probably caught it and stored that info away as well.
The Self 2 of an experienced player may very well be capable of resolving the reasons for any variances between actual and expected on its own in most cases. Keep in mind this might not be the case with a beginner because the beginner simply doesn't have the knowledge and experience necessary to explain an unexpected behavior... but that will improve over time as knowledge improves through experimentation.
Good luck beating Self 1 into submission!
Be sure to check out all of the other great PoolSynergy articles listed here.
Wow - this is only my third post this month, and the month is almost over. Sigh. Been busy, been a little sick, had sick kids... stuff happens. Mostly good stuff, though. Part of my busy-ness has been gearing up for upcoming tournaments as I mentioned in a previous post. As promised, I have a couple of follow-up posts to that one coming up soon.
What else? Let's see... I'm working towards LASIK surgery in the near future (specifically iLASIK). Yes, I believe the time has come. I've been watching the state-of-the-art in eye surgery evolve for decades now. My mom was an office manager for two of the leading eye surgeons in Reno back in the 80's and 90's so that was a good opportunity for me and we did in fact discuss it, but I didn't pull the trigger for various reasons. The technology has advanced significantly since then, enough so that the procedure I'm looking at is the first to be approved by the military and NASA for pilots and astronauts.
I've also been following the OMGWTF vs. Asia Cycak saga with moderate interest and amusement. If you have no clue what I'm talking about and feel left out, a couple initial posts about it are here and here. The drama is real and sad in many ways, but it serves as a good reminder that you need to watch your back with some of the folks out there. The whole thing also reminded me of a recent article in the Vegas Billiards Buzz. Kudos to OMGWTF for her usual journalistic excellence on the subject. By the way, am I the only one thinking this might be an opportunity for a streamed grudge match in another medium... like Jello, mud, or oil? I'm sure I could come up with a venue for that here in Vegas. (did I just type that out loud?)
Anyway, back to the subject at hand... sometime last fall, shortly after I took over as captain of my Wednesday night 8-ball team, I sat down and read the APA Official Team Manual cover to cover. I didn't really expect to retain it all, but wanted to have a good idea of what was in there so I could refer to it when situations arise. I remember in particular a passage at the top of page 48 (part of the 'Pocketed Balls' section that began on the previous page): "It occasionally happens on tables with small pockets that two balls become jammed in a pocket and are leaning over the edge of the slate to some degree..."
Now, this is a cruel thing to slip into a book I'm reading. Why? Well, maybe it'd be helpful to know a couple of things about me: I currently work at a casino gaming machine manufacturer. We develop slot machines, slot accounting systems, player tracking systems, and so on. In other words, my current life is filled with probability and statistics math. As I read, part of my brain spun off a background process to calculate the odds of such an event happening.
Prior to getting into my current line of work, I was a nuclear reactor operator. Consequently, I'm very familiar with and even taught nuclear physics at a college level (at a Navy training facility). As you might guess, another part of my brain spun off a background process to figure out the physics involved in getting two balls jammed in a pocket during normal play. At some point, I believe one or both of those background processes attempted to divide by zero and my head about exploded.
Suffice it to say the odds are huge. Most people won't see it in their lifetime.
Well, it happened to one of the players on my Wednesday night team (Ron Worley) when he broke during his league match last Wednesday night, coincidentally at a bar I've blogged about before. Never a dull moment there I guess.
Several people witnessed it - players as well as onlookers with accumulated pool shooting experience totaling well into hundreds of years, and no one had seen it happen before.
I've got a few largish tournaments in the near future: first up is the APA 8-ball Classic Singles Regional Finals in Phoenix the first week of March. This tournament is a qualifier for the APA 8-ball Classic Singles National Championships, which I competed in last year.
Next up is the Southwest Challenge (8-ball) here in Las Vegas at The Riviera. The Southwest Challenge is a fun format - teams of three with a total skill level cap of 14 (the 9-ball version of the tournament, played in the fall, has a skill level cap of 15). For this tournament, you have to declare the roster order when entering so there isn't any control over individual player match ups during the tournament. As a result, it's not uncommon to see top rated players playing against beginners - and with the APA handicapping system, the beginners can be a challenge to anyone.
