10 Common Mistakes in Pool that Cost You Wins
Clearly it takes skill to be good at pool. Acquiring that skill usually takes many years of effort, both playing and practicing. There’s also a great deal of specific knowledge that needs to be learned and understood. Lastly there are the intangibles, the heart it takes to be a winner, the mental discipline it takes to focus on the game to the exclusion of all else, and the ability to let go, and let yourself play rather than maximizing your control over every aspect of your physical self and playing worse as a result.
Here is a short collection of common pool mistakes that cause many needless losses. Though true for everyone, it’s especially for lower level players; eliminating mistakes can make a significant improvement in your winning percentage.
As always in these lists, the items are in no particular order; their relative importance is different for each player.
Mental Blunders
01 When you hit a shot softly to get position, Make sure you hit it hard enough to get a rail if you miss. There’s no sense in giving up ball in hand just because you missed the shot. Don’t turn a simple miss into a major blunder.
02 Don’t follow-up one bad shot with another. You have to learn to focus only on the present and the future, not on the past. Analyze your mistakes later. Cry in your beer if you lose, not when you’re only losing.
03 Don’t celebrate your great shot unless it’s the game winner. Many people follow-up their best shots with their worst. They even have a sardonic phrase for it; “Same Shooter.” Like the previous item, this usually results from looking in the rear view mirror rather than the windshield. Try taking an extra moment to silently feel the warmth of your excellent shot, then forget it and get on with the next shot. There’s even an extra benefit to being stoical, your opponent might overestimate you and start to re-think his own shots.
04 Focus on what you want to do with your shot, not what you don’t.You know how it seems every time you tell yourself “Don’t leave the ball here” or “Leave it anywhere but here” you invariably leave the cue ball in exactly the worst spot? It’s not a coincidence. Your cerebellum doesn’t have speech capability, but does understand visual inputs. When you focus on a spot for the cue ball, it cannot hear the NO that’s part of your verbal thinking, it just sees the spot you’re focusing on. Always pick out a spot to go to and focus on it briefly before you get down to shoot.
05 Adjust your stroke when you’re on for a scratch. How many times have you said “I knew I was going to scratch?” Well, if you did know, why the heck did you shoot it anyway? You can almost always cue a little differently to avoid scratching. Do it! Giving up ball-in-hand is just asking to get beaten.
06 When you play an easy combination, or dead ball, plan the routes of both the cue ball and the other object ball involved. I can’t count the number of times I’ve seen people (OK, I’ve done this too) smile at the great shot they’re about to play, make the dead ball, and leave themselves snookered. It won’t happen often if you give getting shape the normal amount of attention. I’m guessing it’s because the shot itself is more complicated, and we’re so happy to make it, we just fail to give cue ball control its normal attention. And don’t forget to pay attention to the 2nd object ball, which is often either your turn extender or your turn ender, depending on how you played it.
Poor Strategic Choices
07 Fix your problems early. This one is for 8 Ball, where your problems are different from your opponent’s. The more balls you have on the table, the more options you have for getting to your problem and fixing it. Waiting until later is almost always a losing proposition, because if you don’t succeed, or don’t make a ball when you do, your opponent can usually punish you by running out or by playing an easy safe.
08 An easy safety is almost always better than a difficult shot. You’ll be amazed at how much of an improvement your won/loss record shows when you start getting extra balls in hand. Even if you can’t run out you’ll be able to take care of your biggest problem, and then win on another turn.
09 “Before you play a safety, think about what your clever opponent will do. Leaving her only a very difficult shot isn’t very valuable if she can turn the tables on you easily. Look for a way to not only get safe, but to improve your position for your next turn at the table.
10 “Take the route of least snookerdom” as Danny DiLiberto says. It’s often the case that you have a choice of paths for the cue ball to get your shape on the upcoming ball. One of those paths is usually freer of obstacles than the other. Take that one. Give yourself the best chance to continue shooting, rather than having to kick to keep from giving up BIH.
If you have any other tips to share, please leave a comment and add to the conversation. I don’t want this site to be a monologue, I don’t know enough. And it’s OK to disagree.
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2 Responses to “10 Common Mistakes in Pool that Cost You Wins”
FastMikie
- May 12th, 2009
Good stuff!
Your website is coming along nicely…
Thank you!
vince blom
- September 14th, 2009
great articles
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