Chances are, this is where you live in Billiards. You are just beginning and have found you enjoy the game. There is more to it than that. This is a game you can come to love, but if you don't get out of these 17 deadly mistakes...well I wouldn't recommend you buy your own cue.

These 17 deadly mistakes show up in four major areas: Vision, Preparation, Execution and Bad Habits. That's right, pull the sheet away and let's take a look at them, better still, one by one, eliminate them from your game.

VISION MISTAKES

Deadly Mistake #1

Thinking like a player and not like a contender.

This is not just a game like Canasta or Monopoly.

The day of the social pool player is fading. It is being supplanted by the idea of becoming a steadily learning and improving contender. This is a concept many miss completely when starting out.

You can't be absorbed with the idea if you win, you will hurt your friend who you happen to be beating. Settle on one objective, I CAME TO WIN!! This will help you focus on a single goal.

Deadly Mistake #2

You have not made a commitment to mastering the Basics of Billiards.

Let's go back to Canasta a moment: We all know how to shuffle, (well most of us do) cards; we can deal the whole deck; and we can count a hand well enough to decide how we'll play the game. We don't have to re-learn these basic every time we sit down to play.

Billiards is and should be the same when it comes to building your foundational skills.

The rock solid basics are stance, grip, bridge, stroke and aiming--we'll get into the right way in another article, right now we are trying to slip free of deadly mistakes.

Deadly Mistake #3

You are not dedicated to lifelong learning