Drill motoivation

trustyrusty said:
wow - you guys are not only dedicated, but didn't even find humor in my word play :o :frown:
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I found it funny Rusty, it made me laugh :grin:

As to the original post. Drills are boring, but if you want to get better that should be your motivation to do them.

Spend some money on a lesson. You will have specific things to work on, and you will want to do the drills so you didnt waste your money :wink:

As far as feeling there is no punishment for missing, make yourself start the drill over anytime you miss! I agree with you, when there is nothing on the line for a lot of people they dont put full effort into the drill. But when your doing drills that involve 15 balls and your down the the last couple, it really adds something when you no you have to start over if you miss.

Do progressive drills. A search on here should give you some good ones. One good one is to race the ghost to nine, but starting with one ball on the table. If you make it, you mark up a game and put two balls on the table, then three, then four...... When you miss, you mark up a game for the ghost and put that number of balls on the table again. You will soon find yourself spending your practice time trying to run your current threshold (it may be lower than you think). when you get to where you beat the ghost regularly you start the drill with 2 balls, then you have to run two full racks to win. After that start with 3, and so on.

You mention you already play the ghost, so you may need to start at 3 or 4 already. When you do these types of drills, make sure your playing good shape and not just making tough shots to get out.
 
fastford said:
How do you guys stay motoivated to keep drilling? When I do drills I cant stand it, bores me to death I would rather get beat then to practice by myself any sugestions?
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I like drills that simulate real play. I like to throw out balls and maybe run them into one pocket, any one pocket even the side pocket. This improves shot making, position play as well as patterns as you have to plan out the runs. When I miss I may just begin shooting at a different pocket. I much prefer this to say lining up balls and shooting them in. The problem with most standard drills is they don't challenge the mind. In fact most are mindless in nature. You can invent your own drills that suit you and what you are trying to accomplish.
 
Here is a trick that sounds a little silly at first but it works very well. I have a friend who got a Ph.D. using this method. Select some reward that you really like, some activity, food or whatever. My friend likes cheese popcorn and a good movie. So he told himself that Monday and Wednesday nights he had to spend three hours studying for his comprehensive exams. If he studied he got to watch the movie of his choice with cheese popcorn. If he did not study, no popcorn, no movie until the next day he was supposed to study. He passed his exam. In most disciplines it takes 6- 9 months of intense study to pass one's comps.

Another tried and true technique is to practice with another person. Set one or two nights a week for drill practice and turn it into a competition. If you read about people who were major figures in their individual sport you will find that most of them had a practice partner for long distance running, shot put, etc, etc, etc.

The drills I like the most are ones that require me to position the cue ball at some specific location. I use targets, chalk on the rail, other object balls. This is more like a game situation than any other drill and requires all of the necessary skills -- It is fun and I can do it for hours. In the course of this type of practice I often stumble upon some shot that is not being executed as it should be and I then spend some time trying to get it right. Then it is back to positional drills and developing concentration skills.

I also only practice for 20 minutes at a time. in this way I put all of my effort into the time at the table. I take a break for coffee or whatever, think about what I did and then back to the table.
 
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I thought of you last night, fastford. (And you, too, Tom.) I realized that I've only been playing tourneys- no practice. Right after work I'm grabbing coffee and running to the poolroom, and IF I get knocked out early I can get one household chore done before bed, OR if I do well, nothing gets done at home and I will be late to bed and possibly late to work and then doing it all over again.

This has led me to matches of playing "pretty if" pool, meaning, I'm trying something new or different and thinking, "wouldn't it be pretty if this worked." The temptation to try something new starts becoming too strong- even when I know the right way for me to get out or play safe then and there- I just have to try this shiny new thing I thought of or saw someone else do recently.

I need practice. Drills are the only way to go because banging balls with a friend or the ghost is just simulating a game.
So, for my benefit, as much as yours:

Drilling with a friend.
JoeW above suggested this, and it's the best. It's hard on your back and mind to drill the same shot over and over, and then you have the annoying issue of slowly, accidentally changing the shot by imperceptibly moving where the cb and ob start out.

Get those little binder reinforcement stickers to mark where the ob and the cb go. Have the friend sit next to the table, silently setting up the balls on the stickers. Try the same shot with all 9 englishes until you're confident with each of them. Your friend is not your friend- they are a robot setting up the shot, not judging, suggesting, nothing- unless you ask. You need to figure out what you're doing and how with a quiet mind.

State the number of balls each one gets to make before you trade places and they get to set up their stickers/ shot (30 balls made is good).

Doing it this way makes sure you get a quiet break while you set up shots for your friend, and it makes shooting quicker- you're not resetting up balls from the other end of the table. You guys can both go a lot longer practicing this way because of the fixed break periods, too.

If you take centerpocket's suggestion, shots and percentages could be written down too.


Solitaire games
These keep a measurable score, some variation, and yet fixed repeatable shots. It also means you don't need a friend, although you could compete with someone while taking turns:
http://forums.azbilliards.com/showthread.php?t=156053&highlight=solitaire
http://forums.azbilliards.com/showthread.php?t=156054&highlight=solitaire

Have a look at people's comments because some good ideas and variations are suggested.

I have one more solitaire game at least, but I see I never went and put it up as a thread.

I would LOVE to see other solitaire games because... I don't always have a friend.
 
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Thank you for your generosity

JoeW said:
Here is one you might like.

http://www.sunburstselect.com/PBReview/Olympic9Ball.htm

You can keep track of your progress with this solitary game. Several otehrs have liked it.

There are more solitary games on my site in the articles section under "Playing the game."
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I visited your website. Your passion for the game(s) and study of same shine through. Thank you for your effort and your generosity for sharing this.

Thank you

3railkick

appreciative student
 
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