Five Pool Shots You Need to Practice - (Pool Lessons)

[@djamo1969]

Bryan with real world advice, yet again. I’ve been getting better just by adding your shots to my repertoire. This is for combat action, which I like. They don’t feel like drills when I practice them. Thanks again, B!

[@FXBilliards]

Great to hear!

[@rickksanchez1378]

“My left hand is an APA 4” is one of the coldest statements I’ve ever heard 😂

[@alang253]

first time I've seen/heard basic tips for using the bridge. mind blowing thanks

[@FXBilliards]

Glad it was helpful!

[@edwardwallace1633]

Thanks Brian! I finally got my pool table together and with your videos the guys at the bar are taking me seriously now!

[@FXBilliards]

Fantastic!

[@edwardwallace1633]

@@FXBilliards when I get back from seeing my son in the army I will take your course I want to start playing the correct way Not get bad habits

[@garybkatz]

Good advice about a topic I was hoping you'd address. The P.S. to this video might've been "Practice defensive shots." Not many amateur players do, but good defense wins rack after rack. I know you only wanted to cover those 5 examples, since there's only so much that can be covered in 1 video, but defense is a strong number 6. Thanks, Brian!

[@FXBilliards]

Very good point - thanks for watching

[@NH_RSA__]

Defense. Couldn't agree more. Practicing defense improves table awareness and positional skills. If your opponent hasn't seen much defense they probably won't be proficient at responding to it. The "I gotta make a hit" mindset will engage and may unlock one of your balls while making that hit. Defense. One of the differences between a pool player and some guy who just plays pool. Practice both sides of the ball. (To my team: Practice D so I don't have to call so many dang time-outs.)

[@pooliconefrenreyes]

More of this please

[@daveculbertson602]

Thanks Bryan! Real world solutions to a real world game. I practice all of those except over the ball shots. I'm adding that today!

[@FXBilliards]

Thanks for watching. I appreciate your comments.

[@RonKeehn]

Thank you you are helping me improve my game you are a great instructor

[@FXBilliards]

Happy to help

[@seamusmcfadden994]

For bridging over a ball I switched to a bridge I see a lot of pros using for their normal open bridge too. Index and pinky fingers are out to the side. Your ring and middle fingers are flat on the table with the middle knuckles on the table. Best I can describe without a pic. With the index and pinky to the side you can get very close to the obstructing ball. The ring and middle fingers are used to elevate the bridge to any position. It's pretty popular today.

[@Robert-ln7yt]

Great video thanks for the instructions..... FX billiards is a very good place to learn the basics and the other things to take your game to another level. Practice these things daily.

[@FXBilliards]

Thanks for watching!

[@dustytables3638]

Great video and great advice! Especially the off the rail shots. I do a drill where I take 6 balls, walk around the table and randomly drop them at different distances from the pockets. I don't even look back at where they are. Then I go back and freeze the CB to the center diamond on the short rail. Pick the longest shot and pot that one. Do it slow enough to make it and nothing more. Wherever the CB stops, bring it straight back to the closest rail and freeze it again. Take the next longest shot. Repeat this. After awhile it becomes second nature to make these shots. Once you've mastered that, increase the distance from OB to pockets, do it 100 more times. Pretty soon you'll be making off the rail shots at balls laying near center table. To add more challenge, once you've cleared the beginning stage, place a random ball center table to cause a blocker. Then two....then three...then 4 and so on. Once you've dropped all the hangers those center balls need to be shot off to end it.

[@jeffboswell68]

I'd like to know where you learned that drill. There's a coach in my area that just randomly offered that drill to me. I went up 100 pts in fargo and 2 skill levels in APA. Good stuff!

[@southsidesmoka]

Very interesting to hear the perspective about the lag and "rushing" your opponent by going first. As long as I can remember, I've always waited for my opponent to go first. I prefer this, never even really thought about why, but I certainly don't feel rushed. I am different, though, from most in most things. What you say here makes perfect sense and, I bet, works most of the time. I might even try to change my habits.

