The First Step Towards Improving Billiards Shot Accuracy & Consistency

Billiards is a fun and challenging game that is enjoyed by millions of people around the world. The game can be a great source of social enjoyment when played in bars and pubs with friends, but eventually a player wants to start improving their game, whether it is simply to hold up better against their friends, or start playing in weekly leagues or tournaments.

When You Are Serious About Playing, Get Serious

If you have decided that you are now serious about playing this sport, and want to start to look at ways to begin improving your game, there is no shortcut available. Accuracy and consistency in billiards comes with practice, like many skill-based sports. You can't achieve these overnight, they will take time to develop. Are you up to the challenge and willing to spend the time that it takes to start winning more games and tournaments?

Simply Playing With Friends Won't Cut It

If you think that you will become a pro by simply going out weekly and cracking a few racks with friends, you are in for a pretty big disappointment. Many people take this route, and after spending a lot of time (and money) realize that they haven't gotten any better. They quickly get discouraged and give up. Why does this happen? Well, for one, playing with your friends at the local pub can be a great time. In fact, it's meant to be a lot of fun. In the course of the evening, you play a few games, joke with your buddies, have a few drinks, and have a few more. This all makes for a great evening but doesn't help you focus on what you need to in order to start improving your pool table prowess.

Practice, Practice, Practice!

Yeah, we've all heard it before in many different sports. The only way to get good is to practice. The reason you've heard this so often before is because it is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. Even if you are a prodigy like Michael Jordan or Tiger Woods, it is the practice that embeds the execution of the shot into your muscle memory and allows you to repeat it time after time. These superstars still need to practice as much as all of us, they are just better at getting to that consistency and executing under pressure. The key to a solid and consistent billiards shot is just like a golf shot, or other sports execution. It comes from executing the shot over and over and imprinting it permanently into your muscle memory. When the shot is needed, the muscles know exactly how to execute, with little or no thought involved.

Fine Tuning Your Billiards Shot Muscle Memory

So, now that we know that we need to build these shots into our muscle memory in order to execute them flawlessly under pressure, what is the first thing we need to do? The answer is to start with purchasing your own pool cue. No, this is not a sales pitch, the reality is that as you play each week at the local bar with your friends, and you grab whatever house cue is available, you are confusing your muscles each and every time. Even if you do take the extra effort to get out to a pool hall and practice (real practice, not just hitting balls around), if you are using a different cue each time you will never be able to build the consistency and accuracy you need to start winning more games and tournaments. Start playing with the same cue, every time you play, and you will quickly see that your shot starts improving. This is because your muscles now know exactly how the cue will feel and react, and they can do their job to execute the shot you have been practicing.

What Kind Of Cue Should You Buy?

Honestly, it doesn't really matter, as long as it is a decent quality pool stick. You can go for what looks good, feels good, or what is simply affordable. Generally, any new cue from one of the main manufacturers is going to be all you need. While there may be many different options to choose from, you just need the basic cue. There is an additional benefit that comes from buying your own pool cue; confidence. Billiards is a skill sport, but is also a confidence sport. Similar to golf, you can't get to the top without both skill and confidence. The skill comes from the practice regiment and equipment you use, the confidence comes in many different ways. One easy way to gain confidence is to have a cue that looks good to you and feels good in your hands. It is an instant reminder every time you pick it up that you are in this for real, not just playing a game.

If you are serious about improving your game, and ready to take the next step, start looking for a good quality pool cue to buy and start hitting the tables with confidence.

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