I usually go for this strategy: Look for the break ball and the key ball and stay
away from them! Break small clusters as soon as possible. Pot balls close to the
rail as soon as possible. Pot balls in front of a pocket as soon as possible if
they are blocking other balls. That's just very common. I divide the rack in three
parts, the***one or two balls after the break are very important to get
started, mostly I try to go up the table, if there are some balls, in order to
play those first, avoiding long distance position shots at the end of the rack.
Then I play the next 8-10 balls in any order regarding the first four rules I
stated above. The pattern in the middle of the rack is not so important, just pot
the balls and keep position. The most important pattern comes up when you play the
last 3-5 balls. You have to get a good position for the key ball! If that's not
very easy, I usually make a short break in my run to think about the pattern, but
the more you play, the easier and faster you will be able to see the pattern.
Sometimes I know how I want to play the last four balls right in the beginning of
the rack, when I look for the break and the key ball AND the key ball for the key
ball!!!
I found out for me, that I should not think about the pattern in the middle of the
rack, because I'm likely to lose my rhythm and my speed due to too much thinking
about the right pattern, only the last 3-5 balls are very important. The sooner
you know which ones those are and how to play them, the better you will perform!
An easy example for th erack mentioned by Mike Page, I'd do it like this: Key
balls are the 7 or the 8, the 7 is better IMO. Break ball most likely the 4! I'd
play the 1, 5, 6 first, then going for the 3 and the 9, playing position for the 8
then. Assuming the I have a straight in shot for the 8, I'd make it also straight
for the 2 next, then a stop shot on the 2 and some draw or maybe a little follow
with high right english for the 7 to get perfect position for the 4 as break ball.
Maybe it could be better to go for the 3 and the 9 earlier, but I think this is
the easiest way to do it, for other players there's sure another solution, which
might be better.
IMO there's no perfect pattern to play in 14.1. There only the best pattern for
each individual player, regarding his/her abilities and shape and the way of
thinking and playing positions that he/she likes most. But there is one thing
that's more important than any other: don't think too much, play with rhythm and
follow your heart, otherwise you will spend too much effort, getting tired or
annoyed by bad positions too early and you won't ever play high scores regularly!
Being exhausted after 50 balls is the worst thing that can ever happen!!
Best regards, Thomas
Patrick Johnson schrieb:
Quote:
> 14.1 strategy is a topic we don't discuss enough around here. I renamed this
> "threadlet" to ask about another aspect of it without derailing the key ball
> discussion.
> I've heard "pattern play" mentioned a lot, but have never heard a description
> of it. The pattern strategy I've heard about most for 14.1 is one where you
> go from one group of balls to the next. Does anybody know the details of that
> one or have any other pattern play insights for 14.1?
> Pat Johnson
> Chicago