Old School 14.1 or Straight Pool

By Rick “White Wolf” Prince

One of the “Rule of Thumbs” in 14.1 (Straight Pool) is that you want to “Shrink Your Table” in Layman’s terms, this simply means you want to cut your table size down to Half Table, and most definitely the upper half of the table.

Once you keep ALL your balls within this area, your focus should be on the upper left and right corner pockets and the two side pockets as your key pockets for all or the majority of the object balls you run.

Try at all costs to avoid the two bottom corner pockets as they equal longer shots, which equals less cue ball control.

The best players I’ve ever seen would only shoot to the bottom corner pockets once, maybe twice, out of 100 or 125 Ball run.

Another “Biggie” in Straight Pool, is that you want to open up the rack. Just a little at a time. You never want to prematurely open up the rack and give your opponent an easy run-out.

You aim to make a ball and break out a ball or two before your next shot. Just imagine in your mind, just whittling away at the pile of balls in front of you while simultaneously spreading the Rack, allowing the rack to take on a more manageable shape to deal with, and allowing you an eventual Break Ball.

Managing the rack steady and slowly helps you keep the balls where they should be, at the upper end of the table. This also helps to not leave a wide-open table for your opponent should you happen to miss.

The First balls to attack should be the corner pockets on the lower end of the table if balls are lying in or near the pockets to clear the path for other balls closer to the center of the table that you may pocket. Then it’s time to begin opening any clusters or trouble balls.

If you can’t break them out immediately, devise an action plan when you can.

Third, you want to pocket all balls that are positioned near or on the rails. Once you get the pile of balls down to several, you are confident you can run. This is the time to determine a good breakout shot to run out and win the game.

A short game of Straight Pool is a fantastic way to warm up for a game of 8 ball or 9 ball because this game focuses on key areas, including cue ball control and pattern and position play.

It also assists in the Mental benefits of Patience and Proper planning. That’s All I got for now. Until Next Time, Happy Shootin’ from “The White Wolf”