At the end of April is the APA Singles National Championships. I'm already qualified for the 9-ball Shootout at this event after winning the Regional Finals last fall. A win (or even second place) next month in Phoenix would qualify me to compete in the 8-ball Classic as well. Since the 8-ball and 9-ball events run pretty much concurrently at Nationals, I have mixed feelings about taking both on. I'll be well warmed up, that's for sure!
There are a couple local annual tournaments coming up that I'm also considering entering, so needless to say I'm going to get my fill of higher level tournament action over the next few months!
My plan of attack in preparing for these tournaments is to focus primarily in three areas: the mental game, simplification, and safeties. To start things off, I'm making another pass through my 'mental' books.
As I mentioned in my December PoolSynergy post, Pleasures of Small Motions is one of my top gift recommendations - it's well written, a fairly quick read, and ideal for an occasional mental tune up. Of course I wouldn't be giving the book for gifts unless I found it useful myself. I've already read this book cover to cover a couple of times, and it's back in my queue for another pass as soon as I finish what I'm currently reading... A Mind for Pool.
In this book, well-known pool author Phil Capelle covers the mental aspects of pool from just about every angle imaginable. It's a very thorough book, covering everything from getting started to dealing with the pressure of competition.
Of course there's much more to pool than simply dealing with the pressure of competition, so Phil makes many stops along the way to discuss things such as: being a good student of the game, self evaluation, breaking bad habits, keys to consistency, dealing with distractions, learning from losing, and enjoying the game.
I'm truly amazed at the number of people I see on a regular basis that get so incredibly wound up during a match.I can't help but think it hurts their game more than it helps. Sure, there are a few examples of pro hot-heads out there, but even then I dare say they're probably more controlled when it counts than they appear to be. They might spout off in between shots, but they're usually able to quickly turn it off and refocus when they're down on the next shot. If they weren't able to do that, they probably wouldn't have achieved the level of success that they have.
But on the other hand, it's entirely possible that they could have achieved even greater success if they were able to keep things under control a bit better. Consider The Color of Money (the match, not the movie) - a long, grueling, high stakes race to 120. Two incredibly gifted shooters... but the winner in the end was the one who did a better job keeping it together mentally, erasing a 15 game deficit for the come-from-behind win.
I'll be discussing my other two areas of focus - simplification and safeties in future posts... stay tuned.
I'm at the stage of my game that I'm really trying to work on my consistency. I can make shots. I can (and have) made extremely difficult shots like razor-thin cuts from the length of the table and so on... shots that usually prompt TV commentators to predict an upcoming safety. If I'm focusing well, I can sink corner-to-corner-dead-straight-object-ball-in-the-middle-of-the-table shots with high regularity. But yet, I miss shots that I shouldn't more often than I'd like to. So, like many other pool players out there, I'm making a concerted effort to to improve my percentages on 'basic' shots. By 'basic' I mean shots where the cue ball and/or object ball do not hit a rail or another ball. I'm talking about straight-in shots or varying degrees of cut shots. No banks, kicks, caroms, billiards, etc... just the basics.
So, back the original question - why do I miss? Simple question, amazingly complex answer. Any number of things can result in missing a given shot. Unless you know exactly which factor caused you to miss, it's pretty much impossible to correct the problem directly... so the general approach to improving at shot making usually focuses on improving upon the factors most likely associated with inconsistent play and missed shots. For purposes of simplification, I've decided to group the various 'miss factors' into three categories:
Stroke. With little doubt, a smooth consistent stroke is the primary foundation to excelling at pool. You can be a genius at angles, theory, and strategy; but if you can't hit the cue ball consistently, your play will most likely plateau at some level (actual level may vary, but probably below where you'd like). In my attempt at simplified categorization, I consider the stroke to be comprised of several elements including stance, bridge, grip, arm position, follow-through, and so on. In other words, I consider the stroke to be pretty much everything leading up to and including consistently hitting a cue ball exactly where you want to hit it. I've put quite a bit of time into working on my stroke and while there's always room for improvement, I think I've got it to a level that it's usually not a significant factor in my misses (or if it is, I usually know because the shot felt wrong). Because the stroke is so important, it's discussed at length in numerous books, DVDs and other resources. One of my favorite DVDs on the subject is in the set I recommended earlier this month. As I mentioned in my recommendation, the entire first DVD of the set is dedicated to a "perfect stroke." Another DVD that does a good job of discussing stroke fundamentals is Max Eberle's Powerful Pool.
