Practice,practice,practice

Things are starting to come together a bit. Though I have not played in any more tournaments yet, I recently had a practice session where I broke and ran a nine-ball rack for the first time in a LONG time. I have a lot more confidence in my shot, which has allowed me to experiment a bit with moving the cue ball around, as I do not have to worry as much about getting straight in on my shots. In fact, the best strategy is to always have an angle on every shot except the last one (in a game of 8-ball or 9-ball, for instance), as that allows for the most flexibility when trying to get position on the next shot.

Still have not been able to run more than ten or eleven when practicing straight pool, but hopefully that will come. I have developed a practice game that is kind of a hybrid of a couple that I have read about. I start with ten balls racked in a triangle - does not matter which ball is at the head. Break them from behind the head string, and after the break try to run as many as I can. If I sink any on the break, then I have to start from wherever the cue ball ends up if I want to keep them off the table. I can move the cue ball to start the run, but then all balls sunk on the break come out and get spotted. A scratch on the break means that all balls sunk get spotted and the run starts with the cue ball behind the head string.

One point for each ball sunk on the initial run. If I sink nine in a row, I can use the tenth as a "break ball" like in straight pool and re-rack the other nine. If I sink the tenth ball and break the rack, then I can keep shooting until I miss.

If I miss before the ninth ball is sunk, I can sink the rest of the first rack of ten for an additional point. So, if I sink six and then miss, I can get a seventh point by running out the other four balls without missing again.

Most racks so far (today was the first day I tried this game) were racks where I made eight balls and then missed the ninth while trying to get position on the potential "break ball", then made the last two balls for an extra point. One rack was an eleven point rack, which was my highest.

I find that practicing with a ten-ball rack, instead of the usual 15, allows for more open space and fewer clusters, which helps to hone the skill of going from one shot to the next. Occasionally you still need to break up a couple of balls that end up very close to each other. This practice game also helps me to learn how to break while leaving the cue ball in a good spot on the table (so that any balls sunk on the break get to stay down).

Went looking for a longer shaft for my McDermott cue online today, but I didn't find any. I had heard that they are available. I may have to call McDermott and see.


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