When I was in high school I got my first taste of how to play pool. My best friend and I started practicing 8 ball on the weekends at a nearby pool hall. First I hated it. But it was something new to do for a couple of bored kids in the suburbs. Soon it grew on me, and I slowly began to understand some of the basic principles of how to stand and hold the cue stick and aim the cue ball.
When I was 18, I enthusiastically joined the local amateur 8 ball pool league, and had my eyes opened wide to what the game was really about. I had trouble competing against players who were only marginally more skilled than me, but who had been in the league for years. Even the weakest of them had an understanding of the competitive side of the game, of strategy and tactics, and many of them knew how to work successfully within their own skill level.
This fantastic pool league was my real debut as an amateur player. My skills were pretty good, compared to a rank beginner -- for example, I already knew that getting position was integral to a successful run-out -- but I quickly learned that my definition of 'position' needed a serious overhaul. At the time, I was just happy to have a clean shot, no matter how long, and my biggest worry was for those steep angles that never seemed to work out just the way I'd hoped for.
Position to me meant having just about any clear line to another ball. Oh, sure I tried to 'get position', but I was acting on ignorant whimsy most of the time. I'd move the cue-ball around all over the table with unruly draw, follow, side-spin... I loved to make 'whitey' dance! Yet at the same time I also believed it was necessary. I'd go two, three rails just to line up for that 'easy shot' that could let me dance a couple more rails over to the next 'easy shot'.
So, for my first season in a pool league I was teamed up with 3 crotchety, yet likable, old men and one middle-aged woman. I remember Reggie the most clearly. He was perhaps the craftiest, and oldest, of the lot, and I learned more from him than the rest of my team about how to play pool successfully in my fledgling season. He was a sharp old coot who was limited mainly by his aged, frail limbs, and his large thick glasses. And yeah, he was limited, but he became mighty dangerous in his sweet spot, which was dissecting short-to-mid-range patterns.
I called him The River when I discovered that Reggie's game could sort of... build up potential, like a river held back by a dam. His age and his vision constantly held back all that potential, but, understanding his limitations, he could sit there patiently, churning behind that dam waiting for his opponent to get careless, to leave him a good, short, clean shot, which would release the flood-gates. When that time came, which it invariably did sooner or later, Reggie would blast ahead full force, barely contained.
Watching Reggie in action taught me the real value of cue ball position. He showed me the value of choosing simple and efficient shot-patterns that removed complexity and allowed more focus to be applied to just making the shot. He demonstrated better than words could explain that keeping my shots under the half-table mark (for total distance from cue-ball to target pocket) would drastically improve my chances of making a ball and improve my chances for getting position on the next ball. From Reggie I learned how to recognize 'good angles', which were simple shots that lead to natural position on the next ball without having to juice it with unpredictable spin or draw or follow. Implementing aspects of his style into my own game really improved my results each week during that season. And of course, he was fun to watch!
Joe Bouchard is the author of a fun blog discussing and teaching how to play pool, and how to improve your pool game, all geared towards amateur players. To read more on this topic please visit http://www.joboworld.com. Or, if you're interested in more information on this particular article, go to http://joboworld.com/8-ball-pool-lessons-from-reggie-the-river.
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