Aim. For my purposes, I consider 'aim' as being the process or act of determining where the cue ball needs to go in order to make a given shot. To me, successfully delivering the cue ball to the point of aim is more a function of the 'stoke' category discussed above... but I certainly agree there's overlap between the two. Aim influences proper body alignment for a successful shot, for example. What I'm really trying to isolate in this category is what many people call "aiming systems" which is one of the current areas of focus in my own game. Improving my stroke definitely improved my game, but I still have some unexplained misses that I can't attribute to stroke problems (or other problems, below), so I'm not entirely certain I'm aiming properly on all shots. Therefore, I've decided to embark on a review of the various aiming systems out there to see if there's something useful that I'm not currently using.
And just what am I using? Good question. I more or less started out with the ghost ball system as I imagine most people did. Through practice, drills, and experience I've developed more of a 'feel' system that a lot of more experienced players develop over time. Yes, I've been able to walk up to a table and pound a long back-cut into a blind pocket without even thinking about it, so I know I have some amount of 'feel' aiming brewing inside me... but the whole 'feel' thing is against my nature... I'm an engineer and therefore tend to seek out something more quantifiable; something I can actively troubleshoot and improve rather than something I just put faith into automatically improving though hours and hours of practice. The problem is, when a 'feel' shot goes wrong I have no quantifiable way of determining why... and that bothers me.
Although I've looked at many of these aiming systems before, I can't say that I've really done a deep dive to figure them out and perhaps more importantly try them out. That's going to be my project for the next few weeks or so. I expect it to keep me busy for awhile. There is some discussion of aiming systems in books and DVDs I already have, and there's also a wealth of information online. Dr. Dave has a page dedicated to aiming, and several of Bob Jewett's Billiards Digest articles discuss aiming systems as well. While reading one of the articles, I ran across a reference to a book entitled "The Secret of Aiming" by Randy Kukla. I wasn't able to find the book searching online, but I just happen to know a Randy Kukla who plays pool (quite well, by the way). The one I know doesn't live in Essexville, MI as Jewett's article stated, but I figured my odds were pretty good it was the same person. A quick email confirmed, and I should have a copy of his book in my hands soon. I'll ask him if he's willing and able to sell it to others as well in case anyone else is interested - please let me know if you are.
Beyond commercially available books and videos and/or Internet resources, there are several folks who advertise some sort of "secret aiming system training" in with fundamentals of pool classes that they offer. By no means a comprehensive list, a few such programs (in no particular order) are: Tom Simpson's "Beat People with a Stick" course, Stan Shuffett's PRO ONE, and Gene Albrecht's Perfect Aim. While I would absolutely love to attend one or more of these courses, it's probably not going to happen anytime in the near future due to higher priority things competing for my $$. I believe a couple of the programs offer or will offer DVDs showing their aiming systems, so I may look into those at some point.
If anyone has input regarding resources I should look into in the area of aiming, by all means drop me a comment!
Other. To be honest, I mainly tacked this category on as a catch all for the time being. I recognize that there are some other factors that can contribute to a miss. Equipment, table conditions, nerves, distractions, as well as quantifiable factors such as squirt, deflection, throw, and so on. I realize some of these factors (such as the last few) can and ideally should be factored into aiming systems, or at least considered during the aiming process... but for now I decided to keep them separate in order to simply things a bit. I'll revisit and expand upon many of these factors at some point in the future. [update] p00lriah made a huge point in a comment that I should have covered better in this section, and that is that you need to keep an even keel and treat every shot the same! Don't get tense on a money ball - and at the other end of the spectrum, treat every shot with respect... even the little simple plinkers. Thanks p00lriah!
