Can Be Done!

Wanna hear a good one? I got a Credit from 3rd gear today.

Imagine hitting a ball thin that's sitting in front of a side pocket. The cue ball sends the object ball to one side of the pocket and follows off towards the other side. Had 4 Credits today, not saying how many misses I had!   Lester

3rd Gear Changes Number

Because you have to hit 3rd Gear so slow with alot of English, it not realistic to scratch for a credit.
the new number is: 16

Rating today wasn't that good. Bright spot is I ran the table with 1st gear and got 3 credits.  Lester

A Score of 12?

I had a pretty good day with 24. I missed 1 3rd Gear, 2 2nd Gears, and 2 1st gears. So I had a score of 29--5 misses.
Missing the ones I did made me a little dissappointed. Did any of you see "A Fish Called Wanda"? That kind of dissappointed!
I came up with a way to get some points back. If you scratch (Dead ON), you get a 1/2 point back.

Do you think anyone will ever score a 12?   Lester

Adjusting Away

From practicing your 24 the next step is "Adjusting Away" When the cue ball is away from the Standard Shot Line the distance is cut in half. Example being the cue ball is at your spot to make a 3rd gear shot in the corner. So that puts the cue ball 2 dots way from the 1st gear SSL.The adjustment would be 1/2 so you are aiming at 1 dot away from the SSL with 1st gear.

3rd gear is limited going away from it's SSL. But 1st and 2nd gears you can go away a lot.

So far all the shots from 24 have been what I call Hurry-Up. Put the cue ball as if you were shooting a 3rd gear shot and the object ball is to your right in the corner. That puts the cue ball 2 dots away from it's SSL. Cutting that distance in 1/2 puts you 1 dot away and that is your aim point with 1st gear using right-hand English (Hurry-Up)

When using 1st gear left-hand English (Bring-Back), you can bring it BACK 1 dot. From the same position, you are 3 dots away but now your adjustment is to go back 2 dots. Works for 2nd gear also. Here the cue ball is line with side pockets. but remember you are bringing back 2 dots, so you have to go back 3 dots with 2nd gear. Lester

18's Now 24

Just a little bit extra practice!

The extra 6 shots ( 2, 1st gears, 2, 2nd gears, and 2, 3rd gears) are used at the side pockets. 3rd gear is the toughest one for me, especially in the side, because you don't have the rails like you do at the end pockets to help out.  So just make sure you use both left and right English for each side.  Lester

Bright Spot in 18

I didn't do so well in 18 today. The bright spot was that I scratched a lot. You know what that means--DEAD ON!

I found a 2nd Gear automatic. The object ball is in front of a side pocket. The Cueball is on the head spot. Your aim point is the middle dot on the opposite short rail. 2nd gear nails it. If hit correctly, you could come back for a 2 in 1 shot in the end on the same side. Or in a game of 8 ball if you've got the 8 -- you lose!   Lester

18

This morning I almost walked away from 18 because I couldn't make a shot. I was on 3rd Gear. Then I said to myself "gotta do this everyday"

From now on though, I'll be using my Joss Cue with the 11.25mm shaft. I always practice otherwise, with my Predator, with the bigger shaft. I always leave the house with my Joss when I shoot league.

Went back and made my last 3, 3rd gear shots in a row. Just gotta search for that sound. When you hear it, you know it's going!   Lester

Next After The One Rail Kicks

Once you are able to go around and pocket the 18 one rail kicks with some consistency, the next step is to put an object ball in front of the cue ball.

Now you have the cue ball and object ball in line with the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd "Standard Shot Lines". Let's say you are banking the object ball to the pocket on your left. You would then be using 5:30 outside English. An allowance needs to be made here. Line up the left edge of the cue ball with the center of the object ball. The outside English will throw the cue ball towards the center of the object ball, and hit it closer to full on. The same stroke you use for the kick, banks the object ball.  Lester

Pre Practice 2

If you want to work on "Shifting Gears", here's what you do.You got 3 "Gears". Multiply that by 6 pockets, and you come up with 18.

