Practice Time

It seems to me there is a great debate about how long should you practice playing pool. Doing drills and practicing shots that are hard for you. Practicing definitely can impact your play for the better. But how long should you practice for? Well I think in my opinion you should practice as long as you can stand it. But I think the best practice is actually playing against an opponent and not by yourself. Practicing by yourself can eventually get a little boring for me so I like to practice against someone and getting the interaction. I can also challenge myself mentally where playing by yourself is kinda hard to do sometimes. When your having fun playing pool with someone time flies. I've been known to practice for 10 to 12 hours. I heard some pros say they practice for 4 to 6 hours on their game. Practicing the shots that they are having problems with. I've heard Shane Van Boening practicing his breaks shots alone for 4 hours straight. Pro player Rodney Morris says he really never did drills and doesn't really like them. So I think each individual is different. The best type of practice is to jump in and play,play,play. Get into tournaments,join a pool league like the APA or BCAPL leagues and have fun. Personally I practice everyday at least 2 to 3 hours a day and I jump into as many tournaments as I can. Challenging yourself and playing against the pros can only elevate your game. Believe in your self and be confident when playing. Don't be afraid to miss shots everyone does even the pros. So I hope to see you on the tournament floor.

- Posted by John ferguson

Happy New Year pool players

Hi fellow pool players it's now a new year and time to brush up on all the skills you have learned in the past. I feel like there are a lot of players out there that are so called stuck in a rut with their game. In other words their game hasn't improved any. I think the first question is that you have to ask yourself is "how good do I want to be?" and if you answer it by saying I just want to play good. Then you'll just be a good player. If you you answer it, I want to play like a pro then you can play like a pro. I believe you have to make your mind up first. Then you have to be a great student of the game. Play lots of tournaments and practice a lot. You need to have motivation in your game. You can't just play one tournament and sit on the couch for 2 weeks and expect to play your next tournament very well. You need to stay in stroke by playing all the time. Here's a few tips for the new year to improve your game. 1. Have a firm bridge 2. Hold your swing arm loose 3. Keep your balance and bend the knees in your stance. 4. After hitting the ball keep your head down and don't pop up after a shot. 5. The most important, confidence is key! I hope everyone has a great new year of playing pool. - Posted by John ferguson

Instructional videos

Here are a few videos I picked out to help improve your game.
Hope you enjoy them.

The Break Shot


Angles / Cut Shots


Bank Shots


I hope you enjoy these videos!


- Posted by John Ferguson

Position play

As I sit here at the pool hall pondering a few things about my game. I've been learning alot about position shots. Isn't every shot supposed to be positioned in all the right spots for your next ball? Well yes of course! This only makes you a better player. I like Buddy Halls "pro player" saying, don't try and get position when you already have position. What this means is that some people look at the table and think they have to go 3 rails for position when all they have to do is go 1 rail and out for position. My advice is always follow the direction of the tangent line for your next ball. Speed of the cue ball is always important for position aswell. I was always told you can't be taught speed that a player has to experience it on his own. I think a good excersise is to set up three balls. Example the 6,7,8 anywhere on the table and experiment with different speeds for the run out. The more you practice the three ball run out the more confident you become in your game. Do you know how many people out there that can't even run three balls? I see it all the time in pool halls and that's the difference between a casual player and a serious player. Here is a few examples below to practice.
Example:1





Cut the six ball in the side pocket with center ball. Hit the top rail and come down to the bottom rail for the seven and eight balls.
Example:2





Cut the six ball in the corner pocket with center ball and hit the rail and bounce up for the seven and eight balls.
Example:3





Cut the six ball in the corner pocket with center ball or low right on the cue ball. Drift over for the seven ball and the follow the cue ball down for the eight ball.

Notice in all three exercises you have to use different speeds to accomplish the right position on each shot. No one likes drills but you can practice these shots during warm up before your match.hope this helps with your speed and ball control. Remember to relax and think of where you want the ball to end up after each shot and you'll be improving your game in no time.

Up the rail

Cut shot up the rail



Here is a simple but effective way for playing this shot. I see so many people miss this one so I figured out how to hit this shot.
Example: use center or low left depending on your position. But slightly over cut the nine ball to the right side of the pocket. This seems to be an easy adjustment for making the nine ball in the corner pocket.

Following my dreams " Playing Pool "