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Billiard Practice and Improvement

Friday, October 3rd, 2008

Billiard players may wonder why they fail to see any improvements in their overall game after all the practice and effort they make. The reason for this is that people practice with a negative instead of a positive billiards strategy. Playing in a negative mode results into one making wrong moves and as soon as players recognize this, then it is easy to get rid of negative mode of playing and commence the learning process. There is a range of books in the market written in an easy and simple manner for quick understanding with excellent illustrations. Plenty of information is also available over the internet on various websites such as billiardsforum.info that might be a perfect stop for several players.

Practicing is a diverse factor to different kinds of people. Some people love practicing alone while others prefer banging the billiard balls around without realizing that they are not improving on their game. Other people enjoy playing with friends and when they win, they believe they are improving on their game. Improvement is an illusion, however most players never realize this because of doing right things in a wrong manner repeatedly. Rail practicing requires one to take 12 balls and put them along the longer part of the playing table. Place the cue ball in the middle amidst the table’s side pockets then drop the remaining balls into different pockets. If you miss a shot, repeat the shot until the ball drops into the required pocket. Having a fellow player at this point is vital so that the friend handles all the balls one misses while a shooter remains focused.

One can do long ball and cut practice simultaneously but the decision of doing this is open. Draw shot is the most appealing of them all. Some players are capable of making the shot appear like poetry that is in motion. The ability of drawing a ball lies in the arsenal of every player. When practicing the draw shot, place six balls in the middle of the table’s side pockets. Then aim to send all the balls towards the table’s end using the appealing draw shot. Another popular shot to practice is the masse shot.

Rather than banging and racking balls on the table, it is wise to take practices and turn the game into a perfect competition for players. Practicing will improve your game raising the game bars. Regular games will also become very interesting and the illusion of making right shots in a wrong way will revolve.

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Controlling Your Stroke Speed

Friday, October 3rd, 2008

Shots are typically hard, soft or medium. The problem here is that players cannot accurately quantify the degrees stated. A standard description where the shot lag is taken as soft with variations ranging from soft on one end to extremely soft on the other or from soft to average (medium),or from medium to hard separated by a single table length. It sounds interesting, but for practical purposes, the length of a table is too broad to be of any use as a measurement parameter.

Thanks to Cue U and Bob Radford, a master instruct, there now exists a reliable definition for stroke speed, from the level of soft to that of hard in 9, 2-diamond variations. Lag is equal to one and hard is assigned the value of nine. For most players a normal stroke measures four. This system has many benefits, but planning and communication take highest priority. Each variation of speed is give or take one diamond. Working with this system is simple. With cue ball positioned at the head string, use a comfortable, relaxed stroke, hitting the ball towards the table foot rail. The speed here is equivalent to three table lengths, which translates to a value of between four and six on the scale. If your stroke equals five, a slightly faster stroke will translates to a speed of six. The reference point should be the head string mentioned earlier. A slightly slower pace translates to speed four. With practice and perseverance, it b becomes easier to control speed, varying it accordingly.

Base speed may vary from one day to the next or one table to the next but a few practice strokes along the table allow you the chance to establish a baseline, from which accurate speed estimation in reference to any point on the table follows. This system is useful. Keen observers may have noticed the fact that this system has no definition for speeds below lag. Cue U and Radford came up with a complementary system for slower speeds. This is the finesse speed scale. It starts with lag and working downwards to two diamonds, with subsequent speeds measured in further 2 diamond increments. Practice really does make perfect.

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Planning Your Shot – Billiards for Beginners

Friday, October 3rd, 2008

The billiards pre-shot routine is a solution to the beginner pool hardships. There are concepts discussed by Tim Miller in a presentation of four parts that one must apply when planning your shot. Players make inner changes as we master this game to improve our skills.

Part 1 - Mental Control
We have to set goals to have the mental control that will help us focus. One needs to have a self-scrutiny and a reason as to why they are playing for them to have mental control. The PSR helps in both mental control and rhythm. You have to consolidate your thoughts and the shot has four requirements. The shots give one the target, it needs a specific hit and momentum and it needs one to have a special way in which they affect the cue stick with the cue ball. This is mental control and it needs certainty.

Having a goal, utilize every shot by applying PSR and you will succeed. Lack of PSR makes one a confused player. Mental control concentrates the mind on achievement and PSR is the most important step to success in pool.

Part 2 - Mental Control
Thoughts, memory and data accumulation in the mind helps in keeping the gained experience. The mind has PSR experience and the concentration experience. While training, record the missed shots. One should concentrate on PSR and shooting. Before one masters PSR, they must master the DRILL Bytes Six-Pack. Some people also say that if you pause your breathing while making a shot, it will enhance your concentration.

Part 3 – PSR
The steps are, chalk up, aim then pause while breathing. At times when concentrating, some people forget to breath! This is a master’s PSR. When the mind is quiet, it allows focus to the shot and the grip determines the track of the cue ball. The mind remembers the steps and when you train your mind, it works for you. Tim Miller’s latest DVD called “Bring Your Game to Its Highest Level” covers the basic aspects of PSR.

Part 4 - Mental Control
We are working hard to be perfect. To ease one’s way to mastering the game, humor and dedication are important. Work on your PSR once you set your goals. PSR has spiritual growth, which brings focus and mental control. Concentration too is important to make a winning combination.

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How to Make a Combo Shot

Friday, October 3rd, 2008

Shooting pool involves more than just shooting balls using one perfect style or making short simple shots. When playing pool the use of different shots will likely come in handy. To make combo shots will involve having more than one ball when playing the game. For example, one of the simple combination shots involves trying to pocket number 7 while the number 3 ball is directly ahead of number 7. One may decide to shoot number 3 into number 7. If number 3 goes into the pocket, it becomes an extra pot.

 

However, the aim is to pot ball number 7. To do this will require some knowledge and skill on shooting and aiming at balls on a pool table. Keep the head down while maintaining a static elbow position. Once the position is set, the next thing is to decide if to hit a split is favorable. The split involves hitting the number 7 in a way that will also pot the number 3. In this situation, it is appropriate to relax and think, visualizing how number 3 is going to go. Since one cannot stretch and touch number seven directly, a new strategy called the bridge is used that gives the player more control over what happens.

 

While others claim this is a cheating move, it is however acceptable and thus, have no fear in using the bridge. The bridge is similar to knuckles. One can decide to shoot the ball over the number three ball and straight into number 7 or to go round and use the sides to bounce the ball into number 7. The bridge is formed by holding the stick with the thumb and then the hands around it. To make this move, the cue is placed in the middle of the bridge. This move however requires the player to remain extremely calm and have the right posture to make a shot without touching the number 3 below the cue stick.

 

Once set, just shoot the ball and hope for the perfect shot that will win the game. The strategy is applicable in many other situations.

 

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