Rack ‘em up!

I hope you have been getting enough table time playing at pocket billiards to stay competitive. People have been looking to buy tables and have even contacted me for help in finding a used table.

If you have ever thought about selling your pool table, the time

is now. Demand is way up because of the need for a place to play. Bars with pool tables are not opening any time soon, and the desire to play is building to feel like a need. If you have a pool table of any size and don’t want it anymore, contact me through e-mail and I will try to put you — buyers and sellers — together.

It doesn’t seem to matter what size or condition they are in, but of course, the better condition the table is in will dictate the price to some degree. Even if you think it is not worth very much, it might be kinda valuable now, in the present climate of pent-up desire.

If you haven’t been able to play much over the last eight months or so, remember to practice your fundamentals when you do get a chance to return to the table. I was able to spend a couple of hours by myself for the first time in seven months. I couldn’t complete any of the regular drills that I use to keep my competitive edge. In fact, I realized I had lost my stroke and was jabbing at the cue ball.

When Hugh Foster was still playing pool in our league, he was also mentoring me about my pool game. Hugh would remind me that playing a game of pool is not practicing your pool game. He would say perfect practice does improve your game, simply throwing balls out and playing them is not really practice at all, it is entertainment. Hugh was the top shooter in our Pool League many times and over many years.

If you throw three balls on a table and run them out, that is a practice drill, eventually, you can expect to improve by throwing out more balls and then making them all. You soon would be able to “see” a pattern for making a runout. Placing balls against a rail and then playing them down the rail over and over is a drill, eventually, if you practice those rail shots you will improve at making them. You may have become a more competitive player, and done it while you were playing all alone.

Consider also, when you are playing someone that does not shoot very well or very often. Play harder shots for yourself, like bank shots. Make the game competitive or you will find your game going downhill and in short order, more closely mirror the person you are playing.

When the game is competitive you will remain in a competitive mindset, if it is too easy, you will lose interest and your game will suffer. It also seems true that when you are playing with someone better your game sometimes improves, especially if you are closely watching the better player and learn their strategies. You might even adopt some of their own strategies to use against them, and generally speaking, that will help you become a more competitive player, and just maybe especially so against them.

Better players teach you about how to become a better player just by watching closely how they win their games. They might even tell you how to make a particular play that eludes you. The point is that generally, we can slightly improve our game regardless of whom we are playing if we adapt our playing style to our opponent and their high or low capabilities on the table. Nothing improves your game as fast as drills will.

Drills are generally necessary to get to the higher levels of pool playing, and there is — thankfully — a drill for any skill development or stroke problem that you might seek a solution for.

CUE TIP » When you are breaking a rack of either 9-ball or 8-ball, remember cue ball control. It doesn’t help much if after making a ball on the break, you also scratch the cue ball. Try hitting the center of the cue ball, and then drive it to the center of the lead ball of the rack. Your cue ball should remain close to the middle of the table after contact. Your cue ball may hop once or twice, but should not come back at you or head for the opposite end rail. Also, watch to see if the cue ball is spinning in place after the break. It will not be spinning when you hit the center of the cue ball. Contact me at mcbohanon@gmail.com.