I Bet Roger Federer Never Made These Ten Mistakes

What does tennis super-pro Roger Federer have to do with pool and billiards? I agree with the sentiments a pool shooting fan wrote about Federer's and others' recent Wimbledon battles:

"Wimbledon was great. Andy Roddick's last two matches were the best of his career. Roger Federer is the greatest ever (and I agree although my fellow About.com Guide Jeff Cooper lists areas in which Federer can stand improvement, gotta love his moxie). Those who think Pete Sampras had tougher competition are not realistic.

I do think I think a tournament between Sampras, Lendl, Borg, McEnroe, Agassi, Connors, Becker, Laver, Roddick, Nadal, Murray, Djokovitch, Wilander, Vilas, Newcombe and Federer would be the ultimate. I'd have to bet on Roger Federer.

My only disappointment at Wimbledon was Serena beating Dementieva in the tennis semis. D played her best match ever and outplayed SW in every facet except serving. Williams sisters finals are always disappointing for me. They never play their best against each other. I always root for Venus. She has the better attitude. If Serena would lose 15-20 pounds she might never lose a match!"

I agree with most of these ideas. If you're a tennis fan and a Williams sisters, Roger Federer or Andy Roddick fan, you probably do also (if you don't, how about commenting right here beneath this blog entry)?

How does all this relate to pool? I'll tell you, gladly. First, the irony that Allison "The Duchess of Doom" Fisher dominates pool more than Roger Federer dominates tennis, but is rarely seen on TV outside ESPN, unlike Federer, and second, the Andy Roddick/Roger Federer showdown is notable in that both players made few, if any, tactical or strategy mistakes. And if you think they had, you would agree they certainly played the best games of their lives this week, and pool shooters can "take their cue" from these tennis stars.

Billiards players can learn as much from their mistakes as from their triumphs, and usually, more. A pro like Federer in tennis or Tommy Kennedy in pool is likely to replay a mistake shot in practice. If you want to be a pool pro, you should setup a wrongly played shot during your practice session, 200 times in a row, until you stamp the mistake out forever.

I want you to read today's article and learn from, and of course, eliminate (without needing to shoot 200 times)…

Pool Players' (But Not Roger Federer's) Ten Most Common Mistakes

Roger Federer photo courtesy of Julian Finney/Getty Images

Get Your Pool Teaching “Ducks In A Row”

I endorse Donny Lutz as a pool teacher able to improve your game, promptly. What he’s done and continues to do for my game he can build into yours.

You can also check out Donny’s cues and more at his excellent billiards site. Meet my pal…

Donny Lutz, Pool Teaching Genius

Billiards Photo courtesy of Donny Lutz

No, No, No Corner Pocket

Whoa, maybe it’s time to leave the corner pocket forevermore!

Following up our popular round pool table story, comes more information from another source, Tim Meyers, cofounder of The JM Billiard Co.

The billiards story is compelling, the pool future, perhaps without another corner pocket evermore…

Go Round And Lose The Corner Pocket

Billiards photo courtesy MorgueFile.com

Make Your Best, But Save Your Best, Ball Run

I continue my ball run review teaching with you today with follow-up to a student’s question. Following our last prior ball run discussion on Wednesday, my student has some serious if valid misgivings about returning to national competition.

She wants to win her national 9-Ball tournament with “every fiber of her being” as she put it, and I intend to help her. I make several points to her in our latest discussion—really one point—for you to take home as she did and improve your play in 9-Ball and other games.

I am a sportsmanlike competitor, and I teach the same, but my ball run tips and 9-Ball and other strategy tips, even my perfect practice instructional articles, are all designed to get you more wins in competition.

For example, remember my 3 Vital 9-Ball Strategies as listed here in our instructional articles. Rule # 1? Greed demands that there is a rush for the 9-ball, but a miss often leaves the nine near a pocket instead, vulnerable to the other player or team. Game over!

I believe it and mean it (that you shall win more), so you believe it, too. This week, I show you how to…

Win 9-Ball By Choosing (Forcing) Your Best Ball Run

Billiards photo courtesy MorgueFile.com

Play 9-Ball Like The Champs

It’s the clash of titans whenever you step to the table to play 9-Ball. Or at least that’s how it feels.

We all want to be carnivores at pool. “A census taker tried to take my billiards census once…” begins our Hannibal Lecter lecture. “I ate his liver with some fava beans and a nice chianti… shllurp.”

I want to rip their eyes out, stomp on them, crush them, kill them… sometimes… no, not really. But I would like to outthink and outwit all my opponents when I play 9-Ball. As I personally use the classic stroke techniques and stroke hints I share in hundreds of instructional articles at this About.com GuideSite, I play with a relaxed, unstressed body. Only my mental faculties grow weary during a long pool session.

I’m so pleased that a reader wrote me regarding 9-Ball competition strategy this week. This former pool student jousted with me at the tables a few weeks ago, than wrote me to get specific advice for an upcoming national championship she’s facing. She is determined and skilled and has formulated some winning tactics. Others I advise her on. Take a ringside seat with me and discover some of my most helpful tips for 9-Ball.

You can use my methods even if you are not planning to play 9-Ball at top levels. No matter your skill set, you can borrow my tips and win more often.

