It’s paying off on the break pots ! Lol
I probably play more hrs than I work or 50/50
How Many Hours a Week?
- Thread starter ChrisinNC
- Start date
I probably play more hrs than I work or 50/50
I wish my 30 year old version of myself had the knowledge I do today, and the 63 man I am now had my 30 year old stroke and nerves.
As such, perhaps when I retire I might be able to put in 2 hours of practice a day, now it is maybe 45 minutes once or twice a week.
A while ago it was estimated to keep your skill level, you need about 10 hours a week of play.
Oikawa
Active member
I practice, on average, 30 hours a week. Out of this, maybe 10-15 hours are spent on systematic drills, patterns, individual shots, fundamentals, all sorts of more intense "proper" practicing of the most important things. Then maybe 5-10 hours of various runout drills or playing the ghost, e.g. straight pool or 9-ball. Then the rest (5-10h) is warming up, testing obscure shots that are fun, less useful skills like multi-rail kicks or trying exceptionally fast or slow play compared to my norm. All sorts of stuff. I'm a tinkerer, I like to understand new things and fiddle around with what I already have to find something even better. I try to keep a balance between drilling the boring but useful stuff, and just doing what I want and find the most fun (which usually ends up still being somewhat useful, just more niche).
I never just bang balls without any purpose, sometimes I do just throw 15 balls and pot them freely without playing position, but even then it serves some purpose, for example testing a slight variation in the PSR and seeing how it works with varying shot types.
On top of the 30ish hours of alone practice, I then play like 10ish hours a week in small local tournaments or friendly games.
I never just bang balls without any purpose, sometimes I do just throw 15 balls and pot them freely without playing position, but even then it serves some purpose, for example testing a slight variation in the PSR and seeing how it works with varying shot types.
On top of the 30ish hours of alone practice, I then play like 10ish hours a week in small local tournaments or friendly games.
I play probably 20 hours a week which include about 4 hours of practice drills. Here is a set of cards I use a lot for their great practice drills, and I would recommend this deck to anybody. I sometimes add to the practice drills to make them even more difficult and when I overcome them and am successful, it is a great feeling.
Hill Hill - A Card-Based Billiards Strategy Game https://a.co/d/7JsMJlp
Hill Hill - A Card-Based Billiards Strategy Game https://a.co/d/7JsMJlp
What age are you? Unless you’re retired, based on the hours you’re puting in it sounds like pool is your job, which makes you a pro!
Since I retired, I have been trying to adhere to 100 balls/day minimum. I do that 6 days/week. A scatter warm-up, then exercises and drills. They vary depending on what I feel I am weak on at that time. Long shooting, thin cuts, cross table banks, and safeties are a regular duty.
I give it a break one day/week.
Funny, I don't train for long periods of time, but I love to grind it out in a match.
I give it a break one day/week.
Funny, I don't train for long periods of time, but I love to grind it out in a match.
Oikawa
Active member
I am in my early 20s, and I am a student so on weekdays I have roughly 7-8 hours of free time per day, and I choose to spend a large portion of that (4-6h a day on average) playing pool. I don't really do much else on my free time apart from necessities.
I’d recommend spending more time focused on your studies and your career and less on pool!
Oikawa
Active member
I don't play pool to make it into a career or try to be a pro, I just enjoy pool in all aspects so much it's what I want to do for many hours a day. It is what it is, an addiction, but a much healthier one than most.
Flakeandrun
Well-known member
I started playing more often for a similar reason. Living far away from where some of my vices are accessible (or are slightly less 'illegal'...
), firstly, pool is fantastic mindfulness (especially on the 'good' days where we don't miss). Secondly, it's a great escape from the mundane work life or troubles of romance and social nonsense, and also offers an opportunity to meet new people in a way that snooker doesn't quite fulfill in the same way (if you live in a city as big as I do, you can also see more of the city and the halls it has to offer).I think there are worse ways to waste your time for sure Oikawa!
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Just thought of this thread as I was enjoying this 5 year old SemiFinals match between O'Sullivan and Selby. In the intro at 9 minutes it is mentioned that this is Ronnie's first visit to the practice table. Every previous match he showed up 5 minutes before and the first ball he hit was in the match. An epic rivalry and I don't know who wins. Oh gosh looks like I have 3 and a half hours entertainment here.
