The 99 Critical Shots in Pool: Everything You Need to Know to Learn and Master the Game (Other)

Love the book. Of course, with YouTube there are tons of great videos, but there is something really great about their descriptions and insights in this book. I’m a decent pool player, and have a good deal of experience already but there were many “epiphanies” here, many things I hadn’t considered. I also have begun either taking photos on my phone or just taking the book to the local pool hall to work on the different shots and also at home relax while paging through. The only negative, and it’s really no big deal, is the drawings…they use a solid black ball as object ball (usually the ball you want to sink) and other incidental balls other than the cue ball are “gray” but the book I received (paperback) it is almost impossible to tell the difference. It’s no big deal because the text and arrows, etc. make it pretty clear almost always, just wish they had used further spaced dots for the other balls. Again though, it’s a minor point. The worth it to also read carefully the first few pages, lots of great info there, but it’s hard not to just go to the actual shots. They do point out, several times, that the drawings are not to scale. That the balls are not sized quite right, but you still can use the diamonds to place balls and you get the idea. One irritation, page 76 has an object ball frozen on the cushion of the side pocket with the side pocket corner just a touch over halfway of the ball, where you should hit HARD with draw and compress the cushion so the ball goes in the side pocket. I tried many times today, and not once could I make it, and they say it’s “easy”. Oh well. Would love to hear in other reviews if anyone has made that shot successfully. am very glad I bought this book, it is a treasure trove of useful shots and necessary ones. Excellent points about all kinds of shots. It seems geared to 14.1, straight pool, but not exclusive and the rules for games are a little outdated (as far as I know, eight ball breaks, if the shooter sinks a ball can always still choose either stripes or solids) but they have also some games I never heard of which is kinda cool. If you are serious about pool, I agree with many here that this is a great book.

If you are looking for a good book for beginners, this isn't it. This book is all about making a good pool player better. It assumes a basic knowledge of pool has already been established. If you're a beginner, check out Ewa Mataya Laurance's "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Pool & Billiards." It's a great straight-forward book to get you started right. But if you're already a pretty good pool player and want to add some great shots to your game, I highly recommend "The 99 Critical Shots in Pool." The book is not without it's drawbacks. This is a 220 page book. Of that, 50 pages are devoted to The Official Rules and Glossary of Terms. An additional 25 pages skim the basics of shooting form, etc. That leaves only 145 pages for the meat of the book, the 99 critical shots. Of the 99 shots, 22 are devoted to break shots for straight pool. If, like me, you play only 8-ball and 9-ball, then this book should be called "The 77 Critical Shots in Pool" because you'll never use the other 22. So, for me, this 220 page book has only 107 useful pages. The format of the shots section is great. Each shot includes a diagram of the whole table layout, a diagram of the cue ball showing exactly where to strike it to impart the draw, follow or English, and a text description of the shot. As others have pointed out, the text refers to a black ball (the object ball) and gray balls (all other balls), yet they are indistinguishable in the diagrams; they both look black. This is an annoyance, but does not keep you from understanding the author's intentions. Between the text description and the lines indicating the ball paths, I was always able to determine which ball was the object ball. If I still had my own pool table, I would have this book sitting right next to it. I'd study a single shot in this book and then practice it until I had mastered it. Then, when I'd mastered that shot, I'd proceed to the next shot and so forth. That would be the most effective way to use the book. Unfortunately, I have to go to a pool hall to practice. I don't know about you, but I don't really want to be seen reading a book about pool at the pool hall. So I have to study several shots and then practice them there from memory. Obviously, there's no substitute for practice. This book shows you WHAT to practice. Having told you that I only found 107 pages (77 shots) useful, you might get the impression that this book's not worth buying. Nothing could be further from the truth. Of those 77 shots, probably at least half were shots that I had either never even considered or had never fully mastered. You only have to add a few new shots to your game to make this book well worth the price. Buy it!

Can easily bring it back to the basics of several games. Understand cue ball position, rules for many games, pattern play, caroms, and much more.

This book is interesting on the approach to the shots. You start with a basic shot and then once you "master" that shot, then you move to the next shot. The shots are designed to build onto each other.

I've been an occaisional for fun player for many years, other than tips from other players I never took any lessons, it only took an hour of merely flipping through the book to immediately and significantly improve my game. With just a few of the concepts presented in mind, I learned to see/think so many more possible shots when I look at what I have to work with. This was my first book on Pool , I found it easy to understand, has drawings that show how to see/think through and set up the shots. it will keep me busy for a long time, I don't think you'd be disappointed if was your first book either, I think it has all the basic essentials one needs to at least be familiar with to be a good player.

I’ve played pool for over 40 years. Always looking to improve in areas where I’ve had trouble. This book, even though it can be hard to understand at first, is a great tool. Pick a page and practice, practice, practice. It will help you understand shots that you never would have thought about.

Good reference book.

if you play pool you need this book to accelerate your game

This book is for beginners. A lot of the shots explained are duplicated shots in different situations.. some aren’t explained well enough while some are.. the back 30-50 pages are basically useless and a glossary for words use in “American pool”. I perhaps benefited 5% in total. If you’re intermediate - professional don’t buy this book. Would definitely help someone who’s never played or just stared playing..

NO HE RECIBIDO EL PRODUCTO

Very pleased with purchase.

Decent little book to blast through looking for pointers on shots it's for American pool but the skill set transfers to all table cue sports it refreshed my brain on bank shots ect hopefully improve my game over the coming weeks but just remember it's a book and you need to practice you'll not be a pro overnight!

Muy buen libro.Lo ideal por lo menos para mi que lo publiquen en formato kindle y en español Sería lo ideal.