Month: October 2011

Have you ever had one of those days away from the pool table where you were feeling totally great physically and mentally, and then when you went to play pool all of your shots seemed to be easy and fun, at least more than normal. And then that feeling of fun on the pool table carried over for days or weeks beyond, and your pool game improved as a result. That one day of feeling great improved your game, and the positive feelings that you have about your pool game, creating a cycle of positive feelings and positive results with your shot making and cue ball control.

I’d like to suggest that you can think about your pool game in a positive light and generate positive feelings about your game as a result. You can do this away from the pool table, and it will carry over into your real game on the pool table. Instead of being the victim of your feelings, if say you happen to have a bad day emotionally, went to go play pool, and then had a less than average showing. You could make sure to do your best to put yourself in a positive, fun, joyous state of feeling right before you play… and anytime you are thinking generally about your billiard (pool) game.

Create a positive ball of thought and emotion around the idea of your own pool game. This will then grow and influence how fast you improve and how good you are capable of becoming. This idea comes from my studies on the “Law of Attraction” such as explained in the popular movie “The Secret” and books such as Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill. I can verify it as being true when looking back on my career up until this point and observing the connection between my good days and improvement with how I thought about my pool game and my ability to play pool well.

So not only do you want to think positive about playing pool, you need to feel positive as well.

See how that helps your pool game and your frequency of clearing the table.

See you soon…

Max Eberle

PS: To learn the actual skills of playing winning pool, and the basic knowledge in how to make the balls react in your favor, click this link to learn more about my basic-to-advanced skills DVD Set on the subject.

So often I’ve talked about being balanced in order to consistently make shots on the pool table.

My question to you is, do you know where to be balanced?  If you do, your stroke will be smoother and straighter, and come through the cue ball with more accuracy on a regular basis.  Sound good?

The answer may sound obvious…  you want to be balanced and solid while your cue is on the stroking line.  That’s it.

Balance yourself around the stroking line.

Consider yourself fortunate if you already are aware of this and good at doing it, because I see so many pool players who are not balanced while down on their shots.  One of the main reasons is that they never found the stroking line while standing, so they got into their stance on some other line, and then had to shift their balance to adjust or lean into the stroking line, thus putting them off balance.

The solution is simple and easy once you get the hang of it.  While standing, find the stroking line with your eyes AND THEN get down into the shot… not before.  AND, as you go down… keep your eyes on the stroking line (up at the object ball with whatever aiming system you use) all the way down.  Now you will be balanced on the stroking line and maybe even ready to shoot before any practice strokes.  This is how fast players can play so fast… they always land on the stroking line right away.  Combine that with some nice practice strokes and eye pattern… a feel for the speed of the shot… and you have the makings of a Champion.

Go try it out for yourself and I hope you run several racks.

See you soon…

Max Eberle

PS:  To investigate my advanced techniques DVD Set click this link

Here is a great clip of the Great Willie Mosconi for you to enjoy.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=egxNM6hp6k4[/youtube]

Go see if you can make that 2 table shot at your local pool room!

The guy in the clip and yours truly 😉

See you soon…

Max Eberle

PS:  Learn about what my DVD Set can do for your game, or if you have a kid, maybe they will be the next Mosconi?

Click here to see Video

So many students tell me that they do well until the last ball or the last couple of balls…and then they miss.

Then I’ll invariably answer; “Well the first thing is, you have to stop thinking like that.  Stop telling yourself that you are going to miss.  You are only programming that to keep happening when you dwell on your misses and keep giving them life in thought and word.  Start telling yourself that you always make the last ball, that you are a run out player.”

So true, your mindset is all important to creating the results you want on the table, so focus on what you want mentally:  making the shot, performing well.

Ok, now that that is out of the way, I’m now going to suggest another reason why so many players miss that last ball, the one that will win them the game, and why that missing stroke is often accompanied by an awfully ugly stroke.  Here is the reason:  On every shot throughout the game, the player had some idea or plan for where he wanted the cue ball to end up.  Some players plan more precisely but you get the idea, there was a goal in mind for the cue ball which affected the quality and direction of the stroke.

What can happen on that last shot is, because there are no more balls to get position on, the player may now have a much greater percentage of their attention on only making the ball, which can not only add some mental pressure that does not help, but also it takes away from the normal routine of pocketing the ball, and playing position.  Not only is the routine gone, but because of this, the smooth, clear, confident, directed stroke is also gone, or at least compromised.

After the miss, while it may look to an observer like the player only dogged making the shot, what may have happened is that because the player neglected to plan a route and destination for the cue ball as usual, the quality of the stoke suffered in various ways, resulting in a miss.

So the takeaway:  When shooting the game winning ball (be it the 8, 9, 10 or whatever), pick a place where you want the cue ball to land as if this is just another shot you are making and playing position on another ball.  I hope you find yourself making those clutch, game winners more often!

Now go run some racks!

See you soon…

Max Eberle

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PS:  If you are ready to take your technique and your game to higher levels,

check out what I have for you here at this link

I know I’m fortunate as a pool player to have had a Grandpa who was a truly great player.  He could run 100 balls in Straight Pool all the time and regularly run all the way out in 15 Ball Rotation, so for him, 9-Ball was a piece of cake.   Learning how to control the cue ball was a priority in his teaching me… and I fell in love with playing 15 Ball rotation.  Once you get good at running all 15 balls, 9-Ball and 10-Ball become games that you can handle quite well.

After running the 1 through 5 in 15 Ball Rotation, the last 10 balls almost seem like a mere formality because you have opened up the table for a more easily run pattern.  Many players have a mental sticking point of messing up on the 7,8, or 9 while playing 9-Ball… playing Rotation can help make those last few balls in 9-Ball seem less intimidating.

Don’t make the mistake of thinking your problems are only mental on the last few balls.  Maybe you need to get better so that you simply have more confidence to defeat those last balls and consistently run the table.  Playing 15 Ball Rotation every day will help give you more skill and more confidence improve in a real way.  Once you start playing it and make a few good runs, you just might get hooked on what I consider the best game in pool.

Practice hard, have fun, and I’ll see you soon!

Max Eberle

PS:  To get a wealth of game transforming information so that you can tackle anything 15 Ball Rotation throws your way, check out my most in depth info product by clicking right here.