Practice makes perfect!

Gsitz89

Gsitz89

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I try to practice at least 6 days a week for at least 4 hours per session. If Im not practicing I am trying to match up or play in any tournament that I can. The problem that I find myself in is that im am starting to bore myself with such routine. So my question to the higher level players(A/A+/A+++) is how did you push threw times like these when you were coming up? Is there any suggestions that you can give that would help? Something maybe you wish that you could have known sooner? Any help will greatly be appreciated? Thanks in advance!
 
Gsitz89 said:
I try to practice at least 6 days a week for at least 4 hours per session. If Im not practicing I am trying to match up or play in any tournament that I can. The problem that I find myself in is that im am starting to bore myself with such routine. So my question to the higher level players(A/A+/A+++) is how did you push threw times like these when you were coming up? Is there any suggestions that you can give that would help? Something maybe you wish that you could have known sooner? Any help will greatly be appreciated? Thanks in advance!
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If I may ask, what exactly are you practicing for 4 hours per practice session? Is your practice structured? Do you have a quantifiable way of measuring your progress over time?

I would suggest that "how" you spend your "practice time" is perhaps more important than how much "practice time" you put in.

You haven't yet said what you are working on in your 4 hours of "practice time", but you have said that you are getting bored with your routine.

Something that has worked for me is to diligently focus on 2 or 3 specific things I want to work on and work on that for about 20 minutes. Then I will play straight pool or sometimes the ghost.

If you are willing to post your practice routine, perhaps others can make some suggestions to change it or spice it up so you're not getting bored.

It sounds like you are willing to put in the time and effort and I for one wish you success.
 
dr9ball said:
If I may ask, what exactly are you practicing for 4 hours per practice session? Is your practice structured? Do you have a quantifiable way of measuring your progress over time?

I would suggest that "how" you spend your "practice time" is perhaps more important than how much "practice time" you put in.

You haven't yet said what you are working on in your 4 hours of "practice time", but you have said that you are getting bored with your routine.

Something that has worked for me is to diligently focus on 2 or 3 specific things I want to work on and work on that for about 20 minutes. Then I will play straight pool or sometimes the ghost.

If you are willing to post your practice routine, perhaps others can make some suggestions to change it or spice it up so you're not getting bored.

It sounds like you are willing to put in the time and effort and I for one wish you success.
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Right now I have been prcticing about four maybe five drills including, some from the IPAT frozen rail drill, the L Drill, two different ones consisting of the use on inside english, one outside english, and the spot shot one. I will rotate in playing the ghost as well in some races. Thanks for the help.
 
Trade shots

send me a shot you think I might not know and I will try to send you one you haven't seen.
Must be a shot that can be used in a game , {no coin tubes , cues on the table etc.}
Just send the basic shot, if I haven't seen it or can't make it I will ask for details.
You may do the same.
Killer one pocket moves are also welcome.
If I can't find a shot out that you don't know.
I will pay you something for the shot.
 
book collector said:
send me a shot you think I might not know and I will try to send you one you haven't seen.
Must be a shot that can be used in a game , {no coin tubes , cues on the table etc.}
Just send the basic shot, if I haven't seen it or can't make it I will ask for details.
You may do the same.
Killer one pocket moves are also welcome.
If I can't find a shot out that you don't know.
I will pay you something for the shot.
Click to expand...

I just came across this one I know you may know it but it is new to me. Practiced it some today because I believe it will come in play.http://youtu.be/MXhnGwL6aBY start at 3:24
 
HotMustard said:
Another critical piece of advice....



Some guy earlier said he plays straight pool to practice. That's a good way to NEVER GET BETTER.

You must practice PRECISE THINGS. Pay attention to exactly where you strike the cueball, and exactly where the cueball goes. When you miss, think VERY CAREFULLY about what happened.
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Of course you didn't read my whole post. Here's what I said. Quote "Something that has worked for me is to diligently focus on 2 or 3 specific things I want to work on and work on that for about 20 minutes. Then I will play straight pool or sometimes the ghost."

I don't count playing straight pool and playing the ghost as "focused practice". For me it is play practice. I also doubt there are very many people who can engage in deliberate and focused practice for 4 hours. I'm not saying some people can't but I don't think this is the norm.

So when you say "You must practice Precise Things" I agree with you. They also should be measurable. The suggestion to use the paper hole reinforcers is a good one.
 
Great advice.........

HotMustard said:
You are about to read the best advice you'll receive on this forum........

Each day, you must practice a shot that you don't know. And practice it until you can make it most of the time.

Do not overpractice things you can already do.

Playing the ghost is "mostly" a waste of time. You will lose to the ghost when you come up to a shot that you don't know. So that's what you will need to practice.

