Practicing Speed

There are so many amateur players out there that shoot shots to hard or to soft or even not hard enough. Even some pros can struggle with this as well from time to time. From my experience the speed to which you hit the cue ball can only be taught to you with experience and playing a lot. How can you really teach someone how hard or soft to hit the cue ball. I think it's some what of a feel shot more than anything. One of my favorite players Efren "Bata" Reyes plays pool with grace and elegance. He knows just how to hit the cue ball to get perfect position. If you watch him play a match you can almost see the speed of his cue ball. I watch Shane VanBoening doing the same thing in his matches. That nice and deliberate stroke. Knowing how hard and slow to hit the cue ball for position and making the game look very easy. Professional and just good players figure out this thing we call speed. Most amateurs don't know this even exist because we don't talk about it much. Here's a few of my shots that I like to do and practice that helps me.






Example: Hard speed: Hit the cue ball top left English and go three rails behind the 3 ball for position.
I like to practice this shot because it comes up a lot in games. And i get the feel for how hard to shoot the ball.






Example:Soft Speed: Place the cue ball on the spot and the one ball on the diamond. Use center ball and lag the cue ball towards the one ball. And gently hit the one ball. After awhile trying this you will get the idea how soft to hit it.
"The only reason I do this shot is to get the feel of hitting the cue ball soft. Some player just hit the ball to hard."
So to sum it all up the next time your practicing or playing a match pay attention to detail. On your speed,position,safety play,patterns ect.
Here's a good example from Joe Nichols from Break Time Billiards

View on YouTube

Racking the Balls

I just wanted to take a few minutes and talk about racking the balls for yourself or your opponent. This actually came up tonight and several times before and I feel like I should talk about it to help my fellow APA pool playing friends to improve their game.

Tonight I was playing an opponent and I won the lag. He proceeded to Rack the balls and I always check the rack to make sure that I'm getting a good rack. I think very important that you have a good rack to ensure that you have a better chance to make a ball on the break. If you make a ball and get a good layout at the table you possibly can run the table and win. So I looked at the rack and the top ball had a 1/4 inch gap between it and the ball next to it.
I asked him if he can tighten the rack for me. Apparently he didn't like that. But what you have to understand is that it's very important for the three balls have to be touching and the balls surrounding the eight ball should be touching the eight ball. This will ensure that you'll have a greater chance making balls on the break. Of course you can look for gaps in the rack as well but I'm talking about racking for yourself and others. Give your opponent a good rack and he will give you one too. It will only improve your attitude and game. I'm gonna post some videos and instruction below for you to watch so you can understand what inn talking about. Hope this helps your game.
This "Razor" Ray Schultz on the APA Website answering a question from a fellow APA player.
Can you tell me what to look for to see if the balls are frozen or not in the rack so I can get the most out of my break? – Golden, MS
Check the rack after the person racks the balls. You might have to shadow the balls with your hand to see if the balls are frozen. Most of the time it is impossible to freeze all the balls so look for the head ball and then look for the eight ball or nine ball to see if they are froze to the two balls behind the head ball. – Ray
Here is one of my favorite proffessional pool player and instructor Max Eberle talking about inspecting the rack and making sure it's tight.
Max's 8 Ball racking instruction
This is another great video of why you don't want your opponent to give you a loose rack. Because the looser the rack the balls won't spread as far giving your opponent an edge.
How to rack eight ball
So as you can see sometimes understanding why we rack the ball the way we do gets better results. I think a lot of amateur players forget to make sure the rack is tight. So they can make more balls on the break. I just keep getting attitudes from players that want to give me a loos rack and to be honest it's really not fair. So I hope this helps and if you want to find out about more about the rack you can get Joe Tucker's " racking secrets"
Joe Tucker's Book
it's a great book and I recommend it. I'm always trying to improve my game and yours.
- Posted by John ferguson

Playing with the APA

One night I decided I was going to join the "APA"American Pool Players Association. But I didn't want play on bar tables. I was used to playing on the big tables and didn't know how that was going to impact my game. So I called my local league and went down to shooters riverside. It was real easy to join a team and start playing. The amazing thing about my journey with the APA is that I could play pool and hang out and meet some amazing people. I pretty much have been on the same team since I started. I am 9 in nine ball and an 7 in eight ball.
Everyone kept asking me to try to qualify for the U.S. Amateur Championships.




So I went to Stix Billiards in Rancho Cucamonga ca, and played in the event and won the qualifier to go to Tampa Florida and play at Strokers. My journey there was an exciting one to say the least. As we were descending into tampa it was very beautiful and I was ready to play. I knew I had people back home cheering for me and that meant a lot to me. They ran the event like the professionals that they are and made me and all the players feel welcome. When I arrived at Strokers I started to warm up and adjusted to the new environment since I've never been there before.




The day started with the play at 10:30 am and we were off to races. The tournament board looked even crazier than have ever seen but it was cool.




There were a total of 128 players in all. But I knew I could work the field. I was playing against the top amateurs and short stops in the country. And I have to tell you it wasn't easy. Going to the event was such an exciting experience especially if you love pool.








On the second day the event I had my mind focused and ready to play and win. The other players played there hearts out as well. I felt I played very focused and was happy with the way I preformed. Brian Parks of Bakersfield CA had won the Championships the third time in a row. But I got news for him I'll be back next year to do it again. When I finally got knocked out i decided it was going to take the rest of my time and enjoy Florida.




And I can't believe all this started when I was sitting on my couch and decided I was going to get out and meet new people and play some pool. All I can say is thank you to the APA for putting on such a prestigious event like the U.S.Amatuer Championships.
And if you love pool like I do, I would recommend joining a league. And start having fun!

Bonus Ball "What Happened?"

When Bonus Ball first burst on the seen it seemed like everyone was excited. It was a new game that was to be propelling Billiards to a new height. I remember seeing Johnny Archer and Nick Varner at an exhibition and Johnny talking about something coming up for pool that was big. He was telling the truth! Bonus Ball I believe did in fact did something special for billiards.




It brought together some of the greatest players on earth. It also brought a new element of team play which has never been done before. It was was fun to watch the teams working together and figuring out different strategies. I had thought for the first time that billiards could get on the map like golf or football. I have been playing pool most of my life and wanted to see bonus ball make it.




Bonus Ball Arena is located in Las Vegas Nevada. It seemed like bonus ball struggled all the way to the everyday person like me. Having problems with the contractors and getting the streams to work properly. And now rumors that the players aren't getting paid. Not sure whats true anymore. But i do know this! As frustrated as some of the players are and the people that supported bonus ball.




I believe bonus ball will be back stronger than ever in some form or other. I just hope that the WPBL can over come and make billiards what it should be. For now we ask "what happened to bonus ball?" And when is it coming back? Well I guess we all have to stayed tuned to see what happens. For more info visit:
WPBLTV.com
Just my thought on Bonus Ball!

The Tangent Line

Hi guy I'm back with another tip that will help you improve your position play. I'm amazed how this works and so many people don't apply this to their game. The tangent line is there whether you like it or not. Here's a quick diagram for you and ill explain how it works.


As soon as the cue ball contacts the object ball in this case the 12 ball for the side pocket it deflects and want to travel along the imaginary brown line. This is the path that the cue ball wants to travel on. This helps with position and you have to remember your speed on how hard you hit the cue ball. The harder you hit the cue ball the longer the your angler is and vise versa. By applying this to your game will help you dramatically improve your skills. Professional players know this and that's why they are so consistent. By following the tangent line you will be able to move the cue ball around the table and have excellent position on every shot. Hope this helps you become better players.

Posted by- John Ferguson