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Thanks to
Billiards Digest
for the PDF versions of Nick's articles. Nick's
articles appear monthly in Billiards Digest
magazine. |
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| Date |
Title |
Teaser |
| 10/1/2005 |
The Breaks(s) |
You need to master more than one way to start the game. |
| 9/1/2005 |
Roll Out |
In 9-ball tournament play, you have the option to roll out after the break shot. Think about your opponent and choose carefully. |
| 8/1/2005 |
Ball In Hand Choices |
Falling straight-in can result in your failure to win the game. |
| 7/1/2005 |
Advanced Position Shots |
These are for when you're ready for something really tricky! |
| 6/1/2005 |
Don't Get Defensive |
Is that safety really safe? |
| 5/1/2005 |
Fool's Gold |
Watching matches on television over the last few years has been very educational for me. Many times, the players will get down to around three balls, and the commentator will say something like: “It’s pretty automatic from here.” ... Over the years I have done a lot of commentating myself, and it is easy to take a layout for granted.
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| 4/1/2005 |
Team Spirit |
Team-play pressure makes the mental game that much tougher. |
| 3/1/2005 |
Easy! Right? |
Often players look at three or four balls
on the table and think it is easy to run out.
It may look easy when the first shot is easy
to pocket. |
| 2/1/2005 |
Double the Rail |
Learn from your mistakes, and you'll make fewer of them.
Recently I visited Toronto, Ontario, for the Border Battle. It was the third year for the event, and it was close again. Team events are hard to beat for excitement. |
| 1/1/2005 |
Winter Workout |
Learn to master these common shots.
The New Year is here, and it's time to rededicate yourself to your 9-ball game. Though it can be fun to practice tricky banks and jumps, a more practical way to polish your skills is to set up the most common shots, and make sure you can nail them every time. That will give you the confidence to play your best game in every rack.
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| 12/1/2004 |
The "I" Word: Improve |
Here are some tips to get you off your plateau.
Lately, one question I keep hearing over and over from players is: "How do I improve my game?" They follow up with statements like: "My game seems to have hit a plateau," or, "Sometimes I play great, but my game is not consistent." Many players
don' know what to do next to improve. I'd like to offer some tips that might help you move to the next level. |
| 11/1/2004 |
Under Pressure |
You can't make yourself feel comfortable, but you can win anyway.
Playing under pressure can bring out the worst in both your game and your personal attitude. When you are competing for
personal pride in a tournament or league match, it can be extremely difficult to perform up to your own expectations. |
| 10/1/2004 |
Analyze & Recover |
So, what if your runout isn?t going according to plan?
In the last issue, we ran out a rack of 9-ball. I was surprised to find that it only took two diagrams to run nine balls. However, I did make a big assumption when playing position on each ball. I assumed that the
cue ball would fall in perfect position on each shot. More often than not, though, this doesn't happen in real life.
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| 9/1/2004 |
Recovery Tactics |
There's a way out of almost any bad situation.
In August, we ran through a rack of 9-ball perfectly. Then, last month, we struggled through the first four balls of the same rack,
making mistake after mistake. It's important to know your goal: "the perfect runout", but also to know how to recover if you go astray. |
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