Intelligence is Trusting Your Coach

First, I want you to line up a straight in shot to the far corner pocket. Your cue ball should be about eighteen inches away from the object ball. Place your cue tip one sixteenth of an inch below center. Concentrate on that spot. Burn a hole in that place on the cue ball. Now deliver a stop shot. Use your best punch stroke.

Here is your assignment. Absolutely and totally become one with the cue tip hitting the cue ball. Feel the contact in your hand. Feel the contact in your shoulder. Feel the contact in your right leg. Make sure you are right there when the cue tip hits the cue ball. Listen to that sound. Hear it make contact.

Shoot twenty of these stop shots. Determine if there is a different sound from one shot to the next. You are searching for the perfect hit and you will know when it happens. Once you are in touch with the perfect hit, you must log that in your experience.

This is what you want to duplicate when you attempt your winning run out. You want to deliver a quality performance every time you approach a ball. If you are facing a key ball, stop and listen to that sound, feel the hit in your hand, your shoulders and your legs. Experience the perfect stroke and you will forget about the key ball. Become one with your shot.

When you stand in front of a shot, remember what a perfect shot sounds like. Remember what a perfect hit feels like. Remember what a perfect hit looks like. Then, you must duplicate this experience. You will be building a great game by getting in touch with your stroke.

Your cue should have a downward slant to it. The cue tip should almost touch the cloth after your follow through. This cueing technique is for the advanced player. The Monk Family Player who is in the business of winning. A downward slant of the cue enables you to drive the ball towards your target. If you are not a good player however, and your tip is ever so slightly off, this technique will not work for you. Once you get the downward slant skills on this shot, you will find your ball pocketing improves.

You are an I Came to Win player. You must approach every shot with that attitude. Make sure when you deliver your stroke you are part of the complete shot. You experience the cue tip when it makes contact with the cue ball, you hear it, feel it and see it, and then you fly with the cue ball to the object ball and experience the same thing. You stay in your stance until the shot has concluded. The ball is in the pocket and the cue ball has stopped rolling. Then you go to your pre shot routine and prepare for the next shot. As an I Came to Win player you “See the shot, know the stroke, and shoot the shot.” I can count on you. May all the rolls go your way.

Tournament Preparation

Spend time in the room before the tournament. You need to be comfortable where you perform. Walk around. Listen to the sounds. Absorb the movement around you.

The director w ill be calling names, making announcements and interrupting play. It is all part of the tournament experience. Be comfortable with this noise. Don’t resist it.

I am accepting a limited amount of students into this program. Players have signed up from four different countries so far. If you are interested, email me and I will send you a personal letter with all the information you need. Join this unique family of players who intend to change the entire industry. Let us all put the “art” back in the art of pocket billiards.

I would like to invite you to join us in this Home Study Course. You can find out more about this program by sending me an email.

The Four Strokes of Pool

Many of us shoot high on the cue ball and call it a follow stroke. The essence of any stroke is in how you deliver the cue tip to the cue ball. I want you to set up a shot straight in the side pocket.

The cue ball should be a couple of feet from the object ball. Place your cue tip one-sixteenth below center. Deliver a follow stroke and make the cue ball follow the object ball.

There is only one way you will see the cue ball follow the object ball and that is if you deliver a fine follow stroke. Flow through the cue ball. Your shooting hand should almost be limp. Float through and allow the cue ball to roll towards its target.

I can make the cue ball follow the object ball with one half cue tip below center. A follow stroke is vital to your game. There are many ways to use a follow stroke to gain favorable position and control the cue ball.

I illustrate many of them in The Lesson. If you are ever to become a consistent player you must master the four strokes of pool. In my workshops and clinics I show players that there is only one stroke that will get them position on certain balls. If you know the strokes you know how to play pool. If you do not have a copy of The Lesson, do yourself a favor, order it now. I give you a personal guarantee. If the book does not help you, I will refund your money.

Special Training Note For Your Fall Season

The first vital thing for your game this fall:

Discipline - What I am talking about is the discipline to train your body to perform. You must have a pre-shot routine and you must have the discipline to stick to it.

No more jumping up on shots.
No more getting into your stance before you arrive at your next shot.
No more leaving the chalk in your case until you finish your first rack.

You must have discipline and this involves training your body to perform. Understand each step in your pre-shot routine and stick to it.

Taking Notes

(a side note from Samm's Side Pocket)

One day, I returned home after a bad night at league. I was wearing this itchy turtle neck and felt incredibly uncomfortable all night. I was so preoccupied with being hot and itchy when I was at the table that I could not make a ball. I mentioned this experience to a good friend of mine and he suggested I begin using a log to note these things. What a brilliant idea!

I purchased a small 6” x 9” notebook which I kept with me at all times. The cover was even made of a furry leopard print that matched my pool case. ‘I never left home without it.’

Using this log, I tracked everything. I noted what I was wearing, to the details of my matches, to what kind of day I had, to how I felt after a match. I even wrote down things I ate that day that may not have agreed with me.

Without even realizing it, in writing these things down I was doing the “measure your progress” element that The Monk refers to in his teachings. Every week, I would go back and review things I had written. I began noticing patterns and learning a lot about myself. I learned that I didn’t play well in long-sleeved shirts (especially turtlenecks) and that I needed to work on my reverse cut shots.

Those were only a couple of the many things I would discover. I also began noticing that I was tracking the same information every time. Since I was using a blank notebook, I always had a new canvas to convey my thoughts. I was writing different events/thoughts about the same things every night.

In March, when I began Samm’s Side Pocket, I took everything I had written and created a user-friendly Game Log to share with other players like me. This log is better than the makeshift log I was keeping. I created a template to track all the important things from each match (opponents, winnings, feelings, and things to practice). It comes with blank table diagrams and notes pages. I also included some of The Monk’s drills from The Lesson in the back of the log.

This log was put together from my heart and I am happy to be able to share this product with my fellow players. I am even more thrilled to meet others who seek the same resources on this wonderful pursuit to mastering the art of pocket billiards. If you are interested in ordering a Game Log, please send an email to samm@sammspocket.com and mention this article to receive a special gift with your order.

Take Five From The Monk

Click on the link and begin your unique training here and now.

I am making the cd’s available on line. For the next few weeks I will be recording some new material. You can learn while you drive your car. Learn while you lay on the beach. Learn while you are working at your desk. The cd’ program is very helpful in mastering the inner game of pocket billiards.

The Four Strokes of Pool
Changing the Script
The 101 Laws for Success
Changing the Script (subliminal)

Listen and learn while you drive.

May All the Rolls Go Your Way

The Monk