Happy Holidays everyone, and welcome to the special holiday edition of...
This month, our lovely hostess Melinda asked that we write about our favorite pool related book and DVD with the thinking that they'd make good Christmas gifts (or gifts for any other occasion in the near future, for that matter).
As you may already know, I'm an avid reader and have accumulated a large library of books on various pocket billiard subjects including general technique as well as specific strategies for games such as 8-ball, 9-ball, etc. It's frankly very difficult to pick a single favorite book because there are so many good ones. If someone asked me for a suggestion, I'd probably dig a bit deeper about what they were looking for in order to narrow the field a bit before making a suggestion.
In thinking about what I was going to cover for this article, though, one book stood out for me in many ways - it's broadly applicable to pretty much anyone playing pocket billiards so you don't have to worry about knowing whether the person you're getting a gift for plays 8-ball, 9-ball, one-pocket, straight pool, or whatever... and, in my opinion, it won't be one of the first books a billiards player will buy themselves, so the odds are fairly good they won't already have it early in their billiards book collection process. It's also fairly inexpensive, so it makes a good stocking stuffer or something you can give to numerous people (like every member of your team if you're into that kind of thing). For the above reasons and others, I've already given it as a gift to more than one of my pool-playing friends.
For the reasons stated above and others, Pleasures of Small Motions is always one of the first pool-related books that comes to mind when someone asks me for recommendations. Few people will argue that there's a large mental component to the game of pool, and this book definitely helped me sort that out. Written by an avid pool player who also happens to be a psychotherapist with a Ph.D in philosophy, this book is obviously a labor of love by someone who knows what they're talking about (re: both pool and psychology). After seeing the subtitle "Mastering the Mental Game of Pocket Billiards," I expected it to cover things like attitude, confidence, focus, concentration, and so on... and indeed it does. In fact, it gave me a whole new understanding and appreciation for the word concentration. The book goes well beyond the obvious topics though, covering various aspects of the inner workings of the mind and body and how thoughts are translated into the mechanics of playing pool including what can go wrong and why. It also covers some things that I hadn't really considered, such as the importance of rhythm and proper separation of conscious and unconscious control. In my opinion, this book is an absolute must-read for any competitive pool player. And it shouldn't just be read once, it should be reviewed on a regular basis.
Like many others, I've discovered that DVDs are incredibly useful training aids in the sport as well. Pool is a sport of physical action, obviously, and you can't fully appreciate the various techniques from printed word alone, even with the accompanying drawings and photos. If a picture is worth a thousand words, a video must be hundreds of thousands. It really helps to see things play out in video. There are several good videos out there, but I was asked to pick just one...
First off, I wish to acknowledge that my DVD selection might raise a few eyebrows given that it's produced by IPT and Kevin Trudeau. Yeah, yeah, I'm sure you're wondering what could possibly be wrong with a DVD produced by an ex-car salesman, doctor-posing convicted felon who founded the International Pool Tour only to skip town without paying winners after a tournament in 2006 thereby landing a big sucker punch to the sport of pocket billiards that we still haven't recovered from? Maybe I just like living on the edge. Sifting through some of the background material on Kevin, I kept thinking to myself that there must be another side to these stories... until I ran across his clean desk policy and realized he's simply from some sort of alternate universe. Seriously? A company policy that requires everyone's desk to be perfectly clean at all times? How the heck do you get anything done with a perfectly clean desk? By the way, Kevin, your memos need some cleaning - I noticed several spelling and grammatical errors. You might consider consulting that dictionary you recommend in Policy #8.
