The Illustrated Principles of Pool and Billiards

The book is better than expected and delivered right on time. Thank you.

Dr Dave’s books and videos on his youtube channel are an invalueable resource for anyone at any level of pool knowledge… from absolute beginners to seasoned pros.

I like the book a lot and highly recommend it. I learned to play pool when I worked in a pool hall. A few years ago I found some instructors who provided lessons for improving one's game. In my opinion, this book presents pool basic and advanced skills much better than those instructors -- and those instructors were exceptionally skilled players. The illustrations in the book show how to do what is explained in the text, and, in my opinion, much better than the instructors and experienced players that I have met over the years. Throughout the book there are references to online videos that show and describe very clearly how to apply the principles and skills presented in the book. For me, the videos are a tremendous aid to learning the "what to do" and "how to do it." Although I am not an engineer, I worked for several years in IT. For me, some of the text is difficult to understand, but the illustrations and videos overcome that aspect of the book. Another important benefit of this book is that Dr Dave has many HOW TO videos on YouTube. For me, those videos are extremely helpful for applying the material in the book. Those videos also present specific skills practice sessions for learning and improving one's pool skills. I have purchased other books about pool playing and how to make specific shots. I consider those other books to be lacking in the real "how to". By that, I mean that, without the basic skills and knowledge that are presented in this book, those books are primarily valuable for players who are already skilled/experienced players. For what it's worth, I have learned a lot from the book, and I am improving by practicing the skills and principles from this invaluable book.

The info in this book regardless of skill will improve your game

good information

David, I'd like to give you a personal THANK YOU for this book!The effort you have put into it, as well as the videos, has been enormous. More than a book, it is a course in itself, complete with references to online videos, slow motion videos and detailed explanations of WHY things work in pool, so people can understand the PRINCIPLES of pool. It goes from the very basics, all the way up to advanced stuff, leading the reader step-by-step up each rung of the pool-playing ladder. It does not give hundreds of examples of different shots to be learned by heart, but instead teaches the reader how to figure things out on the table regardless of the specific situation. And we all know that every situation on the pool table is different and unique.The book is extremely well done, on high quality glossy paper, with colour diagrams (made TO SCALE!), and is very well organized and thought out, complete with index, glossary of terms, easy-to-find references, summary boxes throughout the book and references to videos the author has made himself which show every lesson in the book... wow. For this very low price it is an amazing bargain (I have no idea why David is giving away such a huge effort for such a low price. May Heaven reward him.)David, thanks once again! The book, with its specific teaching style, ease of use, and organisation, is unique in the genre.

I started playing pool on my father's pool table as soon as I was big enough to reach it. I grew up going to pool halls and playing in various local tournaments. I was an officer of our university's billiards club and skipped many classes because of losing track of time at the table.I'm now 36 years old but I haven't picked up a pool cue since I was around 22 and in college. I decided to pick up the game again by joining a local 9-ball league. I had forgotten just about everything that I knew about the physics of the game, and decided to give my knowledge a refresher. I started out with Chapelle's "Play Your Best Pool". That book had a lot of "what to do" but not a lot of "why to do it" and "this is why it works that way". This is where the "Illustrated Principles of Pool and Billiards" wins hands down. With the supplemental online videos, I learned more in 2 weeks about positioning than I had learned from spending years growing up in pool halls.I ended the 8 week season in my 9-ball league above .500, and I have to thank this book for helping me with many of the 4 to 5 ball run outs that got me those wins!

Whether you are learning the game or competing at a top level, this book will help you play better pool. For a seasoned pool player, most instructional books are simply review of fundamentals and ideas learned long ago, and offer only an elementary accounts and largely inaccurate explanations of the physics of pool, as if billiards balls were air-hockey pucks and not spinning spheres on cloth.Hooray! This book is different. Written by a mechanical engineering with a gift for teaching, this guide beautifully describes and illustrates nitty-gritty details that translate directly to real world pool. In particular, this book helped me better understand English, deflection, throw, effective pocket size, ball-rail interactions, banking systems, safeties, and pattern play.Plus, the author has enhanced the teaching process via dozens of free online example videos which I highly recommend. Given the discounted price it's offered here, I feel that I should send an extra donation to the author. My game has evolved as a result of this purchase. It is incomparably better than the dozen or so top-selling pool books in my library.If you want to improve your pool game, buy this book. For the price of an hour of table time...

Informative, well illustrated.

Good book, nice illustrations, couldn't find it cheaper elsewhere but was left a little underwhelmed with the detail provided.

Excellent book. A good accompaniment to Dr Daves Videos.

good book, but I think pretty much everything in this book is available free on the web site they refer you to.

Very complete book.Teach you the theory and has a mixture of text/explanation, images (shots -->results), graphs, etc. to explain you how to play pool smartly.Some part of the book can be hard to understand, but maybe because I am trying to learn/understand everything at the same time.