Add study and I get my Whole E Trinity.
Coos Cues
Coos Cues
Many years ago I had a friend named Desmond Allen who was becoming a certified BCA (I believe) instructor. As the last part of his training he needed to give a sort of mock lesson to two players. He asked me if I could bring a friend so I did. I brought Earl.
So Earl and I are down at Desmond's pool hall getting ready and part of the program is a questionnaire. One of the questions was "how many hours per week do you practice or play pool"?. So I thought about it and wrote down 3-4.
I was curious so I glanced over at Earl's sheet to see what he had wrote. He had answered 35 hours.
I understood right then and there long practice wasn't the answer to becoming a good pool player.
It might be an answer to the HAMB crew but it's not THE answer. Earl was living proof.
Desmond moved back to Pennsylvania and I never saw him again. He wrote a pretty good book on kicking that is still valid in the age of the internet.
So Earl and I are down at Desmond's pool hall getting ready and part of the program is a questionnaire. One of the questions was "how many hours per week do you practice or play pool"?. So I thought about it and wrote down 3-4.
I was curious so I glanced over at Earl's sheet to see what he had wrote. He had answered 35 hours.
I understood right then and there long practice wasn't the answer to becoming a good pool player.
It might be an answer to the HAMB crew but it's not THE answer. Earl was living proof.
Desmond moved back to Pennsylvania and I never saw him again. He wrote a pretty good book on kicking that is still valid in the age of the internet.
Mr Machine
Active member
Retired 67 year old that’s had his GClll for a year and a half.
I’ll shoot 150 balls playing straight pool daily.
Occasionally, for variety, I’ll play 10 mock games of 8 or 9 ball or cribbage.
And then there is the book. It’s 10 racks, hard 8 ball type break and begin with ball in hand. Shoot till you miss. Enter the number of balls potted in the book and repeat. Record average after 10 racks.
The OGMs kill me each set. Old Guy Mistakes.
I’ll shoot 150 balls playing straight pool daily.
Occasionally, for variety, I’ll play 10 mock games of 8 or 9 ball or cribbage.
And then there is the book. It’s 10 racks, hard 8 ball type break and begin with ball in hand. Shoot till you miss. Enter the number of balls potted in the book and repeat. Record average after 10 racks.
The OGMs kill me each set. Old Guy Mistakes.
At 66, retired, I play two to three hours a day. i do not miss a day. I use my diamond 7 footer in the house, and also use My valley, which is outside under a patio. My problem is I only play by myself. Don’t like bars, tournaments are to boring sitting waiting. I’m I improving? probably not, maybe in small increments. But I totally enjoy playing. I guess my vision, or fantasy, is to finally hit up a 9 ball tournament, and have everybody say who’s the old guy, he’s really good.
lol, may never happen, as by 8 pm every night I’m on the couch with my two dogs, watching a little tv. Oh well
( I did just hit a two pack in 9 ball, was pretty happy about that)
lol, may never happen, as by 8 pm every night I’m on the couch with my two dogs, watching a little tv. Oh well
( I did just hit a two pack in 9 ball, was pretty happy about that)
3-4 hours a week if I'm lucky
Sent from my moto g stylus 5G (2022) using Tapatalk
Sent from my moto g stylus 5G (2022) using Tapatalk
tomatoshooter
Well-known member
I'm putting in probably 20 hours a week on the practice table, some days too much shooting and not quite enough practice. I'm pretty sure I'm getting better, but it seems like as soon as I try to switch things up and focus on a developing a new skill, I lose the other skill super quickly.
I do think some sort of structure is necessary to get the most out of your practice time but I haven't found a way to improve that doesn't involve hitting a lot of balls. I wish I could find a way to emphasize the more effective parts of my practice.
Are you saying 5 hours a day is not a lot of practice? Or is this a different pool player named Earl? Because the only pool player I know of named Earl shot pretty sporty on several occasions.
I do think some sort of structure is necessary to get the most out of your practice time but I haven't found a way to improve that doesn't involve hitting a lot of balls. I wish I could find a way to emphasize the more effective parts of my practice.