I don't want to go pro, I just want to get better so I would stop losing/ getting hustled by my friends. What's the best way to go about this? I want to get good at eight ball the most followed by nine ball. Any recommendation will help. Especially good training videos.

Thanks a bunch hopefully I will be the one hustling my friends soon

In terms of cuing, focus on keeping your head still, your stance and bridge as stable and symetrical as possible, and hold your breath on the stroke like you would firing a rifle. If you need to learn about screw/english, just look on you tube and there are lots of videos explaing the key principles in terms of how it will respond from balls and rails.

In terms of amateur strategy, in eight ball you frequently have positions/shots that appear strong but are actually very weak. The most fundamental mistakes in this regard are usually potting simple balls when hard ones are left, potting balls over pockets prematurely, and thinking that having fewer balls on he table puts you ahead.

Every ball you sink in 8 ball makes your opponent's life easier - particularly balls blocking pockets etc - and as a result, often moving difficult balls out/playing safe (these two things can often be combined) is a better tactic until the game is more open and runs of balls can be made easily. Don't ever think of the game as whoever has the most balls on the table is behind - one of the best hustles in eight ball is to give a weak player all 7 of their balls off the table and simply snooker them/clear up on a table full of options for you and none for them.

9 ball at the amateur level is a game that requires a sound knowledge of the runs of balls you and your opponent is capable of, and to approach the game very defensively until a spot arises where you feel happy clearing up, or you feel that your opponent can and that you have to go for it as a result. In these situations all out attack is required. Try and look at nine ball as a game of two polar opposite gears - all out defense and all out attack. Don't just pot balls aimlessly without a plan for the nine or a future safety shot.

Also, don't forget the three foul rule either - it is a great tool against mid level players in the early stages of a game where snookers are easy to set due to the number of balls on the table.

And practice, practice, practice - it is the only true way to get good.

edit - some instructional vid series that looks ok for the basics of cuing/ball control.

I like this book for a beginner. It goes through all the basics step by step, the instruction is clear and concise and it includes links to over 150 videos online illustrating the things talked about. It's written by a physics professor and even includes some proofs (found online) of various things in the book having to do with the geometry of the game which aren't essential but some might enjoy. I know people talk about Byrne but I prefer a more structured learning environment and liked this book much more.

good post wamy.
also op, you should refer to this thread. there is some good advice there too.

The first thing i would do is get your potting and cueing good before you start with screw back and side thats how most people get bad trying to show off when they dont have the basics right

Get the basics right and then move on to position,spin and side once them start falling into place it will become natural

If you have any questions fire away i'll try my best to help

yup. getting the fundamentals down is huge. i see too many people trying to get fancy with english well before they can even control the speed of the cue or their own stroke.

Mastering Pool with Mika Immonen is by far the best training DVD series i've ever seen (also crushes any book minus the mental game ones).
the 3DVD set (beginner/intermediate/advanced) is like $80 and u can order online, just google it. there are sample lessons on youtube. def quality instruction well worth the $. i got it for my son so i dont have to play coach so much at the pool hall but i even got smth out of it (and i had runs over 100 in str8pool b4).

Good thread.

I bought Ray Martin's 99 Critical Shots in Pool a while back and haven't had a chance to read it all the way through, but from skimming it looked decent.

Unfortunately, I haven't had much of a chance to go to a hall to practice for some time now. My brother is getting better than me (lucky bastard's girlfriend has a really nice table he gets to play on all the time).

99 critical shots is a great book. good for some solid basics. get into the byrne books for a little more in depth thinking after that though. all imo of course.

Will check it out. If I ever get a chance to actually practice and utilize Martin's book first, that is. Since I'm taking nice long break from poker, I really ought to be working on my billiards, huh?

8-ball Bible by Givens is a great book especially if you play barbox 8-ball with the heavy ball, so much good info in there.

People read books on how to play cue games. This aint poker guys like most sports its just practice practice

fantastic input ty

Max Eberle's dvds are great for learning the fundementals. As far as books, I am a fan of Play Your Best Pool by Phil Capelle. I learned a ton as far as position play and some of the finer points of strategy.

Robert Byrnes books/videos and playing a lot against good players.

I was just coming in here to post this. Byrne's books and videos explain the fundamentals way way better than any resource out there. Learn it. Know it. Live it.

Don't listen to the poster that said you can't learn anything by studying the game, it has to be learned by playing it. He is absolutely wrong. It doesn't matter how much you practice... If you're doing the fundamentals wrong in the beginning, lots of practice will just make those bad habits very hard to break.

I used to teach pool basics, and the easiest students to teach were those that had never even picked up a cue before. Those that had years of bad habits behind them had to be un-taught before any forward progress could be made. Made my job much harder.

Byrne's. Look into it. Recommended for players of all levels if you've never read/seen his principles before. Could be an eye opener even for advanced players.