I've been recording my recent matches and uploading them to youtube for review. I figured we could use this thread for 2p2 members to share their videos.

Mick vs Dino, 8-ball races to 7, cash games:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=utWb...eN0-vK3IZCHRzT
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YrBi...eN0-vK3IZCHRzT
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uss6...eN0-vK3IZCHRzT
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sX0p...eN0-vK3IZCHRzT
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RWFH...eN0-vK3IZCHRzT

Mick vs Dino vs Bill, 8-ball, 3-way races to 5, cash games:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2M-T...eN0-vK3IZCHRzT
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o4pc...eN0-vK3IZCHRzT

Mick vs Dave, fun game:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AVIu...eN0-vK3IZCHRzT

Any comments or critiques about the gameplay or production value of the videos is welcome.

I don't have time to watch vids right now...but how does this work? Mick plays Dino, winner keeps table and plays Bill?

I must have been out of the loop for a long time.

What's with the black triangle left on the table? It's interesting.

It's called a magic rack. Its paper thin with holes where the balls sit. Guarantees a perfectly tight rack every time and if there are balls sitting on it after the break you can leave it on the table and it won't disrupt play.

Watched the first twenty mins of the first vid, will watch more. Initial thoughts:

--The biggest and most helpful thing, for me, was watching how relaxed and loose you guys are. The guys in my pool leagues (me included) stalk the table tensely, approach each shot like we we're defusing a bomb. You guys just step up and knock the ball in. I tried this last night, and my game took another huge leap forward. Even the shots I missed were more enjoyable, I could let them roll off my back after seeing you guys react that way.

--the extra light from opening that door helped a ton. Light that joint up like a TV studio!

--oh, if I only had the time and technical know-how, I'd volunteer to dub in play-by-play.

I only watched a couple games in the first video. My criticism is you guys both shoot too hard and too fast. I saw a few times where I paused the video and could see a couple ways you could've went to make an easy run out, but instead you looked to shoot the first shot that you saw and it made the out 10x harder.

Stop and look at the layout for 20-40 seconds before you shoot the first couple shots to find the best pattern. If you get out of shape for that pattern, take another 20-40 to find the best new pattern.

Just as an example:

The first video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=utWb...eN0-vK3IZCHRzT

The very first game. I don't know who is who so a dry break and then green shirt starts shooting stripes. fast forward to 1:30 where he shoots the duck in the side pocket (15ball I think?). He hits it fairly hard, not sure what he was trying to do with the cueball, but this is where he lost the out IMO.

He could have shot it soft with follow to the right just a little to shoot the other ball closest to it(can't tell what # it is) in the opposite side pocket. Leaving that ball there is risky since you'll probably only hav one pocket to shoot it into after the next couple shots. Shoot that with follow as well to just past mid table where he has the option to shoot either of those two balls at the bottom of the table (13 and 14?), whichever one give you the best chance to get to the other one next (most likely the 14 first). This really doesn't matter because we can get to the 10 ball from just about anywhere. We save the 10 ball for last because we can use it to get easy shape on the 8 which goes in all but 2 of the pockets.

I'd look at more of the games when I got some more time if anyone cares what I have to say, but that's just my 2 cents. Like I said, I only watched a couple games and maybe the rest are way better, but you guys shoot good and could probably run a lot more racks just by better patterns.

That's exactly right. We're a real old group of friends, and have done it this way forever. We flip and odd man sits out first game, then winner keeps the table.

Thanks for your comments Suit. I'm green shirt in that video. Camping in the middle of nowhere right now, so internet is tough to review the videos from here, but will be home in about a week to discuss feedback. It's all appreciated.

Still hoping you other guys (YTF) will throw some vids up. I just did these with my phone (galaxy s5), so it's not like you need specialist equipment.

C'est moi...

https://youtu.be/ohdKGdig9uY

I shot great today.

Tonight, I got the suction cup phone holder out of the car, and stuck it on the ceiling directly over the center of the table. ....and couldn't make a ball. Also felt weird trying to talk to the camera with all my roommates home.

I'll try again tomorrow, if I have the house to myself.

Nice. I'm Edmonton too, we've actually been matched up in a few tourneys over the years. The first time was in around '93 or so at a high run 9-ball tourney. The only reason I remember it is that it was a hcap tourney and I managed to beat you (I was probably getting spotted the world) and had no idea who you were. Everyone was like "Don't you know who you just beat?". Was the first time I ever managed to beat a good player, and probably had a lot to do with me getting into pool seriously.

Small world.

Edit: Also, good job on the commentating on the CSI broadcasts. You've got a knack for it.

Me vs the ghost in my runout drill, race to 5.

Part One:



Part two:

YTF, overall you're not too bad, but I think you could improve a few things technically. Start by taking a look at the video below. You could learn a lot from both players as they're both high rated pros, but take a look at Neils Feijen in particular and how he approaches his shots.



Notice a few things here; number one, Neils is very deliberate in how he moves around the table and gets down on the shots, which all players could benefit from copying. He also gets nice and low and has rock solid fundamentals in his stance and bridge, both of which you could use a little work on, though you're not too terribly bad there.

Most important you should watch how he executes the shots. First of all pay attention to how he has a very clear transition between his preparation for the shot and his execution of the stroke, and secondly when he hits the ball there is literally ZERO movement in the rest of his body. These are both something you would benefit from copying greatly.

"Not too bad"? I'll take it! Esp from a player of your caliber! Cool. Thanks, D.