Without a trace of hubris in my humble body, I say I’d like all my About.com billiards students to wear a lapel badge proclaiming the learning they’ve done at this website to play 9-Ball and all manner of billiards cue games. Then others will know how it is so many have become…

More Ready Than Ever To Play 9-Ball… And Play It Right

Billiards Photo (c) Matt Sherman 2008, licensed to About.com, Inc.

Who Is the All-Time High With Their Pool Stick?

Simply the best, better than all the rest. Who is the reigning best with a pool stick, living or dead?

I’ve jotted a few thoughts on this vital billiards subject in the linked article, and invited you to agree with me (or vehemently disagree—pool players are iconoclasts in their tastes, usually, and make our sport more fun).

Measure your personal best scores and billiards endurance for a start. I’ve broken six balls in off a rack of 9-Ball and five in 8-Ball, for example. You? I’ve played pool before for 19 hours before without a break. You? (I admit I had “no life” then worthy to live.)

Remember your personal bests, your highs and lows, and then see how you measure up against…

The Best Ever With A Pool Stick IMHO [In Matt’s Humble Opinion]

Billiards Photo courtesy of BCWs.com

Make Your Stick Pool Supreme

My typical fee for billiards lessons is $50 an hour. Too little for my advanced expertise? Perhaps. But I’ll discount the cost even further if I feel the student both needs some extra time and is advancing well.

Case in point. I gave a delightful couple lessons this week. He is returning to the game after many years away, she is a newbie but wants to partner her husband in a fun activity, and in giving to the game, she is also giving quality time to him. “He’s so wonderful, she says. I’d like to spend this time with him at the poolroom because he gives so much to me, always.”

A sweet sentiment. And their pool skills sweetened over the course of the evening. I didn’t alter his fundamentals much, they were already sound and sharpened some more after he read my pool book. Yet there was one flaw I needed to correct, and I only needed to hit him in the head with a pool stick to do it.

If you are like my typical billiards students, no matter how advanced your stick pool is, I want to hit you in the head with the stick, too. Try my exercise and see what I mean…

How would Agent 86, Maxwell Smart, have put it?

“Chief! It’s the old…”

Stick Pool With Your Head On A Stick Trick

Billiards Photo courtesy of MorgueFile.com

Shoulder Problems Solved By Arcing Your Hand

Oh my, oh my! Have I got a hot pool tip (pun fully intended) for you with today’s entry!

This move will cure that horrible, dropping shoulder that is currently wrecking your pool strokes. It’s so easy a child could do it (and a childlike author wrote it for you here at About.com).

Just be sure to remember, when it goes reprinted around the world on billiards sites and in magazines, (even though all content here is copyrighted to About.com) you read it here, first!

Cure Your Pool Shoulder Problems In Mere Seconds

Photo courtesy of CarolinaJG, MorgueFile.com

Sharpen Those Billiardist Interview Skills

Get your interview skills together, and help me make pool and billiards more attractive than before.

I love sports, sports personnel and the sporting life. But we have a gilded opportunity as pool shooters to stand above dull athlete interviews you hear in other sports:

Joe-Bob DeSassy of The Sheboygan Sun: “You gonna win the pennant at tonight’s game, Slugger?”

Slugger Dullard: “It all depends, I guess. I mean, if we have a good game, they’re gonna’ have a tough time beating us, but if they play well like they usually do, we’re gonna’ have a tough time beating them.”

Joe-Bob: “Did Coach Clampstein give you any special advice in the locker room earlier today?”

Slugger: “Um, yeah. He said, ‘Play your best and give yourselves a chance to win if you can.’ I figure, he’s right. If we can get over ourselves and really play, you know, all out for a change, then I figure we’re got a better than 50-50 chance of winning this whole thing.”

A good pool interview, by contrast, shows “mad skills” and promotes the room you’re playing in, the highlights of your event, and enough razzle-dazzle to entertain even the most jaded reporter.

I take on all billiards comers as I show you the simple ways to…

Hone Your Pool Interview Skills

Photo courtesy of jzlomek, MorgueFile.com

No More Billiards Diamond Systems? Oh, Joy!

Master pool and martial arts instructor and referee Ken Tewksbury (yes, Ken is dad to major league pitching and sports psychologist standout Bob Tewksbury) has now adapted his longtime dream to teach a better method of billiards diamond systems for pool players--with key lighting.

Dabbling with pool inventions when he is not bust referring tournaments, certifying colleagues as peer instructors or testing pool equipment for outside vendors, Ken’s latest idea as executed is simple but highly effective. And if you’ve been reading this website for even a short length of time you know how much I favor simple and effective teaching methods for pool and billiards--add spot lighting to the rails of a pool table where each billiards diamond lies, then toggle the lights on and off to represent aim points for multi-rail diamond shots.

Ken is a fan of pool and billiards as presented at About.com and has kindly provided us with pictures of his new creation at work. You can also read the story of this billiards diamond innovation online today:

• New Table Abolishes Billiards Diamond Systems
• Diamond Systems Table Photo Gallery
• Learning Like A Dragon With Ken Tewksbury
• Becoming A Professional Billiards Player - Interview With Ken Tewksbury: Part I
• Pool Physics - Interview With Ken Tewksbury: Part 2
• Former Billiards Congress of America Instructor - Ken Tewksbury: Part 3

Billiards Photo (c) Matt Sherman 2008, licensed to About.com, Inc.