Several things impress me about this DVD set. It's very well organized into a series of progressive drills intended to perfect your stroke and shot making ability from the ground up... the entire first DVD is dedicated to perfecting the stroke. You don't even get to hit an object ball! These drills epitomize the myelin-producing deep practice discussed in The Talent Code. The second DVD focuses on shot making, and the third focuses on other aspects of the game. Also included is a set of cards summarizing the drills that you can stuff away in your cue case for reference at the pool hall. The first DVD alone is easily worth the sale price at Seybert's.
Sigel discusses a couple of things that some folks don't agree with (such as using outside English on every single cut shot) but he explains his reasoning and it's certainly up to the viewer to balance Sigel's methods and advice against that of others to find what works for them. One thing you'll discover about Sigel is that he really strives for consistency - not just in the usual things like stance and stroke and so on, but in other areas such as cue ball speed and English applied for given shots. Indeed, one of the drills is dedicated to developing a consistent 'default' cue ball speed. Siegel's approach is one of simplification - if you use an ingrained 'default' speed the vast majority of the time or if you always use the same English for every single cut shot (as examples), the amount of complexity that your brain must process to get an imprint of shot and cue ball behavior is significantly reduced.
Contrast that with players who are constantly varying the speed of their stroke, the amount of English applied, etc, etc. Their brains have to figure out how all of those different variables combine to produce varying degrees of squirt, throw, deflection, curve, etc. And if multiple variables change from shot-to-shot, it's nearly impossible to match up the change in behavior to the individual variables in a cause-and-effect basis. Even if you're not trying to figure it out consciously, your brain is trying to sort it out subconsciously.
With my background in software engineering, this focus on simplification really struck a chord with me. I know from experience that by far the most software bugs reside in the most complicated, mangled code. For that reason, the best programmers go out of their way to produce simple, clean, elegant code for a given solution. In the software world, simple is genius. This focus on simplification is clearly Sigel's key to consistent play. This DVD set is a good value all the way up to the list price of $59.95... and it's a complete no-brainer at Seybert's sale price.
Wow, it's been two whole weeks since my last post. It's amazing how quickly time flies when you're sick and your computer is dead. But it would take more than that for me to miss the special first anniversary edition of PoolSynergy, so I loaded up with a triple dose of Nyquil, booted my daughter off her computer and here I am! Her YouTube, Daily What, and U.S. Government homework can wait... it's MY turn damn it, and I built this computer in the first place - so HAH!
Now I have to hurry up and madly hammer this out before the Nyquil kicks in and I ZzzzZzzzzzz.
For this month's edition of PoolSynergy, John chose to go with the theme of "Three Tips" and after he very nicely explained to me that he was talking about three hints and not three tips such as the Moori, Tiger Sniper (my old favorite), and Tiger Onyx (my new favorite) I wandered off into my corner to figure out what I could possibly write about. Something GOOD. I mean "don't miss your shots," "don't scratch," and "don't hook yourself" seem kind of obvious (and short).
OK, I admit those were my backup plan in case I had to do the whole article from my iPhone. But I've commandeered a real computer so I'm going to do three real tips! And since I also listed my emergency backup tips, you get a sweet 2-for-1 deal on tips today and it's not even Black Friday yet!
Alright, the Nyquil is starting to kick in (which will be my excuse for any lame humor that appears in this post) so I need to get back on track. It actually took me awhile to come up with the three tips I was going to cover. Most of the other authors jumped on good ones before I could stake my claim (be sure to check the others out) so I had to dig a little deeper. I pondered some about what made me ME... and realized that I tend to use unique, creative shots more often than a lot of others do. While others get perfect shape shot after shot and sink everything (yawn), I'm the one who screws up shape just so I can pull some jaw-dropping crazy shot out of my ass. And then, of course, while the thrill is still fresh in the crowd's mind I miss an easy straight-in shot on the money ball and slink away to my chair. Or at least that's the way it seems during some matches.
But it is true that I use unique shots at times. Most of them aren't rocket science but as I mentioned, I often don't see them used when the opportunities present themselves to other players. Of course... once you know a shot and have practiced it a bit, it's easier to recognize the opportunities when they come up. It's like the old adage "when you have a hammer, the whole world looks like a nail."
