What's the best way to improve my 8-ball game?

In My Humble Opinion
1

I suck at pool. Really. I’m awful. I’d really like to get better at it, at least good enough that I don’t embarass myself playing against the average player. I’ve always conveniently said that one can’t practice pool without having a table around, as I don’t spend a whole lot of time in pool halls, but now my dad’s built an addition onto the house and put a table in. It’s a very nice one. It’s all fast and level and stuff - I’m used to playing on bar tables where the felt’s worn down in the middle like a bad old mattress!

I’d like reccomendations for books (preferred) or videos, I suppose, that will help me get better. My goal is to competently play bar pool with guys one meets in bars, no more than that. I just need to learn how best to practice technique so the balls go where I hit them a good amount of the time. I’m looking for something with suggestions on practice technique and maybe a set of “lessons” I can follow and see definately improvement. I’m not adverse to working on it a bit with steady practice, but I admit I really don’t know where to start with the practice - I’ll know I need to spin it to the right to make the thing go that way, but not really know how to do that.

Suggestions?

2

Try “The 99 Critical Shots in Pool” by Ray Martin and Rosser Reeves.
Sounds a bit daunting but it covers some important basic techniques that should improve your game right away. Enjoy!

3

An even better choice: Byrne’s Standard Book of Pool and Billiards.

There’s also a very good game available called “Target Pool” that helps you with cueball control.

There is also a Byrne’s Standard Video of Pool which is very good, because he shows you how to stand, stroke, and you get a better sense of how the balls are reacting when you can see them in motion.

4

Practice.

Practice.

Practice.

Play against people who are better than you are. It’s not about winning and losing, it’s about watching them- how they see the table, what approaches they take, why they select certain shots over others.
As you get better, remember to think three shots in advance. Plan to leave the cue ball in a good position to create another shot with which you are confident.

Never take the easy shot first. Save it as an outlet for when you need it. There will be times when you don’t get the leave you wanted, or when you just don’t have anything, or when you absolutely need a certain leave/spin/stop, and the easy shot will allow you to concentrate primarily on ball movement rather than on making the shot.
Oh, and did I mention you need to practice? A lot?

5

Well that, at least, shouldn’t be too hard to find. (Except most of the people I can actually talk into playing with me suck even harder than I do.) A friend of the family is an excellent player, but he shoots left handed - he’s a rightie in everything else. It’s not as much of a confusing thing in pool as it is in, say, knitting, but it’s still less helpful. It is instructive to play against him, though.

6

I was so bad at pool I took lessons. Seriously. The local college has continuing ed classes and offered one in billiards. It was totally worth it. I didn’t even really understand how to visualize where the ball would go and the class helped immensely with that. I still suck at strategy but at least I can hold my own with other fairly crappy players…

7

I’m going to repeat my advice to get Byrne’s Standard Book of Pool and Billiards. It’s the bible, and will teach you everything you need to know. Plus, it will introduce you to some new games that kick the hell out of 8-ball, give you some practice drills, and teach you a bit about the history of the game. Plus, Robert Byrne has a good sense of humor and the book is fun to read. Example:

“Don’t get caught up in buying an extremely expensive pool cue. What really matters is the tip. Give a good player a broom handle with a good tip on the end, and not only will be run the rack, but he’ll sweep the joint out afterwards.”

The video is very valuable, in that you actually get to see the shots being made and he overlays diagrams of what is going to happen like a telestrator in football. Very useful.

For the time being, here’s a good practice drill to get you started:

  1. Place the cueball and an object ball along a straight line to a corner pocket, with the object ball about a foot from the cueball.

  2. Shoot the object ball into the corner pocket, stopping the cueball dead. To do this, you will have to add a little backspin to the ball by aiming a little low on the cueball. The cueball should come to a dead stop, and not roll forwards or backwards by more than say a half an inch.

  3. Once you can do this consistently, move the object ball a foot closer to the pocket. Do the same thing - you’ll have to aim a little lower on the cueball this time, because you’ll need more backspin. Practice until you can do this every time.

  4. Repeat until you can shoot a ball straight into a pocket from anywhere on the table and always stop the cueball dead. This is the first step towards being able to play position.

Once you can do this, shoot the object ball in and roll the cueball forward a foot afterwards. Then two feet. Then roll the cueball after the object ball so that it stops in front of the pocket.

Once you can do that, start with draw. Shoot the object ball in, and draw the cueball back to your cue. Start with the object ball only a foot or so from the cueball, and slowly extend the distance.

Eventually, you should be able to move the cueball along the line of the shot anywhere you want, or stop it dead. Now you’re ready to learn how to play position with cut shots.

The biggest mistake I see from beginners, by the way, is that they don’t keep their cue level. If your cue is at an angle to the table, you will be applying masse’, or swerve to the cue ball every time you hit it. Learn to keep your cue parallel to the table bed. It should never be elevated unless you are intentionally trying to masse’ the cueball.

