APA skill level 3 stroke analysis:Robin already has some good fundamentals

All new pool players start out as a skill level 3 in APA (American Poolplayers Association). Some players remain there for a while even if they have a good stroke. Robin Hamlet is an example of that. She studied a video made by Tor Lowry, an exceptionally good pool instructor with a large online presence, and adopted elements of what we call a conventional, or orthodox shot set-up and stroke. So what is holding her back from moving to a 4 in APA? This analysis indicates that although her stroke is excellent for her skill level, she is not taking the time to properly align herself for the shot and is spending too much time figuring out the contact point on the object ball and not enough time figuring out the line the cue ball needs to take to hit it. And occasionally, even though she fundamentally is using a nice pendulum stroke for the most part, she sometimes drops her elbow, causing the cue tip to rise up. Robin should improve quickly by applying attention to her reshot routing, and making sure her cue tip hits the spot she is aiming at while maintaining a controlled straight stroke. Her main focus going forward will be to practice the MOFUDAT drill as taught by Dr., Dave Alciatore, which I call the Mother of all Pool Drills. If she takes the time to do this I predict she will rise to an APA 4 in no time. At that point we will be able to concentrate on tactical understanding of the game, the importance of safety play, and development of pattern play that should move her quickly up the ranks.

[@elpacho....9254]

She has great form

[@billymontbriand1400]

Great DD's !

[@complaintregistar]

AWOOGA

[@carolmcwhorter1762]

It appears that trying to visualize the shot line by bending over. I think it is better to view the shot line while standing and lock her chin/vision center onto the shot line while bring her bridge/cue into position. She is dropping her elbow not shoulder.

[@jimsplacebilliards-5499]

Yes, trying to get her to stand back and lock her vision in to the line. As for the shoulder drop, it is just semantics. The elbow drops because the upper arm pivots at the shoulder. But as you say, it is more descriptively correct to call it an elbow drop, even though it initiates from a shoulder movement. The elbow drops as a result not as a direct action.

[@UAPandFriends]

If you've not fixed her stance immediately nothing is going to improve. She's off balance. Try and nudge her over. Square her stance up.

[@poolhalljunky]

You’re right. Her stance is not square. Her non dominate foot needs to be flared out a bit to help stabilize her. She’s too “in line”. I’ve taught many a students who did this and immediately improved a bit by getting a stable stance. I always push them while they’re down on their shot. lol. If they fall, they need to readjust their feet. It’s the best starter way to get them to realize that a tripod body is extremely valuable for their stroke. And idk, maybe he’s wording himself wrong, but he’s making it sound like she’s going to have a few different style of stances depending on what side of the table she’s on. You have a few stances, but not for shooting simply around the table ….

[@jimsplacebilliards-5499]

@@poolhalljunky I actually do this in one of the videos of her, and I do it with every student that has a too narrow stance, that is, bumping them to show them the stance is too narrow, after which I adjust into more of a boxer's stance. However, getting a beginner's stance together is like whack-a-mole. If you fix one thing and move to another the first one is almost immediately abandoned and pops back up again. It takes literally weeks of effort and hundreds of shot to begin to piece together an orthodox stance and pre-shot routine. Thanks for your comments.

[@jimsplacebilliards-5499]

I would consider it a miracle if I worked with a student for part of one session and got them to have a stance that they permanently implemented. It simply does not happen except in rare cases, usually concerning very young players (teens). The idea that a player can incorporate anything "immediately" is something I have seldom seen. You can;'t just show someone something and have them incorporate it. It takes hundreds of shots concentrating on one thing in a practice routine to get each element of the pool routine embedded. Nothing happens "immediately". What happens in almost every case is that you teach a student something and they do it while being taught and then, if they don'
t practice it, as soon as they are under any kind of stress they fall back into their old form. It takes patience and repetition, and "immediately is not even remotely in the picture". Thanks for your comment but it just does not comport with my experience.

[@PaulCourville]

You’ve managed to eliminate all of the fun out of playing Pool… it’s not rocket science it’s Pool!!!

[@jimsplacebilliards-5499]

I think it is an absolute truism that the better you are at pool the more fun you have.

[@HillbillyIslandLife]

Stated like a true NIT