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Oct 25, 2004 :: It's The Fundamentals,Stupid
What Do These Three Have In Common?
Jack Nicklaus was asked about the things a novice should work on to become a great golfer. His reply was “fundamentals.” Allison Fisher was asked the same questions regarding pool players; “fundamentals” was her reply. I asked Johnny Archer what he practiced when he went to the table, and I was not surprised when he answered, “fundamentals.”
In our journey towards pocket billiards excellence, we must lay a solid foundation to our game. There are twelve levels a player must go through in order to become a master at pocket billiards. If you are weak in any of these levels your performance will suffer.
Many players reach a plateau in their game and can’t seem to break through to the next level. They remain the same player year after year and after a while, their game begins to slip. Somewhere in their twelve steps they failed to realize the importance of one or two particular steps. Many times a player will rush out into competition long before he/she is ready. They are still in the “student” stage while they rush into the “player” stage.
I had a brilliant student in New York who has passed over the second stage of pocket billiards. This is the Four Strokes of Pool. When we began to go through that stage, he was amazed by how far he had gone in this game without this knowledge. He was a fine player but could not consistently control the cue ball. Once we went back, and covered that important second stage, his game improved. He had been stuck because he skipped over an important step. He was trying to achieve things for which he had not fully developed the skill. The game was a real chore for him until he filled in the missing blanks.
I had another student I had to bring back to the first stage, the stage of Shot Making. She was a brilliant cue ball control player, but could not make a tough shot. Once we covered that stage, her over all game improved.
The fundamentals come in twelve unique steps. Each step must be mastered if you are to enjoy the consistency we all strive for. You can trust your game when it is complete. Your confidence will rise dramatically when you have command of each fundamental level. If you have left things out, you will be working to hard when the pressures of the finals are upon you. Once you enjoy a solid foundation to your game, you will find your winning percentage going up and up.
Important note: We are looking at ten steps along our journey for tournament preparation. These are not the twelve levels to mastering this game. The twelve levels are outlined in The Masters of Art in Pocket Billiards.
