[Big_Bad_Bern]

Pool or pocket billiards a matter of perspective


After sitting at my local pool room and listening to two gentlemen debate whether they play pool or pocket billiards, I got to thinking about this wonderful game we play and the meaning behind these names and how they relate to the game.

If I asked you what the goal of any pool game is I would get a wide range of answers from, to win, to pocket balls, to get another shot. I submit to you that the true goal of pool be it eight ball, nine ball, one pocket, straight pool, or one of the many other games played on pocketed or pocketless tables is to carom the cue ball off the object ball to a desired location, resulting in the ball you caromed off of being pocketed, played safe, or played to an advantageous position. As you are caroming or billiarding the cue ball to a desired location on a pocketed table, I think the term pocket billiards is as much an appropriate name for our game as its slang cousin pool.

So then the stated goal of pocket billiards/pool is to carom the cue ball of an object ball to a desired location resulting in pocketing the object ball and having position on the next carom or playing a saftey. I see this as the difference between just running a rack or perfectly executing each shot one at a time resulting in running a rack.

It is a matter of perspective.

Bern

Happy New Year to all, may 08 bring you everything you desire and work hard to achieve.

[Pelican]

Ah, semantics' ~ the difference between seduction and sexual harrasement

Like your description Bern.

Pel

[Pin]

I stand bent over slightly and bend my arm at the elbow. Sometimes I also bend my wrist.

I love what I do, and I've figured out that if I stand next to a funny cloth-topped table in my pub, people don't point and whisper so much.

[Big_Bad_Bern]

Hi Pel and Pin, Although I find the semantic part of the article amusing, the main gist of it was that the purpose of pool is to carom the cue ball off an object ball (sometimes specifed by the game sometimes not) to a specific location, resulting in pocketing the object ball or playing a safety.

I guess I see this a an unorthodox way to look at cue sports that may not be clear to beginners of the game who seem to fall prey to the ball pocketing gods and only come to cue ball control/position play when they find out they can pocket almost any shot but still can't win, losing frequently to players they far outstrip in shotmaking but who kill them with position play.

The old "he can't play I haven't seen him shoot a hard shot yet".

Learning to do both at the same time is a quicker learning process than mastering one before starting on the other because your shotmaking will drop off greatly whe you try to add position into the mix because you are now spliting the focus that you had been giving solely to shotmaking and your habits are not condusive to that.

Also our minds operate on a visual level and shot recognition will be greater on a total shot and we will learn to exacute the shot more quickly and be able to repeat it more consistently than any other learning process.

So the next time you look at a shot try this though process 1) decide where you want the cue ball to finish. 2) visualize the contact point on the object ball to put the cue ball there, while, sending the object ball on the required path (speed, spin, angle, tip contact on cue ball). 3) focus on object ball contact point with the knowledge that if you strike the cue ball in the way you have visualized the outcome is predetermined and must occur.

Bern

[Pelican]

Big_Bad_Bern, on Jan 6 2008, 04:19 PM, said:

The old "he can't play I haven't seen him shoot a hard shot yet".

Ha, I had the TV on in the store watching one of the ladies matches some time back. A guy was just browsing and stood and watched with me for a few minutes. He said, "I don't understand why people think these girls are so good. They never seem to have any hard shots to make." I just nodded in agreement. He didn't have a clue.

Pel

[pool2da]

Pelican, on Jan 7 2008, 03:44 AM, said:

Ha, I had the TV on in the store watching one of the ladies matches some time back. A guy was just browsing and stood and watched with me for a few minutes. He said, "I don't understand why people think these girls are so good. They never seem to have any hard shots to make." I just nodded in agreement. He didn't have a clue.

Pel

Some times I wonder why I play I never have an easy shot. Maybe if I had a s#x change my pool game would change!


The board did not like my answer I had to change again the #### got me!

[Pin]

Big_Bad_Bern, on Jan 6 2008, 10:19 PM, said:

Hi Pel and Pin, Although I find the semantic part of the article amusing, the main gist of it was that the purpose of pool is to carom the cue ball off an object ball (sometimes specifed by the game sometimes not) to a specific location, resulting in pocketing the object ball or playing a safety.

Fair point. A guy I know knew a guy who said "To play great poker you've got to do a lot of things well". He didn't specify what.

I think pool is similar, probably on a lesser level (having looked into the theory of both).

Perhaps we could break it down to:

- Correct mental skills and approach (including smoothness!)

- Understanding of where both balls are going (and how fast) from a carom

- Ability to *aim* shot on CB to bring about desired effect.

- Quality of stroke to play shots cleanly (encompassing different types of strokes, swing and stance)

- Tactical planning and decision-making for the game at issue


Anything else?

Maybe I'd venture supporting skills:
- Ability to adopt new skills and ideas effectively and/or quickly
- Practice - discipline and practicing smart

Quote

So the next time you look at a shot try this though process 1) decide where you want the cue ball to finish. 2) visualize the contact point on the object ball to put the cue ball there, while, sending the object ball on the required path (speed, spin, angle, tip contact on cue ball). 3) focus on object ball contact point with the knowledge that if you strike the cue ball in the way you have visualized the outcome is predetermined and must occur.

Bern, could you give me your view on my method, which deviates slightly from this:

1. I decide what I want to do
2. I work out the tip contact and pace on the CB to get the position I want.
3. I aim the OB precisely, then strike the CB, with the precise aim for the pot and the contact and speed chosen for position.


I guess by splitting the two out and giving priority to the pot, I suppose I compromise position, but it's easier for me to deal with one aspect of the shot, and then the other.
Provided the expected aim I have when planning at stage 1 doesn't change too much from the actual aim adopted at 3, in theory it should work.

But do you think a proper shooting process should bring everything together in one aiming 'stage'?


(My way generally works reasonably. Not supurb, but I'm not a supurb player. Just pretty good. It's tough for me to judge it because I don't have the game to expect exact position anyway.)

Cheers.