Personal Philosophy Concerning Basic Fundamentals

My approach to teaching Basic Fundamentals is slightly different than the traditional way. I believe that there should be a balance between learning physical skills with mental and emotional skills. At every level, how you think is directly related to how you will perform, according to your skill level.

The 3 most important ingredients needed to improve at any pool game are:

1) Desire – wanting to play well and wanting to learn.

2) Confidence – belief in yourself and in the correctness of what you are learning and doing. Ultimately we are all striving for the highest level of control. The beginner wishes to enjoy the game more. Their enjoyment increases as they are able to pocket more balls and experience periodic planned control of the cue ball. As control increases their main goal shifts from enjoyment to performance. When this metamorphosis happens the player’s confidence increases as well. My goal as a teacher is to “help the student learn” as opposed to “telling them what to do”. Consistent with this philosophy is the idea that every student deserves to know why. Their confidence in what they are learning is dependent on their belief that what they are being told and/or shown is correct. When the teacher explains why the information is right, that gives the student confidence to trust it.

3) Commitment – spending quality time practicing what you've learned until it becomes part of who you are (habit).

The importance of good physical fundamentals is paramount. The best professionals can trust their stroke to do the job properly because they have spent their life developing the physical skills that will give them a good stroke. The beginner, however, must spend all of their time building these new physical fundamentals into unconscious good habits. There are only 4 steps to take in order to improve.

1) Learn what these good habits are

2) Trust them

3) Practice them

4) Repeat Steps 1, 2 & 3

Learning too much information at one time can be self-defeating. Have patience and try not to learn more than you can practice in the immediate future. Few skills practiced well are far better than many skills practiced poorly. Focus on just a few specific skills at one time. If that is still too much for you then only focus on 1 or 2 new skills at a time. Patience will be your most valuable skill in learning to play pool well. The most common mistake students make is wanting to become better too quickly. Their burning focus on results hinders their ability to build better habits by decreasing their focus on the new skills recently learned. Concentrate on improving each newly learned skill. Learn from every shot you try and refrain from wanting to judge yourself too early. Enjoy and trust the process as it is the key to your future improvement.

Style is personal and should be dependent on personal desires, body makeup, and physical limitations. This is proven correct by the fact that there are many great champions around the world who have very different, yet seemingly equally effective styles. However after hearing and seeing the logic concerning balance, stance, grip, bridge, set up, and stroke, my students generally choose some variation of the classic Open Stance and Pendulum Stroke.

 Like any other sport there are basic principles of playing pool that, if followed exactly, can produce the quickest and most effective results. When stroking your cue stick the logical goal is to send the cue ball on a predetermined path to, either pocket a ball, or move an object ball into a safe position. It is easier for the cue ball to do so if it travels in a straight line. You can stroke the cue stick through the cue ball more accurately when the cue stick travels towards the cue ball in a straight and level manner. A pendulum stroke is the most effective way of accomplishing this because there a few moving parts and the pendulum motion creates a consistent, straight, fluid, accurate, and repeatable cueing action.

In some of my future articles I will talk about each of the fundamentals separately and in depth. These fundamentals will include, but are not limited to: Stance, grip, bridge, set up, balance, stroke, etc.

I hope this has been helpful!

By the way, I am still offering a FREE online analysis to anyone who would like to send me a video of yourself playing pool for 5-15 minutes. Just check out my web site www.paulpotier.com and click on the Coaching section to find out how. You could also just contact me at paul@paulpotier.com or call me at 1-587-580-7665. I am leaving for China next week to compete in the Chinese 8 Ball World Championships. Wish me luck!!

Enjoy the Process!

Paul Potier

Cue Ball last or Object Ball last?

This is a great topic for discussion! Of course, this is supposed to be an instructional article, not a thread on a forum. Well, I was just reading a thread of comments on the Main Forum on azbilliards.com on just this very issue. It started out with someone posting his results and conclusions after doing some experimenting with looking at the cue ball last, just before he shoots the cue ball.

His conclusion, after trying it for over 2 weeks, was that he improved his shot making and his cue ball control. Wow, did that ever get some people riled up. The thread is still going strong with over 12 pages of comments so far. Everyone seems to be an expert, even with opposing views.

In the mid 80’s I played a lot of Snooker. In fact I managed a recreation facility (The Club) at the University of Manitoba from 1983-1989. Among many other things The Club had nine 5’x10’ Brunswick Snooker tables. During those years I played approx. 100 hrs a week between The Club and a couple of pool rooms in downtown Winnipeg. I ran many Centuries every week all the while looking at the object ball last. I had a very good friend who was a great Snooker player. We will just call him Bill. Bill and I played a lot of Snooker together, sometimes running back to back centuries against each other.

One day I noticed him looking at the cue ball last during a shot. I asked him why he did that. He said he always looks at the cue ball last. I was shocked! Bill was one of the best Snooker players in Manitoba and he could pot a ball from anywhere and his position play was awesome. I guess I just hadn't noticed where he was looking during the stroke before.

So, I did a little experimenting with it. It didn't catch on for me as a common practice. However, thanks to what I learned that day, and all the hours of experimenting after that day, I look at the cue ball last for certain special shots now. I always look at the CB last for very elevated masse shots, on all jump shots, for any power break in pool, on some rail shots, for most jacked up over the ball shots, for some power draw shots, for some power top spin shots, and for a lag shot. Other than those situations I look at the contact point on the object ball last. For me, it’s all about finding what works best in what situation and developing a great skill at that. I would say that I look at the contact point on the object ball last approx. 85% of all shots that I play.

I have been teaching pool for more than 30 years and have helped literally hundreds of pool enthusiasts improve their game, including professionals. My approach to helping people includes guiding them and encouraging them to discover things. I have been a very successful pool player because of my constant search for excellence and I encourage everyone to do the same. Searching for excellence often means that you have to make some changes in order to improve. Don’t allow stubbornness, laziness, and denial control how you approach new ideas. Experiment and explore your way to the new you!!

Enjoy the Process!

Paul Potier