Best way to get better at pool?

[TripleH68]

Very simple response?

Play against people who are better than you.

Simple way to do it?

Find someone better than you who is also looking to practice. If you are playing at a room with a time charge offer to play the guy for time. If not, play for a small stake.

When I was playing "B" tournament pool I used to play an "A" player in a cash game for practice. I would refuse to take a handicap. We played 9-ball for $2/game. I would put $30 in my shirt pocket and play until I lost it. Not too expensive for the lessons I received.

I won the University of Michigan pool championship twice and finished 3rd in the Big Ten one year. It was fun, but the best part was the $$$ I made in cash games. I never improved much past a certain point, but was able to choose the cash games I played carefully.

[TripleH68]

Practice drill that really helped my game...

To work on your stroke.
Place the object ball near the center of the table.
Place the cue ball about 3 feet from object ball.
Line the shot up to be straight into the corner pocket.
Strike the cue ball low and flat, as if you were looking to hit a draw...but play the shot softly enough that the cue ball begins rolling *forward* before it hits the object ball.

In pool it is easy to get away with little impurities in your stroke. This drill will help you find and correct them.

Best to ya.

[Jimbo]

[ QUOTE ]
pool in bars is probably not even considered pool. the balls and pockets are like 10 times as big, becuase when your drunk you suck at everything ten times as much.

i think eightball is at the bottom of the billiard skill ladder (from easiest to hardest):
1.eightball
2.nineball
3.snooker
4.golf
if you notice only really [censored] cool old italian guys play golf, this is a sign of you not being good enough

[/ QUOTE ]

It has probably been well over a year since I have posted but yours brought me temporarliy out of retirement.

Using your levels of easiest to most difficult:

1 nineball
2 golf
3 eightball
4 one pocket
5 snooker
6 three cushion billiards

The only reason nineball dominates is because the rules are easy and the game is fast. Compared to all other games of pool it is by far the easiest to play well.

Now for the OP:

All the suggestions above are useful but I would add the 2nd most important to your list. Hire an instructor, many pros supplement their income from offering lessons. After you have a cue with which you feel comfortable a couple of hundred dollars more towards lessons will pay for themselves quickly.

A book or videos will only help so much as will the lessons. What you must then do is practice, practice, practice. I spent well over a decade playing 6 to 7 days a week at least 8 to 12 hours a day. This was just to stay at peak performance, not to get any better. Granted this included the time spent gambling but when not in action I was practicing.

I'm not suggesting you quit your job and turn Pro but you should expect to practice at least as much as you intend to play in competition if you truly wish to improve.


Best of Luck,

Jimbo

[mosta]

how could you leave out straight?!?!