Next, learn to bridge properly. These two actually go together, because without a good bridge it’s hard to get the cue level for every shot - especially when you’re close to the rail. A good solid bridge will improve accuracy, prevent miscues when using extreme english, and is the foundation for the rest of your stance.

Watch your cueing arm when moving the cue back and forth. The cue should stay level. If the butt of the cue is moving up and down as you go forward and back, you’re doing it wrong. To keep the cue level, your hand should open up somewhat on the backstroke, and close on the stroke. The cue should be loose in your hand - if you’ve got a death grip on the cue, you’re doing it wrong. Practice shooting without even gripping the cue - just let it lie across your curled fingers.

And get the book and/or video. Seriously. It’s very hard to teach pool without graphics or demonstrations.

8

Good advice. Once you’ve planned your shot, I’d also advocate hunkering down low and looking at the table from eye level as you shoot.

9

Well, close to eye level anyway.

10

Okay, I’ve ordered some educational materials, and I’ll start with that backspin practice. But I’ve got a question - I’ve read that your cue should be weighted and you should be standing such that the balance point is by your hip. So if this is true, is every cue I’ve ever held wrong for me or am I standing wrong? It’s always far back of my hip unless I stand with my ass way out there, which dosen’t feel right. I’m tallish for a girl (5’7) but nowhere near as tall as my dad and most the guys I play with. So is it me or the cues or is that the wrong advice? (I’m sure the Byers book will be helpful on stance, but this is something I’ve often wondered.)

I’d feel a little silly breaking out my custom pool cue from its little case and then knocking the cue ball onto the floor.

11

I agree with Sam Stone’s advice.

I’d like to add emphasis about keeping the cue level. Its where most beginners screw up and its an obvious tell for inexperienced players. A good rule of thumb is that the angle of the elbow that is swinging the cue should be close to 90 degrees when the cue strikes the ball.

Keep your stance and bridge hand stable and keep the cue level (for non masse shots) and your game should improve. Then just practice practice practice.

12

Ignore advice about cue weighting. A cue only weighs 16-21oz. Where it’s center of balance is shoudl be almost impossible to detect, and certainly shouldn’t be the foundation for your stance.

A correct pool stance is basically whatever makes you comfortable and is stable. Put your tip against the cueball, and look at your forearm - is it hanging straight down? it should be. If it’s cocked back, you’re holding the cue too far back. As Jcorre said, your arm should be perpendicular to the table at the instant your ball strikes the cueball.

Now, if your cue is parallel to the table and your arm is perpendicular, then when you pull your arm back the butt of the cue will go up. To prevent that from happening, let your hand open up to keep the butt of the cue level. Practice this - you can even do it at home. Just lean over a table with your cue, get in a good comfortable stance, and stroke back and forth. Keep the cue completely level, and make sure your arm is perpendicular at the ‘impact’ point. You’ll note that you have to open your hand up to do this.

Once you’ve mastered a good, level stroke, then to get follow or draw on the cueball, you just alter your bridge. If you use a ‘closed’ bridge (and an 8-ball player should for most shots), then to get draw you just splay your fingers out so the tip is lower to the table bed. To get follow, press your fingers up into more of a teepee shape to get the tip higher. Do NOT elevate the cue to get down low on the cueball. The cue always stays level, and the bridge controls where the tip will hit the cueball.

When shooting off the rail, do NOT put your hand down and bridge your cue on top of it. That forces you to elevate the cuestick. Instead, lay the cue on the table, slide your thumb along the side of the cue, and cross your index finger over the top of the cue and curl it around the other side (see why I said you really need graphics to see how this works?). This allows you to shoot level cue shots off the rail, although you won’t be able to draw the cueball this way.

Get the fundamentals right first. Learn how to bridge off the rail, how to use an open and closed bridge anywhere on the table, and get a good stroke and stance going.

One more thing about stance - it should be consistent, and the stance should aim your cue. By this I mean that if you get in a comfortable stance and then bend over, your cue should be aimed pretty much where you want to shoot. If you find yourself waving around while bent over in your stance to aim your cue, stand up, adjust your feet, and bend over. Another good practice drill is to line up a shot, then bend over and shoot without aiming. You should be able to make easy shots this way. Practice until this is second nature. Consistency is the key to becoming an exceptional player, and if your stance and balance is different on every shot, you’ll never be consistent.

13

I took a pool class at college. No, really. It was fun and somewhat instructive.

One of the most basic things we did, on the first or second day, was one of the most helpful. (you may already be beyond this point, but give it a try, you might surprise yourself).