Start with what ever "Gear" you want to and see how many shots it takes you to make 6 of each. I found the side pockets the hardest because you don't have a rail to come of. What you want is, like I mentioned in a previous post "I hate when that happens", and you scratch. That means you are pretty darn right on!  Lester

Pre Practice

A customer bought my Complete Package. They said that they weren't that far away so maybe some lessons?

If someone were to want lessons, I would have them get something down first. For "Shifting Gears" I would have the person put a ball in front of all the pockets. The cue ball would be set about a foot, or a dot away from the long rail, and parallel towards one dot away from the pocket. When the person had the stroke down to where they could go around the table without missing the 1 rail kicks, then be a good time for me to start showing the subtleties.

The next thing to work on would be 2nd and 3rd gears, again around the table.   Lester

Simple Geometry

I am so used to "Shifting Gears" on my banks, that when I end up the perfect angle for a bank, I get a funny feeling. You just got to remember to hit it at the right speed.

Played a game of 2nd chance kick, on an unfamiliar table where I didn't get a chance to shoot a few test shots. We were playing "Two Or More" and I had a 4-rail set up just right. Hit the first dot away from the pocket with center ball--level cue running english. It went around and hit the long rail first. I raised the cue, still keeping it level, about a half tip. On my Predator cue that comes to about 6 mm's. That's all it took to score on my 2nd chance.  Lester

Under Pressure

When I'm practicing by myself, and make the 8, I always spot it in the pocket made. That way I am assured of some kick at the end involving multiple rails.

It also adds a little pressure not to miss, because of the 8 being right in front of a pocket. Oh yeah, if I do miss again, I block the path somehow!   Lester

2nd Chance Positive

Here's something I started to do. When I'm engaged in a SERIOUS practice, not only do I concentrate on making the shot, I also concentate on what it will take to get perfect position.

That way if you miss the shot, you have a 2nd chance of some accomplishment. It's a way for me to stay positive the rest of the rack.  Lester

Unfamiliar Table

I drew up a shot this morning that I'll make sure I try on a first-time-for-me table from now on. The shot was kicking back to a carom. You have to hit the object ball where it will drive it to your pocket. After I found the point that was halfway between the object ball and cue ball, I started with running English--too much

I found the spot on the cue ball. In this case it was a half tip amount of running English. When I practice on the new table, that's where I'll start. If it's a miss, I'll use one of my subtleties on the 2nd Chance Kick.  Lester

Friction and Momentum

Using First Gear, there are two ways to get an extra 1/8th dot of spin off the rail. The first way is switching from a closed bridge to an open one. That reduces the friction on the cues shaft going through your fingers, giving it that extra flow if you will.

The second way is to take one finger off the butt of your cue. The only finger not griping the butt of my cue is my pinkie finger, which is sticking up in the air. To get that extra 1/8th dot of spin, stick the next finger up in the air. That lessens the momentum of your stroke. Less momentum gets the cue ball spinning faster right away, as opposed to putting it out farther before it starts spinning.  Lester

2nd Chance Kick--Clean Ball

Broke, made stripes after a miss, spotted the 8 in an end pocket. Ran solids and the cue ball ended up right next to the 8 in the pocket. Went with a 2-rail that I usually use high 1st Gear. Way off! Realized I just cleaned the balls. 2nd chance kick I used low first Gear. That was it, the cue ball didn't grab onto the cloth like it does when it's a little dirty. I'm going to start getting into the subtleties that you can use with "Shifting Gears". There is so much you can do to get a little more, or less English.   Lester

PCR of 9

Session 1 was a PCR of 9. Planned a carom to make the 8, 4 balls ahead. Got down to 2 balls and didn't have the position I wanted. While I was stroking the shot, I remembered I had to mow lawn today! Stray thought. Ran the next 2, and ended up with a bank instead of the carom. It was 1/8 of a dot adjustment to the SSL for 1st Gear.  Missed it! Well I gotta mow the lawn today so I can't do what I read Jeanette Lee would have done---how many practice shots?  many hundreds I KNOW!   Lester