[@rodconner9079]

I enjoy these so much. : ) Giving everyone the opportunity to improve their game! Awesome!!! The "lag" will show you many things, esp your stroke and where yer hitting the cue ball. When practicing your break -- rack 'em the same each time so you can "see" where each ball ends up from the racking position; suggest in numerical order but still alternating solids and stripes. Be Safe

[@FXBilliards]

Thanks again

[@kpayne2911]

Very good advice. Especially regarding the bridge.

[@FXBilliards]

Glad it was helpful!

[@seamusmcfadden994]

The spread is important. For training the break (especially the pop break) I LOVE the Break Rak training tool. You can really groove in a great break stroke. I do a bunch with that, then some with the balls.

[@amandaguerdan3957]

Bryan , in my opinion this is the best video you’ve made yet! That counting my own lag advice was some need to know!! I’m legit about to go right to my table and practice everything you just showed me. I love your energy and learn new things every time I watch your videos. Thanks for sharing and Happy Holidays ❤

[@FXBilliards]

Glad it was helpful!

[@amandaguerdan3957]

Always helpful when a handsome man is teaching me stuff 😉

[@FXBilliards]

Thank you Love, you made my day.

[@Dara_Run]

Thank you for always keeping it real with us! Will definitely practice all of these!

[@FXBilliards]

You got it. Have a great day.

[@MrKlaus314]

Thank you, Bryan. I really need to practice the break because it's not normal to hammer the cue ball during the game as you need to do at the break. Also the jacked up position. I wrote a list with your tips so I don't forget them.

[@stanmullins9814]

Another good topic and useful practice session ideas. I'd really like to see a video on finishing the last 2 balls or so in 9 ball. There are patterns I know that I should be concentrating on, as the pros have the final shot(s) patterns down for sure.

[@FXBilliards]

I’ll work on that for you

[@dangoodwin8469]

Great video Bryan. Ya, I don't practice those enough. League play tonight and Masters tomorrow. I'll get those reps in before we start

[@seamusmcfadden994]

With the mechanical bridge, I used to have a bad problem with twisting my wrist and putting unwanted spin on the cue ball.

[@davehobwest]

Thanks for the shout out to us great short players. Oh wait, I'm not great. :)

[@FXBilliards]

Pool Lessons at: fxbilliards.com/

[@tofmill3640]

My first time commenting, because it's about time I reach out to you Brian so I can make good progress on my journey to be a better player. Given the non-ideal conditions of the nearest table available to me, my position play can be set aside so my fundamentals can be fine-tuned. Sometimes my arm that does the bridge is fully extended and my shoulder gets sore. Sometimes I feel my elbow slightly flare out to the side, putting accidental spin on the CB. Sometimes I question my true vision center. Any drills and/or good habits that you recommend to remedy these fundamental flaws will be much appreciated. Thank you for these lessons, Brian.

[@FXBilliards]

I made a video called drills for beginners. You should check it out. Also, if you take a lesson or two an instructor can usually help you with your stroke pretty quickly

[@lorannjacobs470]

Hello Brian good tips, you are right, I kept practicing with the cue against the rail, I also rest the tip of the cue on the cushion, hold my cue against my body, I now enjoy these shots! Beautiful cue, the P3!!!!

[@FXBilliards]

Good stuff

[@jeffboswell68]

Not sure where I heard about it, (probably on this channel) but I've been lagging with my break cue for over a year now. You really get a feel for the touch after a couple of strokes. I learned a LONG time ago.....on the lag, hit it first and hit it quick, 9 times outta 10, the other player will rush their lag and hit it too hard. Great stuff as always B!

[@FXBilliards]

Yes, it’s not the first time I recommended the brake cue thing - thanks for watching and thanks for your comments

[@seamusmcfadden994]

I practice the elevated bridge a lot. It's rare, but when you have to bridge over multiple balls, it helps to be decent with the "air bridge". In case of emergency lol.

[@michaelmcknight3639]

Excellent video as usual Bryan

[@FXBilliards]

Thanks again!