When I say you don't know a shot, I mean you do not have a good feeling of where to strike the cueball to obtain perfect position. You need to work your muscle memory for the shot.

I'm not afraid to post this critical piece of information because 99.9% of pool players aren't able to do this anyway (myself included sometimes).
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Great advice,

You need to learn why you are having trouble with those shots. Usually there will be someone around that can give some simple advice.

When I was younger and I missed a shot that lost me a tournament my mother would be coming down in the basement with some food the next morning or day . I was still practicing that shot or trying to figure out why i missed it.

I couldn't sleep anyway so it was a good time to work it out and I did.

Usually by the time I was done it was one of my best shots.
One of the huge reasons figured out Perfect Aim........
 
Cueing up John Sebastion, humming "welcome back, welcome back, welcome baaaaaack......"

:p
 
HotMustard said:
You are about to read the best advice you'll receive on this forum........

Each day, you must practice a shot that you don't know. And practice it until you can make it most of the time.

Do not overpractice things you can already do.

Playing the ghost is "mostly" a waste of time. You will lose to the ghost when you come up to a shot that you don't know. So that's what you will need to practice.

When I say you don't know a shot, I mean you do not have a good feeling of where to strike the cueball to obtain perfect position. You need to work your muscle memory for the shot.

I'm not afraid to post this critical piece of information because 99.9% of pool players aren't able to do this anyway (myself included sometimes).
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Ok, I will bite one more time. I understand that you think Instruction is crap. But you have to help me with this one. Hope to learn something new here.

How do I practice a shot that I don't know?

thanks
randyg
 
HotMustard said:
You can read online and watch videos of guys like Artie Bodendorfer (one pocket specialist), Freddy Bentivegna, and Bert Kinister.

Those 3 guys will tell it straight to you in a similar fashion to what I explained.
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Can you tell me where exactly you found videos, or online instruction from Artie. Thanks.
 
HotMustard said:
I noticed that Dr9ball is a BCA instructor. And that scares the crap out of me.

If someone doesn't give you the same sort of advice that I gave you in the last 2 posts, run.

I'm serious, DEAD SERIOUS.

If someone tells you to play the ghost, or practice running racks of straight pool, they are charlatans. Well, maybe they just don't know any better. But I now know that BCA certification means nothing.

You can read online and watch videos of guys like Artie Bodendorfer (one pocket specialist), Freddy Bentivegna, and Bert Kinister.

Those 3 guys will tell it straight to you in a similar fashion to what I explained. You do not just hit balls around. Running a rack of 9 ball is meaningless. You need to repeat shots until you know EXACTLY where the cueball is going, and EXACTLY where to strike the cueball. It only comes with repetition of the same shot over and over.

Just because you run 4 racks of 9ball in a row does not mean you have improved. What if they were all shots that you already knew? Then you didn't improve.

I'm dead serious about this. This Dr9ball might be a BCA instructor, but don't trust him. I can just tell by his post he knows nothing. He does not know how to really improve to the pro level.

You must have CONTROL of the entire table. Control of all balls. You can only do that by listening to what I said.

I'm not a genius, I didn't come up with this, guys that came before me did. I just listened to them. They are right. I know it to be so.

And I know when someone comes on here and gives you bad information, even if he is an instructor.
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I agree with practicing shots that give you trouble. But most of what you said above isn't about helping anyone, it's about hurting someones reputation.

This forum isn't supposed to be used for that sort of thing. It's ok to say you don't agree with his methods but I think you crossed a line here. You should never try to make yourself look better by trying to make someone else look bad.

You could have gotten your point across without slamming another instructor.
 
Practice is fine but you must make sure that you are completely focused.

If you find yourself losing focus while practicing, you need to get refocused and back to giving your best effort on every shot.

If you can't do so, then you are better off just putting your cues away and stopping for awhile.

Quality of practice is better than quantity.

The best practice in my opinion is competition in tournaments or action.

Cheeseroller
 
IMO, usually when a player says they get bored practicing, it triggers an old saying by my grandpa. "Boredom is just an other way to say I don't know what to do'.

Practice with a purpose. A goal has to be reached at some point otherwise why practice? You might as well just hit balls around the table.

Drills help you stay in stroke and shots you are having difficulties with, are always a good way to end a practice session.

Mix it all up and have an end time for practice. 45 minutes practice an hour of 14.1 or 1pkt or ghost 9 ball.

If you make it a routine, it will be tiresome, but only if you let it, Remember that the goal is? to be a better player right? how do you know if you are a better player? Success in matching up or tournamnet/league play should be a good way to measure.
 
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