2nd Gear

This morning I had my spots lined up for a 2-rail 2nd gear shot. The STANDARD SHOT LINE (SSL) (the point at which you aim, using 2nd gear, where the cue ball will go into the pocket). The 8 ball was frozen on the long rail by an end pocket, with it's front at the point on the rail. The 3rd dot from that pocket is the 2nd gear SSL. The cue ball was another 3 dots away on the other side of the table. To find your aim point the calculation is 1/2--1/2. So from the SSL you first go 1/2 of 3, which is 1 and 1/2 dots, then 1/2 of what is left. 1/2 of 1 and 1/2 is 3/4's dot. That's your aim point to go into the pocket. BUT, the 8 is that slight distance away from the pocket. Trace the path and go down the pocket with your cue tip. Then notice how wide the space is to a ghost cue ball sitting behind the 8. My question to you is do you have to go 1/2--1/2 again?   Lester

2nd Chance Kick

In my 3rd book, I had a game called "Two Or More". It was great practice "Shifting Gears" It's 2 or more because you have to kick the cue ball 2 rails or more. And you had to make a 2-rail FIRST, before you could continue.
I took that game another step, and I call it "Second Chance Kick". In 2 or more a 2-rail is 1 point, 6-rail is 5 points and so on. If you miss a multiple rail shot, you can bet some of your points, that you can make it with your 2nd try.
There IS a rule that comes with the 2nd try. Here's where the players shooting have to be honest, because you can't adjust on the rail, you have to adjust on the cue ball. I have small dots made from billiard cloth that I mark the spot. Sort of like they do in golf. Scoring: if you make it, you get the points, miss you make a subtraction.
I've got "Mulligans" also---Another blog!   Lester

pool credit

Is there anyone out there that has to alter their stance because of a sore neck? About two years ago I started having neck pain. Went to the chiro, he told me to get some X-rays, after 7 x-rays, yup you got some arthritis. Went back to the chiropractor and he gave me an exercise to do to strengthen the muscles in that area. When I was a letter carrier I had back surgery in 2004. The surgeon said "here if you don't do these exercises, you're going to be back for a fusion. Been doing them since. I did something with 1 of the surgeon's and the chiropractor's. I call it my neck-butt exercise/ pool credit. NBX/PC for short. In the morning before I go down and shoot, I start with 3 of these. And then anytime I go shoot the rest of the day, I have to do 1 of these exercises before I pick up a cue. The first time I shoot every day I write down a Pool Credit (PC) Rating (PCR). Then the rest of the day I see how much better or worse I do.  Lester  PS  I hope to get this exercise on video for my website.

1st Gear

In my last blog I mentioned a 2-rail 1st gear shot. When my daughter was in high school, she walked by me at home and said "whatcha doin' Dad. The sarcastic remark back then was "I'm writin' a book" And next would be "well leave me out of this chapter" She had a basketball game that night and one of her friends came up and said "Mr Fiegel, it's so cool you're writing a book" So I had to write a book. My 1st book was based on THE STANDARD SHOT. If you were 1 dot away from a pocket, shooting into the dot with 4:30 or 7:30 English you could shoot a ball or a kick, and throw it that 1 dot. Long story short, I published a book, there now I'm done. But once I got used to writing things down for the 1st book, I wrote some more things down. I went out to the 2nd and 3rd dots to do the same thing as I did with the standard shot. Book Two--"Shifting Gears" The STANDARD SHOT was now 1st Gear. The cool thing about yesterday's shot is that you can go on both sides of the pocket at the other end of the table and use the SAME english.for your 2-rail. The cue ball by the way is going diagonally across the table.  Lester

Hate when this happens

Today after I had a table run and made the 8, I spotted the 8 in the pocket it went in, and proceeded to run the other set of balls and ended up with a 2-rail 1st Gear shot. I shot it and the cue ball followed the 8 into the pocket (even with all the English it had on it) I HATE it when I'm that dead on!  Lester