Take the cue ball and put it on, say, the foot spot (doesn’t really matter, just somewhere near the end of the table away from the rails). Shoot it down to the other end of the table, have it bank and come back to you. Straight back. This teaches you to transfer a spot you can visualize (you can visualize the point directly in front of you on the rail) to an actual aim, but mostly it teaches you to hit the ball straight on. If you’re hitting the ball left or right of center, it will readily be apparent as it strikes the cushion and comes back at an angle. When you can consistently hit the ball the length of the table and have it come straight back, centered on the cue (if you don’t move the cue after you hit the ball, and the ball comes back and taps the cue on the tip exactly in the center), you’ll at least know how to hit the ball straight.

Then you can start fooling around with stops, draw, follow, and other english. Overall, though, it pays to be able to shoot straight.

14

I’ll second Sam Stone’s recommendation of Byrne’s Standard Book of Pool and Billiards. It’s simply the best book on pool I’ve ever read. I’m on my third copy; I keep giving them away. It’s that good. Absorb Byrne’s advice, and practise, practise, practise. Do the drills he lays out.

Don’t forget to have fun, and play every chance you get. When you start to find yourself thinking about shots to try (and seeing the layout of tables you’ve played) before you go to sleep at night, you’ll know you’re getting somewhere.

Stance: as has been mentioned, the most important things are to be comfortable and stable over the shot. I find that what works best for me (I’m righthanded), is to place the ball of my right foot on the line of aim (I may have gotten this from Byrne, or from an old snooker player who showed me a few things), and then turn slightly on it as I place my left foot slightly ahead of my right as I step in and bend over the shot. My feet end up about shoulder width apart.

The two most important things in pool are a stable bridge hand, and the ability to hit the cue ball exactly in the center. The drill Garfield226 mentioned is a very good one — although if shooting the length of the table and having the cue ball come directly back to your cue seems a bit daunting at first, you can try just shooting the width of the table a while. That’s where I started.

15

Great technical advice above. My contribution:
I think there’s sort of a Zen aspect to this. I don’t know what that means, but it sounds good. Anyway, I can almost always tell, before I shoot, whether or not I’m going to make the shot. I think most people are that way. So I try to wait for that feeling to come. It rarely does: it’s either there or it’s not. But if you can do this thing that I can’t, you’ll kick ass.

16

I was going to say to first make certain that you’re holding the cue correctly. I’ve noticed some female friends, particularly if they’re ample in the chest area, hold their cue out to the side. This makes it near impossible to shoot straight. That, the grip as mentioned by Sam, your bridge and your stance are the most important elements to start. They won’t make you a better pool player necessarily, but it will give you a basis to build upon. To this end I’d ask your friend who is a good player to look at your technique and ask for feedback. Then work on simple shots (many bad, beginning players can almost never make a dead in shot, particularly in a pressure situation) and keep adding on from there. Once you can make several different types of shots you should start to practice “reading” the table, from the perspective of finding a makeable shot and a shot to follow it.

17

I used to be a pretty good pool player when I was younger. I would often hold the table for many games in a row before losing and I can tell you that most “good” players are not very good at all. You don’t need to be obsessive to be as good as the average barroom player. Read a book, learn about the “English” you can put on a ball and think while you are playing. A little while ago I went to pick up my son from a pool hall where he and his friends were having a birthday party. They insisted I have a few shots and although I hadn’t played for years I cleared the table with 5 shots including one difficult cut. The amazement they showed for a few simple shots is pretty typical - 3 in a row is an achievement for the average bar player.

Just remember that with a good book and some daily practice you are a lot closer to being a “good” pool player than you would be to being a “good” pianist.

18

  1. Slow down and shoot soft. Most players blast a shot, and the cue ball rattles all around the table, out of control. You’ll have more control with a smooth, easy stroke.

  2. Hold the cue with your fingertips, gently. Keep your elbow still, and let your forearm hang straight down. Swing your hand like a pendulum directly toward the cue ball.

  3. You can sink your middle-of-the-table shots from anywhere, so save them for when they’re your only shot. Take the ones at the edge of table first, if you can get to them with a cut.

  4. If you have a sitting duck parked in front of a pocket, leave it there for a while. It will block your opponent off that pocket, and he might knock it in while trying to sneak past.

  5. If you find yourself with no good shot, use the turn to move one of your more difficult balls, and try to leave the cue ball in a tricky spot.

  6. Remember to chalk. Without chalk, you have no cue-to-cue-ball traction, and you’ll miss more shots.

  7. Get a tip shaper, and don’t let your tip go flat for long. I like the curve-of-a-nickel size.

19

Just a quick note on cue level just for clarification. An elevated cue does not necessarily apply masse’ to the cue ball. As in jump shots that are in direct line with the object ball.

Also, just my opinion, but I’ve played many different variations of pool and 8 ball is still my favorite. Working with so many balls on the table takes some skill and employs some defensive strategy. More possiblities for combinations, carems, and defensive snookering. You watch really good 9 ball players and it get’s kinda boring.

20

Reply Hazy.
Try Again Later