So without further ado, here are the three shots I've selected as being not quite so typical but definitely handy when the situations arise.
The first seems like a no-brainer but I'm amazed at the number of people who will gladly trade off an easier straight-on shot on the current shot for much poorer position on the following shot. Take a bit of time to practice off the rail shots, they're not that tough!
Slightly less obvious, but very handy nonetheless is the Ticky shot. Again, it really isn't a very difficult shot to do with just a little bit of practice.
Being able to roll a ball in after another ball can be extremely handy! I've used it numerous times to drop my ball in after an opponent's blocker ball, or dropping in two of my balls in one shot, or even in game winning situations. Again, this really isn't a tough shot once you get a feel for it with a little bit of practice.
A slightly different approach is required when your object ball is close to the blocker ball.
And there you have it, three handy shots to add to your repertoire if they're not already there. Shoot straight, and kick some butt out there people!
An opponent asked me how tall I was at a recent qualifier tournament. If I recall correctly, it was between shots while I was at the table... probably while I was chalking my stick. This opponent was someone I knew, but not extremely well - we don't play together on a team or even in the same league division or anything, but I do bump into him on occasion. He seems like a great guy, and a solid shooter - we've traded matches back and forth.
Anyway, it seemed like a pretty random but harmless question, so I just answered it factually and moved on to the next shot (or two). I knew he was asking me for a reason though, so curiosity eventually got the better of me and I asked him why he wanted to know. He explained that he noticed I gripped the butt of the cue further back than many of the better players he's observed... and suggested I check it out. I took the comment on board, thanked him, and continued on with the match.
My biggest initial concern was that my forearm may not be 90 degrees (or so) to the cue when I hit the cue ball, so I video taped myself shooting a few shots and concluded I was doing OK in that department.
I then decided to review the discussions of related fundamentals in some of my favorite 'basics' books. Capelle's Play Your Best Pool confirmed the 90 degree rule, Dr. Dave's The Illustrated Principles of Pool and Billiards stated that the forearm should be vertical upon contact with the cue ball (pretty much equivalent to the 90 degree rule), Martin & Reeves' The 99 Critical Shots in Pool talked about grip position in relation to the balance point of the stick (suggesting 4 to 7 inches behind the balance point). I recalled my opponent also making a reference to balance point... and I was indeed gripping past the 4 to 7 inch point, but I was reluctant to move my grip solely on this recommendation knowing that it would affect the 90 degree angle (which I felt was more important). Koehler's The Science of Pocket Billiards also talked about vertical arm, and then went on to say this about balance point: "Many instructors start by advising the student where to hold the stick in relation to the balance point. This means that the entire stance must accommodate this grip position. A better technique is to assume proper stance then grip the stick wherever the stance dictates." Since this statement was after the vertical arm discussion, I assumed the vertical arm was included as part of the 'proper stance' and this was more or less in agreement with what I saw in the videos of my shooting.
My opponent's observation was correct, nonetheless... the fact remained that I did tend to grip further back than many of the better players that were more or less my size, so I decided to dig a little deeper. Another factor that could affect my grip position (all other factors remaining equal) was bridge length. Think of it this way - if someone came up behind you while you were in your stance and slid your stick backwards or forwards through your fingers without moving any part of your body, it would change your bridge length and grip position by the same amount. Again, I went to the table and took a few shots... stopping periodically to measure my bridge length. Of course, it varied somewhat from shot to shot based on various factors... but I found that my bridge was consistently on the long side of the recommendation scale... it was generally in the range of 12" to 14".
This was not the first time I'd run across the "long bridge" observation. Back in the spring prior to participating in the APA Singles Nationals, I had a mentoring session with my league operator and he commented that my bridge length was longer than his. He didn't really press me to change it or anything, it was mostly just an observation at the time. I inherently knew from basic math/physics that a shorter bridge would give me better accuracy, so I made an effort to shorten it after hearing his comment.
