What is your FAVORITE drill using JUST the Cue Ball?

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Dakota Cues

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I posted this in the "Ask the instructor forum", too, but I wanted to open it up to all to REALLY get some good feedback and share some gems!

I'm looking for your favorite drills that build stroke/accuracy/etc. using ONLY a cue ball.

I've seen some of the timeless classics, like driving the cb down the table and trying to make it come back and hit the tip of the cue.

I know there are some more gems like this out there, so please post what you use!

Thanks!
 
Throw the cueball out randomly onto the table, from wherever it lands try and shoot it 3 rails into a pocket. It will greatly improve your kicking skills. I used to also put one object ball on the table and try kicking 3 rails to make contact with it, then wherever the balls lie try it again and again, I would do this for an hour at least. I guarantee you'll see a big jump in your level of kicking in short amount of time.
 
I throw one chalk on the table and kick to hit it 2/3/4 rails, and also put two chalks about 4-5"apart and kick 2/3/4 rails to split it.
 
greyghost said:
I throw one chalk on the table and kick to hit it 2/3/4 rails, and also put two chalks about 4-5"apart and kick 2/3/4 rails to split it.
Click to expand...

Nice...I do similar drills. Eventually you can just "feel" the kick -you hardly even aim. When I get to a table I also like to shoot straight down table with a smooth yet crisp drag/stun shot with left or right english. Try and really spin that sucker. It really ads confidence in your stroke. When I am able to really hit it well is when I am able to play my best delicate games. Sometimes you'll miscue on your first couple shots. Its a good way of learning what you have to do to get that back arm loose
 
Shoot the CB straight ahead. Using various tips of english get it to spin off to a point on the opposite rail.
 
it really helped me out alot when i started doing that about 10yrs ago. Especially once I learned the diamond sys, and others like the +5 and all that mess. I can key in by feel and just use double checks and balances to fine tune.
 
I memorized many kicking tracks using just the cue ball. All of the different point off the table kicking drills I've learned are good to practice with just one ball.

Memorizing all the diamond to diamond 2/3/4 rail kicking drills is easily done with one ball too.
 
an exercise

This isn't really a drill, just an exercise. You can hit the cue ball to a diamond on the far end of the table and bring it back but it doesn't really matter. It is counterproductive to shoot an object ball doing this since it distracts from what you are trying to accomplish.

Simply a stroke exercise. Groove in your practice stroke routine doing the same thing over and over and then really focus on slowing the stick as you bring it back on the final stroke. Use a smooth transition or slight pause before beginning forward motion, depending on how you normally shoot. Then really focus on starting forward slowly and gradually increasing speed. Focus on a gradual increase in speed of muscle contraction all the way through the cue ball. This is the real purpose of this exercise, developing and maintaining a "pure" stroke. We can't really accelerate the tip through the cue ball but we can accelerate muscle contraction through the cue ball. Best to start off with soft shots and focus on the muscles in your arm speeding up their contraction as you power through the cue ball even if it only rolls a few feet. What you learn in slow motion will transfer over to what you do at all speeds if you stick with it.

Not trying to get tremendous speed in this exercise although this will help both normal shots and the break. This is grooving in "muscle memory" to prevent jabbing or punching at the cue ball or popping up on your shots.

Spend five minutes on this drill at the beginning and end of practice. Not quite as effective but it can also be done at home without a cue ball.

Most players feel they are far beyond doing such a simple exercise. Most players still occasionally punch stroke when they don't plan to or pop up on a shot though. Slowing to a pause or smooth transition on the backstroke and a smooth gathering of power on the forward stroke instead of a jerky start will pay huge dividends in both accuracy and cue ball control. Nine out of ten people reading this won't try this exercise for five or ten minutes a day for a week though, it is just too simple.

Tiger still works on his stroke fundamentals in golf . . . . .

Hu
 
CB on the head spot.. aim to the middle diamond on the foot rail.. and using spin alone.. send it to all 6 pockets
 
A game I used to play worked as follows. Using the cue ball only and starting from anywhere in the kitchen, hit exactly two rails and then come into contact with either the head or foot spot without having the cue ball go into a pocket. If you are successful, you must do it again from wherever the cue ball ends up. See how many you can run. Great for your kicking skills, and it can be played alone or against an opponent.
 
Hi. A drill I like to do using just the cue ball is a speed control drill similar to practicing lags, but trying to get the cue ball to stop at each diamond after coming off the foot rail.

--Lance
 
Not so much a drill, but just a way of warming up to make sure you know the dead spots on the table for the one rail kicks. Once I confirmed that these angles were correct (CB-A using top spin short of the side pocket is dead in corner pockert & CB-B using center ball/below center just long of the side pocket with firm stroke is dead in corner pocket) then I could use the ghost table method of aiming one rail kicks.

http://CueTable.com/P/?@4AAPL4BJFK4...IScK4JPJL3KEPL3LVeK3MHBL4NMPL3OJuK1PaHr4Qchq@
 
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I also, someone said something similar, throw a piece of chalk on the table and try to kick, one, two or three rails and hit it.

When my stroke is out of wack, I'll put the cueball on the head spot and lag softly. I try to get the cueball to come back and get as clise to my tip as I can without it hitting the tip. Also do this with and objectball.
 
Thanks for the input so far. There is much higher quality of responses here than the instructor forum. Sad, but true.

Does anybody use a single cue ball (or striped object ball) as part of their warm up, either to play or practice? Basically some type of this to groove their stroke before they start adding object balls?

Thanks again, and keep them coming!
 
Kick shots

I roll some kick shots, and for 2,3, 4, and 5 rail kick shots, I usually go for a diamond either side of the pocket, because how many times do you actually kick for the pocket versus kicking to hit a ball on the rail down from the pocket?
 
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