My bridge IS lousy. Especially if I need to set up on/near the rail. And it's absolutely atrocious when I need to jack up over another ball. ...which is weird, because in my youth, I was so proud of my rock-solid bridge! If you grabbed my wrist and tried to pry my hand off the felt, you couldn't. Now I'm about to turn 50, and a tiny bit of arthritis is starting to creep into a few knuckles, so it will never be THAT solid...but there is plenty of room for improvement there, and this is something I WILL work on.

(Look at the shot I missed to lose the hill-hill game: I'm jacked up over a ball. That lousy bridge led to a shot that was hit with no confidence at all.)

I'm not aware of my body moving during the shot. Can you cite an example from my vid?

The biggest issue I saw with the bridge is that you don't tend to spread your fingers out very much. That leads to instability.

It's easy to fix though. Just watch the video and do it as close to Neils or Albin as you can. Or any pro really. There are lots of strange styles in pro pool, but I can promise there are pretty much zero players at that level without an excellent bridge.

You're not bad, but there were a few examples here and there. Mostly it seemed of a bit of tightening up as you stroked. I actually noticed it in particular in one of the first shots I watched -- you were playing a draw shot and miscued and sent the cue ball into the target pocket. This is almost always a result of head or body movement (sometimes a clenching of the hand too).

YTF, watching your vids now. You mention the book you read, and how useless it was. I've not read it, but some players I know that had issues with the mental game said that reading Sun Tsu's "The Art of War" helped them to get their thoughts straightened out.

Might be worth a shot.

Edit: Not to harp on your bridge, but... harp. The last shot in the vid where you had to bridge over the 8, you're rolling all over. The trick there is to turn your hand into a tripod. It's very unnatural feeling at first, but will get you a rock solid bridge. Make 1 leg of the tripod out of your pointer finger, 1 leg from your pinkie, and the last leg from the other two fingers tight together. Lock your fingers in this position with a bit of body weight on them, and you'll have much better stability when you need to elevate.

I'm planning on trying and recording your method of ghost, when I do I'll try to demonstrate the bridge if you don't understand my explanation.

No need, I understand perfectly. I've tried that tripod thing by bringing in one of the middle fingers. I like your suggestion of keeping both middle fingers together, the added strength there is manifest.

Big reason why I'm not good at this is that I don't spend a lot of time practicing it. Always viewed it like banks and kicks, something that doesn't come up enough to merit serious practice time at this point when I need so much work just making a ball.

(Of course, now that I say that out loud, it becomes clear that mastering this won't take much time at all, compared to mastering bank shots. I'll work on it.)

That was the very first shot, and I was nervous/jittery as hell! It was the first televised shot of my life!

What a great post. The words I highlighted really set a tone. I was so much more "businesslike" while practicing today...and literally never shot better in my life. That bit of coaching was a big part of the reason why...

But the Main Reason was something so incredible, i need to start a new thread about it. I think ill call it, "cure dogging/choking with this one simple trick!".

Mick Dino 006
https://youtu.be/_KBOp8wX8Ug

3 sets of fairly mediocre play.

Mick Dino 007
https://youtu.be/WlzLXv2WjOE

First set is pretty crappy, but there's some good games and fun shots in the 3 sets after that.

https://youtu.be/JopaEGp0d_k

That link should work better.

Finally got around to making a video of how I practice solo.

Info: Scratch on break is a free re-rack. After the break you must run out. Doesn't matter if you make a ball on the break or not. Start with a coin on the middle diamond. If you run out you move the coin one diamond to the left. If you fail, move it one diamond to the right. Goal is to stay left of starting point which means you are running out over 50% of the time with all 15 balls on the table to start.

Lower caliber players should break and then pick stripes or solids and remove some of the other balls. Example: new player would pick solids and remove all stripes from the table and try to run out solids. Once you can consistently do this over 50% of the time take only 5 balls off after the break and try to run out. As you get better leave more of the other balls on the table. If you are only leaving a couple balls on the table, make sure they are away from rails so they are actually obstacles.

I do this for about an hour until I get bored and then switch to 9ball. 9ball I break and if I don't have a shot at the opening ball I rerack. If I do have a shot I try to run out. Run out and move the coin one to the left. Fail to run out and move it one right. To make this easier on lower level players you can take ball in hand after the break, but you really need to work on your break if you don't ever have a good opening shot.

Open to any criticism or other ideas for practicing solo as I am not a fan of drills.

Video didn't work. Trying again...

"Jeez, I could run out every time too, if I racked the stripes and solids separately!"

"Um, dude, you can't get out with three balls on the table."

Nice vid.

When I play the devil I do set races, that way you can kind of get a feel for your progress over time. For me at least, this raises the stakes a bit and helps keep focus; if there's nothing at stake I just start banging balls around, and that's worse than not practicing at all.

I smile every time someone says something about the way I rack.
If you break like that you probably run out more tho
Very rare that I have more than one break out needed. Breaking dry has its consequences however...


I may try this as well to change it up a bit. If I lose a set its not as bad as having the coin 6 diamonds on the wrong side trying to come back since I can start over. Sometimes if I get 5+ racks behind I get frustrated and start shooting too fast. I should probably learn to bear down in those cases instead.

Sweet! Absolutely love snooker and to be able to score a century is something I really think is crazy good. Never hit 40, half a dozen times 30+ and I know I don´t cue straight (also body moves) so playing can be frustrating hah, still love it.