In the booklet included with his E-Z Shot Cueball, Tom Simpson discusses bridge length as related to accuracy on the cue ball hit... stating that a 3/4" wobble at the back of the stick could cause a 1/4" error at the tip with a 14" bridge. He goes on to point out that an 8" bridge reduces the tip error by half, or 1/8", for the same amount of rear stick wobble. Based on this, he recommends the use of an 8" bridge unless some other factor in the shot dictates the use of a longer one.
Somewhat annoyed by my previous (failed) attempt at shortening my bridge length, I decided to be a bit more aggressive this time. I grabbed a ruler and Sharpie marker, measured 8" back from the tip of my shaft and marked it with the Sharpie. Now I have a good reminder that's "in my face" every time I get down on a shot. I made a dashed line rather than a solid thick line so it's not horribly obtrusive and/or distracting when I need to use a longer bridge... but it's definitely caught me a few times with 'normal' shots.
Being proud pool athletes, most of us like to talk about our equipment... but, yes, there are times when it's just plain not appropriate to ask!
This is a true story from earlier today! I was playing at a large tournament at the Riviera in Las Vegas (APA 9-ball Southwest Challenge). After a decisive win in the first round, I went to the restroom to ummm... well... do restroom stuff.
As I stood at a urinal with my cue case slung over my shoulder, an older gentlemen walked up to the urinal right next to me and proceeded to ask me what kind of stick I had.
That. Is. So. Wrong! Wrong! Wrong!
Never mind that he violated the first cardinal rule of urinal etiquette "Thou shalt not occupy a urinal immediately adjacent to an occupied urinal if space allows" as well as the second cardinal rule of urinal etiquette "Thou shalt not strike up a conversation with another urinal user especially if he is unknown to you."
Engineer, father, pool player on a quest for pool excellence. Historically, I've succeeded in achieving what I set out to do and pool is a good match for my overall skill set so I have no doubt I'll get there... one step at a time.
. In this book, the author talks about Self 1 and Self 2, with Self 2 being the subconscious part of the mind responsible for peak athletic performance. It's the brash, egotistical Self 1 that needs to be "quieted" in order to let Self 2 perform.
cover to cover. I didn't really expect to retain it all, but wanted to have a good idea of what was in there so I could refer to it when situations arise. I remember in particular a passage at the top of page 48 (part of the 'Pocketed Balls' section that began on the previous page): 
is one of my top gift recommendations - it's well written, a fairly quick read, and ideal for an occasional mental tune up. Of course I wouldn't be giving the book for gifts unless I found it useful myself. I've already read this book cover to cover a couple of times, and it's back in my queue for another pass as soon as I finish what I'm currently reading... 
.
covers the mental aspects of pool from just about every angle imaginable. It's a very thorough book, covering everything from getting started to dealing with the pressure of competition.
. The second DVD focuses on shot making, and the third focuses on other aspects of the game. Also included is a set of cards summarizing the drills that you can stuff away in your cue case for reference at the pool hall. The first DVD alone is easily worth the sale price at Seybert's.
, 
(my old favorite), and 
(my new favorite) I wandered off into my corner to figure out what I could possibly write about. Something GOOD. I mean "don't miss your shots," "don't scratch," and "don't hook yourself" seem kind of obvious (and short).
and 
. Another good resource for different types of shots is Dr. Dave's excellent 
confirmed the 90 degree rule, Dr. Dave's 
stated that the forearm should be vertical upon contact with the cue ball (pretty much equivalent to the 90 degree rule), Martin & Reeves' 
also talked about vertical arm, and then went on to say this about balance point: "Many instructors start by advising the student where to hold the stick in relation to the balance point. This means that the entire stance must accommodate this grip position. A better technique is to assume proper stance then grip the stick wherever the stance dictates." Since this statement was after the vertical arm discussion, I assumed the vertical arm was included as part of the 'proper stance' and this was more or less in agreement with what I saw in the videos of my shooting.
, 