[@cecilfreeman6147]

I like this video. It covered several of my weaknesses. I miss q frequently when shooting off the rail or shooting over another ball. I'll be playing again tomorrow, so I'll give it a try. I always like getting these tips before I play, so they're fresh in my mind. Thank you!

[@FXBilliards]

♠️ You are very welcome

[@cecilfreeman6147]

@@FXBilliards I played today and tried the technique for shooting off the rail, and also shooting over a ball. Both worked very well, and I didn't miscue today. ;)

[@jamesmarze9850]

Good video thanks Bryan!

[@FXBilliards]

Thanks for watching!

[@lisaleffingwell3939]

Good advice. Thanks.

[@FXBilliards]

You bet!

[@michaelmccullar2982]

Thank you Brian

[@FXBilliards]

My pleasure!

[@markevenson987]

Thanks again Bryan, for a great review. I have been practicing those shots as well as shooting 5 racks and without regard to stripes or solids, keeping track of my misses and recording the average misses for those 5 racks and putting that info in my book. Problem is, I am using a table at the clubhouse and can only manage about 2 hrs, early morning. Soooo gotta make choices on which drills , that you have suggested, to do each session. One of the other drills I find helpful is to reshoot shots that I have missed during competition. Thanks again for all your efforts in producing these videos as well as your classes on the FX website.

[@FXBilliards]

Thank you very much

[@MikeBilliardsFun78]

good video the bridge part i was guilty not using extension or bridge past Wednesday night and end up light hitting my object ball to soft for foul , last part video i practice break 2 times week about half hour almost to another , another day i translate Japanese player on Twitter i follow practice up to 2 hours and she talk about how tired the arm can be

[@Aabriley]

NAPA leagues lagging for break or game you have to start your lag before your opponents lag ball hits the opposite short rail to make it's way back. No counting or drag counts. If you don't lag by the time their lag ball hits the short rail .. re-lag.

[@xdecemberguy1]

When breaking in 8ball do you prefer to break from the side for straight down the middle. I mix it up but my rate for making a ball on the break is very low and I crack'em hard...

[@FXBilliards]

I usually break head on, but if I’m having any problems, I will sometimes break from the side.

[@Livingforgoddaily]

Where do you get those stickers you have on the inside of your rail on the felt? They are hard to find. Most tv tables have a “Simonis Cloth” sticker. Thanks

[@FXBilliards]

Those are not stickers. They are embroidery on the Predator Arcadia cloth. I have not used simonis cloth in three years.

[@Livingforgoddaily]

Thanks for the reply Bryan.

[@dougquara6302]

Just (re?)viewing this older video, just was flagged on my YT subscription. Re: lag: I found that if I imagine a pendulum with my elbow the fulcrum, and pull my backstroke keeping my elbow still, and imagine gravity rather than muscles moving the cue forward, as long as I have adjusted to the table, a specific length backstroke and gravity drop result in a pretty consistent lag. Thanks for the reminder we should be practicing these 5 shots.

[@yes2crypto]

I don’t know about the lag counting thing. I’ve played APA since 1999 and I’ve never had someone counting off the lag. So that might be a regional thing and not an APA thing.

[@FXBilliards]

I think it is a regional thing by and I usually hear it from low ranked players. Thanks for your comments.

[@fixitrod4969]

If you hate the shot, you need to practice the shot!

[@williammcdowell3718]

For me it is... I just don't practice enough.

[@kingofcastlechaos]

I am SO happy to say this, but you Brian are WRONG!! I actually practice all these things every few days at the pool hall and one thing I do when practicing breaks is to place the balls in the exact some position so I can tell what happened to that particular break. I also have a loved one's cue that is too warped to use for shooting as my dedicated bridge cue, and I practice with it quite a bit. That is a cool tip about using a stripe to lag (I practice that too, but with a cue ball) and will change to a stripe tomorrow. Thanks for the tips!

[@FXBilliards]

The fact that you practice, these must be why you are king. Thanks for watching. Thanks for your comments.

[@bobdefederico4803]

Actually..i don't see people practicing period...just shooting balls or rack n break..uever working on shots